This collection provides a glimpse into Automatic Data Processing procurement planning, which was conducted at NASA Ames Research Center from 1965 to 1996 in accordance with the Brooks Automatic Data Processing Act of 1965. Though the collection does not constitute a complete set of records of this work, it does offer insight into three decades of computing capabilities at Ames. The most extensively documented efforts include planning for mainframe computer procurement from 1965 to 1980, for acquiring the CRAY-2 Cyber 205, and for formulating the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation Program.

The passage of the Brooks Automatic Data Processing Act of 1965 marked a transition toward establishing uniform Automatic Data Processing (ADP) guidelines for federal computer systems. In addition to promoting the development of standards and interconnectivity, the Brooks Act was meant to enhance efficiency and economy in the government's procurement of ADP systems. At the time, the Federal government was the world's largest user of ADP equipment and these costly, customized systems were consuming almost three percent of the Federal budget. The General Services Administration assumed responsibility for coordinating the procurement of computer systems according to the fiscal and policy direction of the Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget). As a Federal agency, NASA had to comply with new requirements, including the production of detailed plans for ADP acquisitions. By the end of the year Ames had developed its first annual acquisitions plan and, by 1967, an ADP Management Office was established in the Office of the Director within Thomas R. Dines's Computation Division (Code DK). Former Aeronautics Office chief Phillips J. "Jack" Tunnell was selected to head the new office and assume responsibility for managing procurement planning. Until his retirement in 1980, Tunnell handled the complex acquisition plans for building up computing capabilities at Ames, notably the procurement of many generations of mainframe computers. At the end of Tunnell's tenure, the ADP Management Office remained within the Computation Division (Code RK), but the division had been moved to the Office of the Director of Research.

Number of containers: 6

Volume: 2 cubic feet

Copyright does not apply to United States government records. For non-government material, researcher must contact the original creator.

Collection is open for research.