Tag Archives: US Navy

Mercury’s Staggering Recovery Crews

Posted on July 6, 2012 by asteitel

Splashdown landings, those iconic ends to Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, weren’t as simple as they seemed. While dropping a capsule into the ocean was a simple way to land, pulling the capsule and its crew out of the water … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Vintage Space Fun Fact: Animals in Space Before NASA

Posted on March 14, 2012 by asteitel

For most people, early biological testing in space brings to mind Ham the chimp, angrily trying to bit any hand that came near him after his suborbital flight on a Redstone rocket. But Ham was launched on January 31, 1961, … Continue reading →

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

A History of the Dyna-Soar

Posted on October 5, 2011 by asteitel

Over the last few days, I’ve been doing some research into the USAF Dyna-Soar or X-20 program, and its story is much more interesting than I realized. Like many of the unrealized programs of the early space age, its impact … Continue reading →

Posted in Aircraft, Manned Spaceflight, Soviet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 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

Designing a Bridge to the Moon

Posted on February 19, 2011 by asteitel

The Gemini program is often passed over in popular accounts of NASA’s race to the Moon. Perhaps understandably so. Gemini doesn’t carry the excitement of the Mercury Program with America’s first steps into space and it lacks the climactic excitement … Continue reading →

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

Talking Vintage Space

Posted on February 4, 2011 by asteitel

I’ve recently found that good things come from using Twitter! Mark Ratterman approached me (via email) asked if I would like to join him and fellow hosts Gene Mikulka, Gina Herlihy, and Sawyer Rosenstein on their podcast Talking Space. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury, Planetary Science, Space Shuttle, Unmanned Spaceflight | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sailors, Ships, and Splashdowns

Posted on January 14, 2011 by asteitel

I’ve been posting a lot about landing methods – NASA’s use of splashdowns, why the method was not a long-term solution to the problem of returning from space, and a comparison to Soviet methods. The former, splashdowns, have been a … Continue reading →

Posted in Manned Spaceflight, Mercury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments