Air Force Space and Missile Museum

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Research Library

The museum's Research Library is maintained as a repository of technical and historical information to aid the staff and volunteers in the design and creation of exhibits, artifact restoration, and historical research. Research assistance is also provided to government organizations, academic institutions, DOD contractors, and professional historians. Due to staffing limitations, the museum library is closed to the general public. The archivist can be reached by leaving a message at 321-853-7670. If you have a question regarding Patrick Air Force Base or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station history, please contact the 45th Space Wing History Office at 321-854-2710. You may also contact the Research Division of the National Museum of the United States Air Force for assistance with your historical research or information requests.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Air Force Space and Missile Museum Research Library is to support the Museum in collecting, preserving, and restoring items of historical significance which directly relate to U.S. Air Force space launch activities, missile development, flight testing, and Cape Canaveral history. In pursuit of this endeavor, the Library appraises, arranges, and provides description for historically relevant records of various media to include photographs, negatives, blueprints, schematics, reports, directories, charts, posters, pamphlets, brochures, newspapers, magazines, and other such documentation. Such records are obtained from both public and private sources and all methods of arrangement, conservation, and restoration are applied in accordance with accepted archival principles.

Archives and Special Collections

Housed within the museum's Research Library are collections of historical photographs, documents, blueprints, maps, films, and videos. These archival collections contain items that document the history of the Air Force Space and Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and various U.S. Air Force and NASA launch vehicles, missiles, and rockets. Like the library itself, however, these archives and special collections are currently maintained exclusively for the use of the museum staff and volunteers and are currently unavailable to the general public.

Histories from the 45th Space Wing Historian

The Museum is proud to present a series of histories compiled and written by former 45th Space Wing Historian, Mr. Mark C. Cleary. These histories, until now, have been available only in very limited printed edition. Permission has been granted to the Air Force Space and Missile Museum to present these histories for general reference in Adobe PDF form. The histories can be viewed with the Adobe Reader.

Some of these documents are large and, depending upon your internet connection speed, may take significant time to download for viewing. The extended version of selected documents include high-resolution copies of all images and figures. For the best viewing experience, we recommend that you download the larger files to your computer and then view your downloaded copy with Adobe Reader.

Get the Adobe Reader