Tag Archives: 1960s
The Transit Program and the Origins of Nuclear Power Systems for Spaceflight
Since the dawn of the space age more than 50 years ago, the United States has pursued a variety of methods for delivering electrical power to spacecraft in flight. Nuclear power systems are the only ones that have been found … Continue reading
Project Apollo and Technological Versimilitude
There is no question that the success of Project Apollo in the 1960s helped to create a culture of competence for NASA that translated into a level of confidence in American capability, and especially in the ability of government to … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “To Touch the Face of God: Religion and the American Space Program, 1957-1975″
To Touch the Face of God: Religion and the American Space Program, 1957-1975. By Kendrick Oliver. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012. There is something ethereal in the enterprise of spaceflight. Oliver Kendrick’s To Touch the Face of God: The … Continue reading
Tooting My Own Horn: One of My Articles is on ScienceDirect as One of the Most Downloaded Articles
I received in the e-mail recently notification that my article, “Why Go to the Moon?The Many Faces of Lunar Policy,” was one of the top twenty-five most downloaded articles from Acta Astronautica 70 (January–February 2012): 165–75, the journal where it appeared. … Continue reading
Redirect: “Apollo Lunar Landings Multiscreen” Video
This is pretty neat. This video depicts simultaneously the landing of all six Apollo missions that reached the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972. The compiler took all of the video from the Lunar Module and realligned them to 45 degrees … Continue reading
“The Passenger” by Iggy Pop: A Musical Tour of Cold War Berlin
Iggy Pop has contributed many memorable songs to modern culture. His song, “The Passenger,” written with Ricky Gardiner was recorded and released in 1977 on his Lust for Life album. Iggy Pop wrote the lyrics for the song while riding on Berlin’s S-Bahn, … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “Drama and Pride in the Gateway City: The 1964 St. Louis Cardinals”
Drama and Pride in the Gateway City: The 1964 St. Louis Cardinals. Edited by John Harry Stahl and Bill Nowlin. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2013. A number of years ago the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) began partnering … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “Inventing the American Astronaut”
Inventing the American Astronaut. By Matthew H. Hersch. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. x + 219 pp., illus., notes, selected bibliography, index. ISBN 978-1-137-02528-9. $27.00 (paperback). Matthew H. Hersch takes on an exploration of the work life of the American astronauts … Continue reading
Early USAF Missile Evolution: Atlas, Thor, Titan, and Minuteman Launchers
During the early 1950s all the armed services of the United States worked toward the fielding of ballistic missiles that could deliver warheads to enemy targets, in some cases intercontinental targets half a world away. Competition was keen among the … Continue reading
The First Three USAF Astronauts
Three of the first seven of America’s astronauts—the Mercury Seven selected in April 1959—came from the ranks of the United States Air Force. They were L. Gordon Cooper Jr. (1927-2004), Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom (1926-1967), and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton … Continue reading
