Shuttle Series

 

The Shuttle Series Guide is the third in a series of guides to the Johnson Space Center Historian's Source Files (what is now called the Johnson Space Center History Collection). The first was produced in 1984 and covers the materials in the Johnson Space Center History Collection that were housed originally at Rice University, but transferred to the University of Houston-Clear Lake in 2001 under a Space Act Agreement with NASA and the National Archives. The first guide covered the Mercury, Gemini, Skylab, and ASTP Series of records. The second guide was produced in 1986, and covered the Apollo Series of records. In 1984, the Shuttle (history) Project at NASA JSC began to collect and organize documentation for the chronology, and this is a guide to that documentation.

The Shuttle Program was an ongoing, massive, and complex technological undertaking at the time these records were collected. Its precursors date back as far as the A4 V-2 German rockets and its beginnings include logistics vehicle designs studied to support a space station as early as the 1960s. Phase A and Phase B study contracts began to seriously consider Shuttle designs in the late 1960s and early 1970s. From these came the Phase C/D contract to build the Shuttle which was awarded to North American Rockwell in 1972. In 1977 the first approach and landing test was accomplished, followed in 1981 by the official flight test program which flew STS-1 through STS-4. By the flight of STS-5 the Shuttle was considered operational. The Shuttle Chronology (written by historians at Rice University in partnership with JSC History Office) follows the Shuttle evolution only through the 1973 prime contract award and contract finalization. As it stands now, the Shuttle Series is incomplete, in that it only has records documenting STS missions 1 to 9, and 26 to 61-C. The STS-61-C mission flew in January 1986.

The Shuttle Series source files (as they were originally called) is organized into over 120 subseries with individual subseries and subsection inventories. Almost half of the source files consists of the chronological files of correspondence, with the bulk of that which remains consisting of contractor reports, photographs, and JSC-generated reports.

Some of the earliest Shuttle precursor documents date back to the 1950s, and the latest documents in the collection are dated in 1985. The bulk of the holdings, however, fall between 1972 and 1979. When background information on a subseries was known, the inventory includes that information in a scope and content note. The inventory itself consists, in most cases, of folder titles on the left margin and inclusive dates in that folder on the right margin. The exception occurs in contractor documents and other subseries containing large reports which are not arranged within folders. In those cases, the inventory consists of the document title on the left margin and the document date on the right margin.

Restrictions: There are no restrictions in the use of the Shuttle Series source file material. No classified documents are contained in the collection. However, some materials and records may fall under the United States government's International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) regulations against sharing defense-based and scientific/technical information and records to countries listed as restricted or illegal to share the content with (which includes digital copies, emails, sharing records online, etc.).

Collections in this community

Recent Submissions

  • Inventory of Charles Teixeira Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    These documents consist of charts, memoranda, notes, drawings, graphs and reports from Charles Teixeira who, in the time period covered by these documents, was an engineer in the Engineering Analysis Division, the Integrated ...

  • Inventory of STS-61-C Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries is a collection of documents related to STS-61-C and arranged in chronological order. They include Mission Reports, Flight Requirement Documents, Mission Reviews and Press Information.

  • Inventory of STS-61-B Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries is a collection of documents related to STS-61-B and arranged in chronological order. They include Flight Requirement Documents, Cargo System Manuals, and Mission Reports.

  • Inventory of STS-35 through STS-39 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    These documents begin with missions STS-35 and go through STS-39. As missions out grow this run, a subseries named for each mission will be created. This subseries consist of flight requirement documents, press information, ...

  • Inventory of STS-32 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries of Shuttle Documents consists of press information, presentations, and mission reports for the STS-32 mission. The material is arranged chronologically and runs from 1988 to 1990.

  • Inventory of STS-31 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries of Shuttle Documents collected primarily from Mr. S. Aldrich/VA5 consists of presentations, maps, photos, reports, press information, and information on the STS-31 mission, which was the Shuttle mission for ...

  • Inventory of STS-30 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This series consists of Mission Reports, Presentations, Press Information and Flight Data, for the STS-30 mission. The material is arranged chronologically.

  • Inventory of STS-29 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    These are documents related to the STS-29 mission and arranged chronologically. They include Mission Reports, Press Information, Flight Data, and Presentations.

  • Inventory of STS-33 and STS-34 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries of Shuttle Documents consists of mission reports, press information, FRR's, presentations and crew photos for the SSTS-33 and STS-34 missions. The material is arranged chronologically and runs from 1988-1990.

  • Inventory of STS-27 and STS-28 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries of Shuttle Documents consist of press information, mission reports, and presentations, for the STS-27 and STS-28 mission. The material is arranged chronologically and runs from 1988 to 1989.

  • Inventory of STS-9 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries consists of air to ground transcripts, press briefings, press kits, FRR, Flight Directors Log and other material related to the STS-9 mission. Documents are arranged chronologically by folder and include ...

  • Inventory of STS-8 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries consists of mission reports, press kits, air to ground transcripts, press briefings, etc.. Transcripts and briefings are on microfiche and the balance in hard copy. The material is arranged chronologically ...

  • Inventory of STS-7 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries consists of memos, mission reports, flight rules, payload analysis, safety summary, photo distribution plan, mission management team minutes, fact sheets, press information, etc. related to STS-7. The material ...

  • Inventory of STS-6 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries consists of documents related to the STS-6 flight. They are arranged in chronological order and include air - to - ground transcripts, flight rules and press information.

  • Inventory of STS-5 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries contains documentation related to the STS-5 mission and it is arranged chronologically. Flight data files, press information, mission reports, and transcripts are among the types of documents found here.

  • Inventory of STS-4 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    These are documents related to STS-4 and arranged chronologically. They include press information, mission reports, and flight data.

  • Inventory of STS-3 Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries is a collection of documents related to STS-3 and arranged in chronological order. They include press information, flight rules, and mission reports.

  • Inventory of STS-61-A Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    This subseries is related to shuttle STS-61-A.

  • Inventory of STS-51-L Investigation Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    The Data Design and Analysis Task Force was established within NASA on February 5, 1986, to support the Presidential Commission investigating the Challenger STS-51-L accident (Rogers Commission). The Task Force grew out ...

  • Inventory of STS-51-L Mission Documents 

    JSC History Collection staff (UHCL Archives staff, 2022)
    Only the first few documents in this subseries are those that are found in most other flight related documents subseries for the STS-51 mission, more commonly known as the Challenger explosion. The press kit, flight plan ...

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