Description

What is the story and origin behind this image?

It is in the National Archives of the United States of America.





It is here in the USA's National Archives:

* https://catalog.archives.gov/id/303938034



Available data on NARA:

* Record Group 255: Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
* Series: Photographs Relating to Agency Activities, Facilities and Personnel
* Title: Flying Saucer
* NAID: 303938034
* Local ID: 255-GS-65-108
* Produced: June 4, 1964



In the *"Dates"* section, NARA includes the following text:

This item was produced or created on June 4, 1964.

The creator compiled or maintained the parent series, Photographs Relating to Agency Activities, Facilities and Personnel, between 1960–1991. (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5956182)



That links to: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5956182

Photographs Relating to Agency Activities, Facilities and Personnel, 1960–1991
Creator:

Goddard Space Flight Center. Graphic and Publication Services Branch (Most Recent)



And that page says:

This series consists of photographs taken or acquired by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Subjects in this series include buildings and facilities, satellite development, space telescopes, unmanned scientific spacecraft development and missions, rocket launches, manned flight missions, VIP visits, NASA personnel, and construction of the center's main campus in Greenbelt, Maryland. Photographs in this series include an image of the GSFC site plan (255-GS-1428); a view of the NASA organizational chart from August 1961 (255-GS-1230); a picture of a 1962 map of Cape Canaveral, Florida (255-GS-62-3245); and construction views of the Rosman Satellite Tracking Station in Rosman, North Carolina (255-GS-63-3208 through 255-GS-63-3231).

Images of or taken by manned space missions include a launch view of Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) with astronaut John Glenn on February 2, 1962 (255-GS-62-3092); in-flight photographs taken during the Gemini II (255-GS-67-2807 through 255-GS-67-2813) and Gemini VIII missions ( 255-GS-66-7086 through 255-GS-66-7094); various views from Gemini XII, including the launch, spacewalk, splashdown, and a picture of Astronauts James A. Lovell, Jr. and Buzz Aldrin posing with the spacecraft (255-GS-67-4324 through 255-GS-67-4331); and pictures relating to various Space Shuttle missions throughout the 1980s. Images relating to unmanned space missions include launch views of Mercury-Atlas 4 (MA-4) on September 13, 1961 (255-GS-62-669); pre-launch images of the Pioneer 7 space probe on August 11, 1966 (255-GS-67-4230 through 255-GS-67-4238); launch views and images of the moon taken by the Lunar Orbiter IV in May 1967 (255-GS-67-9268 through 255-GS-67-9274); and pictures taken by the Surveyor III Lander that explored the moon in April 1967 (255-GS-67-9736 through 255-GS-67-9752).

Other photographs in this series include photographs relating to satellites and space telescopes, including an image of Echo I (255-GS-63-536); a launch view of the Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO) in 1962 (255-GS-62-3096); a picture of an artist drawing of a Syncom satellite (255-GS-62-661); a view of the Intelsat II F-2 satellite being launched on January 11, 1967 (255-GS-67-4903); various mosaic images of Earth taken by Landstat satellites; and observations of Halley's Comet taken in 1985 by the International Ultraviolet Explorer (255-GS-85-5606, 255-GS-85-5607, 255-GS-85-5641 and 255-GS-85-5642).

Personalities in this series include portraits of President John F. Kennedy (255-GS-1690); NASA Space Physicist Don Lind (255-GS-66-7076 to 255-GS-66-7085); Assistant Director of GSFC, E. W. Wasielewski (255-GS-328 to 255-GS-333); NASA Administrator James E. Webb (255-GS-62-391); Director of the Goddard Institute of Space Studies, Robert Jastrow (255-GS-63-1661); Chief of the GSFC Manned Space Flight Support Division, Niles R. Heller (255-GS-67-2852); Aerospace engineer and NASA project manager, Marjorie Townsend (255-GS-67-3528); National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) Director James Vette (255-GS-67-4742); Marshall Space Flight Center Director Wernher von Braun (255-GS-67-8545); and a reproduction of a group portrait of the Mercury Seven astronauts (255-GS-2026). Also included are views of Apollo Mission Director William Schneider visiting GSFC in September 1967 (255-GS-68-637 and 255-GS-68-638); astronauts Gus Grissom and Deke Slayton visiting GSFC in March 1961; astronaut John Glenn and broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite visiting GSFC in March 1965 (255-GS-65-7068); Manned Flight Support Director Ozro M. Covington at his desk in November 1966 (255-GS-67-3501); and astronaut John Glenn visiting Pope Paul VI in October 1965 during the first NASA goodwill tour of Europe (255-GS-66-4472). In addition, this series includes pictures of VIP visits to the center's main campus including Robert H. Goddard on September 27. 1961 (255-GS-62-482 through 255-GS-62-491); President John F. Kennedy on July 8, 1962 (255-GS-63-124); Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey on March 14, 1966 (255-GS-66-5436); and President Richard M. Nixon visiting during the Apollo 13 mission (255-GS-70-7539 to 255-GS-70-7566).