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Finding Aid

Dr. Kenneth J. Hartman Papers
MsC 876
1945-2000

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department.

Copyright: Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials.

Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.

Acquisition and Processing Information: These papers were Dr. Hartman's gift in October 2007.

Photographs: in several folders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Scope and Contents

The Dr. Kenneth J. Hartman files are organized in three series. Series I: Subject Files (Boxes 1-3); Series II: Astronaut (biographical) Files (Boxes 3-4); and Series III: Astronauts’ Wives and Women in Space (Boxes 4-5), concluding with miscellaneous materials in Box 5. Many of the file folders bear KJH annotations and have been retained. Nearly all photocopies and computer printouts have been annotated by KJH.

By 1962, Hartman was employed by North American Aviation, Inc., and became senior research engineer for crew performance and training in the manned space program.  His assignment, he has written, was to keep the design engineers from killing the astronauts with poorly or badly designed equipment and procedures. Most of his contributions to Human Factors Engineering were classified. He retired in 1987.       

The present files were collected after retirement. Many were derived from articles, books, and web sites, with pages photocopied or printed out and annotated by Hartman, whose notes are also interspersed throughout them.  There are also photographs, reports, and other materials. In part, the materials were gathered to support Hartman’s teaching and lectures.

Biographical Note

Kenneth Hartman was born in 13 April 1917 in Bloomington, IL (6 days after  U.S. declared war on Germany). A child of the depression, he could not afford to go to the University of Iowa and took his B.A. in Engineering at St. Ambrose College, Davenport.  He entered the U.S. Army in 1942, was accepted into the ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program), and sent to The University of Iowa in January 1944 for the German Geopolitical Program.  In April 1944 the course ended, the ASTP disbanded, and the men were assigned to infantry divisions in Europe.  Hartman was sent to Antwerp, Belgium, where he endured 175 days of continuous V-1 and V-2 rocket attacks (from October 7, 1944 to March 30, 1945).  He left the Army at the end of 1945, and returned to Iowa in January 1946 to complete an MA in 1947 on the GI Bill.  He later completed a PhD in psychology at the University of Southern California. 

While completing this degree, by 1962, Hartman was employed by North American Aviation, Inc., and became senior research engineer for crew performance and training in the manned space program, working for 13 years with the Apollo program.  His assignment, he has written, was to keep the design engineers from killing the astronauts with poorly or badly designed equipment and procedures. Most of his contributions to Human Factors Engineering were classified.  He resigned from the space program in 1975.  He later worked at McDonald Douglas on the “Star Wars” missile defense system and taught statistics and math about U.S. Navy ships, retiring in 1987 and moving from California to Eugene, Oregon.

 


Box Contents List

Dr. Kenneth J. Hartman Papers

Series I: Subject Files

Box 1:

KJH essays. Background on his WWII service, particularly in Antwerp, Belgium in April 1944 when that city was under German V-1 and V-2 bombardment. Overview of his work with the early astronauts as Senior Engineer, Research, Crew Performance & Training, for North American Aviation, Inc.

Astronauts. Summary biographical information from a variety of sources.

Astronauts, Fallen.  Notes on the deaths of astronauts.  Summary sheet by KJH on Apollo 1 fire.

Astronauts, Selection of.

Apollo History.  Photocopies from books.

Apollo Contract between Life magazine and the astronauts.

Apollo 1 fire. Several long KJH annotations.

Apollo 8. Notes on crew members.

----. Notes on the mission.

----. Unused obituary drafted by William Safire for Richard Nixon.  Mission insignia.

Apollo 10.

Apollo 11. KJH summary. Notes. Mission insignia.

----. Notes on mission. Notes on Lunar Module.

----. Photographs and color photocopies.

Apollo 12.

Apollo 13.

Apollo 14. Photo of crew.

Apollo 15. Photo of crew.

Apollo 16. KJH note on families.

Apollo 17.

Apollo Soyus Test Program (Cosmonauts).

Andromeda Strain. Crichton novel (1969) and fear of contamination by Apollo 11.

Astrology. KJH note: “I gave extra credit to my stat. students to refute that Pisces was a common sign for astronauts.”

Astrophysics.

Biomedical. Notes on problems of humans in space.

----. Notes on body waste.

Books. Notes on books about the space program.

----. Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff.

China/Space.

Crew (3 man)

Dentistry in space.

-----.  USSR.

Earthrise (on moon)

Escape module (1961)

Box 2:

EVA Space Walk.

Eyes.

Flag on Moon.

0 Gravity Effects (Weightlessness).

Gemini.

History and Missions (of Apollo program).

Hoaxes [“Operation Green Cheese”]; belief Apollo 11 a Hoax

Kona Kai [Hotel] Kaper.

Korolev, Sergei P.

LEM.

Light flashes.

Living in Space [See also Biomedical; Dentistry].

Lunar Effects.

Lunar Rover.

MASTIF [simulator]

Medical Histories [of astronauts]

Mercury. NASA Control Center documentation.

Mercury. Notes.

MIR.

Moon, Origin of; Danger of; Moon Rocks.

----. Tranquility Base.

----. [Thomas] “Gold” Dust theory.

----. Walkers and Orbitors [men who…]

North American Aviation, Inc.

----. Baker, Bobby [Assistant to President Lyndon Johnson]. NASA-NAA web.

Oberg, James. Star-Crossed Orbits: Inside the U.S.-Russian Space Alliance. Photocopied pages.

PAM-D Flight Failure Investigation.

Quarantine [of Moon materials]; see also Andromeda Strain.

“Race to the Moon.”  Printout of WGBH web pages.    

Radiation.

----.

----.

The Right Stuff [book and movie].

Rockets.

Salyut 6.

Sex [in space].

Shuttle [NASA Publication, “Space Flight; The First 30 Years“ (1991).

Box 3:

Simulator (Apollo)

----. NAA Apollo 12 crew (1969).

Skylab.

Space art [photographs of].

Space biology and medicine [Photocopies from Galvin, Melvin and Oleg G. Gazenko, Foundations of Space Biology amd Medicine, 1975. Volime III].

Space shower.

Space suit

Space toilet.

Spacefaring (Albert A. Harrison); [excerpt and correspondence].

Stamp Scandal (Apollo 15).

Starwars [movies]

TRW Space Log. 1980. [Printed pamphlet].

UFO

Urinary tract infections.

U.S. Navy astronauts.

U.S.S.R.

Van Allen radiation belts.

Verne, Jules.

Von Braun, Wernher.

Voskhod

Vostok.

Miscellaneous notes, documents and photocopies.

Series II:  Astronaut Files

Aldrin, Edward.

Anders, William.

Armstrong, Neil.

Bean, Alan

Borman, Frank.

Box 4:

Carpenter, Scott.

Cernan, Eugene.

Chafee, Roger.

Collins, Michael.

Conrad, Charles.(“Pete”).

Cooper, Gordon.

Eisele, Donn.

Freeman, Ted.

Glenn, John.

Gordon, Richard.

Grissom, Virgil (“Gus”).

----. Photographs.

Haise, Fred.

Irwin, James.

Lovell, James.

Kraft, Christopher.

Mattingly, Ken.

McDivitt, James.

Mitchell, Ed.

Roosa, Stuart.

Schirra, Walter.

Schweikart, Rusty.

Scott, David.

Shepard, Alan.

Slayton, Donald (“Deke”).

Swigert, John (“Jack”).

White, Edward.

Young, John.

Series III: Files on astronaut’s wives and families, female astronauts. (KJN note: “It took hundreds of hours to compile this list.”

Astronauts’ wives (general).

Aldrin, Joan.

Armstrong, Janet.

Anders, Valerie.

Boarman, Susan.

Box 5:

Carpenter, Rene.

Cernan, Barbara and Jan.

Collins, Pat.

Conrad, Jane and Nancy.

Cooper, Trudy and Susan.

Grissom, Betty.

Haise, Mary.

Hamblin, Dora [Life reporter assigned following Apollo 1 fire]. See also http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/findingaids/html/HamblinDoraJane.htm.

Life photos [of wives of first seven astronauts and other photos].

Lovell, Marilyn.

Ride, Sally.

Santy, Dr. Patricia [NASA psychiatrist]

Schirra, Jo.

Shepartd, Louise.

Slayton, Marge.

White, “Pat”.

Coca Beach.

Fallaci, Oriana, If the Sun Dies (1966). Photocopied pages.

 Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8: the First Manned Flight to Another World.  Robert Zimmerman. 1998. (Apollo 8 wives).  Photocopied pages.

Starman (movie)

Women who have been in space.

Project Mercury 13

Treshkova, Valentina

Miscellaneous documents and notes.

John Glenn, with Nick Taylor. John Glenn: A Memoir. Read by the author on 4 casette tapes.

Race to the Moon. Allegro Corporation, 2007.  3.5 hour DVD video compilation from NASA Archives.