I didn’t realize that we are planning on sending astronauts to the ISS from US soil aboard a SpaceX rocket next week. I’ll be glad when we can tell Russia where they can stick the Soyuz rocket. I always hated that I never got to see a Shuttle launch live.
NASA news
- Thread starter PineGroveBully
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Launch is scheduled for Wednesday.
I've always been of the opinion that depending on Russia to launch our astronauts was a terrible decision.
I've always been of the opinion that depending on Russia to launch our astronauts was a terrible decision.
I remember one of State's physics professors back in the day (Lastrade - sp?) that missed a couple weeks in the middle of a semester to go see one of the shuttles take off because he and a few others had built the satellite that was going up on it. Seems like I remember him having video from pretty close. Thought at the time it would be great to see in person.
It saddened me when Gene Cernan died a cpl years back. Not a lot of those Apollo men left.
My favorite Apollo story that few know about was Jim Lovell while on 8 having a mink coat delivered to his wife on Christmas Day from “the man in the moon.”
My favorite Apollo story that few know about was Jim Lovell while on 8 having a mink coat delivered to his wife on Christmas Day from “the man in the moon.”
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One positive in launching from Russia (Baikonur) is that it's easier to get to the Space Station than it is from the Cape. The Station is at 51.6 degrees inclination and Baikonur is around 45 degrees latitude, so it's almost a due east launch. The Cape is 28.5 degrees latitude so getting to the Station is more difficult. The Space Station was placed at a high inclination so the Russians could access it. If it was only US instead of international it would be at 28.5 degrees.
Still - relying on the Russians is not a good thing. We should have had manned capability before mothballing the Shuttle, but funding was the main driver that pushed us into the compromising position.
Still - relying on the Russians is not a good thing. We should have had manned capability before mothballing the Shuttle, but funding was the main driver that pushed us into the compromising position.
I'd never heard that story, but it's pretty neat. There was one Apollo astronaut interviewed on the news a few days ago about the upcoming launch, but his name evades me now. It's amazing how old he looked ....
Also, John Glenn's widow died a few days ago at 100 from Covid, or so I read.
You should read Lovell’s “Lost Moon.” It’s mainly about 13 but he tells great stories about 8, about his test pilot days. I bought one off ebay for just a few dollars. Another good one is Gene Krantz’s “Failure is not an option.” It has great stories about the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. I never knew this until reading it that he never actually said, “Failure is not an Option.” I got Apollo 13 and a telescope for Christmas when it came out when I was 13ish in 95 and I’ve been obsessed with anything space related since.
Speaking of Glenn’s widow, “The Astronauts Wives Club” is a good read as well. The next one on my list is “The Right Stuff,” the movie was phenomenal but I’ve heard the book is even better.
Man, the first few chapters of The Right Stuff is pretty tough. The death rate of test pilots back then was incredible. We'd never be able to have a program like that today. Of course, we'd do it differently and more safely now. The mindset, and technology, back then was build something completely new and put a man in it to fly it and see what happens.
A great book about Apollo 8 is below. It's kind of a forgotten mission, but in a lot of ways it was just as big a step forward as Apollo 13 was, maybe even more so. We had never sent a man out of Earth's low orbit and we sent a crew around the moon.
The driving force behind getting the Russians so involved in the Space Station, and funding a lot of their work with NASA money, was the collapse of the Soviet Union. We wanted to be sure their scientists and engineers had a viable peaceful project to work on and get paid for, rather than the possible alternatives. Rightly or wrongly, that's the decision we made. No doubt it's put a long-term drag on the US manned space program.
No doubt, The First Wives Club talks about the dreaded knock on the door from the men in suits. I’d actually ordered The Right Stuff earlier tonight. Thanks for the Apollo 8 book recommendation, I haven’t heard of this book, I’ll check it out.
But yea if I remember correctly they really didn’t know if they were going to go for the moon orbit until they had actually gotten into earth orbit and everything went as planned.
Can you imagine the true loneliness of being the first men on the dark side of the moon? The not knowing if the rockets would work to ever get you out of the lunar orbit? Seems like I remember Mission Control thinking they had a 1/3 chance of ever making it home. And that was before the miracle that was 13, yes our nation wouldn’t have the stomach for a goal like that from Kennedy and the sacrifices that it took. We would have probably shut it down after Apollo 1. I hope I’m around for the Mars mission if it ever comes to fruition.
But yea if I remember correctly they really didn’t know if they were going to go for the moon orbit until they had actually gotten into earth orbit and everything went as planned.
Can you imagine the true loneliness of being the first men on the dark side of the moon? The not knowing if the rockets would work to ever get you out of the lunar orbit? Seems like I remember Mission Control thinking they had a 1/3 chance of ever making it home. And that was before the miracle that was 13, yes our nation wouldn’t have the stomach for a goal like that from Kennedy and the sacrifices that it took. We would have probably shut it down after Apollo 1. I hope I’m around for the Mars mission if it ever comes to fruition.
Apollo 8 was supposed to be a low earth orbit testing the lunar river undocking from the command module & re-docking. But the rover was nowhere near ready & we really didn’t know how far along the Russians were. So they bumped the Apollo 9 mission & flight crew up & flew around the moon. You’re right that the final go - no go call wasn’t made until all was right in low earth orbit, but I think that was probably really the case with all the missions. It’s just that they really didn’t know for sure on this one since it was the 1st.
I know we have disagreed on some stuff but I really do appreciate the nasa conversation and book recommendations. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I can’t get enough of that stuff. The shuttle missions haven’t been near as interesting. I was only 4 when Challenger blew up but I remember every second of the Columbia disaster.
There is just something about the men of the early days that draws me in, they were the lewis and clark of the sky. I like to think I’m tougher than those of my generation but those men from the 60’s really were men’s men. It was either “Lost Moon” or “Failure is not an Option” where they actually mentioned that they were given pills (cyanide pills I assume) in case things went bad. They were like Columbus or Eric the Red times a million in going for the unknown. I just wish the people of today appreciate the treasure that they are, especially Haise being a Mississippian.
There is just something about the men of the early days that draws me in, they were the lewis and clark of the sky. I like to think I’m tougher than those of my generation but those men from the 60’s really were men’s men. It was either “Lost Moon” or “Failure is not an Option” where they actually mentioned that they were given pills (cyanide pills I assume) in case things went bad. They were like Columbus or Eric the Red times a million in going for the unknown. I just wish the people of today appreciate the treasure that they are, especially Haise being a Mississippian.
Personally, I think the two guys going up next week represent an almost inordinate amount of bravery. Let's all hope it goes smoothly, both because of the men's lives as well and the importance of a successful mission.
True, thinking space travel is easy or routine is the gravest mistake that can be made. Like the line from The Right Stuff discussing the difference between a man or a monkey being In the rocket in the early Mercury days, and this isn’t verbatim, but something along the lines of “the monkey doesn’t know what could go wrong.” I believe it was Chuck Yeager.
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