Professional Career, 1951 - 2013

Series — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSA 283, Series 3

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: The Jerry L. Ross papers document Ross' student life at Purdue, his test flight engineer work, and NASA career as an engineer and astronaut. The collection includes Purdue coursework and memorabilia; papers from Ross' work at Edwards Air Force Base, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and Test Pilot School; NASA Space Shuttle training, mission documents and mission related scrapbooks, memorabilia, and flight crew films and interviews, along with documents and maps from Ross' work on Space Shuttle Columbia accident recovery operation. Also included are 64 NASA publications, 45 aerospace, aviation and Purdue journals and publications.

Examples of the types of material in the collection include Purdue textbooks, aircraft flight test manuals, flight reports, mission plans, and checklists for the B-1 aircraft, Test Pilot School materials, NASA course materials, and Space Shuttle Mission checklists, manuals, handbooks, an oral history interview, and 16mm and VHS films. There are numerous clippings featuring Ross and fellow astronauts, space shuttle missions, NASA history, Purdue astronaut reunion and other events. In particular, this collection provides an insider's view of space exploration, and a window through which we may begin to understand and take measure of the era of the UNited States Space Shuttle Program.

Dates

1951 - 2013

Language of Materials

From the Collection: Collection material is in English. One MIR publication is in Russian.

Access Information

Collection is open for research. Per donor request, some DVDs and VHS cassettes are listed as restricted, consult with archivist. Two folders contain confidential information and are marked as restricted.

Extent

15.082 Cubic Feet (20 letter-size full-width manuscript boxes, five cubic foot boxes, four letter-size half-width manuscript boxes, three legal-size full-width manuscript boxes, one legal-size half-width box)

Additional Description

Arrangement

Series three is broken down into six sub-series which follow Ross' career path. A description appears at the sub-series level for each.

Air Force Active Duty and Test Pilot School, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base and B-1
Early NASA
Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Recovery Operation
Post-NASA