On October 28-29, 2008, the NASA History Division hosted a conference in Washington, D.C. called NASA's First 50 Years, a Historical Perspective. The purpose of this conference was a scholarly analysis of NASA's first 50 years.  Over two days at NASA Headquarters, historians discussed 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The new NASA HQ Historical Reference Collection on-line public database is here! Four series from the NASA Headquarters Historical Reference Collection have been digitized and made available in this new on-line database for use by researchers.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all press kits, press releases, mission transcripts, and Administrators' speeches that were available to them in the Historical Reference Collection.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 in 2008 web site celebrates NASA's first fifty years and contains images from the America in Space anniversary book.

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.

Rockets and People: Hot Days of the Cold War, Volume III. (NASA SP-2009-4110) by Boris Chertok.
In Volume 3, Chertok recollects the great successes of, and continues the fascinating narrative of the Soviet space program in the 1960s, arguably the peak of the effort.
How to order: Please contact the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information, 7115 Standard Drive, Hanover , MD 21076 , 443-757-5802, help@sti.nasa.gov, Online Order Form: click here. The price code is EA5 (Within U.S. $25.00 plus $4.00 shipping and handling: Outside U.S. $50.00 plus $17.00 S&H).
This book also may be purchased from the NASA Information Center, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, Room 1H23, Washington, DC 20546-0001, 202-358-0000 or the Government Printing Office (click here, 866-512-1800 or ContactCenter@gpo.gov).

Research in NASA History. A Guide to the NASA History Program. Third Edition. Monograph in Aerospace History, No. 43, 2009. (NASA SP-2009-4543) compiled by Steven J. Dick, Stephen J. Garber, and Jane H. Odom. The NASA History Division is pleased to announce the availability of Research in NASA History (NASA SP-2009-4543, Monograph in Aerospace History 43).
This updated version explains what kinds of resources are available from the NASA History Division at Headquarters, the Field Centers, the National Archives, and other relevant organizations for researchers in aerospace history.
If you’d like a hard copy of this monograph, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the NASA History Division, Suite CO72, NASA HQ, Washington, DC 20546 for this 86-page, 8 ½ x 11” monograph. This is an update of the 1997 edition, HHR-64.

Astronautics and Aeronautics: A Chronology, 1996-2000. (NASA SP-2009-4030) by Marieke Lewis and Ryan Swanson. This is the latest in our series of chronologies of events in aeronautics, aviation, space science, and space exploration. Available online only.

Remembering the Space Age: Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Conference. (NASA SP-2008-4703) by Steven J. Dick, ed.
There is no doubt that the last 50 years have brought numerous accomplishments in the “new ocean” of space, harkening back to a long tradition of exploration. After 50 years of robotic and human spaceflight, and as serious plans are being implemented to return humans to the Moon and continue on to Mars, it is a good time to step back and ask questions that those in the heat of battle have had little time to consider. This conference proceedings book is an edited collection of 21 essays stemming from an October 2007 conference sponsored by the NASA History Division and the National Air and Space Museum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Sputnik 1 and the dawn of the Space Age.
How to order: There are several ways to purchase this book:
+ NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), 7115 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 443-757-5802, Price $55, help@sti.nasa.gov, click here
+ U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) bookstore, 1-866-512-1800,ContactCenter@gpo.gov, click here
+ Private, commercial vendors such as Amazon.com
+ NASA Information Center, Code CMI-1, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, Room 1H23, Washington, DC 20546-0001, (202) 358-0000. Price $54. click here
Click below to view this book in a three part PDF:
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.

Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume VII: Human Spaceflight: Project Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. (NASA SP-2008-4407)edited by John M. Logsdon, with Roger D. Launius.
This is the seventh volume in an ongoing series of reference books that are useful for those interested in both space history and space policy.
Price: $35
How to order: There are several ways to purchase this book:
+ NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), 7115 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 443-757-5802, help@sti.nasa.gov, click here
+ U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) bookstore, 1-866-512-1800,ContactCenter@gpo.gov, click here
+ Private, commercial vendors such as Amazon.com
+ NASA Information Center, Code CMI-1, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, Room 1H23, Washington, DC 20546-0001, (202) 358-0000. click here
Click below to view this book in a five part PDF:
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.
Part 5.

William H. Pickering: America's Deep Space Pioneer. (NASA SP-2008-4113) 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.
Please note that this is the revised version of the earlier edition.
How to order the 2008 revised edition:
There are several ways to purchase this book:
+ NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), 7115 Standard Drive, Hanover , MD 21076 , 443-757-5802, help@sti.nasa.gov, click here Price $25.
+ U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) bookstore, 1-866-512-1800,ContactCenter@gpo.gov, click here Price $39.
+ Private, commercial vendors such as Amazon.com (Price $39)
+ NASA Information Center, Code CMI-1, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, Room 1H23, Washington, DC 20546-0001, (202) 358-0000. Price $39.
Click below to view this book in a three part PDF:
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.

“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, 7115 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 443-757-5802, 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 $4 shipping and handling; outside U.S. $50 plus $17 shipping and handling).
Click below to view this book in a five part PDF:
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.
Part 5.

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, 7115 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 443-757-5802, 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 $4 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, 7115 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 443-757-5802, 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.

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, 7115 Standard Drive , Hanover , MD 21076 , 443-757-5802, 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 $4 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.

DECADAL PLANNING TEAM
We now have available online a significant collection of primary source documents from NASA’s Decadal Planning Team (DPT). The DPT began in 1999 as an effort to chart a new direction for NASA, prior to the announcement of the Vision for Space Exploration in January 2004. People interested in NASA long-range planning and policy may find this set of materials particularly interesting and timely. Thanks to DPT participant Harley Thronson for providing these documents and a background essay.

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.

Steven J. Dick, NASA Chief Historian
Steve Garber, NASA History Web Curator
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