Finding Aid to the Kenneth R. Goodwin Papers

The Kenneth R. Goodwin is composed of internal NASA and MIT Instrumentation Laboratory (now Charles Stark Draper Laboratory), memorandums, space guidance analysis memos, and research and procedure booklets for the operations of Project Apollo and space flight missions, used and kept by Kenneth R. Goodwin between 1965-1972. Goodwin used the materials while working as an Apollo Program test engineer executing functional tests in the hardware-software area of the optical/radar subsystems for the Apollo vehicles, including while assigned to the Lab’s Field Site Office at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC). Included in the collection are the memorandums of Howard W. “Bill” Tindall, Jr. between 1966-1970, known as Tindallgrams, documenting technical decisions for all unmanned and manned flights through Apollo 13. A large portion of the collection are the MIT Space Guidance Analysis Memos which include research topics spanning between 1965-1968 from multiple engineers that guided space travel for the Apollo Missions, including research on position and velocity uncertainties for lunar missions. The MIT Apollo Guidance, Navigation, and Control booklets cover a majority amount of the collection and are limited published books spanning between 1965-1972, they were used and kept by Goodwin during his time at NASA, covering topics such as a system operations plan for manned LM earth orbital and lunar missions using program luminary IA.