Historic Scientific Instruments and Models

Black and white images of historic telescopes, lunar research models, and Mercury spacecraft, highlighting innovative engineering and space exploration.

Engraving depicting the Crossley telescope, a 36-inch (910 mm) reflecting telescope located at Lick Observatory, California, given to the observatory in 1895 by British politician Edward Crossley. Dated 20th Century

200-INCH TELESCOPE, OBLIQUE VIEW FROM THE WEST, SEEN FROM THE ELEVATOR PLATFORM; SHUTTERS OPEN.

A NASA mechanic secures the afterbody to a Mercury capsule in the hangar at the Lewis Research Center. The capsule was one of two built at Lewis for the Big Joe” launches scheduled for September 1959. The initial phase of Project Mercury consisted of a series of unmanned launches using the Air Force’s Redstone and Atlas boosters and the Langley-designed Little Joe boosters. The first Atlas launch, referred to as Big Joe”, was a single attempt early in Project Mercury to use a full-scale Atlas booster to simulate the reentry of a mock-up Mercury capsule without actually placing it in orbit. The overall design of Big Joe had been completed by December 1958, and soon thereafter project manager Aleck Bond assigned NASA Lewis the task of designing the electronic instrumentation and automatic stabilization system. Lewis also constructed the capsule’s lower section, which contained a pressurized area with the electronics and two nitrogen tanks for the retrorockets. Lewis technicians were re

Engraving depicting the Crossley telescope, a 36-inch (910 mm) reflecting telescope located at Lick Observatory, California, given to the observatory in 1895 by British politician Edward Crossley. Dated 20th Century

Lunar Landing Research Model. -- Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 356.

S61-03744 (July 1961) --- Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr., backup astronaut for MR-4, inspects the interior of a Mercury spacecraft on Pad 5. He is reviewing material on the checklist he is holding against the consoles in front of him.

Miscellaneous Charts, Space Capsule

The dolphin (depicted - name).Dolphin (depicted - name)

View of STS Discovery

View of Solid Rocket Booster

The Apollo/Saturn 501 spacecraft undergoes checkout in test stand within the Kennedy Space Centers Manned Spacecraft Operations Building in preparation for the first flight of NASAs Saturn V space vehicle in the second quarter of this year. The command module, top, was mated to the service module, and both were joined to the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter, the type that eventually will house a Lunar Module. The first Saturn V flight will be unmanned.

S65-13395 (6 Jan. 1965) --- Gemini-3 spacecraft (final configuation) during test at Boresight Range, Merritt Island launch area.

NEWTONIAN SPECTROGRAPH MOUNTED ON 100-INCH TELESCOPE.

Vintage Photograph. Discoverer II atop of Thor Missile.

View of Solid Rocket Booster

PALOMAR 60-INCH TELESCOPE IN BOLLER & CHIVENS SHOP.

Once the United States' space program had progressed from Earth's orbit into outerspace, the prospect of building and maintaining a permanent presence in space was realized. To accomplish this feat, NASA launched a temporary workstation, Skylab, to discover the effects of low gravity and weightlessness on the human body, and also to develop tools and equipment that would be needed in the future to build and maintain a more permanent space station. The structures, techniques, and work schedules had to be carefully designed to fit this unique construction site. The components had to be lightweight for transport into orbit, yet durable. The station also had to be made with removable parts for easy servicing and repairs by astronauts. All of the tools necessary for service and repairs had to be designed for easy manipulation by a suited astronaut. Construction methods had to be efficient due to the limited time the astronauts could remain outside their controlled environment. In lieu of al

Three scientists working on satellites in a laboratory, GE Space Technology Labs, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, USA

60-INCH TELESCOPE WITH CASSEGRAIN SPECTROGRAPH.

