Reblogged astrophysics-daily
modern1960s-deactivated20180330
NASA Mission Control Center, 1961 / Alan Shepard waits to become the first American in space, 1961
March 30, 2006 — Soyuz TMA-8 launches to the International Space Station
Soyuz TMA-8 Carat carried three members of Expedition 13, one Russian (Pavel Vinogradov), one American (Jeffrey Nels), and one Brazilian, to the space station. Marcos Pontes became the first Brazilian citizen in space.
Source: spacefacts.de
Reblogged
Model of early version of Saturn V launch vehicle.
I could be wrong but it looks like the Apollo spacecraft is from the version with the direct descent mode instead of the lunar orbit rendezvous which was used.
Date: 1963
Posted on Flickr by Chris Spurgeon: link
March 29, 1974 — Mariner 10 flies by Mercury, becoming the first spacecraft to visit two planets
Launched in late 1973, Mariner 10 flew by Venus and Mercury and was the first spacecraft to use a gravity assist maneuver. It was the last Mariner probe and the only spacecraft to visit Mercury until NASA's MESSENGER orbiter in the mid-2000s.
Read more about the Mariner missions here!
Source: nasa.gov
Reblogged ratatatastic
032825 SOMETHING SORT OF LIKE FATE
Reblogged
The Apollo Command Module (CM-014) during the Apollo 1 fire investigation in the Pyrotechnics Installation Building, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Posted on Flickr by Drew Granston.
Date: March 29, 1967
NASA ID: 108-KSC-67PC-84
Reblogged
Apollo 16 Saturn V (CSM-113/LM-11/SA-511) on LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, during the Countdown Demonstration Test (CDDT).
Date: March 29, 1972
NASA ID: KSC-72PC-0147
Reblogged
Gemini boilerplate rogallo wing test flight, Gemini program
March 28, 2013 — Soyuz TMA-08M launches to the International Space Station
Soyuz TMA-08M Carat carried three members of Expedition 35, two Russians (Pavel Vinogradov and Aleksandr Misurkin) and one American (Chris Cassidy), to the station and utilized an expedited rendezvous and docking procedure, docking to the station after only six hours in orbit rather than the usual two days.
Source: nasa.gov
March 27, 1969 — Mariner 7 launches to Mars
Mariner 6 (launched in February) and Mariner 7 were twin spacecraft that flew by Mars in 1969 and returned 55 photos of the planet's surface, including its polar caps. They also studied the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere and are now in orbit around the sun.
Read more about the Mariner interplanetary missions here!
image credit: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
March 26, 1958 — Explorer 3 launches
Explorer 3, the third successful American satellite (after Explorer 1 and Vanguard 1), launched from Launch Complex 5 on Cape Canaveral, the same site the first two Americans would launch into sub-orbit in 1961. Though orbiting with a higher apogee and lower perigee than anticipated, Explorer 3 confirmed Explorer 1's findings regarding the Van Allen Belts. The Explorer satellite program was part of the US's contribution to the International Geophysical Year, a worldwide 18 month-long science fair.
Read more about the IGY here!
image source: redstone.army.mil
Reblogged
"Astronaut Scott Carpenter tries out a full-size wooden mock-up of the Lunar Excursion Module being built by Grumman Corporation, at the company's Bethpage plant."
Date: March 26, 1964
Long Island Daily Press Identifier: aql:33241 ldp-003512 ldp-003512
Reblogged tranquilitybase11
March 25th: Happy 92nd Birthday to Captain James “Jim” Arthur Lovell, Jr.
We do not realize what we have on Earth until we leave it.
March 25, 1961 — Korabl-Sputnik 5 carries the dog Zvezdochka and the test dummy Ivan Ivanovich into orbit
Space dog Zvezdochka (Little Star) and space mannequin Ivan Ivanovich flew the final test flight of the Vostok spacecraft before Yuri Gagarin's historic first flight. Ivan was an anthropomorphic test dummy, or lifelike mannequin used to test the ejection seat of the Vostok spacecraft before crewed flight.
Read more about the space dogs here!