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On October 28-29, 2008, the NASA History Division will host a conference in Washington, D.C. called NASA's First 50 Years, a Historical Perspective. The purpose of this conference is a scholarly analysis of NASA's first 50 years.  Over two days at NASA Headquarters, historians will discuss NASA's role in aeronautics,  human spaceflight, space science, life science and Earth science, as well as cross-cutting themes ranging from space access to international relations in space and NASA and the public.  The agenda, bios of participants, abstracts of papers, and logistics for the conference are available at this link.

On June 25-June 29 and July 2-6, 2008, NASA participated in the 42nd Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall. Steven J. Dick, Stephen J. Garber, and James I. Deutsch contributed the article, "Fifty Years and Beyond" to the program book.

The new NASA HQ Historical Reference Collection on-line public database is here! Four series from the NASA Headquarters Historical Reference Collection have been digitized and made available in this new on-line database for use by researchers. Included are PDFs of Press Kits, Press Releases, Mission Transcripts, and Administrators' Speeches. Researchers may use either the Basic Search or Advanced Search to access these. The HQ History Division staff has digitized all press kits, press releases, mission transcripts, and Administrators' speeches that were available to them in the Historical Reference Collection. Links are provided to other sources where similar and/or additional information can be found.

NASA's Fiftieth Anniversary
NASA's Fiftieth Anniversary in 2008 web site celebrates NASA's first fifty years and contains images from the America in Space anniversary book.

New Publications

NEW CD-ROM!

Altitude Wind Tunnel at NASA Glenn Research Center (SP-2008-4608). Bob Arrighi at NASA Glenn has put together a wealth of documents, still and moving images, and other information about this historic wind tunnel. Members of the public may request a copy by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the NASA History Division, Room CO72, NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC 20546.

“Read You Loud and Clear!” The Story of NASA’s Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network. (NASA SP-2007-4233) by Sunny Tsiao. An historical account of the STDN starting with its formation in the late 1950s to what it is today in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The story spans the early days of satellite tracking using the Minitrack Network, through the expansion of the Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN) and the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN), and finally, to the Space and Ground Networks of today. To order please contact the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information, 7121 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 301-621-0390, help@sti.nasa.gov. Online Order Form: https://www.sti.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ordersti.pl . The Document ID is 20080020389 and the price code is EA5 (Within U.S. $25 plus $2 shipping and handling; outside U.S. $50 plus $17 shipping and handling).

Facing the Heat Barrier: A History of Hypersonics (NASA SP-2007-4232) by T.A. Heppenheimer. Hypersonics is the study of flight at speeds where aerodynamic heating dominates the physics of the problem. It is an engineering science with close links to supersonics and engine design. Within this field, many of the most important results have been experimental. The principal facilities have been wind tunnels and related devices, which have produced flows with speeds up to orbital velocity. Why is this important? Hypersonics has had two major applications. The first has been to provide thermal protection during atmospheric reentry. Success in this enterprise has supported ballistic-missile nose cones, has returned strategic reconnaissance photos from orbit and astronauts from the Moon, and has even dropped an instrument package into the atmosphere of Jupiter. The second application has involved high-speed propulsion and has sought to develop the scramjet as an advanced airbreathing ramjet. Atmospheric entry today is fully mature as an engineering discipline, but work with its applications continues to reach for new achievements. Studies of scramjets still seek full success, in which such engines can accelerate a vehicle without the use of rockets. Hence, there is much to do in this area as well. To order please contact the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information, 7121 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 301-621-0390, help@sti.nasa.gov. Online Order Form: https://www.sti.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ordersti.pl . The Document ID is 20080007234 and the price code is EA4 (Within U.S. $20 plus $2 shipping and handling; outside U.S. $40 plus $17 shipping and handling).

Societal Impact of Spaceflight (NASA SP-2007-4801) by Steven J. Dick and Roger D. Launius. The purpose of this volume is to examine the effects of spaceflight on society through scholarly research, making use especially of the tools of the historian and the broader social sciences and humanities. Has the Space Age indeed had a significant effect on society? If so, what are those influences? What do we mean by an “impact” on society? And what parts of society? Conversely, has society had any effect on spaceflight? What would be different had there been no Space Age? To order please contact the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information, 7121 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 301-621-0390, help@sti.nasa.gov. Online Order Form: https://www.sti.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ordersti.pl . The Document ID is 20080007234 and the price code is EA5 (Within U.S. $25.00 plus $2.00 shipping and handling: Outside U.S. $50.00 plus $17.00 S&H). Click below to view this book in a two part PDF:
Part 1.
Part 2.

U.S. Human Spaceflight: A Record of Achievement, 1961-2006 (Monograph in Aerospace History No. 41) was compiled by Judith A. Rumerman and updated by Chris Gamble and Gabriel Okolski. This handy and richly illustrated reference work is an updating of the similarly titled Monograph 9 that was published in 1998. Interested readers may obtain a free copy of this monograph by sending a self-addressed, stamped 9x12" envelope ($2.84 domestic first-class postage for 13 ounces) to the NASA Information Center, NASA HQ, Washington, DC 20546 or by coming in person to the NASA History Division in room CO72 of NASA Headquarters.

William H. Pickering: America's Deep Space Pioneer. (NASA SP-2007-4113) by Douglas J. Mudgway . This thoroughly researched, insightful biography by a fellow New Zealander who came to the U.S. and worked with William Pickering, who became Director of JPL, is a timely addition to the literature and an engaging portrait of one of the pioneers of early U.S. robotic spaceflight. The book is out in time to commemorate the Explorer 1 launch on January 31, 1958.
To order please contact the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information, 7121 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 301-621-0390, help@sti.nasa.gov. Online Order Form: https://www.sti.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ordersti.pl . The document ID is 20070038305 and the price code is EA5 (Within U.S . $25 plus $2 shipping and handling; outside U.S. $50 plus $17 shipping and handling).

The Wind and Beyond: Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in America, Volume 2, Reinventing the Airplane. (NASA SP-2007-4409) by James R. Hansen, ed. Following up on Volume I's account of the invention of the airplane and the creation of the original aeronautical research establishment in the United States , Volume II explores the airplane design revolution of the 1920s and 1930s and the quest for improved airfoils. To order, please contact the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information, 7121 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 301-621-0390, help@sti.nasa.gov . Online Order Form: https://www.sti.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ordersti.pl .The document ID is 20070039007 and the price code is EA7 (Within U.S . $35 plus $2 shipping and handling; outside U.S. $70 plus $17 shipping and handling).
Click below to view this book in a three part PDF:
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.

America In Space: NASA's First Fifty Years. New York : Abrams, 2007. Steven Dick, editor, et.al. As the world remembers the dawn of the Space Age in 2007 and the golden anniversary of NASA in 2008, the historic legacy of the agency is captured in a new photo book, America in Space, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York. The book uses nearly 500 stunning photographs to tell the agency's story, from the drama of lift-off, to tension in mission control, to the humor and humanity portrayed in the faces of astronauts, scientists, engineers, and political leaders. Published in cooperation with NASA, the book features a foreword by Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong Please click here for ordering information.

New Electronic NASA History Resources

BRAND NEW!!! CLICK HERE TO VIEW NEWLY ADDED FULL TEXT SEARCHABLE
PDFS OF THE Astronautics and Aeronautics CHRONOLOGIES, FROM 1963-1995. WARNING! These PDFs range in file size from approximately 12 to 45 MB.

THE PDFS FOR THE THIRTEEN (13) TITLES LISTED BELOW ARE ALSO LARGE:

Women in Flight Research at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center from 1946 to 1995. Monograph in Aerospace History, No. 6, 1997 by Sheryll Goecke Powers.

Memoirs of an Aeronautical Engineer: Flight Tests at Ames Research Center: 1940-1970. Monograph in Aerospace History, No. 26, 2002, NASA SP-2002-4526 Seth B. Anderson.

