{
  "reviewed_on": "2026-11-12",
  "title": "NASA archive access: the public evidence record",
  "scope": "JSC history holdings at UHCL and three Babylon Apollo record inquiries; not an audit of all NASA archives.",
  "initial_request_date": "2026-11-12",
  "uhcl_reply_date": "2026-11-12",
  "nasa_direct_response": "No direct NASA answer recorded in the reviewed thread.",
  "open_response": "Published 12 November 2026; the text is Babylon’s outgoing statement.",
  "formal_foia_filed": false,
  "requested_records": [
    {
      "id": "trajectory",
      "name": "Apollo 11 numerical trajectory listing",
      "identifier": "NASA-CR-108349 · Volume II · 45-day best-estimate trajectory in NAT format",
      "obtained": "Volume I and its reference to a separate numerical volume.",
      "missing": "Volume II, machine-readable successor, format/version and uncertainty documentation.",
      "holdings_status": "UHCL custody unconfirmed; no item-specific access decision supplied.",
      "next": "Identify accession, series, box/folder or NASA/NARA custodian."
    },
    {
      "id": "entry",
      "name": "Earth-entry reconstruction source records",
      "identifier": "MSC Internal Note 70-FM-30 · Robert H. Manders · 20 February 1970",
      "obtained": "The published entry analysis and its account of EMS/ARIA inputs.",
      "missing": "EMS scan, time-tagged ARIA data, simulation configuration, calibration and uncertainty records.",
      "holdings_status": "UHCL custody unconfirmed; no item-specific access decision supplied.",
      "next": "Trace the report’s underlying inputs to the responsible technical archive."
    },
    {
      "id": "dose",
      "name": "Technical dosimetry reduction records",
      "identifier": "Apollo 11 · TN D-7080 and NASA-TM-81061 comparisons",
      "obtained": "Published passive-TLD and VABD summaries, with distinct instrument definitions.",
      "missing": "Calibration, integration intervals and readout/reduction trail linking the summaries.",
      "holdings_status": "UHCL custody unconfirmed; no item-specific access decision supplied.",
      "next": "Request non-identifying technical records; protected individual medical records are outside scope."
    }
  ],
  "access_barriers": [
    {
      "id": "approval",
      "kind": "Published access policy",
      "title": "NASA approval and affiliation",
      "documented": "UHCL lists NASA/UHCL-affiliated researcher categories and a NASA approval process.",
      "unresolved": "Eligibility for an independent researcher outside those categories needs clarification.",
      "authority": "NASA Headquarters, as described by UHCL; memorandum not obtained.",
      "sources": [
        "https://uhcl.libguides.com/JSCHistoryCollection/About"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "citizenship",
      "kind": "Published access policy",
      "title": "Citizenship and international access",
      "documented": "UHCL’s general NASA-material guidance specifies onsite access for U.S. citizens, with further conditions.",
      "unresolved": "How citizenship, affiliation and approval interact; the detailed rule for international researchers.",
      "authority": "NASA policy route through UHCL.",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.uhcl.edu/library/archives/access-and-research/",
        "https://uhcl.libguides.com/JSCHistoryCollection/About"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "onsite",
      "kind": "Published access policy",
      "title": "Travel to the reading room",
      "documented": "Authorized research in the JSC collection is onsite.",
      "unresolved": "Which existing released copies and unrestricted reference information can be obtained remotely.",
      "authority": "NASA policy implemented by UHCL.",
      "sources": [
        "https://uhcl.libguides.com/JSCHistoryCollection/About"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "reproduction",
      "kind": "Published access policy",
      "title": "No reproductions; notes permitted",
      "documented": "The JSC guide bars photographs, scans and copies while permitting researcher notes.",
      "unresolved": "Permitted numerical transcription, quotation and later publication; treatment of already released records.",
      "authority": "NASA restriction reported by UHCL.",
      "sources": [
        "https://uhcl.libguides.com/JSCHistoryCollection/About"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "legal-basis",
      "kind": "Unobtained policy record",
      "title": "The underlying memorandum",
      "documented": "UHCL attributes the change to a NASA memorandum and cites export-control regulations.",
      "unresolved": "Memo title, date, identifier, exact legal provisions and any determinations covering our requested records.",
      "authority": "NASA clarification requested; Babylon has not independently classified the records.",
      "sources": [
        "https://uhcl.libguides.com/JSCHistoryCollection/About"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "capacity",
      "kind": "Reference-service limit",
      "title": "The archive will not do our detailed search",
      "documented": "In its 12 November reply, UHCL cited limited staffing and declined the detailed search.",
      "unresolved": "Whether an existing catalogue entry or responsible-custodian referral is available.",
      "authority": "UHCL reference-service capacity; separate from the access policy.",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.uhcl.edu/library/archives/access-and-research/"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "open_questions": [
    {
      "topic": "The memorandum",
      "question": "What is its title, date, identifier, issuing office and releasable text? Which records and export-control provisions does it cover?"
