In memory of Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the Moon (August 5, 1930-August 25, 2012). More photographs of Neil Armstrong from our holdings.
More you might like
Wait–is that crew of the Star Trek Enterprise in front of the Space Shuttle Enterprise? Yes, yes it is.
Thank you to Roger Launius of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for sharing this image during today’s panel discussion. And thank you to our guests Professor John Logsdon and NASA Historian Billy Barry for a great lecture.
You can watch the archived program on our Ustream channel.
Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Collins on middeck. NARA ID 23178677.
Collins on middeck on STS-63. NARA ID 23894155.
Taking it to the Stars: Eileen Collins
To celebrate Women’s History and Irish-American Heritage Months, we share archives tech Thomas Richardson’s Pieces of History post.
Overview of flight deck with Collins in pilot’s station, NARA ID 23132847.
Paperwork - even in space! NARA ID 23130737.
I think we’d have a better community on Earth if more people traveled in space. – Eileen Collins
Asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” young Eileen Collins responded both a pilot and an astronaut.
I noticed all the astronauts were male, but that did not deter me. I assumed someday a woman would have an opportunity. It was not until I was in high school that I realized how difficult it actually was. Many women attempted to apply to the astronaut program, but because women were not allowed to fly as military pilots, they did not have the experience required for space. (from here).
She ignored skeptics and broke barriers in STEM. She had many “firsts” in her decades-long career with the Air Force and NASA, during which she logged more than 6,751 hours in 30 different types of aircraft and more than 872 hours in space:
- 1st first female Air Force flight instructor (1979).
- One of the 1st women to attend Air Force Test Pilot School (graduated 1990)
- 1st female space shuttle pilot - 2/3/1995, flying the Discovery to the Russian Mir space station.
- 1st female space shuttle commander, 7/23/1999.
- One of 1st tasters of Coke in zero gravity!
- 1st-ever to perform the “rendezvous pitch maneuver” (full 360° pitch nose-over-tail), on her last space flight as commander of the 2005 “Return to Flight” mission, the first since the Columbia disaster.
Collins cited the lasting impact of the first moon landing:
On the day of the first moon landing, July 20th, 1969, I was just a child, and I remember how inspiring the space program was to me. I especially admired the astronauts, not just the Apollo astronauts, but the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts. Remember, the Mercury program flew in the early 1960s, and then the Gemini program was kind of a bridge to the Apollo program. And all of those astronauts were a great inspiration to me; I wanted to be just like them. I wanted to learn how to fly, do well in school and math and science, and join the military, become an Air Force pilot, become a test pilot, and then lead into the astronaut program.– Smithsonian interview
President Clinton with Lt. Col. Collins after her selection as the first woman space mission commander, 3/5/1998. NARA ID 183374036).
The Space Program under Presidents Nixon and Ford
Thursday, June 13, at noon
Roger Launius, senior curator in the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, will moderate a panel discussion on the American space program as it developed under Presidents Nixon and Ford, including the Apollo missions to the Moon, the decision to develop the space shuttle, and the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz test project.
The panel includes John Logsdon, professor emeritus of George Washington University; William Barry, chief historian at NASA; and others. Presented in partnership with the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Archives Office of Presidential Libraries.
Watch this event live on our Ustream channel at www.ustream.tv/usnationalarchives. All the videos of this events are archived on this web page and can be watched at any time.
Image of Apollo–Soyuz courtesy of NASA.
Astronauts talk about food during the Gemini 3
mission in 1965:
What is it?
Corn beef sandwich.
Where did come from?
I brought it with me…Yes, it’s breaking up. I’m going to stick it in my pocket.
Fifty-seven years ago President Eisenhower signed the National
Aeronautics and Space Act. The National Archives houses thousands and
thousands of cubic feet of NASA material.
This selection pertains to the discussion of
food–including a corn beef sandwich and applesauce–during the Gemini 3
mission in 1965. Things were not always very tasty or easy to eat!
For
more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at Fort Worth at ftworth.archives@nara.gov.
Astronaut Michael Collins, 5/27/1976, NASA records, NARA ID 17447979.
