Slide Rule, Pickett & Eckel, Model N 1006-T

This Pickett & Eckel 1006-T pocket slide rule and accompanying materials belonged to Robert L. "Bob" Foster, an engineer who worked with McDonnell Aviation on Project Mercury (1959-1965) and Project Gemini (1965-1967). He also served as base manager, Deputy Director, and Director of Vandenberg Air Force Base during the late 1960s and as head of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory project. Although Foster would have relied on a full-sized slide rule for most work, this pocket slide rule would have been used to make calculations in meetings or while away from his desk.

A unique feature of this slide rule is its natural log scale (base-e); most rules have common (base-10) log scales.

The slide rule illustrates the manner and pattern of work that was required to carry out NASA's human spaceflight efforts. As a part of the social history of space exploration, it reminds us of the individual people and countless calculations that allowed the grand projects of human space exploration to happen.

Foster's daughter, Sally Foster-Chang, donated the slide rule to the Museum in 2005 along with her father's engineer's jacket, her mother's charm bracelet, and a collection of her father's papers.