Monthly Archives: January 2011

Mars: the New Earth?

Posted on January 27, 2011 by asteitel

In a previous post, I outlined a proposed mission profile for, and some of the realities involved in, a one-way manned mission to Mars: rovers and robots would establish a base camp before the crew arrived. The astronauts would receive … Continue reading →

Posted in Manned Spaceflight, Planetary Science | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

A One-Way Ticket to Mars?

Posted on January 21, 2011 by asteitel

A couple of months ago, I published a post outlining a few historical viewpoints of the planet Mars. Philosophers and scientists have considered it to be a cold and lifeless world, a planet teeming with life, as well as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Manned Spaceflight, Planetary Science, Unmanned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Sailors, Ships, and Splashdowns

Posted on January 14, 2011 by asteitel

I’ve been posting a lot about landing methods – NASA’s use of splashdowns, why the method was not a long-term solution to the problem of returning from space, and a comparison to Soviet methods. The former, splashdowns, have been a … Continue reading →

Posted in Manned Spaceflight, Mercury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The X-15 as Research Aircraft

Posted on January 7, 2011 by asteitel

In a previous post, I offered a brief summary of the X-15 program in which I highlighted its features that enabled it to take on the designation of a ‘space plane’. I also mentioned that its nature is two-fold; it … Continue reading →

Posted in Aircraft, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury, Soviet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments