Sir Arthur C. Clarke Papers Arrive at National Air and Space Museum

The papers of seminal science fiction writer and futurist Sir Arthur C. Clarke are now available for research in the archives of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

The collection—87 cubic feet of papers, video tapes, 16 mm films, audio tapes and personal items—contains manuscripts for many of the seminal sci-fi writer and famed futurist’s books, short stories and manuscripts, including early drafts of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The papers are also rich in correspondence with Clarke’s notable contemporaries, including newsman Walter Cronkite, cosmologist Carl Sagan, aerospace engineer Werner von Braun, Smithsonian astronomer Fred Whipple and 2001 director Stanley Kubrick.

Although Clarke is well known as a forefather of science fiction, he made notable contributions to the rapid technological development of the mid-20th century. He is credited with popularizing the concept of a network of geostationary communications satellites—a cornerstone of 21st-century society—as early as 1945, 12 years before the launch of Sputnik. Clarke was also a noted deep-sea explorer, inventor and television personality. He covered the Apollo 11 mission for CBS alongside Walter Cronkite.

“We have the honor of preserving and making available to researchers Clarke’s prominent place in the cultural history of spaceflight,” said Martin Collins, curator of civilian applications satellites at the museum. “Not least, the collection will enable the museum to tell a richer story of how science fiction and futurism interacted with contemporaneous space achievements, shaping our ideas about exploration beyond the Earth.”

Collins and Archivist Patti Williams traveled to Clarke’s home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to catalog, pack and ship the collection to the museum in 2015. The two chronicled their trip and exciting finds from the collection on posts on the museum blog.

Researchers interested in viewing the Arthur C. Clarke Collection should make an appointment at the Archives Reading Room at Udvar-Hazy Center. More information about scheduling an appointment can be found on the museum website.

The National Air and Space Museum building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. Attendance at both buildings combined exceeded 8 million in 2015, making it the most visited museum in America. The museum’s research, collections, exhibitions and programs focus on aeronautical history, space history and planetary studies. Both buildings are open from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. every day (closed Dec. 25).

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