Governmental Aerospace Programs
The Federal Aviation Administration, air mail, space programs and military aviation
You Can’t Always Get What You Want (but if you try some time, you might find … you get what you need)
A plan for a human mission to a near Earth object (NEO; an asteroid), designed by engineers from Georgia Tech and the National Institute for Aerospace (GT/NIA), was recently posted online. Keying in on lowering program total costs, this architecture eliminates the need for a new heavy lift launch ...
March 31, 2011 |
By Paul D. Spudis
The Moon’s Role in Climate Science
A recent article about the role of global magnetic fields in the loss of planetary volatiles caught my attention. The article addresses planetary climate issues as they relate to Earth, Mars and Venus, but what struck me was this statement:
We don't have a direct record of the sun's history, but a...
March 22, 2011 |
By Paul D. Spudis
The Human Touch
One thing I've always liked about the Russian space program is that it keeps the "human" in human spaceflight. NASA often seems more interested in technology than people. You can see it in the different feel of the international space station modules: the American, European and Japanese labs are f...
March 18, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Taxi or Rental Car?
That's one interesting question that a few former space shuttle astronauts and other experts were grappling with one day in early March at the National Research Council's Keck building in downtown Washington, D.C. Around a large conference table sat NASA veterans Fred Gregory, history's first black...
March 15, 2011 |
By Mike Klesius
Discovery's Last... and First...Flight
With space shuttle Discovery having just wrapped up its career, we thought you might like this account of its first flight back in 1984, as narrated by the STS-41D crew.See here for more of these shuttle home videos.
March 09, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Lunney’s Legacy
These are emotional days for the folks who work on the space shuttle, as they watch vehicles and people retire. Today was the last day on the job for Bryan Lunney, a 22-year veteran NASA flight director who also happens to be the son of legendary flight director Glynn Lunney.Here's how Bryan summed...
March 07, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Spacewalker in a Telescope
Amazing what you can see in a 10-inch telescope if the conditions are right. Dutch amateur astronomer Ralf Vandebergh got a picture of STS-133 astronaut Steve Bowen spacewalking outside the International Space Station last week.
March 07, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Discarding Shuttle: The Hidden Cost
On February 15, 2011 a symposium entitled “U.S. Human Spaceflight: Continuity and Stability” was held at Rice University’s James A. Baker Institute of Public Policy. Organized by George Abbey, the resident space expert at the Baker Institute, one might have suspected that it would be Shuttle-centr...
March 01, 2011 |
By Paul D. Spudis
A Bottle of Nothing
Call it a thought experiment, a way to engage the public, or an expensive waste of time.Either way, the "Message in a Bottle" task on yesterday's spacewalk outside the International Space Station was one of the more unusual chores ever by an astronaut. At the behest of the Japanese Space Agency JAX...
March 01, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
How Things Work: Soyuz-Station Docking
In orbit, it’s all about connections.
March 2011 |
By Michael Klesius
100 Years of Naval Aviation
The Navy's first pilot and 10 more milestones.
March 2011 |
By The Editors
Star City at 50
Change comes to the place where spaceflight was born.
March 2011 |
By Michael Cassutt
Moments and Milestones: Can You Hear Me Now?
When radio communication took to the air.
March 2011 |
By George C. Larson, Member, NAA
Meet the Orbiters
A fleet of winged spacecraft, the likes of which we'll never see again.
March 01, 2011 |
By Michael Klesius
Vision statements for non-Visionaries
A seemingly trivial event has revealed some schadenfreude about NASA, along with a lot of irritation. Apparently (as is their wont) the fertile minds running our national space agency decided that the time has come (once again) for a new and improved vision statement – out with the old and in with...
February 23, 2011 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Photo Op for Soyuz
Busy days in Earth orbit.Space Shuttle Discovery is set to make its last voyage tomorrow, with liftoff planned for 4:50 p.m. Florida time. If all goes according to plan, Europe's Johannes Kepler unmanned cargo vehicle will have docked with the space station earlier in the day (at 10:45 U.S. Eastern...
February 23, 2011 |
By Tony Reichhardt