View of STS Discovery

Photograph of the interior of the Pulkovo Observatory, Russia, the principal astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dated 19th Century

Jet Shoe Simulator

Originally the Rendezvous was used by the astronauts preparing for Gemini missions. The Rendezvous Docking Simulator was then modified and used to develop docking techniques for the Apollo program. "The LEM pilot's compartment, with overhead window and the docking ring (idealized since the pilot cannot see it during the maneuvers), is shown docked with the full-scale Apollo Command Module." A.W. Vogeley described the simulator as follows: "The Rendezvous Docking Simulator and also the Lunar Landing Research Facility are both rather large moving-base simulators. It should be noted, however, that neither was built primarily because of its motion characteristics. The main reason they were built was to provide a realistic visual scene. A secondary reason was that they would provide correct angular motion cues (important in control of vehicle short-period motions) even though the linear acceleration cues would be incorrect." -- Published in A.W. Vogeley, "Piloted Space-Flight Simulation at

View of Solid Rocket Booster

$An engraving depicting a 36-inch refractor at the Lick Observatory. One of the world's two largest refractors it is on a 'German' style equatorial mounting, with the axis parallel to Earth's polar axis supported on a high pillar. The counterbalance weight for the telescope shows clearly. Dated 20th century$

Satellite Control Simulator Emphasizing Flywheel Magnet Control

View of STS Discovery

Astronaut John Young (above) was one of 14 astronauts, 8 NASA test pilots, and 2 McDonnell test pilots who took part in simulator studies. Young piloted the simulator on November 12, 1963 Arthur Vogeley wrote: "Many of the astronauts have flown this simulator in support of the Gemini studies and they, without exception, appreciated the realism of the visual scene. The simulator has also been used in the development of pilot techniques to handle certain jet malfunctions in order that aborts could be avoided. In these situations large attitude changes are sometimes necessary and the false motion cues that were generated due to earth gravity were somewhat objectionable; however, the pilots were readily able to overlook these false motion cues in favor of the visual realism." Roy F. Brissenden wrote: "The basic Gemini control studies developed the necessary techniques and demonstrated the ability of human pilots to perform final space docking with the specified Gemini-Agena systems using o

Dragon (depicted - name).Dragon (depicted - name)

Astronaut Edwin Buzz Aldrin Lunar Module Pilot at the (LLRF) Lunar Landing Research Facility. Aldrin was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963.On November 11, 1966, he and command pilot James Lovell were launched into space in the Gemini 12 spacecraft on a 4-day flight, which brought the Gemini program to a successful close. Aldrin established a new record for extravehicular activity (EVA), spending 5-1/2 hours outside the spacecraft.He served as lunar module pilot for Apollo 11, July 16-24, 1969, the first manned lunar landing mission. Aldrin followed Neil Armstrong onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, completing a 2-hour and 15 minute lunar EVA.In July 1971, Aldrin resigned from NASA. Aldrin has logged 289 hours and 53 minutes in space, of which, 7 hours and 52 minutes were spent in EVA.

Vintage photograph. Rotating globe in the lobby of the N.Y. News Building

S68-55391 (11 Dec. 1968) --- Astronaut Russell L. Schweickart, lunar module pilot of the Apollo 9 (Spacecraft 104/Lunar Module 3/Saturn 504) space mission, is seen inside Chamber A, Space Environment Simulation Laboratory, Building 32, participating in dry run activity in preparation for extravehicular activity which is scheduled in Chamber A. The purpose of the scheduled training is to familiarize the crewmen with the operation of EVA equipment in a simulated space environment. In addition, metabolic and workload profiles will be simulated on each crewman. Astronauts Schweickart and Alan L. Bean, backup lunar module pilot, are scheduled to receive thermal-vacuum training simulating Earth-orbital EVA.

12/31/1932. Device used for the physiotechnical recognition of pilots, of which the doctor of the Spanish Navy, Dr. Figuera, is the inventor. The device consists of a boiler in which the pilots are placed and raised to the desired height, emulating the same conditions.

Astronaut Eugene Cernan at Lunar Lander Research Facility. Cernan under gantry, in training module. Captain Cernan was one of fourteen astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963. On his second space flight, he was lunar module pilot of Apollo 10, May 18-26, 1969, the first comprehensive lunar-orbitalqualification and verification flight test of an Apollo lunar module.

B732232 U12E POST SHOT DIAGNOSTICS Dick Baff (Project Engineer) June 12, 73 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 6/12/1973 DIAGNOSTIC; DIAGNOSTICS; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; TEST SITES; UGT; UNDERGROUND; UNDERGROUND TESTING; POST SHOT DIAGNOSTICS historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

View of Solid Rocket Booster

Exterior of NASA's Apollo 1 space capsule following the fire that killed three astronauts. The shows the effects of the flash fire that killed Gus Grissom, Edward White II, Roger Chaffee. Jan. 27, 1967.

Air Force Javelin Rocket on Launcher (USAF JV-1) Wallops Model D4-78 L59-5144 First AFSWC Javelin sounding rocket ready for flight test, July 7, 1959. Photograph published in A New Dimension Wallops Island Flight Test Range: The First Fifteen Years by Joseph Shortal. A NASA publication. Page 704.

Mr. H.W. Newton, chief of the solar Department of the Observatory, observing the sun through a 4-inch photoheliograph telescope installed in the new aluminum rotating dome erected outside the ancient battlements of the Castle. Away from London's atmospheric veil of smoke and grime, members of the staff of the Royal Observatory are now studying the universe from historic Herstmonceux castle in the heart of the Sussex countryside. It was decided two years ago to transfer the Observatory from Greenwich - its home for 275 years-to Herstmonceux because the murky London air made observation difficult. July 5, 1949.

Preparing Apollo 11

"Le voyaje dans la Luna" by Georges Méllès (1902).

***** Telescope Presented to Royal Observatory. The most ***** reflecting telescope ever installed at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. ***** there were so eager to bring TT into immediate *****, have been using it for several weeks before its formal hiding the donor, Mr. W.J. Yapp. The official acceptance of ***** took place on June 2nd., by the first lord of the admiraly, Sir Bolton Eyres - Monsell. Adjustments being made on the new telescope. July 01, 1934. (Photo by Sport & General Press Agen

Pioneer F (Pioneer-10) spacecraft delivered to NASA at Cape Kennedy from TRW

S61-00199 (31 Jan. 1961) --- Recovery personnel aboard the USS Donner remove Ham , a 37-pound chimpanzee, from a Mercury-Redstone spacecraft following the successful Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) suborbital flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The primate's 420-statute mile MR-2 flight was a significant accomplishment on the American route toward manned spaceflight.

astronautics satellites USSR Sputnik 2 space flight 3.11.1957 - 15.4.1958 miniature exhibition at the Stalinallee East Berlin 1959,

NATIV, a North American Aviation guided missile, nears a tall launching tower where it will be test fired. NATIVS, traveling at supersonic speeds, have reached trajectory altitude of 10 miles during recent tests. April 6, 1949. (Photo by North American Aviation, Inc.)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-1 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Voyager spacecraft for the first of two missions to be launched toward the outer planets was encapsulated within the payload fairing which will protect it during launch. The 1,800 pound spacecraft is to be mated with Titan_Centaur 7 at Launch Complex 41 and sent on a mission to Jupiter and Saturn no earlier than Aug. 20, 1977.

A Thiokol solid propellant apogee kick motor of the joint Air Force-Navy communications satellite (FLTSATCOM) is being put into a high altitude test cell. The engine also underwent the impact, vibration and acceleration (IVA) test. Base: Arnold Air Force Station State: Tennessee (TN) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Outfitting the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia with the three main rocket engines that will boost the 75 ton spacecraft into orbit on its first flight is completed with the installation of Engine #2007 (top). At liftoff, each engine will be producing about 375,000 pounds of thrust, or about 12 million horsepower each, and gulping down its liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants at a rate of about 1,100 pounts per second. The Shuttle's main engines, the most efficient rocket engines ever built, are reusable and designed t operate over a life span of 55 missions.

S71-29951 (26 March 1971) --- Two Apollo 15 prime crew members can be seen inside the Apollo 15 Command Module (CM) during simulation training at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Astronaut David R. Scott, commander, is in the background. Astronaut Alfred M. Worden, foreground, is the command module pilot. Out of view is astronaut James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot.

Presentation of the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) to Astronaut John Herschel Glenn, Jr., at Cape Canaveral. Astronaut Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr. (reaching into the capsule) shows his parents, John H. Glenn, Sr. and Clara Sproat Glenn, the space capsule Friendship 7 following the presentation ceremony of his National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Distinguished Service Medal at Hangar S,' Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Brevard County, Florida. The Friendship 7 carried Lieutenant Colonel Glenn in orbit around the earth three times. Those looking on include: Senator Warren G. Magnuson of Washington (in back, left of Lieutenant Colonel Glenn), Congressman Edward P. Boland of Massachusetts (in back, second from right), and Lieutenant Colonel Glenns daughter Lyn Glenn (far right, facing away).

Vintage Photograph. Diagram of atomic powered passenger carrying interplanetary rocket.

In preparation of the nations first lunar landing mission, Apollo 11, crew members underwent training to practice activities they would be performing during the mission. In this photograph Neil Armstrong approaches the helicopter he flew to practice landing the Lunar Module (LM) on the Moon. The Apollo 11 mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard the space craft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot; and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, “Columbia”, piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, “Eagle, carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, th

NEWTONIAN SPECTROGRAPH MOUNTED ON 100-INCH TELESCOPE.

View of STS Discovery

Vintage Photograph. Test section of the 1500 mph 6 by 6 fit supersonic wind tunnel gaining advanced knowledge of the performance of highly sweptback wings at speeds faster than sound.

JOE HICKOX AT THE 60-INCH TELESCOPE. PETTIT & SLOCUM LIGHT CAMERA ATTACHED TO TELESCOPE.

S65-19225 (23 March 1965) --- This view of astronauts John W. Young (left), pilot, and Virgil I. Grissom, command pilot, was taken through the window of the open hatch on Young's side of the Gemini-Titan 3 spacecraft just before the hatches were closed in readiness for their three-orbit flight.

S65-17337 (February 1965) --- Scene in the white room of Pad 19 during the mating of the Gemini Spacecraft 3 with the Titan II launch vehicle.

Anefo photo collection. Placement of new van Straatsiers in the Dome of the Utrecht Observatory. June 18, 1959

CAPE KENNEDY, Fla. -- At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of Skylab 1's solar cell arrays is installed on the orbital space station in High Bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Skylab 2 launch vehicle is in high bay 1, visible in the background. Each of the two solar cell arrays on the space station that will be deployed in orbit is designed to provide 10,500 watts of power. All power needed to operate the station and the Apollo Telescope mount will be taken from the arrays. Each array will have almost 1,177 square feet of surface area to turn sunlight into electrical power. Skylab 1 is schedule for launch April 30, 1973 and Skylab 2, carrying the astronauts Charles Conrad Jr., Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin and Paul J. Weitz to dock with the space station and enter it to live and work for 28 days, will be launched a day later.

View of STS Discovery

MLM HR.MS. Van Speijk, (F 802) 1977.

Rocket Takes Off On Record Flight -- A Navy Viking II rocket takes off from the White Sands, N.M., proving ground last May 24 on what the defense department says is a record climb to a height of 158 miles above the Earth. The department said a camera installed in the rocket took the highest photographs of the Earth ever made. The rocket, weighing 7½ tons and 45 feet long, carried nearly half a ton of scientific instruments. January 19, 1955. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).

Vintage Photograph. Discoverer satellite being launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Frame 1

The 56-foot tall, 24,400-pound Skylab shroud installed in the Space Power Facilitys vacuum chamber at the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers mate the Mars Polar Lander (top) to the Boeing Delta II rocket at Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral Air Station. The rocket is scheduled to launch Jan. 3, 1999. The lander is a solar-powered spacecraft designed to touch down on the Martian surface near the northern-most boundary of the south pole in order to study the water cycle there. The lander also will help scientists learn more about climate change and current resources on Mars, studying such things as frost, dust, water vapor and condensates in the Martian atmosphere. It is the second spacecraft to be launched in a pair of Mars Surveyor '98 missions. The first is the Mars Climate Orbiter, which was launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17A on Dec. 11, 1998

Inspection tour of NASA installations: Huntsville Alabama, Redstone Army Airfield and George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, 9:35AM. President John F. Kennedy (lower left, with back to camera) views the Saturn C-1 rocket, during a tour of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama; Director of the MSFC, Dr. Wernher von Braun (back to camera), walks left of President Kennedy. Also pictured: Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb; Associate Administrator of NASA, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr.; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; White House Secret Service agents, Gerald A. Jerry Behn and Roy Kellerman. The President visited the MSFC as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.

ARCAS Rocket #E1-235 Image taken at Wallops Island

$Engraving depicting the equatorially mounted refracting telescope at the Vienna Observatory. Dated 19th century$

Jerrie Cobb prepares to operate the Multi-Axis Space Test Inertia Facility (MASTIF) inside the Altitude Wind Tunnel at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

View of ML on CT

Marshall Space Flight Center Director Dr. Wernher von Braun explains a detail from a Saturn IB mockup and engine to President John F. Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon Johnson and other guests, September 11, 1962.

Launch of Bumper-8

MODEL OF APPARATUS FOR MICHELSON-MORLEY ETHER DRIFT EXPERIMENT.

S62-05118 (1962) --- Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper Jr. on weight and balance scale in the White Room, Hanger S at Cape Canaveral.

View of STS Endeavor

Astronauts Conrad and Bean at Lunar Landing Research Facility. Alan Bean was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. He served as backup astronaut for the Gemini 10 and Apollo 9 missions.In September of 1962, Mr. Conrad was selected as an astronaut by NASA. His first flight was Gemini V, which established the space endurance record and placed the United States in the lead for man-hours in space. As commander of Gemini XI, Mr. Conrad helped to set a world's altitude record. He then served as commander of Apollo XII, the second lunar landing. On Mr. Conrad's final mission, he served as commander of Skylab II, the first United States Space Station.

S65-43449 (19 Aug. 1965) --- Photograph of the Gemini-5 spacecraft in the McDonnell test facility during stowage review.

S66-54934 (29 Oct. 1966) --- Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., pilot for the Gemini-12 spaceflight, practices work tasks in preparation for his extravehicular activity (EVA) during the flight of Gemini-12. He works with a telescoping handrail he will use to move from the spacecraft to the Agena Target Docking Vehicle. The underwater environment closely simulates the zero-gravity condition found in space.

Astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly II, command module pilot of the planned Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, participates in extravehicular activity (EVA) simulations in the water facility tank in building 5 at the Manned Spacecraft Center during training preparations for the forthcoming mission. Mattinly is scheduled to perform EVA during the transearth journey of the Apollo 16 mission.

View of Solid Rocket Booster

S65-56155 (15 Dec. 1965) --- Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, pilot; and Walter M. Schirra Jr., command pilot, are readied for insertion into the Gemini-6 spacecraft in the White Room at Pad 19, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Vintage photograph. The Curtis Memorial Telescope of the Portage Lake Observatory of the University of Michigan, with a 24"-36" Schmidt type camera

Lunar landing test of LEM at Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF).

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a cooperative program of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration

S62-00371 (20 Feb. 1962) --- Mercury astronaut John H. Glenn Jr., pilot of the Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) spaceflight, enters the Mercury Friendship 7 spacecraft during the MA-6 prelaunch preparations at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth.

