This collection consists of six feet of material documenting Porter's many scientific contributions. The following types of material are included: photographs, lecture notes, correspondence, trip notes, newspaper clippings, symposium programs, papers, and periodicals, circa 1930s-1980s.
Scope and Content:
The Richard Porter Collection reflects Porter's career as an electrical engineer, rocketry expert, and a corporate manager and consultant. Almost the entirety of this collection consists of materials related to his professional work. This includes correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, reports, notes, speeches, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, programs, magazines, newsletters, papers, articles, newspaper clippings, miscellaneous materials (directories, mailing lists, transcript, etc.), as well as a scrapbook. It is worth singling out a few of the aforementioned materials for their particular historical significance pertaining to the development of rocketry and space exploration. Some of the correspondence, memoranda and notes reveal the inner workings of Operation Paperclip: the U.S. plan to seek out, debrief, recruit and evacuate German rocket scientists from war-torn Germany to America. Additionally, other examples of correspondence and notes give candid appraisals of some key figures in the aerospace field, as well as to illustrate exchanges between Porter and such scientific luminaries as Carl Sagan, Wernher von Braun, Simon Ramo, Holger Toftoy, Fred Durant III, Edith Goddard and Clyde Tombaugh.
The Porter Collection is arranged both chronologically and alphabetically. Correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, notes, notebooks, speeches, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, programs, magazines, journals, articles, newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials are organized by the former method. Reports are arranged alphabetically by organizational name while newsletters and papers are grouped alphabetically by title and then chronologically.
The reader should note that the Porter Collection was exposed to a fire in Porter's office sometime during the late 1970s. The fire, along with the subsequent dousing of water from the firefighters, destroyed much of this collection. All that remained are the materials described here. While the surviving materials generally suffered only minor damage (mainly to their original folders), scorch marks can be occasionally observed on some correspondence, speeches, reports, etc.. More serious problems exist with seven folders containing photographs. For conservation purposes, they have been separated from the rest of the photographs in this collection and are currently unavailable to researchers.
Arrangement:
The Porter Collection is arranged both chronologically and alphabetically. Correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, notes, notebooks, speeches, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, programs, magazines, journals, articles, newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials are organized by the former method. Reports are arranged alphabetically by organizational name while newsletters and papers are grouped alphabetically by title.
Biographical/Historical note:
As an established authority on rockets, GE placed Porter in overall charge of the company's guided missiles department in 1953. By the mid-1950s, his great knowledge in this field also lead to a position as head of a panel of scientists tasked with developing a U.S. space program in time for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58. On February 1, 1958, Porter was given the honor of announcing to reporters that the U.S. had launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, the previous night. The booster employed for this endeavor, an Army Jupiter-C, was designed and built mainly by the German rocket scientists (including their leader, Wernher von Braun) Porter helped to bring to America thirteen years earlier. By this time, GE assigned him as a company-wide consultant. Besides serving as leader of the U.S. IGY effort, he also served on many other boards and panels such as the International Relations Committee of the Space Sciences Board, U.S. National Academy of Science, the U.S. Academy in the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and the U.S. delegation for the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. During his long career in engineering and aerospace development, Porter was also the recipient of numerous honors and awards. These included the Coffin Award, Goddard Award and the Scientific Achievement Award given by Yale University.
Aside from his career, Porter had a busy personal life. In 1946, he married Edith Wharton Kelly. The couple had two daughters and a son. Porter enjoyed horticulture -- especially growing orchids, as well as skiing and playing the clarinet. He died on October 6, 1996 at the age of 83.
General note:
Dr. Porter had a fire that destroyed most of his papers. These six boxes are all that remain.
