- Home
- Collections
- Search the Collection
- Manual, Slide Rule, Keuffel & Esser Co.
Manual, Slide Rule, Keuffel & Esser Co.
Object Details
- Summary
- This manual for a Keuffel & Esser Co. pocket slide rule accompanied the Pickett 1006-T pocket slide rule and associated materials belonging to Robert L. "Bob" Foster, an engineer who worked for McDonnell Aviation on Project Mercury (1959-1965) and Project Gemini (1965-1967). He also served as base manager, Deputy Director, and Director of Vandenberg Air Force Base during the late 1960s and as head of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory project in California. Although Foster would have relied on a full-sized slide rule for his real work, a pocket slide rule would have been used to make calculations in meetings or while away from his desk.
- Slide rules illustrate the manner and pattern of work that was required to carry out NASA's early human spaceflight efforts. As a part of the social history of space exploration, it reminds us of the individual people and countless calculations that allowed the grand projects of human space exploration to happen.
- Foster's daughter, Sally Foster-Chang, donated the slide rule and its accessories to the Museum in 2005 along with her father's engineer's jacket, her mother's charm bracelet, and a collection of her father's papers.
- Credit Line
- Gift of Sally Foster Chang in memory of her parents: Bob and Toni Foster
- Data Source
- National Air and Space Museum
- Inventory Number
- A20050072002
- Manufacturer
- Keuffel & Esser Company
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- MEMORABILIA-People
- Materials
- Paper, steel
- Dimensions
- Overall: 6 1/4 x 7 3/4in. (15.88 x 19.69cm)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Record ID
- nasm_A20050072002
- Usage
- Not determined
Related Object Groups
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.