According to the Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1963, finding states are obligated to return space objects landing on their territory to the launching country. In other words, pieces of American rockets and satellites … Continue reading Give Us Back Our Junk: Space Debris, 1968
This post is part of an ongoing “road trip” featuring records from the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 – 2017 (National Archives ID 20812721), a series within Record Group 79: Records of the National Park Service. Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the Dedication of the National Air and Space Museum … Continue reading Space: The Final Frontier in the National Register of Historic Places
Today's post was written by Lynn Nashorn, textual processing and accessioning archivist at the National Archives at College Park. Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa taking photos out the window from a flight deck stations, 17 Apr, 1993 (NAID 23272400) On April 8, 1993, the space shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and Ellen … Continue reading Ellen Ochoa: A Pioneer on Land and in Space
Today’s post is by Shane Bell, Archivist at the National Archives at Atlanta. This is the second of two posts regarding correspondence found in Dr. Wernher von Braun’s Personal Files, 1968 – 1970 (National Archives ID 2827681), Public Affairs Office, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Record Group 255: Records of the National Aeronautics and Space … Continue reading Dear Dr. von Braun: Eccentrics, Crack Pots, & the Moon, Part II
Today’s post is by Shane Bell, Archivist at the National Archives at Atlanta. Leading up to the launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, NASA personnel, engineers, and contractors were not the only people who recognized the gravity of the occasion and the significance of project Apollo. Many United States citizens also felt they … Continue reading Dear Dr. von Braun: Eccentrics, Crack Pots, & the Moon, Part I
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. Part I described the SKYLAB program and international concerns about its reentry. Beginning in April 1979, and with increasing frequency as the date approached, the Department of State informed overseas posts of the date … Continue reading What Goes Up Must Come Down: Dealing With the International Aspects of the Demise of SKYLAB, Part II
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The reentry of space debris carries the potential to cause a major international incident. While most such remains burn up in the atmosphere, larger pieces can survive and cause damage, injury, or even death … Continue reading What Goes Up Must Come Down: Dealing With the International Aspects of the Demise of SKYLAB, Part I
