Category Archives: Apollo
President Kennedy and the Apollo Commitment: A Unique Moment in Time
Tomorrow will be the 52nd anniversary of President John F. Kennedy announcing the decision to pursue a Moon landing by the end of the decade of the 1960s. On May 25, 1961, he stood before a joint session of Congress and … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “The Race: The Complete True Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon”
The Race: The Complete True Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon. By James Schefter. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., 1999. Anchor Reprint, 2000. It is becoming increasingly obvious with every passing year that the Apollo program … Continue reading
Evening Event: “Caution and Boldness: Balancing Risk in Spaceflight” on February 1, 2013
The Smithsonian Institution’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, is holding an event which promises to be interesting—”Caution and Boldness: Balancing Risk in Spaceflight“—on the evening of February 1, 2013. This is an event for the National Air and … Continue reading
Andy Chaikin on the Recent Neil Armstrong Kurfuffle over his First Words when Walking on the Moon
Andy Chaikin relayed to me his distress in seeing the recent news stories claiming that Neil Armstrong lied to the world about when he made up his famous “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” quote. As a … Continue reading
A Chronology of Space Anniversaries for 2013
Many people have asked what anniversaries are upcoming in 2013 in space history. Here is a quick list. Are there items that I should add to this accounting? 1923—90 years ago December: Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (The Rocket into … Continue reading
44 Years Ago Today: Apollo 8′s Historic Broadcast from the Moon on Christmas Eve in 1968
Hard to believe, it was 44 years ago today that the crew of Apollo 8 made their historic broadcast from the Moon on Christmas Eve in 1968. Launched on December 21, 1968, astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and … Continue reading
The Encyclopedia Show DC: The Moon
On Tuesday night, December 4, 2012, I had the pleasure of participating “The Encyclopedia Show DC” which focused this time on “The Moon.” It was a free form educational variety show that included skits, poetry, music, and me. My task … Continue reading
A Truly Hilarious Cartoon on the Apollo/Saturn Stack
This cartoon from the XKCD website helps explain with considerable humor the awesomeness of the Saturn V. It uses onlty the most common words in English to rescribe the stack. You may find the original here. Enjoy!
Announcing a New Book: “Coming Home: Reentry and Recovery from Space”
Dennis R. Jenkins and I have just published a new book, Coming Home: Reentry and Recovery from Space, issued as NASA Special Publication-2011-593. It’s available now, free as a downloadable a PDF here. One of the most difficult tasks with which … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “Testing the Limits: Aviation Medicine and the Origins of Manned Space Flight”
Testing the Limits: Aviation Medicine and the Origins of Manned Space Flight. By Maura Phillips Mackowski. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2005. Centennial of Flight Series. Maura Phillips Mackowski has written a very interesting, readable, and significant book that I … Continue reading
