Tag Archives: American

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

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

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

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