Exploring space, for all mankind.

spacewatching: Black Arrow taking off The United Kingdom and...

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:39:46 -0400

Black Arrow taking off

The United Kingdom and the case of the flying lipstick….

Coming up soon on RocketRadar:

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:16:39 -0400

As some of you know, one of my favourite non-space related subjects in history are World’s Fairs. World’s Fairs were expositions where companies and nations around the world could come together in one place to showcase their culture, history, wares, and new technologies under a specific theme - usually the future.

Without giving much away, I have some really amazing posts coming up soon that’ll send you out of this world!

Keep an eye out in the next few days for them!

Did you know?

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:50:43 -0400

The textured sides of the Mercury and Gemini capsules were thought to gave the spacecraft more structural rigidity for the extreme temperature changes in space? It was thought early on that buckling would occur due to the extreme temperature changes of space, and adding ridged sides could prevent this. The material was known as Rene 41, which is an exotic metal made up of Chromium, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Titanium and Aluminum.

Falcon Heavy: Uncertain Case for Lunar Exploration

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:07:24 -0400

Falcon Heavy: Uncertain Case for Lunar Exploration:

Interesting.

The St Petersburg Pier - past, present, and future.Top two:...

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:45:08 -0400

The St Petersburg Pier - past, present, and future.

Top two: Million Dollar pier, 1926-1967
Middle: Inverted Pyramid, 1973 - present (possibly 2013)
Lower two: The Lens, 2015 - ?

Got to show Bryce (Senior Crown) around St. Pete today!

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:24:00 -0400

Got to show Bryce (Senior Crown) around St. Pete today!

Russian Bion-M1 satellite returns to earth with most of its...

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:28:05 -0400

Russian Bion-M1 satellite returns to earth with most of its animal crew dead.

The satellite launched last month carrying a plethora of rodents, insects, and other creatures to study the prolonged effects of weightlessness.

The Institute of Medical and Biological Problems says that the low survival rate was “to be expected.”

Here’s a link to the article, and here and here are links to the posts I made regarding the launch in April.

jtotheizzoe: The Earliest Days of NASA Maria Popova, at Brain...

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:34:24 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

The Earliest Days of NASA

Maria Popova, at Brain Pickings, happened upon a treasure trove of early NASA (and its airplane-only predecessor NACA) archive photos. They are really something. From biplanes to the Mercury capsule, pre-1950 aeronautics seemed to live by the motto of “If we build it, then we can go there.” That’s a sentiment we could use a bit more of.

More here.

The beginnings of the Space Age….it’s beautiful….every action these men took, every challenge undertaken, led up to the creation of the space agency and the future of mankind….

Nose to nose, Enterprise and Discovery come face to face at the...

Mon, 20 May 2013 01:24:00 -0400

Nose to nose, Enterprise and Discovery come face to face at the Smithsonian.

Also, new blog! I started it because, well, let’s face it, spaceships are cute, and we catch them doing cute things! Project retro-rocket (Michael) and I will be running it.

cutespaceshipsdoingcutethings.tumblr.com

You say I dream too big? I say you think too small.

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:08:25 -0400

spacewatching: The replacement of fins on the Apollo Soyuz Test...

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:03:07 -0400

spacewatching:

The replacement of fins on the Apollo Soyuz Test Project S1B launch vehicle continued at KSC today. The decision to replace all of the fins was made when small hairline stress corrosion cracks were discovered in holddown fittings. Replacement of the fins is not expected to delay move of the launch vehicle to the launch pad on March 24. ASTP, the joint U.S./USSR space mission is scheduled for mid-July.

If I remember correctly, these cracks were caused by the booster’s prolonged storage.

spaceofficer: Seattle Worlds Fair 1962 vintage photo 1960s...

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:38:28 -0400

spaceofficer:

Seattle Worlds Fair 1962 vintage photo 1960s Rocket SPACE by Christian Montone on Flickr.

The “Space-Age World’s Fair”

Oh, how I would have loved to have gone! It was the only world’s fair in history to have a NASA pavilion. The 1964-65 New York World’s Fair has the “Hall of Science” which help NASA-related and sponsored exhibits, including a Saturn V boat tail, Mercury-Atlas, Gemini-Titan, and F-1 engine, and the 1970 Exposition in Osaka, Japan re-created the previous year’s Moon landing, but only the 1962 Century 21 Exposition in Seattle actually had a standalone NASA pavilion.

The Seattle World’s Fair was the first International Exposition in America since the famous 1939 New York World’s Fair almost 23 years prior, and being at the beginning of the Space Age, wanted its theme, like many world’s fairs, to look towards the future. Dubbed the Century 21 Exposition, pavilions showcased future “technology” and what their corporation was doing to give you the world of tomorrow, today! It gave us famous landmarks such as the Space Needle, Seattle Monorail, and Pacific Science Centre.

The NASA pavilion was located just south of the main section of the fairgrounds, and hosted a wide variety of exhibits ranging from rocketry to satellites and Earth Science. A replica Saturn I/IB boat tail hung from the ceiling (as seen in the above photo), directly above the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket.

This exhibit talked about satellite technology, the various satellites in orbit around the earth, orbital mechanics, and the different types of launch vehicles America was using in 1962.

Here we see it from farther away, showing what I believe to be a Pioneer series satellite and another Astrogator-like globe exhibit.

Other sections talked about the Mercury 7 astronauts, Kennedy’s goal of landing a Man on the Moon, and the upcoming Gemini programme.

John Glenn visited the fair two and a half months after his orbital flight, and helped dedicate the Pavilion along with vice-president Johnson. (Read more about his visit here.)

quotablediatribe: Moonshot I had this documentary on VHS as a...

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:19:15 -0400

quotablediatribe:

Moonshot

I had this documentary on VHS as a kid. Came on two cassettes (which I’d always forget to rewind. Used to watch this seemingly weekly on Saturdays as I built Legos. I’ve forever lived in that decade, living vicariously through the triumph of NASA. That NASA. Not the NASA of the 90s, which now looks truly inspiring compared to today’s ghost.

One of my favourite books growing up as a kid!

Hey, followers, ya'll should help me perform an experiment.

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:10:00 -0400

You should tell me everything you know about me, and send it in to me as a submission!

I’m curious to see what my followers know about my personality and my life.

Everything you possibly know about me, put in there, no matter what it is.

Just be sure you sent it to me as a submission, and not a post.

Please and thank you! :)

unstablemonkey: Columbia and Challenger together Sisters!

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:15:16 -0400

unstablemonkey:

Columbia and Challenger together

Sisters!

Astronauts - so cool, it’s ridiculous.

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:02:16 -0400

Astronauts - so cool, it’s ridiculous.

I think you’re awesome!

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:50:57 -0400

I think you’re awesome!

*I think your knowledge and interest in space is extremely attractive.

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:50:50 -0400

Well thank you, dear follower! =D

To live in the age where humans live on Mars would make me almost giddy.

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:50:19 -0400

It makes me too, now let’s make it happen!

I thought I saw a contrail..couldn’t see the vehicle...

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:25:20 -0400

I thought I saw a contrail..couldn’t see the vehicle itself, but I thought I saw a small, thin cloud perpendicular to the rest.

This is pretty cool, though!