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Sally Ride on the flight deck of Challenger.
1961 black and white photo of Jessie Strickland at a drawing table, pencil in hand working on an engineering drawing.
Pilot in flight suit stands near airstrip and plane, watching second plane fly overhead

NASA History Office

Established in 1959 (a year after NASA itself was formed) the NASA History Office has continuously documented and preserved the Agency’s remarkable history for nearly 65 years.

Meet the History Team about NASA History Office

publications

200+ titles

chief historian

Brian C. Odom

Oral History Interviews

More than 1,500

Established

1959

The NASA History Office serves two key functions: fulfilling the mandate of the 1958 “Space Act” calling for NASA to disseminate aerospace information as widely as possible, and helping NASA managers understand and thus benefit from the study of past accomplishments and difficulties. In addition to serving NASA leadership, the NASA History Program also engages with scholars, journalists, and students, and strives to engage with the public about NASA’s past and how it relates to current projects.

The NASA History Office publishes a quarterly newsletter, as well as an array of books (in both print and digital formats), conducts oral history interviews, provides internships and fellowships, and assists the public in finding information on aeronautical and space history. In addition, the staff produces the Aeronautics and Space Report of the President, an annual report that includes a “comprehensive description of the programmed activities and the accomplishments of all agencies of the United States in the field of aeronautics and space activities” during the preceding year.

Meet the NASA history Staff

Portrait of Brian Odom

Chief Historian; Science

Portrait of James Anderson

Historian, Research and Technology

Portrait of Robert Arrighi

Historian, Historical Facilities

Portrait of NASA Historian Erik Conway

Historian, Planetary Science

Portrait of Stephen Garber standing in the NASA Headquarters library

Historian, Policy and Publications

Portrait of Sandra Johnson

Oral History Lead

Portrait of Michele Ostovar

Communications Lead

Portrait of Jennifer Ross-Nazzal

Historian, Human Spaceflight

Aerospace History Fellowships

Support for Research and Writing Projects

In conjunction with three major professional societies, the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), History of Science Society (HSS) and the American Historical Association (AHA), NASA History funds fellowships that support a range of research and writing projects to promote a better understanding of how aerospace history has shaped our world. The deadline for applications falls at the start of April each year.

Get Details on the Fellowships
Margaret W. ‘Hap’ Brennecke reviews blueprints with Ernest Bayless in the Manufacturing and Engineering Laboratory.
Margaret W. ‘Hap’ Brennecke was the first female welding engineer to work in the Materials and Processes Laboratory at Marshall Space Flight Center. She was a trailblazer in the field of aluminum alloys – a skill critical to the success of the Apollo program.
NASA

Contact Us

The NASA History Office staff assists the public, media, researchers, NASA employees, and Congressional staff to find resources within and outside our Historical Reference Collection. Send us an email at hq-histinfo@nasa.gov or call 202-358-0384.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

To get NASA History news and announcements in your inbox, subscribe to our mailing list by sending an email to  history-join@lists.hq.nasa.gov. No need to add anything to to the subject line or body of the email.

Don't miss an issue of News and Notes

Get aerospace history news, events, and articles in your inbox by subscribing to our listserv. Just send a blank email to history-join@lists.hq.nasa.gov.

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NASA History News and Notes
An engineer taking notes in the test section of the 16-Foot tunnel’s slotted-throat tunnel circa 1950.