JPL Public Affairs Office Collection, 1969-1983.

ArchivalResource

Colella, Frank J., 1921-. JPL Public Affairs Office Collection, 1969-1983.

JPL Public Affairs Office Collection, 1969-1983.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/733100867

The collection consists of press releases, copies of newspaper clippings, presentation material, correspondence, lithographs, and reports, many originating from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Office of Public Affairs, some originating from NASA and Caltech. The collection is arranged alphabetically by subject. The bulk of the collection dates from 1976 to 1983. These materials were all compiled and promulgated to fulfill the Public Affairs Office's administrative responsibilities. Noteworthy items included in the collection are: Apollo Program (folder 1). This folder consists of NASA press releases and copies of newspaper articles involving the Apollo manned missions to the Moon. There is a concentration on the Apollo 12 mission that retrieved pieces of JPL's Surveyor 3 probe from the surface of the Moon. Also included is information on the Apollo 14 and 17 missions. Cost Estimates (Folders 7-14). Included in these folders are cost estimate summaries and plans for the various sections in the Public Affairs Office. The public affairs plans included an itemized listing of all expenditures for the PAO, which depending on the project included models, film clips for launch activities, photographs of planetary encounters, science briefings, secretarial support, fact sheets, lithographs, printing requirements, and other miscellaneous items. The missions included are Galileo, Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), National Oceanic Satellite System, International Solar Polar Mission (later Ulysses), Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (later Magellan), and Voyager. Also included are files on Public Affairs projected activities, research and program management. Exploration of the Solar System (Folder 18). This is presentation material that was presented on September 22, 1977. It describes the rationale, goals and content of the U.S. Lunar and Planetary Programs. Included are 22 photographs, with captions. NASA Budget (Folders 34-39). This series of folders starts with a chart breaking down the NASA Office of Space Science budgets for planetary exploration year by year from 1959 to 1978. The categories include research and technology, flight projects and flight support. The remaining files are organized by year, and include memoranda, press releases and Congressional testimony regarding the NASA budget. Nomenclature (Folders 40-42). These three files deal with the designation of project names for Voyager and Galileo, as well as the change in name of the Civil Systems Office. The Civil Systems Office (Organization 700) was established in April 1976. As early as November 1976 there were proposals for new names for the organization. Most of the names included the words "energy," "technology" or "applications" in them. The name of the office was ultimately changed in March 1978 to the Office of Energy and Technology Applications. One of the proposed names was the Technology Applications Program Office, which was later used for another JPL organization. Similar nomenclature files are present in the collection for Galileo and Voyager. Purple Pigeons (Folder 48). In the spring of 1976, Bruce Murray initiated a "Purple Pigeon" study of possible future missions for JPL, dramatic missions of high scientific content that would garner public support. "Purple Pigeons" were contrasted with "Gray Mice," missions of scientific interest only to a few scientific disciplines but so dull they would never gain widespread public support. Murray believed new projects would have to include pizzazz to attract public support. Included in the collection are memoranda, notes and notices for the Planetary Missions workshop run by Clarence R. "Johnny" Gates. SETI (Folder 49). The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) was a concentrated effort by NASA to use existing radio telescopes to scan areas of the sky looking for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence. The file includes a copy of a memorandum of understanding between JPL and Ames Research Center, dated June 1976, as well as correspondence, including a form letter from Carl Sagan. Presentation material on the "JPL SETI Project Plan" also is included. Sunfire (Folder 58). Project Sunfire was a solar-electric generator began in 1975 that was a project of the JPL Space Exploration Post 509 of the Boy Scouts of America. The generator was intended to assist the 60 inhabitants of remote Pitcairn Island, located in the south Pacific. JPL did not provide funds, only facilities for the job. In November 1977, NASA ordered JPL to evict the solar energy project from the Lab, and move it to an off-Lab site, citing unauthorized use of government property. Included in the collection are copies of news articles regarding the project, background material, and memoranda concerning the eviction of the project from the Lab. Voyager (Folders 65-86). The project most represented in the collection is Voyager, the dual probe "Grand Tour" mission to the Outer Planets. Represented in the collection are memoranda, reports and correspondence regarding launch activities, television coverage, and public affairs operations for the Voyager encounters with Jupiter and Saturn. Also included are guest lists for the Voyager 1 Jupiter encounter in March 1979 and the Voyager 1 Saturn encounter in November 1980. Also included in the collection are several drafts of the Voyager Jupiter Encounter Readiness Review. The final draft, dated December 7, 1978, was in the form of copies of Viewgraphs used for presentation material. The sections were: Introduction and Project Overview (Robert J. Parks), Public Affairs (Frank J. Colella), Flight Team Readiness (George P. Textor), Space Flight Operations (Michael Devirian), SDI Readiness (Francis M. Sturms), Science Directorate (James E. Long), Ground Data Systems (GDS) Readiness (Michael J. Sander), Mission Director's Flight Team Summary (Richard P. Laeser), Deep Space Network Readiness (Esker K. Davis), Multimission Control and Computing Center (MCCC) Operations (Michael R. Plesset), and Project Readiness Summary (Ray L. Heacock, only the title page is in the collection). During the Voyager 1 Jupiter encounter, "Jupiter Watch," a special television program, was aired over KCET-TV, the local Los Angeles Public Broadcasting channel. It was hosted by JPL'er Al Hibbs, and aired periodically from February 15-March 7, 1979. The live broadcasts lasted anywhere from five minutes for most pre-encounter broadcasts to two hours, for the closest encounter with Jupiter on March 5, 1979. Included in the collection is a list of broadcast dates along with a copy of an advertisement for the program. Also included are Public Affairs Operations Plans for various projects. The plans would include purpose, objectives, and responsibilities for various public affairs actions. Included in the collection are Public Affairs Plans for IRAS and Voyager.

1.2 cubic ft. (86 folders)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Library and Archives