Monthly Archives: March 2011

Planetary Landings, Another New Frontier

Posted on March 25, 2011 by asteitel

Frequent visitors to Vintage Space are doubtless aware that I am fascinated with the problem of landing from space. Faced with this unknown, the US and Soviet Union developed very different methods, parachute-controlled descent and splashdown and Earth-landing via parachutes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, History of Space Science, Planetary Science, Unmanned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Spaceflight: Risky Business

Posted on March 19, 2011 by asteitel

One of the things that fascinates me about NASA’s early manned programs is the risks the organization took to achieve its goals. The Apollo Program is a great example: NASA had a goal, a time frame in which to achieve … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Planetary Science, Soviet, Space Shuttle, Unmanned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Not Exactly Rocket Science

Posted on March 12, 2011 by asteitel

A while ago, I talked about NASA’s invention of landing methods for the Mercury program – what to do when finding a solution for an entirely unknown problem. Tied into the question of landing methods for NASA’s first manned program … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Bringing Down a New Bird: Landing Gemini

Posted on March 7, 2011 by asteitel

I’ve previously discussed NASA’s invention of a landing system for the Mercury program – with little time and almost no prior experience, engineers determined that splashdowns were the simplest and least risky method to bring an astronaut home. But, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Gemini, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury, Soviet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments