Murray State University
200 Pogue Library
Murray, Kentucky 42071
(270) 809-6152
(270) 809-4295
FAX (270) 809-6153
Collection Title: Johny B. Russell Collection
Series Number: MS12-22
Processed and Cataloged by: Processed by Dieter C. Ullrich in September of 2012.
Date Listed: September 6, 2012.
Date Span: 1959-2008 (bulk, 1970-1971)
Size of Collection: 1.0 linear foot.
Number of Boxes: 2 letter size document cases.
Type of Material: Photographs, negatives, correspondence and ephemera.
Condition of Material: Good.
Arrangement: Organized by format of material; Chronological arrangement.
Biographical / Historical Information: Johny B. Russell was a research scientist that assisted in the development of the Saturn V Launch Vehicle, Lunar Roving Vehicle and B-1 Lancer Bomber. He was born at Isley, Hopkins County, Kentucky on December 4, 1924. His family relocated to Murray, Kentucky before he entered high school. He graduated from the Murray Training School in 1942 and the following year enlisted in the United Army Air Corps. After the war, Russell attended Murray State College (presently Murray State University) where he received an undergraduate degree in physics and mathematics in 1948. Two years later he received his Masters of Arts degree in education from Murray State. He was recruited by the Union Carbide Atomic Plant in Paducah in 1951 as an engineer. In 1959, he invented and patented the Electrical Load Anticipator and Recorder. In 1961, he accepted a position at the Bourne Instrument Design Company in Riverside, California to design computer systems for the United States Navy. By the mid-1960s Russell was employed by the Boeing Company as a computer systems developer, a position he held until his retirement. He returned to Murray in 2006 and died on October 10, 2010.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of photographic prints, negatives and contact sheets of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) designed and built by Boeing Company for the United States Apollo 15 mission to the moon in 1971. The collection contains images of the assembly, testing, packaging, shipping and promotional photographs of the lunar rover prior to its delivery to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Included with the collections are correspondence, newspaper clippings, ephemera, biographical information related to Johny B. Russell and his career as an engineer and research scientist. Also in the collection are photographic prints of the computer systems and control panel of the B-1 bomber.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Russell, Johny Brown, 1924-2010
Lunar roving vehicles.
Lunar surface vehicles.
Rockwell B-1 (Bomber)
Scientists – United States.
Computer engineers – United States.
Box List
Box 1
Box 2
