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Author Topic:   Smithsonian's space history artifact deaccessions
Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-21-2013 06:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
National Air and Space Museum announcement
National Air and Space Museum Collection Items for Transfer to Museums and Educational Institutions

As part of established practices and policies related to the effective stewardship of our collections, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum seeks to collaborate with other museums and with educational organizations to identify appropriate recipients to receive, through formal transfer, objects that are deaccessioned from the Museum collections in order to keep such objects in the public domain. This effort seeks to:
  1. provide information on available objects to interested organizations
  2. match requested objects with qualifying organizations, and
  3. deaccession and transfer objects per the criteria below
Smithsonian and National Air and Space Museum policies identify deaccessioning and disposal to be essential elements of responsible collections management. Our policies call for the periodic review and evaluation of collections which serve to refine and improve the overall quality and relevance of the collections with respect to our mission and purpose.

Though collections are generally acquired with the good faith intention to retain the material for an indefinite time period, these periodic reviews can identify objects that do not meet our current collecting plans, objects that are insufficiently related to our mission, or objects that are duplicative of other artifacts in our collection.

Once objects are identified they may be selected for deaccession and made available for transfer. Our deaccession procedures are designed to insure thoughtful, well-documented consideration of each proposed collection item in the context of the long-term interest of the Smithsonian, the general public and the object itself.

Through this process the National Air and Space Museum has currently identified a number of objects as candidates for transfer. Objects on this list have been evaluated against Smithsonian and National Air and Space Museum collections criteria and have been determined to be inappropriate or superfluous to the National Air and Space Museum collection, and are believed to be of potential use in the collections of other museums and educational organizations.

Museums or educational organizations interested in requesting the formal transfer of objects are required to complete a request form and send it to:

National Air and Space Museum,
Smithsonian Institution
Collections Division, Office of the Registrar
Independence Avenue at Sixth Street SW
MRC 311, PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012

Or via email to NASM-Transfer@si.edu.

All requests will be reviewed by National Air and Space Museum staff against criteria that include: the importance of an object to a requesting organization's mission and collecting goals; the requesting organization's planned use for a transferred object; and, a requesting organization's capacity to properly utilize and care for the objects in the long-term.

The Museum will also be seeking to insure that transferred objects remain in the public domain and that a level of geographic distribution is attained.

Museum staff will notify all applicants as to its review and final decisions and all deaccession and transfer decisions are within the Museum's sole discretion. In the event of requests for the same object from more than a single organization, the information provided will serve as the basis for ranking multiple requests.

Requests from private individuals will not be considered.

Once an organization is selected to receive an object or objects, the deaccession and transfer will proceed in accordance with National Air and Space Museum and Smithsonian collections management policies. Once the deaccession and transfer is approved in accordance with these policies, recipient organizations will be expected to coordinate packing and transportation arrangements with National Air and Space Museum staff, and will be responsible for all costs related to the transfer. All transfers will be documented with a written transfer agreement.

stsmithva
Member

Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 03-21-2013 06:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for stsmithva   Click Here to Email stsmithva     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Very interesting to look through that web page to see what has already been identified for deaccession. There are a couple of dozen Gemini OAMS and RCS rocket engines.

Can anyone explain "Satellite, Explorer I"? I don't think I saw "mock-up" or "model." And how about "Panel, Control"?

I see from the photo that the Sikorsky UH-34D Seahorse is the one currently on display at Udvar-Hazy.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-21-2013 07:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by stsmithva:
Can anyone explain "Satellite, Explorer I"?
Here is the description from the museum's collection catalog:
This is a full-scale replica of Explorer 1, the United States' first artificial satellite. It was one of several transferred to the Smithsonian Institution by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in September 1958. It is a machined metal shell representing the payload section and is devoid of instrumentation. It is attached to a Sergeant fourth stage solid-fuel rocket motor.
quote:
And how about "Panel, Control"?
The catalog doesn't have an entry about this specific piece.

SpaceAholic
Member

Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-21-2013 09:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceAholic   Click Here to Email SpaceAholic     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Gemini spacecraft left circuit breaker panel.

space1
Member

Posts: 853
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002

posted 03-23-2013 05:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for space1   Click Here to Email space1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
"Monitor, Power System" is a Gemini control panel gauge assembly.

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John Fongheiser
Historic Space Systems

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