JSC History Office

JSC History Office contact information

The NASA Johnson Space Center History Office supports the Center and the Agency through a number of efforts.

Through its Oral History Project, the History Office collects first-hand experiences eliciting details of procedures, processes, methodologies, rationale, and background of operations, design, and development. Since 1997, more than 1500 hours of audio have been recorded. The information collected is made readily available via transcript to any interested person through this site.

Through the JSC History Portal (implemented in September 2002), the History Office provides easy access to searchable, electronic files and resources such as the Center’s collection of Space Roundups (1961-present), Press Kits (Apollo through Shuttle), NASA Mission Transcripts (Mercury through Apollo Air to Ground transcripts), JSC News Releases from 1961 to present, and more than 300 space related websites and resources, such as links to NASA imagery and publications. The website is updated with new oral history transcripts at a minimum of four times a year. The Portal also provides access to the JSC History Collection.

By using research expertise and encompassing historical knowledge, the History Office provides real-time support and assistance to those at the Center and within the Agency in locating documented materials to aid in fulfilling requirements or providing accurate data necessary for reports, analysis, and resolutions to current and future issues. The History Office utilizes the JSC History Collection and Archives as well as numerous additional sources to provide quick and thorough answers to questions. Also, the History Office promotes the acquisition of personal files and historical possessions from former JSC employees and works closely with the JSC History Collection archivist to assist in securing these materials for preservation and future use.

By transferring data from obsolete media to accessible sources before the data deteriorates, the History Office preserves resource information unique to the Center and the Agency. Approximately 2000 hours of audio have been “rescued” since 1997 and all of the recordings are available to the public at the NASA JSC History Archives at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Saving these recordings is essential, because very few of the tape rescue interviews have been transcribed.

The JSC History Office and the University of Houston Center for Public History joined together to publish the Fall 2008 issue of Houston History magazine, dedicated to NASA JSC history between the years 1958 and 1978.

PDF version (7MB) of the magazine.

Houston History is published three times a year by the Center for Public History at the University of Houston.

Contact information for the NASA Johnson Space Center History Office: