Human Spaceflight
Air Force museum brings history of rocketry to life
The Air Force Space & Missile Museum and separate History Center, both located in Cape Canaveral, Florida, provide a unique look back at past space adventures, hardware, and facilities. You’ll find the entrance to the History Center just outside the main entrance of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The History Center, located just off …
Your ticket to space awaits at the KSC Visitor Complex
If you’ve never been to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and you are reading this article, well you owe it to yourself to make that trip at some point. If you have been there before, but not in a few years, I’d suggest that it’s time for a return trip. The complex has undergone …
Discovery: A look back at the workhorse of the Space Shuttle fleet
Five years ago, Space Shuttle Discovery launched on her final mission. Today we take a look back at her history and accomplishments during 27 years of spaceflight. Space Shuttle Discovery arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 9, 1983. After testing and a hot test firing, the orbiter launched on its first mission on …
Stuck on Mars: Comparing Mars analog simulations to ‘The Martian’
I’ve never been stuck on Mars, or any other planets save for this one. But I have had a chance to simulate what life would be like to live on Mars during a long-duration analog simulation. Like fictional astronaut Mark Watney in Andy Weir’s “The Martian”, participants in analog simulations often find themselves having to …
Rovering across the Moon during Apollo 15
Premier of the J-series mission changed the game for Apollo 15 Four hundred miles (640 km) to the north of the Moon’s equator lies a place called Hadley: a small patch of Mare Imbrium at the base of the Apennine Mountains, some of which rise to 4,000 feet (1,200 meters), and a 25-mile (40 km) …
Troubleshooting with a ‘dead’ astronaut
I was an electronic technician for Grumman Aircraft Co. from 1964 through 1978. One of my duties was to operate the Lunar Module cabin during trouble shooting and testing. Back then, the astronauts spent as much time in and around the hardware as we did. One day in the MSOB (Manned Spacecraft Operations Building), I was …