President John F. Kennedy is seen here during a December 1962 visit inspecting the VELA satellite package designed at Sandia for detecting atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Twelve VELA satellites performed such duty for the US from 1963 to 1984.
Contacts
Rebecca Ullrich, (raullri@sandia.gov) Corporate Historian
Laura Martinez,
(martini@sandia.gov)
Web Page Maintenance
The Sandia National Laboratories Corporate Archives and History Program exist to preserve, document, and disseminate Sandia's history. As a critical link in the nuclear weapons development chain, Sandia played a large role in the history of the Cold War, while its reimbursable projects have responded to U.S. national security policy more broadly. To preserve the crucial records of Sandia's history, the Corporate Archives collects and preserves information from Sandia's past, while the History Program brings Sandia's story out to a broader public.
For a quick glimpse at Sandia's past, take a look at Sandia History Highlights. Even more detail about Sandia's history is compiled in the History Program's various Publications.
Aerial view of Kirtland and Sandia Bases, July 1945.