Several factors can make researching NASA records a challenge. First, the agency is still in operation and continues to generate records. Second, it exists in multiple centers, offices, and facilities throughout the country. Compare this to the Civil Aeronautics Board which was disestablished in 1985. The CAB’s official presence was limited to its offices in Washington and it hasn’t generated a new record since 1985. Third, NASA’s projects (and thus the records they generate) can span many years. For example, the twin Voyager probes, launched in 1977, are still an active project. NASA’s longest-lived and farthest-traveled space probes are over 15 billion miles away, give or take a few million. Both Voyagers are still transmitting data forty-seven years after launch. Staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA monitor the mission and maintain contact with the probes.
Much closer to home, NASA records may also fall under ITAR regulations. These regulations pertain to the “export” of certain types of information and are governed by the Arms Control Export Act and Executive Order 13637. This can complicate issues such as access, duplication, and sometimes even who can be around some types of NASA records.
Another twist in researching NASA is the proliferation of contractors involved in so much of what the agency does. Researchers often find themselves looking into the activities of contractors in the course of their research. For the Apollo era, this can be a challenge for two reasons. First, it is not always clear what records remained with the contractor and which ones were considered permanent government property. Second, many of the Apollo era contractors no longer exist or they exist in a greatly altered form. For example, the modern aerospace giant Boeing little resembles the company as it was in the 1960s.
To illustrate the phenomenon of researching a single NASA-related topic, let’s take a look at Apollo 6.
Apollo 6 launched on April 4th 1968. It was the final uncrewed Apollo flight and it certified that the Saturn V launch vehicle was ready for use on crewed missions. A researcher looking into Apollo 6 would have to do some legwork to track down various information on the flight.
The only surviving piece of flight hardware, the Command Module, is technically the property of the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum. However, it is on display at the Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta, GA.
At the NASA Headquarters Archives in Washington, a series titled Apollo Program Subject Files contains mission reports, photographs, and newspaper clippings from the launch of Apollo 6. The finding aid for this series directs researchers to boxes 62 & 63 for this material. A researcher interested in this material would have to make an appointment and visit NASA Headquarters to view it.
The major test for Apollo 6 was the giant Saturn V itself. The rocket was designed and built under the auspices of Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. Many permanent NASA records from MSFC reside with The National Archives at Atlanta. One such series pertains to the J-2 engine, the workhorse that powered the Saturn V’s second and third stages. The J-2 was unique at the time for liquid-fueled engines because it was designed to be shutdown and restarted in the vacuum of space. As a result of this critical aspect of the J-2, a great deal of testing and documentation were needed. An example of this are the “Saturn J-2 Engine Office Project Case Files,” an 84 box series of records. One box contains reports solely focused on the J-2 engines flown on Apollo 6. Volumes 2 & 3 are available online via NASA’s Technical Reports Server. However, this physical series in the holdings of the National Archives at Atlanta contains Volumes 1-5.
Researchers looking into NASA history often find themselves looking into multiple sources of information. The examples in this post are only a few of the possibilities that may occur. Experienced NASA researchers can tell you it often takes patience and tenacity to wade through the sea of information available both online and in physical form.
Related Reading: Secondary Sources: NASA in the History Books