NASA Historical Data Book, Vol. I: NASA Resources, 1958-1968. NASA SP-4012, 1976, rep. ed. 1988 by Jane Van Nimmen, and Leonard C. Bruno, with Robert L. Rosholt.

NASA Historical Data Book, Vol II: Programs and Projects, 1958-1968. NASA SP-4012, 1988 by Linda Neuman Ezell.

An Administrative History of NASA, 1958-1963. NASA SP-4101, 1966 by Robert L. Rosholt.

From Runway to Orbit: Reflections of a NASA Engineer. NASA SP-2004-4109 by Kenneth W. Illiff and Curtis L. Peebles.

Shared Voyage: Learning and Unlearning from Remarkable Projects (NASA SP-2005-4111) by Alexander Laufer, Todd Post, and Edward Hoffman.

Venture into Space: Early Years of Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA SP-4301, 1985 by Alfred Rosenthal.

On the Frontier: Flight Research at Dryden, 1946-1981. NASA SP-4303, 1984 by Richard P. Hallion.

Flights of Discovery: An Illustrated History of the Dryden Flight Research Center. NASA SP-4309, 1996, by Lane E. Wallace.
Click below to view this book in a three part PDF:
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.

Crafting Flight: Aircraft Pioneers and the Contributions of the Men and Women of NASA Langley Research Center. NASA SP-2003-4316, 2003 by James Schultz.

Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974. NASA SP-2000-4408, 2000 by Asif A. Siddiqi.
Click below to view this book in a two part PDF:
Part 1.
Part 2.

A Spacefaring People: Perspectives on Early Spaceflight. NASA SP-4405, 1985 by Alex Roland.

Facing the Heat Barrier: A History of Hypersonics (NASA SP-2007-4232) by T.A. Heppenheimer.
Click below to view this book in a three part PDF:
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.

To See the Unseen: A History of Planetary Radar Astronomy (NASA SP-4218), 1996, by Andrew J. Butrica. Thanks to Chris Gamble for formatting these html files.

Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story (NASA SP-4220), 1998, by Dale R. Reed. Thanks to Chris Gamble for formatting these html files.

Wallops Station and the Creation of an American Space Program (NASA SP-4311), 1997, by Harold D. Wallace, Jr. Thanks to Chris Gamble for formatting these html files.

Way Station to Space: A History of the John C. Stennis Space Center (NASA SP-4310), 1997, by Mack R. Herring. Thanks to Chris Gamble for formatting these html files.

The Difficult Road to Mars: A Brief History of Mars Exploration in the Soviet Union by V.G. Perminov is Monograph in Aerospace History, No. 15, 1999. This monograph is also available in two ~ 4MB pdf pieces: click here for the first part and here for the second part. Thanks to Ronald Wells for formatting these pdf files.

"We Freeze to Please:" A History of NASA's Icing Research Tunnel and the Quest for Safety (NASA SP-2002-4226) by William M. Leary.

Apollo 204 Review Board Report Appendices.

Volumes I and II of Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program (NASA SP-4407) are available online by clicking on the appropriate link just above. Volume I is subtitled Organizing for Exploration and volume II is subtitled External Relationships. Online versions of the other volumes in this documentary history series are also available.

Oral history Collections at Headquarters and the Field Centers. Researchers may find these lists of available oral histories useful.

Chambers, Joseph R.. Innovation in Flight: Research of the NASA Langley Research Center on Revolutionary Advanced Concepts for Aeronautics (NASA SP-2005-4539). This monograph is only available on-line so click here to view. (If your browser does not open a table of contents with a link to the second half, click here to view that.) Thanks to Todd Messer and Smahan Upson for formatting this.

Twenty-fifth Anniversary of STS-1. A new website commemorating the 25th anniversary of the first Space Shuttle mission, which lifted off on April 12, 1981. Includes a history, biographies, images, and more.

Steven J. Dick, NASA Chief Historian
Steve Garber, NASA History Web Curator
Site design by NASA HQ Printing & Design
For further information email mailto:histinfo@hq.nasa.gov