    },
    {
      "topic": "The records and custodians",
      "question": "Do the three requested record groups exist in these holdings? What catalogue, transfer or custodian references identify them?"
    },
    {
      "topic": "The researcher rules",
      "question": "Can an independent U.S.-citizen researcher apply? What form, affiliation requirements and rules for notes or international researchers apply?"
    },
    {
      "topic": "The public route",
      "question": "Which unrestricted inventories, already released copies or releasable portions can be supplied, and what review process is available?"
    }
  ],
  "open_response_text": "Dear Matthew and NASA History Office team,\n\nThank you, Matthew, for explaining UHCL's staffing limits and the restrictions you attribute to NASA Headquarters. We understand that UHCL does not own the loaned JSC records and cannot override NASA's policy. We appreciate the work involved in preserving them.\n\nWe are narrowing our follow-up to existing policy documents, catalogue references and routing information, rather than asking UHCL to perform technical analysis.\n\n1. Governing memorandum and scope\nPlease identify the NASA memorandum behind the access changes described as effective in October 2024: its title, date, reference number, issuing office and a publicly releasable copy or link. Please identify the applicable export-control provisions or determination records, and clarify whether the restrictions apply to the entire collection, particular series, or selected technical content. How are already published or previously cleared records treated?\n\n2. Holdings and responsible custodians\nOur original inquiry identified three record groups: Volume II of NASA-CR-108349 (the 45-day best-estimate trajectory listing and NAT format documentation); the supporting EMS/ARIA records and simulation inputs for 70-FM-30; and Apollo 11 technical dosimetry calibration, integration and readout/reduction records. We understand your reply does not establish whether these are held at UHCL. Existing finding-aid entries, accession/box/folder identifiers, transfer references, or a referral to the responsible NASA/NARA custodian would help us avoid an unnecessarily broad search. Please distinguish unlocated records from confirmed restrictions or documented disposition.\n\n3. Researcher eligibility and permitted use\nCould NASA provide the current application form and clarify whether an independent U.S.-citizen researcher unaffiliated with NASA or UHCL can apply? Please distinguish citizenship, institutional affiliation and NASA approval requirements, including the policy for international researchers. The guidance permits researcher notes while barring copying: what kinds of notes, numerical transcription, quotation and subsequent publication are permitted? We are seeking the rules, not an exception or a way around them.\n\n4. Public access and review routes\nWhich existing unrestricted inventories, released editions or copies, and releasable portions can be provided remotely? If our requested materials are covered by a restriction, could the responsible office identify the record-specific basis and the available review route? UHCL's description also points to originals at the National Archives; please provide any known transfer or record-series references. If a formal NASA records request is the appropriate next step, please direct us to the responsible office and the best existing identifiers.\n\nThe incoming private email and its headers are not reproduced. Our public record distinguishes access restrictions from unconfirmed holdings and unanswered questions. We welcome factual corrections and a concise institutional response that we may summarize with attribution; please flag personal or protected information that should remain private.\n\nThis remains an informal bibliographical and policy inquiry, not a formal FOIA submission. We authorize no fees, paid research, reproduction order or chargeable work.\n\nThank you,\nBabylon Learning Centre\n"
}