Collections Overview

The NASA Headquarters Archives is located at the Mary W. Jackson Headquarters building in Washington, D.C. The collection consists of materials including textual documents, still and moving imagery, and audio materials. These archival holdings are arranged into collections and series across a variety of creators and topics relating to NASA and including administration, budget, personnel, centers and facilities, federal and international partners, history working and source files, as well as subject and biographical files.

Research Appointments

Scheduling Appointments at the Headquarters Archives

The NASA Headquarters Archival Collection is open to researchers by APPOINTMENT ONLY. Please follow the guidelines below to start your in-person research with us.

U.S. Citizens

At least two weeks before your intended visit contact the HQ archives at hq-histinfo@nasa.gov to make an appointment. Please provide the following information:

• Your full name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Research topic and list of materials you are interested in seeing
• Prospective dates of your visit
• Confirmation of U.S. citizenship
• If you will require internet access during your visit

Please make sure to confirm your appointment prior to your planned arrival day. Please see the Arriving at Headquarters section for further instructions.

Foreign Nationals

At least 30 days in advance before your intended visit please contact the HQ archives at
hq-histinfo@nasa.gov to make an appointment. Please provide the following information to begin the mandatory security screening process:

• Your full name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Research topic and list of materials you are interested in seeing
• Prospective dates of your visit
• If you will require internet access during your visit

Visitors who have not been cleared by security will not be admitted, regardless of whether they have an appointment. HQ Archivists will begin the security process through IDMAX. Please look for
correspondence from NASA regarding completing your profile and submitting your documents into this system.

Please make sure to confirm your appointment prior to your planned arrival day. See Arriving at Headquarters section for further instructions.

Arriving at Headquarters

All visitors must enter through the visitor’s entrance which is located on the West side of the NASA Headquarters building. You will obtain a visitor’s badge, then complete a security inspection of your bags and walk through a magnetometer.
Please be prepared to present:

• A valid form of government-issued identification.

• The name and phone number of the archivist you made the appointment with.

Security will call down to the Archives to inform the archivist of your arrival. After going through the security procedures, you will be escorted down to the Archives for the duration of your visit.

Research Room Rules

In order to provide a safe environment for researchers and archival holdings please adhere to the following rules:

• Food, beverages, candy, and gum are not permitted on the reference tables.

• Researchers do not have access to the stacks.

• “One at a time” is enforced; one box open with one folder out.

• Ink, markers, and post-it notes are not allowed.

• Documents must not be marked, rearranged, removed from their covers, or taken out of the research rooms. Staples may be removed at the discretion of the archivist.

• Researchers may bring and use flat-bed scanners, laptops, tablets, and cameras to reproduce documents. No on-site scanning equipment is available for use.

Failure to follow rules or repeated violations will result in being asked to leave the premises.