collectSPACE Today In Space History

First look at F-1s

Tue, 21 May 2013 03:00:47 -0500

Before the public is let in on Friday, take a first look at the historic F-1 engines now being conserved at the Kansas Cosmosphere's SpaceWorks facility. Raised off the seafloor by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' expedition team, the Saturn V first stage engines are being stabilized, preserved and documented before they move to museums for exhibit. The Cosmosphere's new observation gallery provides an up-close view of conservators as they work to conserve the F-1 engines for future generations.

Pad for rent

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:00:50 -0500

NASA announced Friday it will begin seeking proposals for the commercial use of Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A in Florida. Use of the pad by industry is hoped to maintain the historic complex while encouraging commercial space activities along the Space Coast. Launch Pad 39A was originally designed to support the Apollo program and was later modified to launch space shuttles. Ninety-two rockets (12 Saturn V boosters and 80 shuttles) launched from 39A between 1967 and 2011.

Rolling record

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:30:08 -0500

While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited the moon for three days in December 1972, they drove the lunar rover 22.2 statute miles (35.7 kilometers). That was the farthest total distance for any U.S. vehicle driving on a world other than Earth until this past Thursday. The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity received confirmation Thursday that the rover rolled past the U.S. off-planet road trip record and was within a multi-week drive of beating the international record set by a Soviet lunar rover in 1973.

Auction's Apollo adjustments

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:30:41 -0500

RR Auction is currently accepting bids through Thursday (May 23) on some 800 lots of space history memorabilia, less three planned pieces. The rotation hand controller, or joystick, from the Apollo 11's command module, the original recording of Neil Armstrong's heartbeat at the moment he stepped onto the lunar surface and a tool kit from the final manned mission to the moon have been withdrawn from the auction to give NASA the time to research the items' ownership history.

Shuttle(craft)

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:05:01 -0500

The original prop shuttlecraft used to film "Star Trek" in 1966 is now being restored by fans for display at Space Center Houston, which serves as the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center. If the "Galileo" might seem better suited for a sci-fi museum, consider the somewhat-widely spread suggestion that Star Trek's use of the term "shuttlecraft" led to NASA using the name "space shuttle" for its reusable orbiters. But is this a case of life imitating art, or did the early proposals for real manned spaceflight give rise to Star Trek's shuttlecraft?

Apollo F-1 Conservation tour

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:50:52 -0500

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center will launch public tours of its SpaceWorks Observation Gallery on May 24, featuring the Apollo F-1 Conservation Project. Commissioned by the Bezos Expeditions F-1 Recovery Project, the new tour will give visitors a clear view of conservators as they preserve the mammoth engine parts that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos salvaged from the sea floor in March. Tickets are required and the Cosmosphere recommends advance reservations.

Skylab at 40

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:00:32 -0500

Skylab, America's first space station, launched 40 years ago Tuesday and provided the U.S. with its first experience at maintaining a long duration human presence in space. Two of the orbital workshop's nine crew members, Owen Garriott and Jerry Car, helped NASA commemorate the anniversary on Monday at a roundtable discussion about Skylab's legacy. Kevin Ford, who landed in March after four months aboard the International Space Station, credited Skylab for laying the foundation on which the ISS was built and, on behalf of NASA, presented Carr and Garriott with flags marking 40 years of life off Earth.

Soyuz TMA-07M lands

Mon, 13 May 2013 23:45:13 -0500

Three members of the International Space Station's Expedition 35 crew undocked from the orbiting outpost and returned to Earth Monday, wrapping up almost five months in space. The departure marked the beginning of Expedition 36. Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian commander of the space station, together with Roscosmos cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Tom Marshburn of NASA touched down on Soyuz TMA-07M at 9:31 p.m. CDT, southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

Opening Atlantis' bay doors

Sun, 12 May 2013 02:00:28 -0500

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is continuing to move forward with its preparations for the June 29 public opening of the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit. This past week, the orbiter's two 60 foot long payload bay doors were opened, revealing the cargo hold that deployed robotic probes to the planets, sent satellites into Earth orbit and delivered components to help assemble the International Space Station (ISS).

Unexpected EVA

Sat, 11 May 2013 06:45:26 -0500

The first time that NASA astronauts made an unplanned spacewalk, it was an attempt to deploy a satellite from the space shuttle in 1985. Nearly three decades later, in what is still considered a rare event, Saturday's unexpected extravehicular activity (EVA) paired International Space Station crew members Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy in an effort to find and fix a coolant leak from the outpost's electricity-routing power channels.

Don't. Let. Go.

Thu, 09 May 2013 22:00:38 -0500

In the first trailer for director Alfonso Cuarón's new film "Gravity," posted online Thursday night, viewers get their first look at George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as astronauts stranded in space after their shuttle is destroyed. The film, which will be released in 3D, 2D and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures on Oct. 4, follows Clooney's Matt Kowalsky, a veteran commander flying his final mission, and Bullock's Dr. Ryan Stone, first-time flyer and medical engineer, as they realize their "only way home may be to go further out into the expanse of space."

National tribute to Sally Ride

Wed, 08 May 2013 21:15:02 -0500

"Sally Ride: A Lifetime of Accomplishment, A Champion of Science Literacy," a national tribute to the United States' first woman in space, will be held May 20 at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Presented by Sally Ride Science, the company Ride founded to motivate girls and young women to pursue careers in science, math and technology, in collaboration with NASA, the event will bring together journalist Maria Shriver, tennis legend Billie Jean King and Grammy award winning singer Patti Austin.

Buzz Aldrin's "Mission to Mars"

Tue, 07 May 2013 20:20:58 -0500

Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin released his eighth book Tuesday. After three biographies, two sci-fi novels and a pair of books for kids, the second man to walk on the moon turned his attention to the Red Planet in "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration." To share his "unified space vision" and promote the book, Aldrin launched on a coast-to-coast tour, beginning in New York City. Over the summer, Aldrin will take his message to Washington, DC, San Diego, his current home in L.A. and his hometown in Montclair, NJ.

Enterprise's exhibit reopening

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:20:31 -0500

The Space Shuttle Pavilion, housing NASA's prototype Enterprise, the original orbiter that paved the way for America's successful space shuttle program, is set to reopen to the public July 10 at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. The new exhibit, which replaces the structure destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, is now being erected around Enterprise and will be completed over the coming weeks.

Jump into Red Bull Stratos

Mon, 06 May 2013 07:00:49 -0500

Space Center Houston is now hosting the "world premiere" of the Red Bull Stratos suit and capsule that Felix Baumgartner used to break the speed of sound while free falling from 24 miles high last October. In addition to the space jump's artifacts, the "Mission to the Edge of Space" exhibition uses iPads and video displays to introduce visitors to the science behind the record-setting supersonic, stratospheric skydive.

The Shuttle and 747 Carrier

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:40:24 -0500

Space Center Houston on Thursday accepted from NASA the title to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) NASA 905, the original modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet that flew the space shuttles cross-country after they returned from space and later delivered them to their museum homes. The official visitor center for Johnson Space Center, Space Center Houston announced plans to mount its full-size space shuttle mockup atop the historic aircraft for a new $12 million outdoor exhibit, "The Shuttle and 747 Carrier," to open to the public in 2015.