Provenance:
Susan Porter Beffel and Thomas Andrew Porter, Gift, 1997, 1997-0037, NASM
The Rand History Project Interviews constitute one of several oral history projects conducted within the National Air and Space Musuem's Department of Space History. The principal investigator for this project was Martin Collins and the following individuals were interviewed: Bruno Augenstein, Robert Bacher (with Lee DuBridge), Edward Barlow, Robert Belzer, Paul Blasingame, Edward Bowles, Frank Collbohm, Merton Davies, Richard Frick, Lawrence Henderson, Charles Hitch, Amrom Katz, Scott King, Burt Klein, David Novick, Malcolm Palmatier, Ernst Plessett, Edward Quade, Arthur Raymond, Ben Rumph, Robert Salter, Bernard Schriever, Gustave Shubert, Robert Specht, Hans Speier, George Tanham, Crawford Thompson, and Albert Wohlstetter.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the compact audio cassettes and transcripts for the Rand History Project interviews, which is a dual institutional study of the RAND Corporation and its military sponsor, the Air Force. This collection covers the period 1945 though the early 1960s and consists of 104 hours of interviews with 29 individuals. The RAND interviews were conceived as another angle of inquiry on the relations between expert knowledge and the military in the early Cold War. RAND drew together engineers, scientists, and mathematicians whose specialties were oriented toward military hardware design and the physical sciences and sociologists, political scientists, economists, psychologists, and other social science and humanities specialists. All were organized within a single institution to study the problem of warfare in the cold War, especially from the perspective of the Air Force.
Arrangement:
The RAND History Project Interviews are arranged alphabetically by interviewee. Series I (boxes 1-9) contains interviews on audio cassette tapes. Series II (boxes 10-12) contains the transcripts.
Biographical/Historical note:
This collection contains the interviews for the RAND History Project Interviews. These interviews explore the non-profit research firm's efforts to study the various problems of U.S. national security during the Cold War, in particular, from the perspective of the U.S. Air force (USAF). RAND brought together physical scientists, political scientists, sociologists, engineers and mathematicians and organized them within this single institution to pursue such research efforts. The RAND Project constitutes one of a number of oral history endeavors conducted by the National Air and Space Museum's (NASM) Department of Space History. The principal (though, by no means the only) interviewer for this project was Martin Collins, and the interview set consists of 104 hours of interviews with 38 individuals. The following people were interviewed for this project: Bruno Augenstein, Robert Bacher (with Lee DuBridge), Edward Barlow, Robert Belzer, Paul Blasingame, Edward Bowles, Charles Carey, Frank Collbohm, Merton Davies, Robert Davis, James Digby, Gene Fisher, Richard Frick, Olaf Helmer, Lawrence Henderson, Charles Hitch, Victor Jackson, Amrom Katz, Scott King, Burt Klein, Charles Lindblom, Hugh Miser, David Novick, Malcolm Palmatier, Ernst Plessett, Edward Quade, Arthur Raymond, Ben Rumph, Robert Salter, Bernard Schriever, Lloyd Shapley, Gustave Shubert, Robert Specht, Hans Speier, George Tanham, Crawford Thompson, and Albert Wohlstetter.
Related Materials:
Similar materials, specifically a series of videohistories on the same topic, are housed in the Smithsonian Institution Archives in the The Research and Development (RAND) Corporation Interviews, local collection number SIA 9536.
Provenance:
Department of Space History, NASM, Transfer, 1999, NASM.1999.0037, Varies.
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Singer, S. Fred (Siegfried Fred), 1924- Search this
Extent:
54.5 Cubic feet ((50 records center boxes))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Publications
Photographs
Drawings
Financial records
Notes
Correspondence
Place:
Outer space -- Exploration -- United States
Outer space -- Exploration
Date:
1953-1989
bulk 1960-1980
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of Singer's personal papers. The material consists of correspondence and research files, as well as financial records. The collection covers Singer's career beginning with his tenure at Maryland and continued through his retirement in 1989.
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. Siegfried Fred Singer (1924- ) is a professor, physicist, and administrator. Singer emigrated to the United States from Vienna in 1940 (naturalized 1944) and attended Ohio State University (BEE 1943; D.Sc. (honorary) 1970) and Princeton (AM 1944, Ph.D. (physics) 1948). He taught briefly as a doctoral candidate at Princeton (1943-44) before joining the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as a physicist (1946-50). He acted as the Office of Naval Research Scientific Liaison Officer at the US Embassy in London (1950-53), then joined the faculty of the University of Maryland (assoc. professor, physics 1953-59; professor 1959-62). He continued to alternate between public and academic positions, working at the National Weather Satellite Center, Department of Commerce (Director, 1962-64); School of Environmental and Planetary Science, University of Miami (Dean, 1964-67); Department of the Interior (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water Quality and Research, 1967-70); University of Virginia (Professor, Environmental Science, 1971-87); and the Department of Transportation (Chief Scientist, 1987-89). Singer authored a number of papers and articles on astrophysics, space exploration, and environmental issues and was involved in formulating public policies on these topics.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
S. Fred Singer, gift, 1989, 1989-0130, unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Search this
Webb, James E. (James Edwin), 1906-1992 Search this
Extent:
0.39 Cubic feet ((1 box))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Date:
bulk 1933-1976
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the correspondence, notes, and official documents between NASA Administrator James Webb and Arthur Raymond, NASA consultant, 1961-1976. The correspondence covers a range of topics including policy evaluation, commentary, and recommendations relating to NASA's relationship with government, industry, universities and the military with specific references to the Apollo program, Dyna Soar project, and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. There is also a folder containing correspondence and miscellaneous documents from Raymond's tenure as consultant to the RAND Corporation and a folder of correspondence between Raymond and James H. Kindelberger relating to the Douglas DC-1.
