Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Grace F. Thorpe Collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
3.28 Cubic feet ((3 records center boxes) (1 folder))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Video recordings
Motion pictures (visual works)
Brochures
Photographs
Date:
[ca. 1980s]
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 67 color prints, four brochures on SAC missile chronology and the Vandenberg program, 21 16 mm films, and 17 video tapes on the Vandenberg shuttle program. The prints include images of the facility during construction; the films include STS mission activity reports and post-flight press conferences.
Biographical / Historical:
During the 1980s, Vandenberg Air Force Base was chosen to support Space Shuttle Operations for the Space Transportation System. Although these plans have since been discarded due to safety hazards, buildings -- such as the V23 Launch Complex, had been built to meet the proposed Shuttle services.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Gift, 1992, 1992-0017, Public Domain
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of .75 linear ft of Robert L. Foster's professional papers, including the following types of material: reports, correspondence, photographs, invitations, McDonnell newsletters, interoffice memorandums, and newspaper articles. The papers relate to his long association with the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and his roles in Project Mercury, Project Gemini, and at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert L. Foster (1922-1994) received a BSEE from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1952. Prior to his time at Georgia, Foster was in the US Army Corps of Engineers from 1942-1950. In 1953, he began his long association with McDonnell Douglas Corporation. At McDonnell Douglas Foster had a number of important positions, including the following: Group Engineer for Advanced Design (1958-1959), Senior Group Engineer for Project Mercury (1959-1960), Engineering Manager for Project Mercury (1960-1965) , and Operation manager for Project Gemini (1965-1967). Later in 1967, Foster was transferred from Cape Kennedy to Vandenberg Air Force Base where he served as base manager (1967-1968), Deputy Director (1968-1969) and finally Director (1969 -).
Provenance:
Sally Foster-Chang, Gift, 2004
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