Bumper Wac liftoff at the Long Range Proving Ground located at Cape Canaveral, Florida. At White Sands, New Mexico, the German rocket team experimented with a two-stage rocket called Bumper Wac, which intended to provide data for upper atmospheric research. On February 24, 1950, the Bumper, which employed a V-2 as the first stage with a Wac Corporal upper stage, obtained a peak altitude of more than 240 miles.

TIROS, America's First Meteorological Satellite

Originally the Rendezvous was used by the astronauts preparing for Gemini missions. The Rendezvous Docking Simulator was then modified and used to develop docking techniques for the Apollo program. The pilot is shown maneuvering the LEM into position for docking with a full-scale Apollo Command Module. From A.W. Vogeley, Piloted Space-Flight Simulation at Langley Research Center, Paper presented at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1966 Winter Meeting, New York, NY, November 27 - December 1, 1966. The Rendezvous Docking Simulator and also the Lunar Landing Research Facility are both rather large moving-base simulators. It should be noted, however, that neither was built primarily because of its motion characteristics. The main reason they were built was to provide a realistic visual scene. A secondary reason was that they would provide correct angular motion cues (important in control of vehicle short-period motions) even though the linear acceleration cues would be inco

Vintage Photograph. Gemini IV Spacecraft with Astronaut James A McDivitt, command pilot and Edward White II lifts off from launch at Cape Kennedy on June 3, 1966.

In preparation of the nations first Lunar landing mission, Apollo 11 crew members underwent training activities to practice activities they would be performing during the mission. In this photograph, Neil Armstrong, donned in his space suit, practices getting back to the first rung of the ladder on the Lunar Module (LM). The Apollo 11 mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard the space craft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot; and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, “Columbia”, piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, “Eagle, carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ ho

M61-00150 (1961) --- Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr., suited with hose to suit ventilation unit attached, during altitude chamber test. He is standing in the entrance to the test chamber with his helmet visor down.

S61-03705 (1961) --- Close-up view of the fueling of the Liberty Bell 7 for the Mercury-Redstone 4 (MR-4) mission.

Photograph of NASA personnel preparing to hang a full-scale Mercury spacecraft from it's landing chute in Cleveland's Public Auditorium. Dated 20th century

Titan III-C Launch

Astronaut Alan Shepard (right) was one of 14 astronauts, 8 NASA test pilots, and 2 McDonnell test pilots who took part in simulator studies. Shepard flew the simulator on November 14, 1963. A.W. Vogeley wrote: "Many of the astronauts have flown this simulator in support of the Gemini studies and they, without exception, appreciated the realism of the visual scene. The simulator has also been used in the development of pilot techniques to handle certain jet malfunctions in order that aborts could be avoided. In these situations large attitude changes are sometimes necessary and the false motion cues that were generated due to earth gravity were somewhat objectionable; however, the pilots were readily able to overlook these false motion cues in favor of the visual realism." Roy F. Brissenden noted that: "The basic Gemini control studies developed the necessary techniques and demonstrated the ability of human pilots to perform final space docking with the specified Gemini-Agena systems us

Astronauts Conrad and Bean at Lunar Landing Research Facility. Alan Bean was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. He served as backup astronaut for the Gemini 10 and Apollo 9 missions.In September of 1962, Mr. Conrad was selected as an astronaut by NASA. His first flight was Gemini V, which established the space endurance record and placed the United States in the lead for man-hours in space. As commander of Gemini XI, Mr. Conrad helped to set a world's altitude record. He then served as commander of Apollo XII, the second lunar landing. On Mr. Conrad's final mission, he served as commander of Skylab II, the first United States Space Station.

Project 24 - Operation Hardtack (Enewetak/Bikini/Johnnston Island Area) Test Activities. YUCCA balloon being inflated on baord USS BOXER. Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

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