Space Programs
NASA, Soviet and Russian space programs and the International Space Station
NASA's Office of the Future
NASA used to have a research institute—a tiny one—that funded scientists and engineers to develop far-out ideas, stuff that was still 40 years in the future, or well beyond the horizon of the current space station or even the proposed moonbase. The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts was among the...
August 07, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Deadline Approaching
On Tuesday, August 5, the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, also known as the Augustine panel after its chairman, Norman Augustine, held its next-to-last public meeting. The series began in Washington, D.C., on June 16 and moved on to Houston, Huntsville, and Cocoa Beach.The meetin...
August 05, 2009 |
By Mike Klesius
Next Step or No Step
The Moon versus Mars controversy has reared its ugly head yet again. For the newcomers, this is the perennial “debate” among space buffs about what the next destination in space should be. I do not mean to suggest that all possibilities are encompassed by these two options; it just seems that mos...
August 03, 2009 |
By Paul D. Spudis
The Art of a Moonwalker
Alan Bean’s moonscapes show what photographs can’t.
August 2009 |
By The Editors
Secret Space Shuttles
When you’re 200 miles up, it’s easy to hide what you’re up to.
August 2009 |
By Michael Cassutt
For All Mankind, or just for scientists?
In an essay published recently in the New York Times, novelist Thomas Mallon made a provocative comment: "If any real scandal attaches to Project Apollo, it’s the extent to which hard science was allowed to dominate the astronauts’ hours on the moon. With less geology and more ontology, they might ...
July 31, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The Apollo Disappointment Industry
Space historian Matthew Hersch writes:This year marks the 40th anniversary not only of Apollo 11’s historic moon landing, but of the vigorous public debate that accompanied it—debate that, decades later, shows no signs of weakening. Human spaceflight has always been controversial, and condemnation ...
July 31, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The moonwalkers' doctor, and sometime bartender
Riding in a helicopter with the Apollo 11 astronauts following their Pacific Ocean splashdown on July 24, 1969, Bill Carpentier might have had a thousand questions for the first men to return from the moon. But there would have been no point in asking. Even if Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins hadn't ...
July 30, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Andrew Dawson's handmade space program
Twenty years ago, performer/director Andrew Dawson, who calls his type of art "physical theater," accepted a challenge. Could he create a one-man show using only a table as a stage? With such a small set, he realized he'd need a big subject. "And I couldn't think of anything bigger than going to th...
July 30, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Space Camp, Russian-style
Since the first Space Camp opened in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1982, the idea has spawned many imitators. Today there are space camps in Turkey, Norway, Canada, and Japan, not to mention a host of smaller-scale space "experiences" at science museums around the world.Now there's a space camp at the co...
July 29, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
N none
The Soviets called it the N1, and kept it secret, of course. What a hard secret that must have been to keep, considering just how awesome this rocket was. A tall, ultra-steep cone, it was a bit more 19th century in appearance, more science fictiony-looking, than the square shouldered and cylindrica...
July 28, 2009 |
By Mike Klesius
Mike's graffiti
It's diamond shaped. And it's the crown jewel of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, displayed on the first floor in the Milestones of Flight Gallery. It's the Apollo 11 command module, the heat shield charred from entering Earth's atmosphere at Mach 35.Last Sunday, July 19, as the Apoll...
July 27, 2009 |
By Mike Klesius
Can You Legally Own a Piece of the Moon?
Mr. Ian Sheffield of Edinburgh Scotland is miffed. He claims to have not one, but two dust samples of the Moon—one from the Apollo 11 mission and another from the Apollo 15 mission. He explains that he bought these lunar samples “from a dealer” about 3 years ago. The article does not indicate how ...
July 24, 2009 |
By Paul D. Spudis
To shave or not to shave
The astronauts of the 1960s were mostly a crewcut bunch, but by 1969 fashions were changing, and Apollo crews returning to Earth had to make a decision: Should I shave off my moon beard? Most did, but a few experimented with new looks when they got back. Mike Collins of Apollo 11 (right), kept hi...
July 24, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The many colors of the moon (and Earth)
The first two expeditions to the moon, in December 1968 and May 1969, sent back conflicting reports on its color when viewed up close. The Apollo 8 astronauts described the surface as whitish gray, like "dirty beach sand," in the words of Bill Anders. Tom Stafford's Apollo 10 crew saw tans and brow...
July 23, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Kirk relieves Spock at NASA
Say what you will about Michael Griffin, NASA’s last Administrator—the guy was a true space cadet, wholly committed to the idea of moving humanity beyond Earth orbit for the first time in 40 years. In fact, he seemed impatient with anyone who didn’t share that commitment. He professed to be driven ...
July 23, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
The Apollo Seven
Dispense with the nostalgia already. Let's argue about the future.Forty years after the first moon landing, with most of the Apollo astronauts pushing 80 and older, it's a major news event when seven of them, including four moonwalkers, assemble under one roof. This time they passed on an umpteenth...
July 22, 2009 |
By Mike Klesius
Dishing on "The Dish"
In 2000, “The Dish” (watch the trailer) was the most popular movie in Australia. Half fact, half poetic-license, it highlights the role that Australia’s Parkes Observatory played in televising the first steps made on the moon. One reviewer wrote “…a real sense of the importance of it to the commun...
July 21, 2009 |
By Pat Trenner
A baby boomer in the White House
Like many people over the age of 45, Barack Obama reminisced yesterday about the Apollo 11 moon landing and what he was doing at the time. The President recalled sitting on his grandfather's shoulders in Hawaii, waving to the Apollo astronauts as they returned on recovery ships.Unlike most people, ...
July 21, 2009 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Troubleshooting 101 (1201 actually, and 1202 too)
Apollo historian Matthew Hersch writes:Thanks to the radio telemetry streaming from Apollo 11’s Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, the engineers at Mission Control could tell, second by second, just how bad the astronauts’ predicament was getting as they prepared to make the first landing on the ...
July 20, 2009 |
By Mike Klesius
