Tag Archives: Mercury
Three Canopies into the Pacific: Coming Home during Project Apollo
Since July 24 is the 48th anniversary of the return from space of Apollo 11, here is a short account the return via parachutes of the Apollo spacecraft. For all of the earlier work on the Gemini Earth landing system … Continue reading
Remembering the Gemini Program
Since it is the fiftieth anniversary of the the end of the Gemini program in 1966, with the flight of Gemini XII on November 12-15, I thought it appropriate to reflect on what I refer to as the middle child … Continue reading
Humanity and the Extreme Environment of Space
Although microbial life might survive the extreme conditions of space, for Homo sapien sapiens the space environment remains remarkably dangerous to life. One space life scientist, Vadim Rygalov, remarked that ensuring human life during spaceflight was largely about providing the … 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
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
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
