Monthly Archives: August 2012

Neil Armstrong OpEd in the Guardian

Posted on August 26, 2012 by asteitel

I was asked to write an opinion piece on Neil Armstrong’s passing for the Guardian. I thought a lot about the role he’s played in spaceflight history, not just because of the missions he flew but because of what he … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Gemini, History of Space Science, Mercury, Moon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Neil Armstrong: Ace Engineer and Hotshot Test Pilot

Posted on August 25, 2012 by asteitel

I walked in the house this afternoon to find a heap of emails, text messages, and voicemails about Neil Armstrong’s death. I was shocked. My next thought was that Armstrong will never be truly gone. When he stepped on the Moon on … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

NASA’s Other Peanuts Traditions

Posted on August 20, 2012 by asteitel

Three years after JPL started what’s become the tradition of eating peanuts during launches, NASA developed another peanuts-based tradition. This one centers on Peanuts the cartoon strip rather than the legume, specifically the beagle Snoopy. Since the Apollo program, Snoopy has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Moon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Learning to Land on the Moon

Posted on August 19, 2012 by asteitel

Bringing anything airborne down for a safe landing takes considerable skill, but landing on other planets presents a whole world of new challenges. In preparation for the Apollo lunar missions, astronauts spent considerable time in simulators learning to land on … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Moon | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

How JPL’s Peanut Tradition Started

Posted on August 16, 2012 by asteitel

Last Sunday night, everyone watching NASA’s feed of Curiosity’s landing saw engineers in JPL’s mission control eating peanuts before the rover entered Mars’ atmosphere. Eating peanuts at particularly nerve-wracking points during a mission is a long standing tradition at JPL … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Space Science, Moon, Unmanned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Apollo’s Youthful Glow

Posted on August 11, 2012 by asteitel

Since Curiosity landed on Mars last Sunday night, the internet has been buzzing not about the Sky Crane that delivered the rover to the surface but about “Mohawk Guy.” Bobak Ferdowsi is a 32-year old flight director at JPL who looks more … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The Enduring Apollo Flags

Posted on August 8, 2012 by asteitel

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter returned another amazing set of images last week: photographs of flags still upright at the Apollo landing sites. It’s unsurprising they’re still standing; after all, there’s no wind, rain, or rowdy teenagers to knock them over. … Continue reading →

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