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Author
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Topic: Personal Preference Kit (PPK) manifests
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gajs
Member Posts: 62
From: Bedford, NH
Registered: May 2007
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posted 09-22-2007 10:20 AM
   
Has anyone tried the Freedom of Information Act as it applies to the astronauts' personal preference kit (PPK) contents? Anybody know? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-22-2007 10:21 AM
It has been tried. The filing returns a letter by Deke Slayton that reads in part: The only list of PPK contents is retained by me. I certify to the Mission Director on each mission that the contents meet flammability and toxicity requirements and are non-controversial in nature. We do not intend to make this list available to anyone else at any time. It is the crew's prerogative to discuss the contents after the flight if they wish. Since these items are personal in nature, we do not feel that NASA has any other official prerogative on the issue. I have spent time searching the NASA archives held at the University of Houston, Clear Lake for record of the PPKs, as has the archivist herself. They aren't among the records turned over by NASA, and for its part, NASA says it did not retain copies of the manifests after the archives were transferred. |
gajs
Member Posts: 62
From: Bedford, NH
Registered: May 2007
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posted 09-22-2007 10:21 AM
Now that Deke Slayton is deceased, maybe another try should be made by those parties interested in these items. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-22-2007 10:22 AM
The Slayton letter was provided after his passing, as recently as last year, per a reader's report by e-mail. But have at it, maybe your mileage will vary... |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 09-22-2007 10:23 AM
While I would very much like to see what was flown in the PPKs from a collecting standpoint, I would be against revealing those contents against the astronauts wishes. After all, one "P" stands for personal. I firmly believe the astronauts have the right to keep those items personal, if they so choose.And even though these astronauts were employees of the government at the time, that does not automatically mean every single aspect of their lives during that time should be available to the public. Hypothetical situation here... Let's say an astronaut decided to take a small container with the ashes of a deceased loved one (or a lock of hair or whatever) on a mission. Consider what an extremely personal and private thing that is. Now consider how the astronauts would feel if that privacy was violated by some collector wanting to make their PPK public for everyone to see. I think what Deke saw fit to be private should remain private. |
DMScott
Member Posts: 354
From: Lexington, MA, USA
Registered: Dec 2005
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posted 12-09-2009 03:24 AM
I own Gene Cernan's Apollo 17 lunar surface astronaut preference kit (APK). He was happy to share with me the contents of the bag as he recalls them. I've posted it here. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 12-09-2009 05:32 AM
That raises a good point: the Slayton-set policy applies to flights prior to Apollo 17: as a result of what transpired on Apollo 15, NASA formalized its rules as it applied to mementos being carried onboard U.S. spacecraft leading to the formal creation of the Official Flight Kit (OFK) and the criteria for disclosure of APK/PPK contents. Initially (c. early 1972) the rule was as follows: Each crew member may divulge the contents of his APK publicly, prior to launch, at his own discretion. That policy was revised in August 1972: The contents of the APKs for a given mission may be announced by the astronaut or his designee at a time of his choosing subsequent to the approval of the contents by the AA/MSF. However, items that have not been announced publicly cannot be divulged in personal stories by a flight astronaut. In any event, the list of items shall be made public by NASA within 30 days after completion of the flight. That version stood in effect through Apollo 17, Skylab and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. For the space shuttle era, the rules were again revisited as the entire policy was codified into Federal Regulations (Title 14, Volume 5, Part 1214.6): Information on the contents of PPKs will be routinely released to the media and to the public upon their request immediately following postflight inventory. Modern experience suggests that the required postflight inventory can take months to complete following any given mission. |
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