Tag Archives: 1960s
Chronology of Key Space Anniversaries for 2015
1945—70 Years Ago 4 July—The NACA’s Pilotless Aircraft Research Division (PARD) launched from Wallops Island, Maryland, its first test vehicle, a small two-stage, solid-fuel rocket to check out the installation’s instrumentation. The group soon began serious work to learn about … Continue reading
A Short History of Reentry and Recovery from Space in Less than 1,000 Words
The atmosphere surrounding the Earth and supporting life here makes spaceflight harder than it would be if it did not exist. It is said, only half-jokingly, that getting to orbit is like getting “halfway to anywhere” because of the energy … Continue reading
Visions of Venus at the Dawn of the Space Age
As Earth’s “sister planet,” many have long speculated about the nature of Venus and the possibility of life existing there in some form. Through much of the nineteenth century observers harbored hopes that Venus might be a place teeming with life. … Continue reading
Homer Newell and the Beginnings of the NASA Space Science Program
When Congress established NASA in 1958 it explicitly charged the new space agency with “the expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space.” In fulfillment of that mandateNASA created the Office of Space Sciences and installed as … Continue reading
The Surveyor Landers on the Moon
Like so many other point of intersection, soft landing on the Moon with robotic probes proved a venue for Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The Soviets won that competition February 3, … Continue reading
Covering Apollo: Jules Bergman at ABC News
The son of New York business people Irving and Ruth B. Bergman, Jules Verne Bergman was born to cover the Apollo program in the 1960s and early 1970s. Educated in journalism Bergman went to work for CBS, then Time magazine, … Continue reading
Some Thoughts on Walter Cronkite and the Space Program
Walter Cronkite (1916-2009) was the longtime anchor of the CBS evening news between 1962 and 1981. A dedicated journalist, he became a voice of trust for many Americans in the 1960s, providing news summaries and commentary on the most critical … Continue reading
Announcing: Space Policy and History Forum #13, September 22, 2014
If you are in Washington, D.C., on the afternoon of September 22, 2014, please consider attending the next Space Policy and History Forum, #13 in the series, at the National Air and space Museum. Information on the forum is below. After … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “The Astronauts Wives Club”
The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story. By Lily Koppel. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2013. Illustrations (some color), author’s note, acknowledgments, 272 pages, hardcover with dustjacket. $28 USD. On one level Lily Koppel’s new book is a breezy, entertaining … Continue reading
