Category Archives: Space Shuttle
Summer Reading: Indispensable Books on the History of the Space Shuttle
When NASA began work on what became the Space Shuttle at the end of the Apollo program, few recognized how important a part of American life it would become over the next thirty-plus years. While not vast, the literature on … Continue reading
Announcing the Space Policy and History Forum #21
The next the Space Policy and History Forum will feature Amy Kaminski, Program Executive for Prizes and Challenges at NASA Headquarters, presenting “Sharing the Shuttle with America: NASA and Public Engagement after Apollo.” The forum will be held in the Director’s … Continue reading
Chronology of Key Space Anniversaries for 2017
1942—75 Years Ago 3 October—Germany launched its V-2 rocket and is the first spacecraft to cross the Kármán line (100 km). 1947—70 Years Ago 20 February—The United States sent fruit flies into space. 1952—65 Years Ago 1 April—The U.S. Army … Continue reading
The Space Shuttle and the Expansion of the Astronaut Cadre in Space
The Space Shuttle has proven itself one of the most flexible space vehicles ever flown. Most assuredly, the range of possibilities for operations in orbit expanded dramatically with the launch of Columbia in 1981. Through the end of the program … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “Safe is Not an Option”
Safe is Not an Option: Overcoming the Futile Obsession with Getting Everyone Back Alive that is Killing Our Expansion into Space. By Rand Simberg. Jackson, WY: Interglobal Media, LLC, 2013. 242 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0989135511. $19.95 USD, paperback. Rand Simberg may state … Continue reading
A Clash of Engineering Cultures? NASA Engineers, R and D Culture, and the Space Shuttle as an Operational System
One of the more interesting conferences being organized is set to take place on April 8, 2016, at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. It is called “The Maintainers” and it focuses on what is the norm for engineering … Continue reading
Immediate Outcomes from the Columbia Accident in 2003
The loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003, signaled the beginning of an important policy debate about the future of human spaceflight. NASA grounded the shuttle fleet, appropriately so, at the time of the accident, but wanted to return … Continue reading
What Happened to the Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003?
NASA personnel and leaders had a celebration planned on February 1, 2003, for the return of Columbia and its crew after the successful completion of STS-107. STS-107 had been launched from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on January … Continue reading
Recalling the Challenger Accident Thirty Years Ago
Thirty years ago on January 28, 1986, NASA and the nation suffered loss of the space shuttle Challenger during launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Many Americans had been excited about this mission, even more than those that had gone before, … Continue reading
Recalling the Voyages of the Space Shuttle Endeavour
The quest for a reusable spaceplane extends far back into the 1920s, but it only found realization with the inaugural flights of the Space Shuttle in the early 1980s. NASA initially built four spaceworthy orbiters—Columbia (OV-102), Challenger (OV‑099), Discovery (OV‑103), … Continue reading
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