Posts Tagged ‘ shuttle program ’

27 years ago today, seven explorers gave their lives in the pursuit of scientific understanding. 73 seconds after lift-off, Challenger broke apart and disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean.

We remember Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; (back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik.

We thank them for assisting in this planet’s quest to reach for the stars.

*This post originally published on January 28, 2011.

It was 9 years ago today, that the shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry, minutes away from its scheduled landing.

Lost that day, (as pictured above, L to R) were: David M. Brown, Rick D. Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael P. Anderson, William C. McCool, and Ilan Ramon.

Today, we remember the crew of STS-107 and thank them for their service.

On January 5, 1972; 40 years ago today:

“I have decided today that the United States should proceed at once with the development of an entirely new type of space transportation system designed to help transform the space frontier of the 1970′s into familiar territory, easily accessible for human endeavor in the 1980′s and ’90′s. – President Nixon on the announcement of the Space Shuttle program.“

40 years ago today, President Nixon announced the development of the Space Shuttle Program, which was retired in 2011.

I personally consider myself a member of the “Space Shuttle Generation”. The program’s maiden manned-voyage came just a year prior to my birth and I’ve spent my life fascinated by the program. It was a great disappointment to me to see the program retired last year — especially with no system ready to replace it.

On January 5, 1972; 40 years ago today:

“I have decided today that the United States should proceed at once with the development of an entirely new type of space transportation system designed to help transform the space frontier of the 1970′s into familiar territory, easily accessible for human endeavor in the 1980′s and ’90′s. – President Nixon on the announcement of the Space Shuttle program.“

40 years ago today, President Nixon announced the development of the Space Shuttle Program, which was retired in 2011.

I personally consider myself a member of the “Space Shuttle Generation”. The program’s maiden manned-voyage came just a year prior to my birth and I’ve spent my life fascinated by the program. It was a great disappointment to me to see the program retired last year — especially with no system ready to replace it.

That’s it.

On March 9, 2011, space shuttle (technically, orbiter) Discovery landed at Kennedy Space Center after its final mission in space. This marked the conclusion of Discovery’s 38th mission (STS-133), from which it will retire as NASA’s hardest-working orbiter in the shuttle fleet. Discovery was NASA’s workhouse and many related it as the shuttle fleet’s eldest sibling. Here is a small list of Discovery’s amazing accomplishments over its 27-year history of spaceflight:

• Discovery got its names from historical sea-faring ships, primarily HMS Discovery which was commanded by Captain James Cook during his third and final voyage (1776-1779). Henry Hudson also searched for the Northwest Passage in a ship named discovery in 1610-1611.
• Discovery performed 39 missions and took 246 astronauts to space.
• In April 1990, Discovery released the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit
• Discovery carried Russian cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalev, to space. The first Russian to ever fly in a NASA spacecraft.
• Discovery spent a total of 365 days in space, orbited Earth 5,830 times and traveled 148,221,675 miles
• Discovery was the first shuttle to fly after both the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

As someone who considers himself a member of the “Space Shuttle Generation”, it’s sad to see Discovery retired; however, I have positive feelings about being able to live in a time to watch her in action.

---

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
Continue Reading »

Enjoy this image of astronaut Alvin Drew beginning his first spacewalk, in which he also becomes the 200th human to walk in space.

(Click image for large version)

A Good Day for a Spacewalk
Emerging from the Quest airlock on the International Space Station, astronaut Alvin Drew began his shared spacewalking duties with fellow astronaut Steve Bowen. Drew and Bowen completed the STS-133 mission’s first spacewalk on Monday, Feb. 28. Drew is the 200th human to perform a spacewalk, his first. This is Steve Bowen’s sixth spacewalk. This is the 154th spacewalk supporting assembly and maintenance of the space station and the 234th excursion conducted by U.S. astronauts.

Image Credit: NASA

Talk about being at the right place at the right time. A few lucky passengers on a commercial jet flight leaving Orlando got a unique view of the shuttle Discovery’s final launch. Lucky for us, one of those passengers recorded a video.

What a fantastic perspective to view Discovery’s final voyage from.

While funding from Congress isn’t complete, NASA added the 135th and final mission for the Shuttle Program. The agency has scheduled the shuttle Atlantis for a launch-date target of June 28.

In October of last year, President Obama signed the 2010 NASA Authorization Act which allowed an additional shuttle flight before the fleet retires. Congress, however, has yet to appropriate the full funding required for the mission. Funds to get the mission started are available in existing budgets, but complete funding will have to come from Congress; expected in March.

The mission will take a four-member crew, the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module, and supplies to the International Space Station. One spacewalk is scheduled, and they’ll be returning a faulty ammonia pump module that has been troubling engineers.

I personally hope NASA can keep squeaking through additional shuttle missions. It’s not so much that I don’t want to let the program go, it’s that I don’t want to let it go without a replacement ready to fly.

While funding from Congress isn’t complete, NASA added the 135th and final mission for the Shuttle Program. The agency has scheduled the shuttle Atlantis for a launch-date target of June 28.

In October of last year, President Obama signed the 2010 NASA Authorization Act which allowed an additional shuttle flight before the fleet retires. Congress, however, has yet to appropriate the full funding required for the mission. Funds to get the mission started are available in existing budgets, but complete funding will have to come from Congress; expected in March.

The mission will take a four-member crew, the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module, and supplies to the International Space Station. One spacewalk is scheduled, and they’ll be returning a faulty ammonia pump module that has been troubling engineers.

I personally hope NASA can keep squeaking through additional shuttle missions. It’s not so much that I don’t want to let the program go, it’s that I don’t want to let it go without a replacement ready to fly.

This video is making its rounds on the internet. It serves as a beautiful tribute to NASA’s shuttle program. The video is 45-minutes long, but you don’t have to watch it in one sitting; in fact, you can skip around a bit and just enjoy the amazing high-definition, slow-motion, videos of the shuttle systems.

It’s going to be very difficult to say goodbye to the shuttle program, early next year.