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Robert L. Foster (1922-1994) received a BSEE from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1952. Prior to his time at Georgia, Foster was in the US Army Corps of Engineers from 1942-1950. In 1953, he began his long association with McDonnell Douglas Corporation. At McDonnell Douglas Foster had a number of important positions, including the following: Group Engineer for Advanced Design (1958-1959), Senior Group Engineer for Project Mercury (1959-1960), Engineering Manager for Project Mercury (1960-1965) , and Operation manager for Project Gemini (1965-1967). Later in 1967, Foster was transferred from Cape Kennedy to Vandenberg Air Force Base where he served as base manager (1967-1968), Deputy Director (1968-1969) and finally Director (1969 -).

 Identifier

NASM.2004.0062

Creator

Foster, Robert L, 1922-1994

Date

bulk 1930-1974

Provenance

Sally Foster-Chang, Gift, 2004

Extent

0.75 Cubic feet ((2 box))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of .75 linear ft of Robert L. Foster's professional papers, including the following types of material: reports, correspondence, photographs, invitations, McDonnell newsletters, interoffice memorandums, and newspaper articles. The papers relate to his long association with the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and his roles in Project Mercury, Project Gemini, and at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

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

Robert Foster Papers, 2004-0062, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Manned space flight

Space vehicles

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Correspondence

Articles

Newsletters

Memorandums