“It’s gonna be a BFD,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden last week during a live broadcast on NASA TV, regarding the then-imminent launch of the Orion spacecraft. And it certainly was a “BFD” – to NASA and its partners, to the nation, and especially to the 150 participants of the EFT-1 NASA Social who were seated…
Tag: spaceflight
Spaceflight is Still Hard: Antares Explosion Destroys Station Supplies
This past Tuesday, October 28, at 6:22 p.m. EDT, an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket lifted off from the shorefront pad at NASA’s Wallops Space Flight Facility in Virginia, the Cygnus vehicle inside its fairing . The third of eight planned launches in Orbital Sciences’ $1.9-billion NASA contract, the Orb-3 mission was to deliver over 5,000 lbs…
“Zero G and I feel fine… Man, the view is tremendous!”
Those were the words enthusiastically said by astronaut John Glenn as he became the first American to orbit the Earth on Feb. 20, 1962. The photo above was taken by Glenn through the window of the Friendship 7 spacecraft, in which he completed three orbits before splashing down in the Atlantic. Much has changed in…
To the Moon! GRAIL Successfully Launches on 9/10/11
Can’t see the video below? Click here. And away she goes! NASA’s GRAIL spacecraft launched successfully – and beautifully! – at 9:08 am EDT this morning from Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta II Heavy rocket. This was the third day for launch attempts after several scrubs due to high-altitude winds on both Thursday and Friday….
A Love Letter to the Space Shuttle
“A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” – Robert Browning Here’s a wonderful video compilation showing highlights from all the shuttle missions, from STS-1 to STS-135, created by the folks at Nature. It’s a lot of emotions packed into eight minutes, but above all there’s a powerful feeling of awe at what was accomplished through…
Our Future in Space
Just because the shuttle program will soon come to a close doesn’t mean the era of human spaceflight is over…
Take a Spin Around the Station
Awesome new images of the Space Station and Endeavour taken from orbit!
Light This Candle
“Why don’t you fix your little problem and light this candle?” – Alan B. Shepard, Jr., to Mission Control after delays during his four-hour sit atop the Mercury-Redstone rocket. May 5, 1961. On this day in 1961, fifty years ago, a 10-story Mercury-Redstone 3 rocket ignited at Cape Canaveral, Florida, successfully launching the first American into…
First Orbit: Celebrating 50 Years in Space
On April 12, 1961 – a mere five decades ago – Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was launched aboard his Vostok-1 spacecraft, becoming the first human in space. Alone, he was the first person ever to look down upon our planet from orbit. He was only 28 years old. Today the world celebrates the 50th anniversary…
Lights in the Dark 