Browse Items · UAH Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives

STS 51-L Data and Design Analysis Task Force Lessons Learned Report.

This report was produced by the Data and Design Analysis Task Force "to support the Presidential Commission appointed by President Ronald Reagan to investigate the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger and its crew." The report includes details from investigations in the areas of Development and Production, Prelaunch Activities, Accident Analysis, and Mission Planning and Operations. The report includes a recommendation to conduct an investigation "into the manufacturing process, final delivery and material cutting of the O-rings" that failed during the accident.

Letter from Philip M. Mason, Huntsville Center director, to all students.

UAH, then known as the University of Alabama Huntsville Center, circulated this letter in preparation for class registration and the center's integration in June 1963. Mason addresses the impending arrival of the first Black student, Dave Mack McGlathery, though he is not named in the letter. Mason emphasizes "that the academic program will proceed smoothly" and that "all persons and property will be protected," namely through a new student identification card system. Dave Mack McGlathery integrated the Huntsville Center on June 13, 1963, as he walked into Morton Hall to register for classes. His arrival proceeded uneventfully, though National Guardsmen were present to maintain order. Along with Vivian Malone, McGlathery was a plaintiff in the lawsuit to desegregate the University of Alabama.