Category Archives: History

Video: Apollo 11 lunar landing anniversary

July 20, 2017 TopSpacer 1 Comment

It’s been 48 years since humans first walked on the Moon and 45 years too long since humans walked on the Moon.

July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap For Mankind

July 1969. It’s a little over eight years since the flights of Gagarin and Shepard, followed quickly by President Kennedy’s challenge to put a man on the moon before the decade is out.

It is only seven months since NASA’s made a bold decision to send Apollo 8 all the way to the moon on the first manned flight of the massive Saturn V rocket.

Now, on the morning of July 16, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collinssit atop another Saturn V at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The three-stage 363-foot rocket will use its 7.5 million pounds of thrust to propel them into space and into history.

At 9:32 a.m. EDT, the engines fire and Apollo 11 clears the tower. About 12 minutes later, the crew is in Earth orbit. (› Play Audio)

After one and a half orbits, Apollo 11 gets a “go” for what mission controllers call “Translunar Injection” – in other words, it’s time to head for the moon. Three days later the crew is in lunar orbit. A day after that, Armstrong and Aldrin climb into the lunar module Eagle and begin the descent, while Collins orbits in the command module Columbia. (› View Flash Feature)

Collins later writes that Eagle is “the weirdest looking contraption I have ever seen in the sky,” but it will prove its worth.

When it comes time to set Eagle down in the Sea of Tranquility, Armstrong improvises, manually piloting the ship past an area littered with boulders. During the final seconds of descent, Eagle’scomputer is sounding alarms.

It turns out to be a simple case of the computer trying to do too many things at once, but as Aldrin will later point out, “unfortunately it came up when we did not want to be trying to solve these particular problems.”

When the lunar module lands at 4:18 p.m EDT, only 30 seconds of fuel remain. Armstrong radios “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Mission control erupts in celebration as the tension breaks, and a controller tells the crew “You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue, we’re breathing again.” (› Play Audio)

Armstrong will later confirm that landing was his biggest concern, saying “the unknowns were rampant,” and “there were just a thousand things to worry about.”

This photograph of the Lunar Module at Tranquility Base was taken by Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission, from the rim of Little West Crater on the lunar surface. Armstrong’s shadow and the shadow of the camera are visible in the foreground. When he took this picture, Armstrong was clearly standing above the level of the Lunar Module’s footpads. Darkened tracks lead leftward to the deployment area of the Early Apollo Surface Experiments Package (EASEP) and rightward to the TV camera. This is the furthest distance from the lunar module traveled by either astronaut while on the moon. View a panorama of this image

At 10:56 p.m. EDT Armstrong is ready to plant the first human foot on another world. With more than half a billion people watching on television, he climbs down the ladder and proclaims: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” (› Play Audio)

Aldrin joins him shortly, and offers a simple but powerful description of the lunar surface: “magnificent desolation.” They explore the surface for two and a half hours, collecting samples and taking photographs.

They leave behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew, and a plaque on one of Eagle’s legs. It reads, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”

Armstrong and Aldrin blast off and dock with Collins in Columbia. Collins later says that “for the first time,” he “really felt that we were going to carry this thing off.”

The crew splashes down off Hawaii on July 24. Kennedy’s challenge has been met. Men from Earth have walked on the moon and returned safely home.

In an interview years later, Armstrong praises the “hundreds of thousands” of people behind the project. “Every guy that’s setting up the tests, cranking the torque wrench, and so on, is saying, man or woman, ‘If anything goes wrong here, it’s not going to be my fault.'” (› Read 2001 Interview, 172 Kb PDF)

In a post-flight press conference, Armstrong calls the flight “a beginning of a new age,” while Collins talks about future journeys to Mars.

Over the next three and a half years, 10 astronauts will follow in their footsteps. Gene Cernan, commander of the last Apollo mission leaves the lunar surface with these words: “We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace, and hope for all mankind.”

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History, Space Collecting

Space Exploration auction at Sotheby’s in New York

July 9, 2017 TopSpacer 1 Comment

Sotheby’s in New York is holding a Space Exploration auction that is

Sotheby’s first Space Exploration-themed auction since our two groundbreaking Russian Space History sales in the 1990s. In the intervening decades, the enthusiasm for space exploration has greatly increased, and the collecting field has grown dramatically.

Signed by James LovellL above the emblem: “JAMES LOVELL, Apollo 13 CDR”. Signed and inscribed by Fred Haise below the emblem: “Flown to the moon on Apollo 13, FRED HAISE, Apollo 13 LMP.” The Apollo 13 astronauts had artist Lumen Winter create an emblem from an idea the crew had of the mythical god Apollo driving a horse drawn chariot across the sky dragging the sun behind him. Winter’s design features three horses traveling from the earth to the moon, symbolizing the Apollo crew of three astronauts. “

Timed to coincide with the 48^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing on July 20^th, there will be a wide variety of material from both the American & Soviet space programs suited for both new and seasoned collectors – from lunar & space photography, flown mission artefacts and hardware, items from the personal collections of astronauts, autographed items, maps & charts, signed books, models, spacesuits, and much more.

The star lot in the sale is the Apollo 11 Contingency Lunar Sample Return bag (lot 102), used by Neil Armstrong on the Apollo 11 mission to bring back the very first samples of the moon ever collected. Still containing remnants of lunar dust, this seemingly modest bag has undergone an incredible journey from the Earth to the moon and back, and to us here 48 years later. Due to an error very early on, the bag was misidentified and nearly thrown in the trash, and its true identity remained hidden up until just two years ago when it found its way into a seized assets auction held on behalf of the US Marshall’s Service.

