Personal Notes,, May 1973

The collection consists of approximately 28 cu. ft. of manuscripts, particularly NACA and NASA reports and documents, meeting notes and agendas, and research materials. A later donation contains the manuscript for Kraft's autobiography.

From Kraft's early years at Langley Flight Research Division, the collection includes notes, calculations, and drawings for many projects (testing the stability and control of the X-1, P-47 Thunderbolt, and P-51 H Mustang airplanes, for example). It also includes calculations and draft reports on the gust-alleviation system designed by Kraft and then-division head, William Hewitt Phillips.

The collection contains heavily-annotated editions of "Mission Rules" for Project Mercury, extensive files of post-launch reports and astronaut debriefing transcripts from Kraft's early NASA years (1958-1970), as well as correspondence, notes, and memoranda. Materials from Kraft's later years at NASA (1970-1982) include professional notes, detailing meetings and telephone conversations, plus meeting agendas, memos, and other work documents.