RIP Michael Collins
“I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of, let’s say 100,000 miles, their outlook would be fundamentally changed. The all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument suddenly silenced. The tiny globe would continue to turn, serenely ignoring its subdivisions, presenting a unified facade that would cry out for unified understanding, for homogeneous treatment. The earth must become as it appears: blue and white, not capitalist or communist; blue and white, not rich or poor; blue and white, not envious or envied.”
― Michael Collins (10/31/1930 – 4/28/2021)
Star Chart from Apollo 11, NASA records, NARA ID 4958425.
President Nixon greets Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, 7/24/1969.
President Reagan with Apollo 11 Astronauts, Reagan Library, NARA ID 75853521.
President George W. Bush with Apollo 11 Astronauts L-R Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin, 7/21/2004, 35th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission NARA ID 75597807.
See also:
“Mars may attempt communication by radio waves with this planet…” 1924 Telegram from Navy Secretary to Naval Stations re: Mars. NARA ID 596070.
Who’s Out There? NASA film, 1975. NARA ID 649442.
MARS: “RED ROVER, RED ROVER, SEND CHINA RIGHT OVER” ?
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
This week, China landed its first rover on Mars — the biggest test yet of its space exploration capabilities. To mark this milestone, we dug into our online catalog to find these MARS-related records. ENJOY!
ORSON WELLES talks ETs in NASA’s Who’s Out There?
Is anyone out there? Orson Welles asks and answers this question in NASA’s 1975 film and concludes YES, “there may be other intelligent civilizations capable of communicating with us.”
Narrator: From the monstrous Mars life of his famous broadcast, Orson Welles will be taking us through science fiction to science fact, to the new view of extraterrestrial life now emerging from probes to the planets, interstellar discoveries, and findings about the nature of life itself. A real picture as astonishing in its way as the science fiction of 1938.
An impact on ourselves of contact with another intelligent civilization – how it might come about and what the effects might be – is now being discussed by serious thinkers the world over.
Orson Welles: The difference between the spacecrafts of NASA and the lurid flying saucery of that old radio War of the Worlds is the difference between science and science fiction and, yes, between war and peace. It’s our own world which has turned out to be the interplanetary visitor; we’re the ones who are moving out there, not with death rays but with cameras, not to conquer but simply to learn. We are in fact behaving ourselves far better out there than we ever have back here at home on our own planet.
All we know about Mars, circa 1970 - 1979
The next step will be to orbit Mars. This unmanned flight is scheduled for March in 1971. Then we’ll colonize it with machines. Our Mayflowers and our Pilgrim fathers on Mars will be Viking, Orbiters and Landers. From NASA’s Planet Mars (1979). NARA ID 649457.
One of the most important and dramatic investigations to be conducted during the next 10 years is the search for life beyond Earth. If extraterrestrial life does exist in the solar system, it is most likely on Mars. For that reason, Mars remains the prime target of the planetary exploration program. Exploration of the Planets, 1971. NARA ID 649404.
State of the Art NASA film Seeds of Discovery (1970), NARA ID 649645.
And what about Mars? Well this is the planet where we hope to find life, or which will help us… understand the life process. The next step will be to orbit Mars. This unmanned flight is scheduled for March in 1971. Then we’ll colonize it with machines. Our Mayflowers and our Pilgrim fathers on Mars will be Viking, Orbiters and Landers.
– Seeds of Discovery (1970), NARA ID 649645.
As for images of Mars - we’ve come a long, long way. In fact, early pictures of Mars look a lot like images from EPA’s DOCUMERICA Project that showed unchecked land development and the decaying natural environment.
L: Staten Island Landfill, EPA records, NARA ID 549795.
R: Planet Mars Landscape, NASA records, NARA ID 17450923.
Many more of our films on YouTube!
- NASA Playlist
- Space Exploration Playlist
- “Apollo 11” Film Discussion
- Apollo 11: Rare NASA Films from the National Archives
- Space Down to Earth (1970)
- Life Beyond Earth and the Mind of Man - 1975
- Power for Apollo: Saturn V
- Exploration of the Planets (1971)
- MSC (AV) - Astronaut Armstrong in Vacuum Chamber B
- MSC (AV) - Astronaut Armstrong Training in the LLTV (June 16, 1969)
- Eight Months to Mars
- The Eagle Has Landed, The Flight of Apollo 11, 1969
- Space for Women (Extended Version)
- Space: Man’s Great Adventure (The Woman’s Touch)
- Nuclear Propulsion in Space
- America in Space - The First Decade
- Within this Decade: America in Space - 1969
It’s the first day of our “12 Days of Archives” holiday carol! We hope you enjoy these images and our rhymes as we count down the days until December 24.
On the first day of the Archives celebration,
an archivist caused me great elation
when he gave to me one astronaut in space.
Image: “Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot for the Gemini-Titan 4 space flight, floats in zero gravity of space. … The visor of his helmet is gold-plated to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun.” June 3, 1965, ARC Identifier 5804878.
Alan Shepard was vaccinated!
From his official 751-page Military file. NARA ID 74880569.
CU Lcdr Alan Shepard, USN, seated in gondola during centrifuge run. Project Mercury film, NARA ID 83039.
Alan Shepard prepares for test simulation flight. NASA records, NARA ID 17409758.
JFK, Jackie, LBJ and others watch Shephard’s lift-off . Kennedy Library. NARA ID 6816401.
#OTD 1960, astronaut Alan Shepard became the 1st American in space.
He launched aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule. His suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere, marking a huge triumph for NASA.
Shepard was preceded in space by Ham-the-chimpanzee, who had 430 mile ride in a Mercury capsule launched by a Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral Jan. 31, 1961.
Ham grabs an apple - his first food following this historic flight. NASA records, NARA ID 7038095.
Learn more!
Space Exploration - NASA Records at the National Archives
Help us transcribe SPACE records!
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin, Lunar Module (LM) pilot, salutes the U.S. flag that has been placed on the moon. (NAID 16685052)
As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, we will be featuring articles on topics related to the mission.
Apollo 11: Mementos on the Moon
By David Langbart, Archivist in the Textual Records Division, National Archives at College Park | The Text Message
At a Department of State senior staff meeting on May 27, 1969, part of the discussion concerned the international implications of objects that might be left on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission, intended to be the first lunar landing.
After internal discussion, the Department of State provided NASA with its views on the matter of objects to be left on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts in the following letter.[1]
Apollo 11, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., lifted off from Cape Kennedy at 9:32 AM EDT on July 16, 1969. The Lunar Module touched down on the Moon at 4:18 PM EDT on July 20. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, stepped on the surface at 10:56 PM EDT, followed shortly by Edwin Aldrin. The next day, Armstrong and Aldrin left the Moon. The three astronauts landed back on Earth in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii at 12:51 PM EDT on July 24, 1969.
Clearly, as this iconic photograph from the Apollo 11 mission shows, NASA did not accept the Department’s key recommendation about the U.S. flag.[2]
Read more at The Text Message.
A beautician styles a customer’s hair at the Truman Plaza beauty parlor, 2/12/1990. NARA ID 6460762.
Navy barbers give crew members a trim in the enlisted barbershop on the battleship USS IOWA, 2/1/1986. NARA ID 6420264.
SHOTS AT THE SHOP!
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
President Biden today announced Shots at the Shop, an initiative to engage Black-owned barbershops and beauty salons nationwide to boost COVID vaccinations and outreach in communities of color. Of course we have related records!
Learn about Madam C.J. Walker, a pioneer of the African American beauty industry and groundbreaking entrepreneur:
A’Lelia Bundles, journalist, historian, author, and National Archives Foundation Board member, is the great-great-granddaughter of Madam C. J. Walker. Bundles’ book On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, was the “inspiration” for Self Made, the 2020 Netflix series.
- Madam C.J. Walker in the National Archives - A'Lelia tells Madam Walker’s story with help from National Archives records.
- Meet Madame C.J. Walker, The National Archives Comes Alive: Young Learners Program.
- A’Lelia Bundles Live! - A’Lelia discusses the Netflix series Self Made
USN Air Traffic Controller Airman Shandre Forte receives a fresh haircut from USS Kitty Hawk Ships Serviceman Redmond, 1/13/2001. NARA ID 6610232.
U.S. Navy Ship’s Serviceman 2nd Class Darrayll Ezell puts finishing touches on haircut for airman Moses Rodriguez, barber shop aboard Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier USS JOHN C. STENNIS, 1/26/2007. NARA ID 6704265.
