Atlas Missile Project

The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDAM), in the association with the University of Central Florida, is seeking project funding to preserve, digitize, and disseminate the Convair/General Dynamics historic image holdings at the SDAM. Our joint Space Heritage endeavor will showcase the significant contribution of Convair's Atlas launch vehicle to aerospace history. The 250,000 Convair/ General Dynamics images held at the SDAM will build upon the University of Central Florida's existing digital collection of over 35,000 images pertaining to Cape Canaveral.

On 20 February 1962, John Glenn sat atop a Mercury-Atlas booster at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14, ready to become the first American to orbit the Earth. Also among Atlas firsts: the nation’s first operational Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and the Surveyor missions that laid the foundation for the voyages of Apollo. We cannot permit this significant era in the history of humanity to be lost for future generations.

Since the 1950s, there has been a marked consolidation of aerospace corporations, accompanied by a loss of heritage. While an acquired company's technology may be embraced, their historical records seldom are. When Lockheed-Martin purchased the Astronautics Division of General Dynamics, they acquired the nation’s most reliable launch vehicle, the Atlas, along with its rich history. At the time of the acquisition, General Dynamics donated the bulk of Atlas image heritage to the San Diego Air & Space Museum. These 250,000 images constitute an incredible potential historic treasure. The digitization of the collection, which remains largely inaccessible, is the key to unlocking its full historic potential and insuring its long term survivability.