Frank H. Winter (born 1942) is an American historian and writer. He is the retired Curator of Rocketry of the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

(NASM) of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

of Washington, D.C. Winter is also an internationally recognized historian of

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

ry and

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such ...

and the author of several landmark books besides numerous articles and papers on these topics.

Early life

Winter was born in

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in 1942. He emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 9 years old. He became a United States citizen in 1960, and attended public schools in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Military

He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1964 to 1968, and for his last two years of duty was reassigned to Morón Air Force Base, near

Seville, Spain Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, and later to Torrejon Air Force Base, near

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. At both bases he worked as a military journalist, including the position as the feature editor for the Torrejon base newspaper. Winter won a

Robert H. Goddard Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which was successfully lau ...

Essay Award from the National Space Club in 1965, while still in the Air Force.

Career

His essay, "A Case Study in Challenge and Response: Danish Rocketry in the 19th Century," was published in the 1966 July issue of the ''Aerospace Historian'', the quarterly of the Air Force Historical Foundation. He won a second Goddard essay award later, in 1970. After separating from the service, he continued his formal education at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, earning a BA in history, ''cum laude.'' Winter joined the

(NASM) in 1968 as a temporary part-time employee. In 1970 he became a full-time employee as a historical research clerk. From 1971 he has presented scholarly papers on the history of rocketry at

International Astronautical Federation The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay t ...

congresses, at International Congresses of the History of Science, and at other similar gatherings. In 1980 he became an historian at the museum. Then, in 1984, he was named the Curator of Rocketry, a position he held until 2007 when he retired. In 1996 Winter presented the American Astronautical Society's first Goddard Memorial Lecture and received a medal for it. The lecture was titled, "Robert H. Goddard The Man and His Achievements." In 2002, he and Kerrie Dougherty, then the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...

curator of space technology in Sydney, Australia, jointly won the "International Partnership Among Museums scholarship" of the

American Association of Museums The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals w ...

. Thus, he sojourned in Australia in 2003, with related journeys to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

, conducting research toward the planned Powerhouse exhibit, ''Fire Dragons: 1,000 Years of Rocketry in Asia''.

Selected bibliography

As author

* * * * *

As co-author

* : In addition, he is the co-author, with Robert F. van der Linden, of the column "Out of the Past" that has appeared in the magazine ''Aerospace America'' (formally, ''Astronautics & Aeronautics'') since September 1972. * *

Societies

* Fellow of the

British Interplanetary Society The British Interplanetary Society (BIS), founded in Liverpool in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest existing space advocacy organisation in the world. Its aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration. St ...

* Member of the

International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is a Paris-based non-government association for the field of astronautics. It was founded in Stockholm, Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán. It was recognised by the United Nation ...

* Member of the history committee of **

American Astronautical Society Formed in 1954, the American Astronautical Society (AAS) is an independent scientific and technical group in the United States dedicated to the advancement of space science and space exploration. AAS supports NASA The National Aeronau ...

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

Retirement

He retired in 2007 after 39 years as a Smithsonian employee. He continues to help the Space History Department of the National Air and Space Museum as a curator

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

. He lives in Virginia with his wife, Fe Dulce Rosal Winter, and daughter, Elaine Roxane Winter, while his son, Ron Winter, resides in Los Angeles. Winter continues to be very active as a freelance writer and museum consultant specializing in astronautics history and histories of companies in other fields. In addition, he continues to present history papers at International Astronautical Federation congresses as well as to work on further books.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Frank H. 1942 births Living people United States Air Force airmen American curators American engineering writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American science writers Engineering educators English emigrants to the United States American historians of science Smithsonian Institution people University System of Maryland alumni Writers from London American male non-fiction writers