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PRESS RELEASE
May 13, 2003
Media Only: Kathleen Hanser (202) 633-2375
Claire Brown (202) 633-2371
Website: www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/arch

Popular Science Teacher's Collection of Space-Related Items Now
Available to Researchers at Smithsonian's National Air and Space
Museum

Herbert Desind was a science teacher in Maryland with a passion for
rockets and the space program. During his lifetime he amassed a
remarkable collection of space-related photos, tapes and documents.
Desind died in 1992, and in 1997 his family donated the collection to
the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

After years of cataloging by museum archivists, the collection is now
available to researchers at the archives of the National Air and
Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Access to the collection is
available by appointment, which can be arranged by calling
(202) 633-2320 or writing to: National Air and Space Museum Archives,
National Air and Space Museum, MRC 322, P.O. Box 37012, Washington,
D.C. 20013-7012.

Desind's sizable collection - 109 cubic feet of photographs and
documents - covers the history of manned and unmanned space flight.
It includes materials from United States government, military and
corporate sources, and from international sources including
Australia, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and South Africa.
While the collection focuses heavily on the space program, it also
contains a substantial number of photographs of aircraft from the
1960s through 1980s. 

Besides being a dedicated, popular and enthusiastic teacher, Desind
also was a freelance writer/lecturer on space history and an avid
model rocketeer. He used his collection of more than 100,000
black-and-white and color images to illustrate classroom lectures and
his magazine articles. 

He also used it as a reference for building and documenting accurate
scale models for national and international sport model rocketry
competitions held under National Association of Rocketry guidelines.
He launched more than 11,000 model rockets in his career, and created
a model rocket club at Laurel High School in Laurel, Md.

Desind, a 1967 graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park,
taught at Cabin John Junior High School in Montgomery County, Md.,
and Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School and Laurel High School in
Prince Georges County, Md.

In 1985, Desind applied to NASA's Teacher in Space program. On his
application, Desind said, "If I can inspire a future scientist,
astronomer, poet, or parent who will pass on the love of science to
children, I will know my time and efforts were worth it."

In 1991, Desind was named Outstanding Science Teacher of the Year by
Prince George's County and the Potomac Electric and Power Company
(PEPCO).

The National Air and Space Museum, located at Sixth Street and
Independence Avenue S.W., is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. Admission is free.

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