Monthly Archives: September 2012

Vintage Space Fun Fact: Crossfield’s Worst Landing

Posted on September 30, 2012 by asteitel

Scott Crossfield held that every pilot had a specialty. In his case it was landings, specifically landings without power often called dead stick landing. So how did Crossfield, a former flight instructor and by all accounts an ace pilot, manage … Continue reading →

Posted in Aircraft, History of Space Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Cost of Curiosity

Posted on September 28, 2012 by asteitel

The other day I was in a coffee shop, quietly writing and sharing a table with a woman also on a laptop. She caught me staring blankly out the window and asked what I was working on; apparently I looked … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury, Moon, Rockets, Unmanned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Vintage Space Fun Fact: Gemini’s Poetry

Posted on September 23, 2012 by asteitel

In 1960, a year before Al Shepard made his ballistic flight on Freedom 7 and two years before John Glenn went into orbit on Friendship 7, NASA was already planning what to do after the Mercury program wrapped up. Mercury … Continue reading →

Posted in Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Wernher Von Braun’s Smoke and Mirrors Escape from Germany

Posted on September 17, 2012 by asteitel

That the rockets that launched America’s space program had Nazi roots was never a secret. They came to America under Operation Overcast and Project Paperclip before building rockets for the US military but didn’t become citizens until the 1950s. The … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Rockets | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

When Soviets Roved the Moon

Posted on September 15, 2012 by asteitel

Between Curiosity stretching its wheels and heads for its first big target site, Glenelg, and Opportunity finding new “blueberries,” concretions left by ancient mineral-laden water flowing through rocks, rovers are pretty hot right now. But Mars isn’t the first body … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Space Science, Moon, Unmanned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Kennedy’s Public and Private Thoughts on Apollo

Posted on September 12, 2012 by asteitel

On September 12, 1962, President Kennedy gave his famous speech at Rice University in Texas proclaiming that Americans take on lofty goals like landing a man on the Moon not because it is easy but because it is hard. It’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury, Moon, Rockets, Soviet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Reducing, Recycling, and Reusing on Mars

Posted on September 6, 2012 by asteitel

Two weeks ago, NASA announced it’s next Discovery class mission, those low cost missions that focus on answering one question. The agency chose the InSight mission to Mars. In the press conference, the agency cited the mission’s low cost and … Continue reading →

Posted in Planetary Science, Unmanned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment