Finding Aid for the David L. Eichblatt Papers (HSF-61)

The David L. Eichblatt Papers is composed of memos, correspondence, photographs, booklets, manuals, notes, maps, design plans, articles, scientific test information, scientific data, and miscellaneous materials, documenting the service of David L. Eichblatt at NASA Johnson Space Center from 1964 to 2009. Most of this collection consists of data Eichblatt collected as an engineer while he worked constructing, planning, and testing the aerodynamics on different spacecraft for NASA and the U.S. Air Force—mostly with the Space Shuttle orbiter program. During this period, he was in charge of the simulation programs for the testing of the Space Shuttle orbiters. Eichblatt’s projects included testing flights by comparing tire speeds, rollouts, landing, touchdowns, nose wheel contact, tail cone effects, number of engines, engine weights and fuel, parachutes, wings and parawing models, in different weather conditions, runway conditions, and different gravity effects for spacecraft and aircraft used by NASA. The collection contains study booklets prepared by Eichblatt, such as a take-off and landing performance study for the space shuttle orbiter vehicle in 1970, with data collection and hand-drawn aircraft information in them. There are materials documenting Eichblatt’s role in the simulation programs for the Shuttle, including the landing dynamics program, which simulated orbiter separation and derotation of the Shuttle orbiter following touchdown through nose wheel contact. There are research materials on the feasibility for the use of the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) to transport the Shuttle orbiter in the 1970s. The collection includes a set of photographs, a hand drawing, and data collection used by Eichblatt during his role in testing for a lunar motorcycle between 1969 and 1970. The collection also includes a set of rare, square photographic prints documenting his involvement in the Australian landing sites evaluation and survey with the Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV) in 1993. This was part of the U.S. and Russia examining whether Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft could serve as stop-gap lifeboat spacecraft as NASA was designing a lifeboat for use for their planned Space Station Freedom. These are very unique images of an international NASA partnership with Australian space exploration personnel. The collection has an article, landing observations information, meeting agendas, photographs, documents, English-Russian translations, and letters, from Eichblatt’s role as leader of NASA team of four Americans and one Australian to Russia and Kazakhstan to observe the landing and recovery of the Soyuz TM-16 crew and capsule.