FROM THE CHIEF HISTORIAN BORIS CHERTOK'S Rockets and ...

nasa history division
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From the Chief Historian (continued)
Books, the Aeronautics and Space Report of the President, and the Aeronautics
and Astronautics Chronology. We have published numerous books on NASA
programs and have inaugurated—with the Science Mission Directorate—a large
program on the History of the Scientifc Exploration of Earth and Space (HSEES),
flling a large gap in space history literature. Other gaps are being flled by books
in progress, which include those documenting the history of NASA’s life sciences,
deep space navigation, aeronautics, and international relations. We have produced
some innovative books, including Paul Dickson’s Dictionary of the Space Age, with
its Oxford English Dictionary approach to the etymology of Space Age terms. All
the while, we have tried to disseminate our products to the wider public in accordance
with the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. In addition to the
New Series in NASA History by Johns Hopkins University Press, our agreement
with Dover Publications to reprint our out-of-print classics goes a long way toward
accomplishing this goal.
In addition to our usual emphasis on aeronautics and space history, we have also
taken the societal impact of spaceflight into our portfolio. Beginning with the
eponymous conference proceedings, we have inaugurated a new NASA History
subseries on societal impact, of which two more volumes, Cosmos and Culture and
Historical Studies in the Societal Impact of Spaceflight, are in press. A nuanced
and objective approach to the societal impact of spacefight is important not only
because the multigenerational programs under way will require the support of
society, but also because of the need to foster a closer relationship between science
and society in general.
Conferences and publications are only the tip of the iceberg. The NASA Historical
Reference Collection, begun by Lee Saegesser and ably attended and supplemented
by our archivists, is indispensible for a great deal of research and the large number
of inquiries we receive both internally and externally. You will fnd the full scope
of the NASA History Program described in the recently published third edition of
Research in NASA History: A Guide to the NASA History Program. This Monograph
in Aerospace History No. 43 is available free of charge upon request or online at
http://www.history.nasa.gov/series95.html.
Finally, our fellowship programs through the American Historical Association, the
Society for the History of Technology, and the History of Science Society not only
assure our contact with some of the leading historical associations, but also foster
high-quality research in NASA history.
All of this could not have been achieved without my dedicated staff at NASA
Headquarters: Steve Garber as my right-hand man on book projects; Nadine
Andreassen shepherding our contracts and grants, among many other duties; Chief
Archivist Jane Odom, together with Colin Fries, John Hargenrader, and Liz Suckow,
handling and making accessible the never-ending deluge of archives and the equally
endless inquiries about space history. Glen Asner (now in the Offce of the Secretary
of Defense) also helped shepherd many of our projects, as do a continual stream of
enthusiastic interns, many of whom have gone on to important positions inside and
outside NASA. Our historians, archivists, and record managers at each of the 10
Centers do heroic work, often in the face of overwhelming odds. My sincere thanks
to them all. It has been a joy working with them and my colleagues in the Offce of
External Relations and throughout NASA.