Desind Finding
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NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE ARCHIVES Herbert Stephen Desind Collection Accession No. 1997-0014 NASM 9A00657 National Air and Space Museum Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC Brian D. Nicklas © Smithsonian Institution, 2003 NASM Archives Desind Collection 1997-0014 Herbert Stephen Desind Collection 109 Cubic Feet, 305 Boxes Biographical Note Herbert Stephen Desind was a Washington, DC area native born on January 15, 1945, raised in Silver Spring, Maryland and educated at the University of Maryland. He obtained his BA degree in Communications at Maryland in 1967, and began working in the local public schools as a science teacher. At the time of his death, in October 1992, he was a high school teacher and a freelance writer/lecturer on spaceflight. Desind also was an avid model rocketeer, specializing in using the Estes Cineroc, a model rocket with an 8mm movie camera mounted in the nose. To many members of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), he was known as “Mr. Cineroc.” His extensive requests worldwide for information and photographs of rocketry programs even led to a visit from FBI agents who asked him about the nature of his activities. Mr. Desind used the collection to support his writings in NAR publications, and his building scale model rockets for NAR competitions. Desind also used the material in the classroom, and in promoting model rocket clubs to foster an interest in spaceflight among his students. Desind entered the NASA Teacher in Space program in 1985, but it is not clear how far along his submission rose in the selection process. He was not a semi-finalist, although he had a strong application. In 1991, Desind was named Science Teacher of the Year by Prince George’s County and the Potomac Electric Power Company. Desind died October 16, 1992, having succumbed to colon cancer. On November 17, 1994, the Herbert Desind Memorial Space Awareness Center, a state-of-the-art facility, was created and dedicated at Laurel High School. Today that Center houses the Cooperative Satellite Learning Project (CSLP) class as well as other science classes. The CSLP is a business, government, and educational partnership, focusing on space sciences and engineering. One of the sponsors of CSLP is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1997, Desind’s father and sister donated his collection to the National Air and Space Museum. 2 NASM Archives Desind Collection 1997-0014 Desind Collection Scope and Content Note The Herbert Stephen Desind Collection (acc. 1997-0014) contains approximately 109 cubic feet of material relating to aviation and space flight. The material is primarily photographic in nature and focuses on manned and unmanned space flight activities. Series in the collection are as follows: Series I: Unmanned Space Programs (page 4-118) Series II: Manned Space Programs Mercury (pages 118-121) Gemini (pages 121-124) Apollo (pages 124-130) Skylab (pages 130-131) ASTP (pages 131-132) Soviet Space Program (pages 132-134) Shuttle (pages 134-155) Space Station (pages 155-157) Series III: Aviation subjects (pages 157-179) Series IV: Country files (pages 179-181) Series V: Miscellaneous files (pages 181-187) Series VI: Press Kits (pages 187-191) The processing archivist found that the order of the collection paralleled for the most part the arrangement and order used by the National Air and Space Museum Archives in arranging the order of the NASM Archives Aviation and Space History Technical files. Desind’s original order was maintained wherever possible. Desind tended to cross reference material by filing both payload and launch vehicle material under both the payload and the launch vehicle. In some cases these are not the same images, so the finding aid shows the main subject first and the secondary subject next on the subject line. The country of origin for non-US subjects is also shown. Filing was normally done by subject name rather than designation, which has been added for the sake of clarity. For subjects where the name is actually an acronym, the acronym has been spelled out. For larger files, items were sorted by vehicle number and/or launch date. These are shown on the subject line. The aircraft series were arranged somewhat haphazardly. Variously this was by designation, by company or origin, or by popular name. These files were rearranged to match the order used by the NASM Archives Techical Files; company, then designation, showing popular name. The emphasis Desind placed upon images over textual material is shown in the last series of material, which holds the press kits collected over time. The photographs were removed from the press kits and filed with the appropriate subject; however, in some cases the news releases themselves were only placed in a general folder marked “spacecraft” amongst the press kit holdings. For most of the cited subjects, there is a lack of textual material on the subject, and the patron is reminded of further holdings in the NASM Archives Space History Technical Files. Files marked “Documents” contain response letters from the originators of the photographs to Desind, rather than documents pertaining to the subject of the files. “Emblems” files contain 3 NASM Archives Desind Collection 1997-0014 self-adhesive stickers and paper representations of emblems associated with the subject, including payloads and launchers. Stickers have been placed in mylar sleeving to prevent any glue residue from contacting other artifacts. Any cloth or embroidered emblems have been given to the respective curators. “Flight Covers,” also known as Postal Covers, are envelopes postmarked and decorated to commemorate a launch or event. Photographs have been separated by type: black and white, color, or transparencies. Photograph folders are photographs only, lithographs and serigraphs have been placed in document folders. Machine transfer images have been placed in document folders. Although Desind was a model rocket builder, there are no blueprints or technical drawings of rockets with the collection. 4 NASM Archives Desind Collection 1997-0014 CONTAINER LIST Series I Boxes 1-150 This series contains photographs and documents (such as correspondence covering Desind’s requests for the photographs) on unmanned space programs, both national and international. Satellites are shown with their launch dates, and, where known, the launch vehicle is listed. Launch vehicles may also be listed as separate files for individual launches, with launch date. When known, the payload is also listed by name. When a large file holds material from two or more companies that competed for a project with the same name, the companies are shown on separate folders to avoid confusion. Box Folder 1 1 A-1 Satellite (France) B&W Photos 2 AAAM (Advanced Air to Air Missile) Documents 3 AAAM (Advanced Air to Air Missile), Emblems Documents 4 AAAM (Advanced Air to Air Missile) Color Photos 5 AAAM (Advanced Air to Air Missile) Duplicate Photos 6 AAWS-M (Advanced Antitank Weapons System-Medium) Documents 7 AAWS-M (Advanced Antitank Weapons System-Medium), Emblems Documents 8 AAWS-M (Advanced Antitank Weapons System-Medium) B&W Photos 9 AAWS-M (Advanced Antitank Weapons System-Medium) Color Photos 10 AAWS-M (Advanced Antitank Weapons System-Medium) Duplicate Photos 11 ACCP (France) Color Photos 12 ACTS (Advanced Communications Technology Satellite) Documents 13 ACTS (Advanced Communications Technology Satellite), Emblems Documents 14 ACTS (Advanced Communications Technology Satellite) B&W Photos 15 ACTS (Advanced Communications Technology Satellite) Color Photos 16 ADAMS (Air Defense Advanced Missile System)(Israel) Documents 17 ADAMS (Air Defense Advanced Missile System)(Israel) B&W Photos 18 ADATS (Air Defence Antitank System)(Switzerland) Documents 19 ADATS (Air Defence Antitank System)(Switzerland) B&W Photos 20 ADATS (Air Defence Antitank System)(Switzerland) Color Photos 21 ADATS (Air Defence Antitank System)(Switzerland) Transparencies 22 ADATS (Air Defence Antitank System)(Switzerland) Duplicate Photos 23 ADDPEP (Aerodynamic Deployable Decelerator Performance Evaluation Documents Program) 24 ADDPEP (Aerodynamic Deployable Decelerator Performance Evaluation B&W Photos Program) 25 ADSID (Air Delivered Seismic Intrusion Detection) Color Photos 26 Advanced Launch Vehicle (ALS) Documents 27 Advanced Launch Vehicle (ALS) B&W Photos 28 Advanced Launch Vehicle (ALS) Color Photos 29 Advanced Launch Vehicle (ALS), In-Line Color Photos 30 Advanced Launch Vehicle (ALS), Side-Mount Documents 31 Advanced Launch Vehicle (ALS), Side-Mount B&W Photos 32 Advanced Launch Vehicle (ALS), Side-Mount Color Photos 33 Advent Communications Satellite B&W Photos 34 Advent Communications Satellite Color Photos 35 Adventurer (Aerolab ARGO C-21) Documents 36 Aeolus Sounding Rocket (Rocketdyne) B&W Photos 5 NASM Archives Desind Collection 1997-0014 Box Folder 37 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Launches Documents 1 38 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Launches B&W Photos 39 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Launches Color Photos Box Folder 2 1 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Launch Sequences B&W Photos 2 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Launch Sequences Color Photos 3 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Launch Sequences Transparencies 4 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Experiments Documents 5 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Experiments B&W Photos 6 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Experiments Color Photos 7 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Experiments Negatives 8 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Payloads B&W Photos 9 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Payloads Color Photos 10 Aerobee Sounding Rocket, Payloads Color Photos 11 Aerobee Sounding