Aug 16, 2006

The Fragile Past

by Cliopatria

Over the weekend I got my copy of the “The Gospel of Judas,” edited by Marvin Meyer. The book opens with an account of how the Gospel was found, nearly lost entirely, and certainly damaged badly before scholars could begin to examine it. It was a reminder of how contingent our knowledge of the past is. Climate, chance, cupidity, hard work, and nobility all play a role in saving some documents while condemning most to the all-too-literal dustbin of history.

It’s not only old documents, alas. NASA has lost the original tape of the moon landing. It probably went to the Goddard Space Flight Center, which would make sense. It is the only place—at least within NASA--that can play the tape.

The real crime here is that NASA seems to have no historian, (correction. See below.) which is truly extraordinary. And quite sad.

Major correction concerning NASA:I, and the article I linked, were wrong about NASA not having a historian. In fact they have a whole division. To this point, they have not issued a statement about the loss of the tape on their website. I am going to contact them about their relationship with the archiving of NASA's records in general and about the tape in particular.
My apologies for the error.

PS 16 Aug. I have not heard back from the NASA Historians' site But here is more information on record keeping by NASA and the Federal government.

More Comments:

Oscar Chamberlain - 8/15/2006

Thanks for the correction. It sounds as if the author of the article was mistaken or perhaps mistook the lack of an archivist for the lack of an historian. I will try to find out more.

Brett Holman - 8/14/2006

There is actually a NASA historian -- in fact a whole division of them. See here (looks like a very thorough website, incidentally). The NASA Chief Historian is Steven J. Dick, author of a history I admire greatly: The Biological Universe: The Twentieth Century Extraterrestrial Life Debate and the Limits of Science (Cambridge: CUP, 1996).

Of course, you could legitimately ask if the History Division has any responsibility or oversight for such tapes, or at least keeping tabs on them; and if so, what has it been doing about it? Of course, it would be a huge problem for NASA as a whole.