Today, July 30, 2020 at 7:50 a.m. EDT (11:50 UTC) NASA’s Mars 2020 rover Perseverance launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a ULA Atlas V 541 rocket. The weather at the Cape was picture-perfect and the launch went smoothly, sending NASA’s newest robotic mission to Mars on its way for an anticipated arrival and landing…
Category: Spaceflight
June 3, 1965: NASA’s First Spacewalk
Today marks the the anniversary of America’s first spacewalk, performed by NASA astronaut Edward H. White II on the afternoon of June 3, 1965 during the four-day Gemini IV mission. In NASA terminology spacewalks are also referred to as extravehicular activities, or “EVAs” – basically anything performed by a person in space outside a spacecraft. The…
First Crew Dragon Astronauts Are Aboard the Space Station
(News from NASA) NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday aboard Crew Dragon, the first commercially built and operated American spacecraft to carry humans to orbit, opening a new era in human spaceflight.
Watch America’s Return to Flight Launch Live!
Just a reminder that you can watch today’s launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the Space Station from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Pad 39A, live right here on Lights in the Dark!
Watch Incredible Launch Pad Footage of the Apollo 11 Liftoff
The Saturn V line of heavy launch vehicles used for NASA’s Apollo program were still to this day the most powerful rockets successfully flown, and this video shows an intimate on-pad view of the ignition and liftoff of the Saturn V SA-506 that launched Apollo 11 to the Moon at 13:32 GMT on July 16, 1969….
Yes, NASA *Really* Went to the Moon in 1969
The Moon landings weren’t a hoax. Here’s proof.
Our First Close-up Images of Mars From Space Were Hand-Colored with Crayons. True Story.
In November 1964 NASA launched Mariner 4, the fourth of its ambitious series of robotic explorations of our three inner planet neighbors. Mariner 1 was lost during launch; Mariner 2 successfully flew past Venus; Mariner 3 failed to deploy; but on July 14–15, 1965, the 575-lb Mariner 4 became the first spacecraft to fly past…
It’s Been 32 Years Since We Last Explored Uranus
Voyager 2 may have been the second of NASA’s famous twin exploration spacecraft but it actually launched first, on August 20, 1977. Eight and a half years later it became the first (and, to date, last) spacecraft to visit Uranus, at 31,500 miles across the third largest planet in the Solar System. Voyager 2 made its closest…
Apollo 8: Humanity’s First Earthrise—and First Christmas—from the Moon
“We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.” – William Anders, Apollo 8 Commander On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968, the Apollo 8 CSM entered orbit around the Moon and, after completing 4 full orbits, provided the three astronauts on board with an…
Flying Free: Iconic NASA Astronaut McCandless Has Died
On Feb. 7, 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless II became the first “human satellite” when he performed the first test flight of NASA’s Manned Maneuvering Unit during STS-41B. Propelled by 24 small nitrogen-powered thrusters, the chair-like MMU allowed McCandless (who helped engineer the Unit at Lockheed Martin) to travel freely through space without any tethers or cords connecting…
Are Alien Bugs Crawling On The Outside Of The ISS?
Well this is interesting: an article on CNET by Eric Mack, based on a Nov. 27 report from the Russian news agency TASS, discusses findings by Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov that “living bacteria from outer space” were found within samples collected during spacewalks several years ago (Shkaplerov was a member of Expedition 42 in November 2014.) The samples…
Watch Ed White Perform the First American Spacewalk, 52 Years Ago Today
Today is the the 52nd anniversary of America’s first spacewalk, performed by NASA astronaut Edward H. White II on the afternoon of June 3, 1965 during the four-day Gemini IV mission. In NASA terminology spacewalks are also referred to as extravehicular activities, or EVAs—basically anything done outside the protection of a spacecraft. The video above shows footage…
Lights in the Dark 