The current owner purchased the bag along with a box full of other space-related odds and ends, and on a hunch, decided to send the bag to NASA for testing. It was determined that not only did the bag contain lunar dust, but it was in fact the very bag used by Neil Armstrong to bring back the contingency lunar sample. A legal battle to determine the rightful ownership of the bag ensued, with the current owner being awarded full ownership and clear title by a Federal judge — making this the only such artifact available for private ownership. We are very pleased to be able to say that it will be on view to the public for the very first time during our exhibition in July.

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“Stone Architecture on Mars, Demonstrating Mars’ Two-Thirds Less Gravity than Earth’s”- Chesley Bonestell. “10½ by 11 inch oil on artist’s board, signed “Chesley Bonestell” lower right. Verso stamped “Chesley Bonestell”, titled on verso in pen in Bonestell’s hand, with additional pencil notation reading “In 1985 I realized that the columns should be 1¾ times thicker (measure closest col. at base) than they are in the ptg.”

See also Moon rock on the block: Sotheby’s stages its first space exploration auction – The National. (not actually the “first” Sotheby’s space auction. Just the first in NY for a long while.)

Find dates for other space memorabilia and collectibles events at Space History Events Calendar | collectSPACE.

Events, Future space, History

Videos: “The Dawn of Private Space Science” – symposium presentations

June 4, 2017 TopSpacer 1 Comment

A symposium at Columbia University this weekend focused on “The Dawn of Private Space Science“. Videos of the many interesting talks are posted at Fiat Physica – Facebook. Here is a sampling:

** Pete Worden gave an update on the Breakthrough Initiatives, one of which is the development of a system to send tiny spacecraft to a nearby star:

** NASA historian Alex MacDonald talked about private space science projects going back to the early 1800s:

**Michael Paluszek reported on the Princeton Satellite Systems design for a nuclear fusion propulsion system that they believe could fly within a decade or so:

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History, Space books, Space Settlement

Books: “How to Make a Spaceship” + “Martians Abroad” + “Opening the High Frontier”

March 15, 2017 TopSpacer

Some books to interest:

** How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight by Julian Gutherie

I quite enjoyed this history of the Ansari XPRIZE, which was won by Burt Rutan‘s team in October of 2004 after completing two flights to suborbital space by the SpaceShipOne (SS1) rocket plane within two weeks. The culmination of the $10M competition came about after many years of struggles by Peter Diamandis and his team to find sponsors, entrants, and prize money.

Diamandis, a Harvard trained medical doctor who also co-founded the International Space University, the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), and several companies, is the focus of the book but there are extended profiles of many interesting characters who were involved in the competition such as Rutan, the SS1 pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie, and Paul Allen, who backed the SS1 project. Diamandis was inspired by the $25,000 Orteig Prize, which Charles Lindbergh won in 1927 by flying the Spirit of St. Louis solo from New Jersey to Paris. How Charles Lindbergh’s grandson Erik Lindbergh comes to play a major role in the XPRIZE is one of the more intriguing stories in the book.

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These two books were pointed to me by HS readers:

** Martians Abroad: A novel by Carrie Vaughn

Here is a positive review: ‘Martians Abroad’ Is An Optimistic Glance Into Humanity’s Future | WCAI

Martians Abroad is a refreshingly optimistic change of pace, but it makes no secret about its precedents. It’s an open homage to Robert Heinlein’s juveniles, as his novels with adolescent protagonists were called — and one of those juveniles in particular, 1963’s Podkayne of Mars. The parallels are numerous. Heinlein’s heroine goes by the nickname Poddy. Her brother’s name is Clark. And they’re both sent abroad from their Martian home.

It’s this loving, retro-futuristic vibe that helps make Martians Abroad so endearing. Harking back to a more innocent time — but without downplaying the tribulations of contemporary adolescence — Vaughn has crafted a tribute to the power of science fiction, evoking a giddy sense of wonder and adventure about space exploration, technology, and human ingenuity. And, yes, even about being young.

** Opening the High Frontier: Our Future in Space by Eagle Sarmont

A summary of the book:

A “Opening the High Frontier” is about how to make spaceflight affordable to everyone. It is about the ideas and technologies that will allow us to affordably build a spacefaring civilization, to build cities on the Moon and Mars, to build Space Colonies and Satellite Solar Power Stations, and to mine the asteroids. It is about a combination of concepts, some known and some not so well known, that can be affordably built right now with existing technology, that can make this happen. It is about our path to an unlimited future, our path to Mars and the rest of the solar system, and someday, the first step on our journey to the stars. It is about Opening the High Frontier for everyone.

History, Rockets

Video: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends a Dragon to ISS and lands booster at Cape

February 19, 2017 TopSpacer 1 Comment

This morning SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon spacecraft full of cargo heading to the International Space Station. The Dragon will berth to the station on Wednesday morning.

After the first stage booster separated from the upper stage, it came back down for a powered landing onto SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral.

*Landing Shot from the roof of the VAB – credits Trevor Mahlmann (Hi-Res image)*

[ Update: Here is a drone view of the landing:

A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Feb 19, 2017 at 12:20pm PST

]

Here is a video of the landing as seen during the SpaceX webcast:

After liftoff the rocket disappeared quickly into a cloudy sky:

The launch was the first for SpaceX from Pad 39A, which is the same pad used by most of the Apollo Saturn V launches to the Moon and for most of the Space Shuttle launches. Here is a brief history of the pad: