Finding Aid

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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 (Apollo) program.  His assignment, he wrote, 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. The Apollo program came to an abrupt end in 1975.       

KJH collected the present files long 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 post-Apollo 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) to George and Anna Mather Hartman. The family moved to northeastern Iowa, but as a child of the depression, Hartman could not afford to go to The University of Iowa as he wished 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/human behavior at California Western University (currently United States International University) in San Diego. 

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.  Most of his contributions to Human Factors Engineering were classified.  When the Apollo Program ended, he worked at McDonald Douglas on the “Star Wars” missile defense system. He resigned from the space program in 1975, and taught statistics and math aboard U.S. Navy ships until 1987, then moving from California to Eugene, Oregon, lecturing from time to time at the University of Oregon. His wife, Janet Duffy Hartman, died in 1991. Kenneth Hartman died October 15, 2011, age 94. He was survived by a son Robert and two grandchildren.

Related Materials:

Hartman donated his collection of books about space research and the manned space program to Saint Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa. The collection is maintained by the Library Department of Special Collections.

Box Contents List

Dr. Kenneth J. Hartman Papers

Series I: Subject Files

Box 1:

KJH college records (includes photographs of the Iowa campus in 1946-1947) and professional activities including formulas for quantifying variables that affect the sales of farm implement dealers (for John Deere) and a method of estimating chi square.

KJH MA thesis, "A Study of Reliability in the Determination of Effort Rating." SUI, 1947. Carbon copy.

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.

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

----, Original 7.

----, Salaries.

----, Selection of; including MMPI testing. (See also Santy, Dr. Pat).

Apollo History.  Photocopies from books.

Apollo contract wuth NAA; Contract between Life magazine and the astronauts.

Apollo Command Module.

Apollo 1 crew and patch.

Apollo 1 fire. Several long KJH annotations.

Apollo 3 -7.

Apollo 8. Notes on crew members.

----. Notes on the mission.

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

Apollo 9.

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 13

---. LM.

Apollo 14. Photo of crew.

Apollo 15. Photo of crew; postage stamp scandal.

Apollo 16. KJH note on families.

Apollo 17.

Box 2:

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[istics] students to refute that Pisces was a common sign for astronauts.”

Astrophysics.

Baron, Thomas (NAA whistleblower).

Biomedical. Biometric. 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)

Dental

Dentistry in space.

-----.  USSR.

Downey, CA (polluted site of NAA factory).

Earthrise (on moon)

Escape module (1961)

EVA Space Walk.

Eyes.

"Falling" in Space.

Flag on Moon.

Flying; Flying and Dreams

Frequently Asked Questions (about astronauts).

0 Gravity Effects (Weightlessness).

Gemini.

Habitability (inside space of space vehicles).

History and Missions (of Apollo program).

Hoagland, Richard and Mike Bara. Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA (2007); Hoagland. The Monuments of Mars.

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

"The Incredible Year '68." Life Magazine. In Oversized Box 1

Kaysing, Bill (conspiracy theorist).

Kona Kai [Hotel] Kaper.

Korolev, Sergei P.

Jung, Carl

LEM.

Light flashes.

Living in Space [See also Biomedical; Dentistry].

Lunar Effects.

Lunar Rover.

Magnetic Fields.

MASTIF [simulator].

Box 3:

Medical Histories [of astronauts].

Mercury. NASA Control Center documentation.

Mercury. Notes.

Moon, Origin of; Danger of; Moon Rocks.

----. Tranquility Base.

----. [Thomas] “Gold” Dust theory.

----. Atomic bomb on the ...

----. and the Mafia.

----. Walkers and Orbitors [men who…]

North American Aviation, Inc.

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

NASA.

----. NASA lunar rover 20XX.

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

"Our Planet." Life Magazine. In Oversized Box 1

PAM-D Flight Failure Investigation.

Pauli, Wolfgang

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

“The Race to the Moon: An Example of International Conflict and Resolution.” Essay by Kenneth J. Hartman. Also printout of WGBH web pages.    

Radiation.

----.

----.

Razor (wind-up shaver for use by astronauts).

The Right Stuff [book and movie].

Rockets.

Russian Rocket & Space Era:

----. SPUTNIK.

----. MIR space suits; pressure test of suit.

----. MIR and SOYUZ simulators; SOYUZ descent modue.

----. SOYUZ booster rocket.

----. Russian space station; supply ship interior; Salyut 6.

----. Buran Orbiter.

----. USSR Cosmonauts (group photographs).

----. Gagarin, Yuri.

----. Leonov, Aleksei.

----. Romanenko, Yuri.

----. Titov, Gherman (photograph of earth).

----. Treshkova, Valentina.

----. Gagarin Cosmonauts' Training Center Museum.

----.  USSR Air-Space Museum, Moscow. 2010 photographs.

