There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.
To view items in this collection, use the Online Finding Aid
This collection consists of material relating to Captain Jean Kathleen Trainum McKay (1924-2016) and her work as the dietitian for the Mercury Project including news clippings, press releases, writings by McKay, photographs, and a detailed pre-flight feeding plan.
Captain Jean Kathleen Trainum McKay (1924-2016) was serving as the staff dietitian in the Office of the Air Force Surgeon General when she was selected to serve as the dietitian for the Mercury Project and was sent to Cape Canaveral in April 1961. Although research and development for the pre-flight dietary guidelines had been done previously at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, McKay was responsible for planning specific menus from the basic guide, purchasing the food and supervising preparation and serving, and conducting nutritional analysis and reporting to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Prior to this assignment, McKay was a member of a unified team of women serving in various branches of the military put together to work with the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) to recruit more women to serve in the Armed Forces.
NASM.2017.0028
Whirlpool Corporation
bulk 1951-2004
Laurel Barile, Gift, 2017, NASM.2017.0028.
0.05 Cubic feet (1 folder)
National Air and Space Museum Archives
This collection consists of approximately 0.05 cubic feet of material relating to Jean McKay and her work as the dietitian for the Mercury Project including news clippings, press releases, writings by McKay, photographs, and a detailed pre-flight feeding plan. The feeding plan consists of nutritional information, menus, and recipes, and is signed on the front by astronauts Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., John Herschel Glenn, Jr., Malcolm Scott Carpenter, Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., Walter Marty "Wally" Schirra, Jr., and Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton. The writings by McKay consist of papers on nutrition and feeding astronauts as well as the notes for a talk to a docent meeting at the San Diego Air and Space Museum recounting McKay's experiences with the Mercury Project. Press releases are from the office of Congressman Phillip Hart Weaver (R-Nebraska) and one from the Whirlpool Corporation on their Space Kitchen which includes two 8 by 10 inch black and white photographs. Also included is also a 4 by 6 inch color photograph of McKay with Shepard and Schirra taken in August 1995.
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
No restrictions on access.
Mercury Project Dietary and Nutritional Guidelines [McKay], Acc. NASM.2017.0028, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Mercury Project
Dietetics
Astronautics
Manned space flight
Food
Project Apollo (U.S.)
Apollo Lunar Module
Astronauts
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Newspaper clippings
Press releases
Papers, technical
Photographs
Menus