Tag: Apollo

John Glenn, The Club of Firsts and The Empty Chair

John Glenn, The Club of Firsts and The Empty Chair

The passing of John Glenn on December 8th, 2016, signified the end of an era in American spaceflight in more ways than one. The loss of Glenn marked not only the death of the first American to orbit the Earth, but also the last of the famed “Mercury 7” group of test pilots who formed […]

Posted in: NASA
Was Discovery of Lunar Ice a Missed ‘Sputnik Moment’ ?

Was Discovery of Lunar Ice a Missed ‘Sputnik Moment’ ?

Did the United States foolishly overlook what should have been an obvious call to action when DOD’s (not NASA’s) Clementine mission discovered water ice at the lunar poles?  And is there still time to do something about it? Spacepolicyonline’s Marcia Smith has a writeup on comments made by U.S. Representative Jim Bridenstine at a meeting […]

Posted in: Congress, Mars, Moon
Musk Reddit AMA on Mars Plans Echo NASA’s Approach to Apollo Decades Ago

Musk Reddit AMA on Mars Plans Echo NASA’s Approach to Apollo Decades Ago

A Sunday “Ask Me Anything” segment on Reddit by SpaceX CEO Founder and CEO Elon Musk filled in some of the details regarding the company’s recently announced Mars plans. It also demonstrated once again the unique nature of SpaceX’s path to its overriding goal and a big picture approach which is strongly reminiscent of the […]

Posted in: Mars, NASA, SpaceX
Defending SLS Takes a Curious Historical Turn

Defending SLS Takes a Curious Historical Turn

In 2013, the Houston Chronicle’s Eric Berger conducted a remarkable interview with retired NASA manager Christopher Kraft, the engineer who was the agency’s first manned spaceflight director, and who played a critical role in designing each of the boosters which elevated the United States from sub-orbital flight to the surface of the Moon in less than […]

Posted in: SLS / Orion
Did Audi Capture the State of American Space Program in Super Bowl Commercial?

Did Audi Capture the State of American Space Program in Super Bowl Commercial?

Using Apollo imagery in commercials for major sporting events is certainly nothing new. In a 2014 spot for Cadillac, which played throughout the Winter Olympics, we left the keys in the lunar lander cause we had been there, done that and were “bored.” Besides, we were “the only ones going back.” It was pure braggadocio. Given […]

A Joint Russian/American Lunar Misson

A Joint Russian/American Lunar Misson

The possibility of a joint U.S./Russian lunar program coming together in the late 2020’s is beginning to look like a viable options for the post ISS era. If by chance national space ambitions are not trumped by NewSpace accomplishments sometime in the next ten years, which is a distinct possibility, budget realities and changing fortunes […]

“Hope” for the Middle East: UAE Introduces its Mars Orbiter Mission

“Hope” for the Middle East: UAE Introduces its Mars Orbiter Mission

The United Arab Emirates has provided quite a bit more information on the Mars orbiter mission it announced last year. Named Hope, it would launch in 2020, and arrive at Mars in 2021, in time to highlight the 50th anniversary of the founding of UAE. Its scientific objective is to provide the first complete holistic […]

Posted in: Mars
NASA Announces Option B (Or is it Plan 9)? From Outer Space

NASA Announces Option B (Or is it Plan 9)? From Outer Space

On Wednesday, March 25, NASA announced that it had reached a decision regarding which option the agency is to pursue as part of its Asteroid Redirect Mission, or ARM. In what came as no great surprise to those who have been following the space agency’s painful struggle to come up with an achievable mission plausibly […]

Posted in: Asteroids, NASA
SpaceX Video Confirms Soft Landing on Orbomm Flight

SpaceX Video Confirms Soft Landing on Orbomm Flight

  SpaceX released the following video of the first stage return on the July 14 Orbcomm mission. Early front runner for best short film of the year. SpaceX Description Published on Jul 22, 2014 Video of the Falcon 9 first stage reentry and landing following successful delivery of six ORBCOMM satellites to orbit. This test […]

Posted in: SpaceX
45 Years Later

45 Years Later

Editorial: Forty five years after the Apollo 11 Moon landing, NASA is looking back, and NASA is looking ahead, but should it be looking itself in the mirror? NASA is celebrating the 45th anniversary of the July 20, 1969 “Giant Leap” with a series of events over the week, as well it should. At the […]

Posted in: NASA
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