Biographical / Historical:
James E. Webb (1906 -1992) received an A.B. degree from the University of North Carolina in 1928. Webb joined the United States Marine Corps in 1930 and completed naval aviator training at the United States Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. In 1936, he was admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia after completing evening law courses at George Washington University and began his government career as a secretary to Representative Edward W. Pou of North Carolina. From 1936 to 1943 Webb held several executive positions at Sperry Gyroscope, but returned to the Marine Corps during World War II, where he served as commander of an aviation wing. After the war Webb worked in the United States Treasury Department, was appointed Director of the Budget by President Truman, and in 1949 he was reassigned by presidential appointment to the State Department where he served as Undersecretary of State. Webb left the State Department in 1952, and worked in the private sector for such companies as Kerr-McGee Oil Industries of Oklahoma, and as director of McDonnell Aircraft and president of Educational Services Incorporated. In 1961 Webb returned to the government when he was appointed Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In almost eight years of service Webb led NASA as it expanded from an agency with 17,000 employees and a {dollar}900 million budget to an agency with 34,000 employees and a {dollar}5.2 billion budget. During Webb's administration NASA successfully carried out Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Ranger, Surveyor, Lunar Orbiter, Nimbus, Tiros, and a host of other scientific and engineering programs.
Arthur Raymond (1899-1999) was the Chief Engineer at Douglas and his team built the DC-3. After retiring from Douglas in 1960, Mr. Raymond was a special consultant to James E. Webb, NASA's administrator. Raymond was put in charge of supervising outside contractors on both the Gemini and Apollo space projects until 1969. In November 1991, Raymond received the National Air and Space Museum Trophy for lifetime achievement.
Provenance:
Martin Collins, Transfer, 2017
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Space Station Freedom was a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project from the 1980s that, although it was never brought to fruition as such, evolved into the International Space Station (ISS). This collection consists of a viewgraph presentation on Space Station Freedom prepared by Terence T. Finn to be given by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) administrator James Montgomery Beggs to President Ronald Wilson Reagan and the Cabinet Council on December 1, 1983.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a viewgraph presentation on Space Station Freedom prepared by Terence T. Finn to be given by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) administrator James Montgomery Beggs to President Ronald Wilson Reagan and the Cabinet Council on December 1, 1983. The presentation includes information about the United States' space policy; other NASA programs such as the Space Shuttle; advantages of a space station program; and information on the Soviet Salyut space station. The collection also includes talking points (dated November 30, 1983) for the presentation and a NASA publication entitled, "The Space Station: A Description of the Configuration Established at the Systems Requirements Review (SRR)," dated June 1986. Scans of the individual pages of the presentation and a copy of the presentation put together as a PowerPoint file were provided by the donor and these are housed with the collection on a USB flash drive.
Biographical / Historical:
Space Station Freedom was a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project that, although it was never brought to fruition as such, evolved into the International Space Station (ISS). NASA began developing Freedom in the early 1980s and the project was announced in then-President Ronald Wilson Reagan's 1984 State of the Union address. Many of the design components of Freedom were later incorporated into the ISS. Terence T. Finn was a member of NASA's Space Station Task Force.
Provenance:
Terence T. Finn, Gift, 2013, NASM.2013.0052.
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Station Freedom Viewgraph Presentation, Acc. NASM.2013.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Future space programs 1975 : Hearings before the Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications of the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, first session, July 22, 23, 24, 29 and 30, 1975
Author:
United States Congress House Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications Search this
Subject:
United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration Search this
Where do you go after you've been to the moon? : a case study of NASA's pioneer effort at change / by Francis T. Hoban with William M. Lawbaugh and Edward J. Hoffman
