Michael A. Minovitch Collection

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Articles, reports, memorandums, photographs, and other materials - both physical and digital - documenting the personal and professional life of Michael A. Minovitch, an American mathematician who helped revolutionize space navigation.

Michael Minovitch is an American mathematician best known for pioneering the gravity assist technique, which enables spacecraft to gain velocity by passing near a planet in orbit around the Sun. He developed this concept in the early 1960s when he was a UCLA graduate student working summers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The first mission to use this technique was the Mariner 10 trip to Venus and Mercury in 1973.

Identifier

NASM.2007.0044

Creator

Minovitch, Michael A.

Date

bulk 1950s-2000s

Provenance

Michael A. Minovitch, Gift, 2007, NASM.2007.0044

Extent

.667 Gigabytes

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Related Materials

Gravity-propelled Interplanetary Space Travel Collection, NASM.1990.0053 and Laser Rocket Propulsion Collection, NASM.1991.0076

Scope and Contents

This collection contains physical items, digital surrogates, and born-digital files capturing the personal and professional life of Michael A. Minovitch. Thirty-one captioned photographs depict his time at UCLA, including interactions with family and friends, participation in the International Symposium on Atmospheric Reentry Vehicles and Systems, and a moment with Chuck Yeager. Articles and documents - many authored by Minovitch - along with their digitized versions, explore gravity-assisted space travel and the debate surrounding its origins. Other items of this collection include materials related to Minovitch patents, a printed biography and curriculum vitae with a corresponding digital copy, and a floppy disk containing corrections for a paper submitted to the International Astronautical Federation in 1999.

Arrangement note

Arranged in original 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

Michael A. Minovitch Collection, NASM.2007.0044, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Astronautics

Type

Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Photographs
Reports
Articles
Memorandums
Correspondence

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