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Summary

This collection consists of approximately 1.77 cubic feet of materials relating to the creation of the Association of Space Explorers, their activities, and some additional material about various projects Russell L. "Rusty" Schweickart was involved in.

Biographical / Historical

The Association of Space Explorers is a non-profit organization with a membership composed of people who have completed at least one Earth orbit in space (above 100 km / 62 mi), as defined by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Founded in 1985, its current membership stands at over 400 from the following 38 countries: Afghanistan, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam. The organization provides a forum, the Planetary Congress, for the promotion of space exploration, as well as space science and engineering and environmental awareness from the unique perspective of astronauts/cosmonauts. Russell L. "Rusty" Schweickart (b. 1935) is a scientist and former astronaut who served as the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 9 flight. Prior to his career as an astronaut, Schweickart was a research scientist at the Experimental Astronomy Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was also a fighter pilot in the U. S. Air Force and the Massachusetts Air National Guard from 1956 to 1963. Schweickart has also held various executive positions in business and in government including for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the State of California, and as chair of the United States Antarctic Program Safety Review Panel for the Director of the National Science Foundation. Schweickart is also a founder and past president of the Association of Space Explorers.

Identifier

NASM.2019.0023

Creator

Schweickart, Russell L. "Rusty", b. 1935

Date

1983-2008

Provenance

Russell Schweickart, Gift, 2019, NASM.2019.0023

Extent

1.77 Cubic feet (5 boxes)

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of approximately 1.77 cubic feet of materials relating to the creation of the Association of Space Explorers, their activities, and some additional material about various projects Russell L. "Rusty" Schweickart was involved in. The collection contains the following types of material: correspondence (both letters and emails); Statement of Purpose; questionnaires; planning agreements; progress reports; material on various environmental science projects including the Sundance Symposium on Global Climate Change; and two publications, Safety in Antarctica, Report of the U. S. Antarctic Program Safety Review Panel and Asteroid Threats, A call for global response, published by the Association of Space Explorers in 2008. Please note: As of this time, only a portion of this collection has been digitized. Additional material may be scanned as time and resources permit.

Arrangement note

The collection is in original order and was divided into two series by the donor. The first relates to the founding of the Association of Space Explorers and the second is additional material. Within individual folders, material is usually arranged chronologically. Much of the email was organized into binders sorted first by email service provider and then chronologically within each set. In the case of the materials in Series 1, they were received in reverse chronological order.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Citation

Association of Space Explorers Collection [Schweickart], NASM.2019.0023, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Astronautics

Astronauts

Publications

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence