The X-15 did not take off. It must have stuck out its thumb, because it hitched a ride into flight. On July 17, 1962, Air Force Maj. Robert White took to the air with his X-15 mounted under the wing of a modified B-52. After separating from the mothership, he ignited his plane’s rockets and … Continue reading X-15A Flight No. 3-7-14: To the Edge of Space
On April 3, 2023, NASA announced that humans are soaring back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years, since the return of Apollo 17 in 1972. Four astronauts, Americans, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremey Hansen, are set to embark on a 10-day journey aboard the Orion spacecraft … Continue reading Mapping the Moon
Following on from Caitlin Hucik’s excellent post highlighting trailblazers at NASA, we would like to present some recently digitized films highlighting actress Nichelle Nichols’ work to recruit a more diverse field of astronauts and other personnel for NASA in 1978. These films are outtakes from promotional material featuring Ms. Nichols and also former Astronaut Alan … Continue reading Behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center with Nichelle Nichols
Queen Elizabeth II (April 21, 1926 – September 8, 2022) served as Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms for 70 years up until her death at age 96, making her reign the longest of any British monarch. Here in the Still Picture Branch at the National Archives, we have a handful of photographs within our holdings of the late Queen Elizabeth II and her official travels to the United States.
The 2022 National History Day contests resulted in many fascinating projects covering topics ranging from labor and environmental debates to U.S.-China Ping Pong Diplomacy. Now it is time to begin looking ahead to 2023! The 2023 NHD contest theme is Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas and on page 35 of the 2023 NHD Theme … Continue reading The Film Frontier: Using Films and Videos in Your National History Day Project
This post is by Daniel Dancis, a Textual Records Archivist and blogger at The Text Message. The National Archives Catalog includes digitized posters and graphics with Spanish text that run the gamut from World War II propaganda posters to contemporary public service announcements. Many of the posters were created for use abroad but there is … Continue reading A Survey of Spanish Language Posters and Related Records
NASA’s space shuttle featured an iconic, reusable orbiter piloted by a crew of seven astronauts. With its stubby wings and huge payload, the orbiter needed a lot of help getting off the ground. Like all other spacecraft, the shuttle burned through most of its rocket fuel during takeoff, after which two rockets and the fuel … Continue reading The Space Shuttle in the Atmosphere
Fifty years ago, the Apollo 11 spacecraft left the launchpad and began its mission to the Moon with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Previous posts on the Unwritten Record covered the intense training undertaken by the prime crew, including 1/6th gravity simulations and lunar lander flight tests spanning several months leading up … Continue reading 50 Years After the Moonwalk: Looking Back at Apollo 11’s Broadcast from the Moon
After leaving New Orleans, the Special Media Division headed west towards Texas. Photographs of the Lone Star State can be found in records related to the Air Force, Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, as well as the Bureau of Public Roads, NASA, and many others. On this road trip, however, we decided to take … Continue reading Summer Road Trip 2019: Texas
