Category Archives: History

History, Space Settlement

Darrell Romick, a nearly forgotten space visionary

This article describes the visionary rocket and space infrastructure concepts laid out in the 1950s by Goodyear Aircraft engineer Darrell C. Romick, who was eclipsed by Wernher von Braun: The Space City That Could Have Been, If Not For Wernher Von Braun –  io9.com

More about Romick:

Romick-Goodyear Meteor Junior

History, Rockets

The X-15 and rocket vehicle reusability

Space historian David S. F. Portree writes about the North American X-15 and what lessons can be learned from its reusability : The X-15 Rocket Plane: Implications for Reusable Booster Schedule & Cost (1966) – Wired Science/Wired.com.

History, Space Collecting

Space & Aviation Auction at RR Auction this month

RR Auction in Amherst, NH is holding a Space & Aviation Auction during May 16-25. See, for example, these Apollo 14 artifacts.

History, Multiple media

Audio-visual recreation of Apollo 11 lunar landing event

The website The First Men on the Moon: The Apollo 11 Lunar Landing provides

an online interactive featuring the Eagle lunar landing. The presentation includes original Apollo 11 spaceflight video footage, communication audio, mission control room conversations, text transcripts, and telemetry data, all synchronized into an integrated audio-visual experience.

Until today, it has been impossible to comprehensively experience mankind’s shining exploratory accomplishment in a singular experience. We have compiled hours of content available from public domain sources and various NASA websites. Thamtech staff and volunteers generously devoted their time to transcribe hours of speech to text. By using simultaneous space and land based audio and video, transcripts, images, spacecraft telemetry, and biomedical data—this synchronized presentation reveals the Moon Shot as experienced by the astronauts and flight controllers.

FirstMenOnTheMoonInteractiveScreenCapture

History

Video: The Mercury Control Center

NASA Kennedy Space Center posted this program about the Mercury control center.

Caption:

Before one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind, a team of daring space pioneers and a pair of experimental rocket projects came together and set forth in the nation’s first pursuit to further humankind’s understanding of the Earth and the heavens. With the eyes on the sky and the future of space exploration beyond the horizon, flight controllers inside NASA’s Mercury Control Center watched the American space program take flight. And so here, the story of American space exploration began.