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

nasa history division
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News from Headquarters and the Centers (continued)
Glenn Research Center (GRC)
Archivist Bob Arrighi (Wyle) is working with the GRC Imaging Technology Center
to develop an interactive history of the Center’s aircraft from the 1940s to today. A
list has been pared down of the aircraft to about 35 and photographs located for
all. Brief histories are being written of the aircraft themselves and how they were
utilized at Glenn.
Recent activity in our collection includes the transcription of George Lewis’s talk
at the groundbreaking for the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory on 23 January
1941; the transcription and background information have been added to the collection.
In addition, Abe Silverstein fles in the Directors’ Collection and Personal
Papers are being reprocessed and prepared for scanning.
GRC is looking forward to a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11
Moon landing. The history offce will be preparing a display outlining our contributions
to the Apollo program and local reactions to the Moon landing. Archivist
Bob Arrighi also provided material for an hour-long special that the local NBC
affliate, WKYC, aired this month, entitled “To The Moon: Ohio’s Journey.” A great
deal of the text and footage seen during the frst 20-minute segment of this special
was provided by the archivist. The producer was provided with a synopsis of the
Center’s achievements relating to the space program, historical flms to highlight
each section, and photographs and information on Silverstein’s naming of Mercury
and Apollo. This documentary can be viewed in segments on the WKYC Web site at
http://www.wkyc.com. Search “To the Moon.”
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Erik Conway received the NASA Headquarters History Award at the annual program
review at ARC. His work has been possible due to support from the NASA
Headquarters History Offce, the Science Mission Directorate, Langley Research
Center, and JPL. Thanks to Nadine Andreassen, Blaine Baggett, Steve Dick, Debbie
Douglas, Rob Ferguson, Mike Finneran, Steve Garber, Steven Kulczycki, Gail
Langevin, Roger Launius, Donna Lawson, Jane Odom, Steve Sanford, and Margo
Young for their assistance and encouragement over the last decade.
Erik attended the “Climate and Cultural Anxiety” workshop at Colby College at the
end of March. This effort was supported by the National Science Foundation and is
intended to result in a volume of the journal Osiris. His contribution to the conference
was an analysis of how NASA became the largest funder of climate science in
the United States. Publication of the volume is scheduled for 2011.
JPL is also beginning to work on a series of documentaries on its history. These
will be similar to the Explorer 1 documentary done for the 50th anniversary of its
launch in January 2008. The frst will be a “prequel” covering the founding of JPL
and its frst few decades as an Army lab and is currently in production. We are currently
interviewing veterans of JPL’s lunar projects of the 1960s, Ranger and Lunar
Surveyor, for the next entry in the series.
During 2008, Erik conducted 23 oral histories, primarily in support of the Mars
robotic exploration history he is writing. He is currently researching and writing
about the Mars Exploration Rover project.