A Near Miss: When Three Apollo Astronauts Were Nearly Killed on Reentry
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project On July 24, 1975, six years to the day after the Apollo 11 crew returned safely to Earth, reaching the zenith of America’s space race program, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project crew returned to Earth. It was to be the last hurrah of the Apollo era....
Waste in Space. Trucking Nuclear Waste on the Space Shuttle.
Launching the By-Products of Nuclear Power into Space The hundred years that made up the twentieth century was full of tremendous innovation and technological progress, but it was also littered with bad ideas. It is said that “necessity is the mother of invention,” and where there is a problem,...
The Greatest Spacecraft Never Built? The Space Tug
Nixon Wakes Up NASA in the Middle of a Dream How often is it that we talk about the “golden era” of something? Generally, that tends to infer that the best of something is behind us. It doesn’t mean that great things won’t, or can’t be accomplished in...
The Air Force and Nasa: Partnership in Space (1958-1969)
It was the middle of March when President Donald Trump mentioned the prospect of creating a new branch of the military, a “Space Force.” It was immediately the subject of ridicule and conjured up visions of Star Wars Stormtroopers with laser guns fighting galactic battles in space. Once again,...
Ferrying the Shuttle – Part Two: The Orbiter is the Ferry
It did not take long to figure out that the concept of ferrying the shuttle like an airplane between ground destinations was not going to fly. The numbers just were not adding up, but the risk factors were rising. The idea was to install six airbreathing jet engines beneath...
The Politics of NASA – What History Has Taught Us
Every political season brings the same old ideas about what government should do and how it should operate. This election brings a decision between operating government like a business and the discipline it requires, or operating it as an entity that transcends the typical rules of budgeting, balancing, and...
Liberty for All
Much public attention has been given to America’s lack of a capability to launch astronauts into space. When the space shuttle touched down for the last time the die had already been cast for our near term future in space. America would become dependent on Russian resources to fly...
Perspectives on Challenger
January 28, 2011 marked the 25th anniversary of the Challenger Accident. For those who were of age to remember that fateful day, it is forever etched as one of those unforgettable moments of our lives. In an instant, the shock and surprise, the tragedy and loss...
The Last Great Space Shuttle Mission
As the Space Shuttle Atlantis prepares to return back to earth there is reason to celebrate the work done by the crew of STS-125. After five spacewalks totaling nearly thirty-seven hours the Hubble upgrade has by all accounts been an overwhelming success. The mission that put two of NASA’s...
NASA Vision Keeps Going
When President Barack Obama indicated in his speech Tuesday night that everyone would have to make sacrifices and everyone’s favorite programs would have to take hits it sent shudders through the space community. Despite frequently relying on analogies related to the space program as examples of what America can...