Sex [in space].

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

Sibrel, Bert (conspiracy theorist).

Box 4:

Simulator (Apollo)

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

----. NASA history.

----. KSC simulator.

----. NAA simulator.

Skylab.

Smith, Andrew. Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell (2005).

Space art [photographs of].

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

Space Cowboys. (2000 movie).

Space shower.

Space suit

Space toilet. Frozen urine (STS 41).

Space walkers "Walk of Fame."

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

Starwars [movies].

Spies in the Sky (space cameras)

TRW Space Log. 1980. [Printed pamphlet].

UFO

Urinary tract infections.

U.S. Navy astronauts.

U.S.S.R.

---. "Cosmos: The USSR in Space. The Soviet Space Exhibition at the Museum of Victoria." August, 1984. In Oversized Box 1

Van Allen radiation belts.

Verne, Jules.

----. Michael Lamy. The Secret Message of Jules Verne. Reviews.

Von Braun, Wernher (and astronauts; KJH).

Voskhod

Vostok.

Box 5:

Miscellaneous notes, documents and photocopies.

Series II:  Astronaut Files

Aldrin, Edward.

----. at age 80.

Anders, William.

Armstrong, Neil.

Bean, Alan

Borman, Frank.

Carpenter, Scott.

Cernan, Eugene.

Chafee, Roger.

Collins, Michael.

Conrad, Charles (“Pete”).

Cooper, Gordon.

---. Life Magazine article. In Oversized Box 1

Eisele, Donn.

Freeman, Ted.

Garriott, Owen (Skylab 3).

Glenn, John.

Gordon, Richard.

Grissom, Virgil (“Gus”).

----. "Liberty Bell 7."

----. Photographs.

Haise, Fred.

Box 6:

Irwin, James.

Lovell, James.

---. Life Magazine article. In Oversized Box 1

Kraft, Christopher.

Mattingly, Ken.

McDivitt, James.

Mitchell, Edgar.

Roosa, Stuart.

Schirra, Walter.

Schweikart, Rusty.

Scott, David.

Shepard, Alan.

Slayton, Donald (“Deke”).

Swigert, John (“Jack”).

White, Edward.

Young, John.

Groups.

---. Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Virgil Grissom, John Glenn, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Donald Slayton as featured in Life Magazine. In Oversized Box 1

---. Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee as featured in Life Magazine. In Oversized Box 1

---. Gus Grissom and John Young as featured in Life Magazine. In Oversized Box 1

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.

Bean, Sue.

Boarman, Susan.

Carpenter, Rene.

---. Life Magazine article

Cernan, Barbara

----, Jan.

Chaffee, Martha.

Collins, Patricia  Finnegan.

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.

Lapierre, Judith.

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

Lovell, Marilyn.

Ride, Sally.

Santy, Dr. Patricia [NASA psychiatrist]

Schirra, Jo.

Shepartd, Louise.

Skylab 3 Wives.

Slayton, Marge.

Stiver, Wickham (Wicky Mouse Club).

White, “Pat”.

Coca Beach.

Groups

---. Renee Carpenter, Trudy Cooper, Anna Glenn, Betty Grissom, Jospehine Schirra, Louise Shepard, Marjorie Slayton as featured in Life Magazine

Box 6A: 

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).

Wives' Insurance.

Women who have been in space.

Project Mercury 13

Box 7:

Series IV: Videos and DVDs

In Their Own Words: The Space Race.  7 CD spoken word audio collection. Renton, WA: Topics Entertainment, 2003.

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. 2 copies.

The Eagle Has Landed, Apollo 4-Apollo 11. Portland, OR: Columbia River Entertainment Group, 2007. DVD. Volume one of Moon Rarce: The History of Apollo. 2 copies

Apollo 1.  Spacecraft Films, 2007.4.5 hour DVD.

Astrospies. WGBH Boston: Nova Productions, 2007.

The History Channel Presents The Race to the Moon. 2 DVDs.

Beyond the Moon: Failure Is Not An Option 2. History, 2005. DVD.

Space Facts II. Just the Facts Leaning Series.

The Red Stuff: The True Story of the Russian Race for Space. DVD.

Box 8

The Astronaut's Wife (1999) written and directed by Rand Ravich, starring Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron. 2 copies, along with paper printouts from the web of reviews of the movie.

Essential Space Collection. DVD

Moon Race: The History of Apollo. DVD two disc set in a metal container.

Moonshot. DVD

Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back. MCA Universal. VHS.

Journey to the Moon: One Giant Leap. The 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11. DVD.

Moonshot.  History Channel. DVD.

Space Facts. Goldhil Entertainment. DVD.

Space Facts II. Goldhil Entertainment. DVD.

Nazi Plan to Bomb New York. History Channel. DVD.