Tag Archives: Splashdown

NASA’s Manned Venus Orbital Mission

Posted on June 1, 2012 by asteitel

In the late 1960s, NASA was considering future applications for its Apollo hardware under the aptly named Apollo Applications program. One popular target for an AAP mission was Venus, our cosmic neighbour that was a scientific enigma at the time; … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Planetary Science | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Carpenter versus Aurora 7

Posted on May 25, 2012 by asteitel

On May 24, 1962, NASA narrowly escaped its first fatality in space. When Scott Carpenter reentered the atmosphere at the end of his Aurora 7 orbital flight, no one in mission control knew where he was going to land. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Manned Spaceflight, Mercury | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Was NASA’s First Launch Delay its Most Significant?

Posted on May 4, 2012 by asteitel

In January 1961, the pieces of the manned spaceflight puzzle were slowly coming together. NASA had a capsule, astronauts to ride inside it, and rockets to launch it. The capsule had even successfully launched on top of the rocket. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Gemini, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury, Soviet | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Rogallo After Gemini

Posted on June 5, 2011 by asteitel

In a previous post, I looked at the Rogallo paraglider wing landing system and its failed development as part of NASA’s Gemini program. I also mentioned that the landing system didn’t disappear right away. After its cancellation from Gemini, NASA … Continue reading →

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

Losing Rogallo from Gemini

Posted on May 22, 2011 by asteitel

Landing methods and the Gemini program are two of my favourite topics, and I’ve previously posted about landing methods in Gemini. The Mercury program demonstrated sufficient reason to move away from splashdowns, and the second generation Gemini manned spaceflight program … Continue reading →

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

Mapping Vintage Space

Posted on April 24, 2011 by asteitel

Regular readers of Vintage Space are doubtless aware that I have a tendency to link newer posts to older ones. This reflects the interrelation of all the topics I have (and will) discuss in this blog. I find this era … Continue reading →

Posted in Aircraft, Apollo, Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury, Planetary Science, Rockets, Soviet, Space Shuttle, Unmanned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 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