One of the saddest things about the atrocity (not “tragedy” — does no one know the meaning of that word any more?) in Colorado (for me personally, of course, obviously not for the friends and families of those involved) is that it completely derailed any commemoration of what we accomplished forty-three years ago today. But while we have done a segment on The Space Show on the subject this time of year every year for the past half dozen, today was the first time that we did one a) with Margaret Jordan, one of the other authors and b) actually performed the ceremony live on air (or rather, on line). It got a good response, with several callers calling in to say that they were moved in listening to it, and were going to perform it themselves. If so, that’s great, because that’s why we wrote it. Perhaps we should have done it years ago. Anyway, here is the link, and the podcast is available now. You might also want to check out The Space Show blog.
Category Archives: Space History
Telstar
Happy fiftieth anniversary to the very first communications satellite. Sadly, I’m old enough to remember the day it happened. That was an exciting year, between Glenn’s flight and it. The space age seemed so young and full of promise to a kid.
[Update a few minutes later]
Here’s the newsreel. That brings back memories.
[Update late morning]
Speaking of Glenn, Amy Shira Teitel has a story on the Atlas reliability prior to his flight. It was about fifty percent.
Space Anniversary Coincidence
One day after the first Chinese woman in space is the 49th anniversary of the first woman in space, period.
Playmates In Space
Amy Shira Teitel has an amusing bit of Apollo history.
The Right Stuff
Brian Binnie (who flew the first X-Prize flight) emails:
…this e-book:
The Right Stuff: Interviews with Icons of the 1960s
, is available just in time for Father’s day. It’s the first in a series dealing with “adventurers” over the decades, many of whom are leaders in the space arena. I wrote the forward to it and the SpaceShipOne story will appear when the chronology finally gets to the 2000’s.
I met Jim via the eclectic Explorers Club and he is regular contributor to Forbes Magazine.
Cheers, Brian
You might want to check it out.
Lunar Orbit Rendezvous
The decision was made fifty years ago this month.
Historically, the decision was a disaster, from the standpoint of making the effort sustainable, though it’s what won the race. Unfortunately, it was inevitable once it became a race to the moon and back. There was simply no time to develop the LEO infrastructure that von Braun and others wanted to put into place that would have obviated the need for the Saturn V. And it created a myth — that we can’t explore without such a vehicle — that haunts us to this day.
Rescuing Apollo Astronauts
…in lunar orbit. They thought of everything, which you can do when it’s important and you have a big budget.
The First NASA Astronauts
We met them fifty-three years ago today. It was slightly over two years since Gagarin’s first flight, whose fifty-first anniversary is on Thursday.
Wernher Von Braun
He would have been a hundred years old today. Also, it’s the 29th anniversary of the announcement of the Strategic Defense Initiative. “Wouldn’t it be better to save lives than to avenge them?”
[Update a couple minutes later]
Related to last item: Japan prepares missile defense in anticipation of North Korean launch.
[Update a few minutes later]
Back to von Braun: a blog post from Roger Launius.
The Colliers Series
Started sixty years ago, introducing the American public to the coming age of space. It later led to a series of Disney short animations, shown on Sunday nights.