Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1903 - 2006. Color Photograph Files Relating to Projects, Astronauts, and Events, 1963 - 1965.

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Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1903 - 2006. Color Photograph Files Relating to Projects, Astronauts, and Events, 1963 - 1965.

1963 - 1965

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/640224

This series consists of color photographic coverage of all phases of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) programs in the five principal areas outlined by the National Space Act of 1958; space science and applications, manned spaceflight, launch vehicle development, tracking and data acquisition, and advanced research and technology. The series is comprised of images collected from NASA offices and facilities. Over one half of the images relate directly to the manned spaceflight program, beginning in 1958 with Project Mercury, which produced the first successful manned orbital and suborbital missions launched by the United States. Images taken from Project Mercury (MA-1 through MA-9) missions, as well as from the Mercury Redstone (MR-1 through MR-4) missions, are represented here. These images include test flights with both the Atlas and Redstone boosters, the "Little Joe" unmanned support missions, NASA staff and contractor technicians at work, astronaut training, recovery of the crafts by the U.S. Navy, and post-mission medical and scientific tests performed on both astronauts and their spacecraft alike. Of note is the MR-2 mission, which carried "Ham" the chimpanzee into space for a 16 minute test flight on January 31, 1961. Along with Project Mercury, early phases of the Gemini and Apollo Projects are also shown in this series. The Gemini material is drawn from the project's first three launches (1964 - 1965), and the bulk of it represents test flights, pre-launch activities at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and astronaut activities and gear. By contrast, the bulk of the Apollo images depict artists' concepts and mock-ups of spacecraft, launch vehicles, flight stages, and lunar landing activity. Extensive coverage of the first NASA astronauts, and in particular their activities related to the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, exists in this series. Survival training in desert, jungle, and ocean environments is emphasized. Further training recorded includes simulated gravity and flight situations, geological instruction, and acclimation to space suits and general space conditions. Many portraits and activity shots are included of the original seven astronauts of Project Mercury (M. Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Jr., John Glenn, Jr., Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Walter Schirra, Jr., Alan Shepard, Jr., and Donald "Deke" Slayton), as well as the flight personnel of the Gemini and Apollo projects. Also featured are views of parades and award ceremonies around the country marking the successful return of astronauts to Earth, including several events held at the White House with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson and on Capitol Hill with U.S. legislators. There are also candid photographs of astronauts with their wives, as well as formal family portraits. Additionally, a significant portion of this series relates to numerous other NASA tracking and data acquisition projects. The unmanned spaceflight data missions are given varying degrees of photographic coverage, ranging from artists' concepts and developmental phases to launch pictures of Biosatellite (Biosat), Echo, Mariner, Nimbus, Pioneer, Ranger, Surveyor, Syncom, Telstar and the Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS). Accordingly, there are also roughly numerous images of elaborate tracking devices and their stations, both domestic and international, which served as nerve centers for the endless flow of information that these missions provided. Such remote locations as Grand Canary Island off the African Coast, Coopers Island, Bermuda, and Carnarvon in Australia are recorded. Of note among the unmanned missions represented in this series is the Explorer Satellite Project, which in 1958 launched the first U.S. artificial satellite, Explorer I. The Explorer VI through XXV satellites are also documented. Also of significance are views of the S-51 (UK 1) satellite, the 1962 launch of which marked the culmination of the first international space effort in history. The photographs show an American Thor - Delta rocket booster launching a British S-51 payload into Earth's orbit. Also documented in this series is the experimental rocket powered X-15 aircraft, which was flown under a joint project by NASA, the Department of Defense, and North American Aviation, Incorporated. Views of X-15 pilots Neil Armstrong and Joseph Walker conducting before and after flight activities appear here, along with artists' concepts of improvements to the X-15 design. A smaller number of images record other experimental projects as well, with the focus being on aircraft design and application. Artists' concepts and models of the Supersonic Commercial Air Transport (SCAT) are shown at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. Also covered are the M2F2 aircraft and the HL-10 entry vehicle as components of extensive supersonic and hypersonic research projects at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Of further interest are approximately 75 images from the NASA Space Art Program. Begun in September 1962 as a way of capturing and disseminating the impressions of significant American artists, the program peaked with the National Gallery of Art's 1965 "Eyewitness to Space" exhibit, which traveled the country for several years. The images in this series are color photographs of original artwork, chiefly depicting various NASA facilities around the country or their construction. A smaller number of the art works depict launch scenes. All of the art works were drawn or painted between 1962 and 1965. Several images also appear depicting NASA exhibits at the New York World's Fair held in New York City, New York in 1964 and 1965. These exhibits featured equipment from many of NASA's most prominent projects, including an X-15 research aircraft, launch vehicles Saturn, Titan and Atlas, and a Gemini spacecraft.

16 linear feet, 8 linear inches

eng, Latn

National Archives at College Park

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 11614455

National Archives at College Park

Related Entities

There are 6 Entities related to this resource.

Grissom, Virgil I. (Virgil Ivan), 1926-1967

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xg9qsf (person)

Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (b. April 3, 1926-d. Jan. 27, 1967) was born in Mitchell, Indiana. An Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, received his wings in March 1951. He flew 100 combat missions in Korea in F-86s with the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron and, upon returning to the United States in 1952, became a jet instructor at Bryan, Texas. In August 1955, he entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to study Aeronautical Engineering. He attended the T...

Shepard, Alan B. (Alan Bartlett), 1923-1998

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62b9ffh (person)

Rear Admiral Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the first American to travel into space, and in 1971, he walked on the Moon. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Shepard saw action with the surface navy during World War II. He became a naval aviator in 1946, and a test pilot in 1950. He was selected as one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts in ...

Glenn, John, 1921-2016

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t54gzv (person)

John Herschel Glenn, Jr. (b. July 18, 1921, Cambridge, Guernsey County-d. December 8, 2016, Columbus, Ohio), astronaut and U.S. Senator from Ohio. He attended public schools of New Concord, Ohio, and later graduated from Muskingum College. Glenn served in the United States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1965, and was later a test pilot and joining the United States space program in 1959. He was selected as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts. In February 1962, Glenn became the first American...

Schirra, Wally, 1923-2007

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6912sqn (person)

Wally Schirra (b. Walter Marty Schirra Jr., March 12, 1923, Hackensack, New Jersey-d. May 3, 2007, San Diego, California), astronaut. He was one of the seven Mercury Astronauts named by NASA in April 1959. On October 3, 1962; he piloted the six orbit Sigma 7 Mercury flight; a flight which lasted 9 hours, 15 minutes. Schirra next served as backup command pilot for the Gemini III Mission and on December 15-16, occupied the Command Pilot seat on the history-making Gemini 6 flight. The highlight ...

Project Mercury (U.S.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6129mmr (corporateBody)

Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Union. Taken over from the U.S. Air Force by the newly created civilian space agency NASA, it conducted twenty unmanned developmental flights (some using animals), and six successful flights by astronauts. The astronauts were collectively known as the "Mercury...

Armstrong, Neil, 1930-2012

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w664076n (person)

Neil Alden Armstrong (b. August 5, 1930, Wapakoneta, OH - d. August 25, 2012, Cincinnati, OH) was an American aviator and a former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, and United States Naval Aviator. He was the first person to set foot on the Moon. ...