Tag Archives: moon

Apollo-16, and a Pioneer of Flight is Born

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Forty years ago today — April 16, 1972 — astronauts John W. Young, Jr., Thomas K. Mattingly, and Charles M. Duke, Jr., blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center atop a Saturn-V booster, on their way to the Moon.


(Lunar Module “Orion” and the Lunar Roving Vehicle, with astronaut John Young in the background. NASA image.)

Apollo-16 was the fifth mission to land on the Moon, and the second in which astronauts drove the Lunar Rover to explore a wide area around their landing site. Young and Duke spent almost three days on the lunar surface, and made three separate excursions from the Lunar Module out onto the Descartes Highlands.

And for bonus “aerospace” history, on this date 145 years ago Wilbur Wright was born in Millville, Indiana. I find it interesting how quickly we went from Wilbur and Orville’s first powered flight at Kitty Hawk to landing on the Moon — and I wonder when it will become important to us to push outward from there.

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Happy Birthday, Wernher von Braun

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One hundred years ago today — March 23, 1912 — Dr. Wernher von Braun was born in Wirsitz, Germany.


(Wernher von Braun in front of Apollo-11’s Saturn-V launch vehicle. NASA image.)

Dr. von Braun was responsible for some of the best and some of the worst of space history.

As a youth he became enamored with the possibilities of space exploration by reading the science fiction of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and from the science fact writings of Hermann Oberth, whose 1923 classic study, Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (By Rocket to Space), prompted young von Braun to master calculus and trigonometry so he could understand the physics of rocketry.

His V-2 ballistic missiles pounded Britain and other countries during World War II, and were notorious as much for the slave labor that went into them as for the damage they inflicted. After being brought to the U.S. as part of Operation Paperclip, he developed U.S. ballistic missiles.

Before the Allied capture of the V–2 rocket complex, von Braun engineered the surrender of 500 of his top rocket scientists, along with plans and test vehicles, to the Americans. [von Braun] and his rocket team were scooped up from defeated Germany and … installed at Fort Bliss, Texas. There they worked on rockets for the U.S. Army, launching them at White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico. In 1950 von Braun’s team moved to the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Ala, where they built the Army’s Jupiter ballistic missile.

When NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center was established at Huntsville, von Braun was named its first director. In this capacity he was able to build new rockets — including the mighty Saturn-V — that allowed for peaceful exploration of the heavens and took the first explorers to the Moon.


(Wernher von Braun in front of a Saturn vehicle and its F-1 rocket engines. NASA image from Wikimedia Commons.)

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Soviet Lunar Sample Return

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Forty years ago today — February 14, 1972 — a Proton-K rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the latest lunar sampling mission from the Soviet Union.


(Luna-20 sample return capsule in the Kazakhstan snow. Image from the NSSDC.)

Luna-20, or Lunik-20, arrived in lunar orbit on the 18th and soft-landed on the Moon on the 21st. It landed less than 2 km from the crash site of its predecessor, Luna-18.

The robotic spacecraft extended a drill which it used to collect samples of the lunar soil. According to the National Space Science Data Center, the craft collected 30 grams of soil; however, according to NASA’s Solar System Exploration site, the total was 55 grams. The return vessel brought the sample back to earth on February 25th, making this the second successful robotic sampling mission. The Soviets traded 2 grams of the Luna-20 sample to NASA for 1 gram of Apollo-15 soil.

Luna-20 landed in the Apollonius highlands, a mountainous region near Mare Foecunditatis, the “Sea of Fertility.” A sideways reference to its Valentine’s Day launch? You be the judge.

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Look What I Found: A Podcast of My Story, Memorial at Copernicus

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Okay, technically I didn’t “find” it — Google Alerts did its job and told me about it — but never mind that: one of my stories is now on audio!

“Memorial at Copernicus” is an alternate-history story that occurs on the Moon, and was my first story to be considered a “professional” sale. It originally appeared in the third issue of Redstone Science Fiction, in August 2010.

And now it’s also the first of my stories to ever be recorded. New Zealand author Amanda (AJ) Fitzwater recorded the story, and I’m especially pleased with how well she rendered the main character’s Russian accent.

You can find the audio story on Redstone Science Fiction’s audio page or by this direct link: “Memorial at Copernicus” audio.

And, while I’m at this, I think I’ll throw in a look at the cool cover art from that RSF issue:

One last thing: I find it a little odd that no one from the magazine told me this was happening [cough, cough]. But, it’s still pretty cool.

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Missing the Moon, 50 Years Ago: Ranger-3

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Fifty years ago today — January 26, 1962 — Ranger-3 launched from Cape Canaveral on an Atlas-Agena rocket.


(Ranger-3. NASA image.)

Ranger-3 had several mission goals, only the last of which would be fulfilled:

  • “Transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon”
  • “Rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon”
  • “Collect gamma-ray data in flight”
  • “Study radar reflectivity of the lunar surface”
  • “Continue testing of the Ranger program for development of lunar and interplanetary spacecraft”

The mission profile called for the Atlas-Agena to provide the initial boost toward the Moon, with one mid-course correction on the way. Unfortunately,

A malfunction in the booster guidance system resulted in excessive spacecraft speed. Reversed command signals caused the spacecraft to pitch in the wrong direction and the TM antenna to lose earth acquisition, and mid-course correction was not possible. Finally a spurious signal during the terminal maneuver prevented transmission of useful TV pictures. Ranger 3 missed the Moon by approximately 36,800 km on 28 January and is now in a heliocentric orbit.

Sounds like Mr. Murphy of the eponymous law paid the Ranger program a visit. But, to paraphrase my friend Bill Hixon, a test is worth a thousand expert opinions — and sometimes we learn more from failures than from successes.

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Iowans, the Choice is Clear … And Here's Some Space History

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I suppose most Iowans who are disappointed with the field of potential Republican candidates — and let’s face it, the field as a whole has been pretty disappointing for the last several months — will just stay away from the caucuses, but here’s an alternative for the more daring: show up and support the Anti-Candidate!

As always, I’m available as your convenient throwaway write-in vote for any office, anywhere. I don’t make any promises, not even to show up for the job … that way I won’t be as much of a disappointment as your run-of-the-mill politicians.

And what other candidate offers you occasional space history items? None, I tell you!

Speaking of which: a half-century ago today — January 3, 1962 — NASA announced that its two-manned vehicle program, a major precursor to the eventual Apollo missions to the Moon, would be named “Gemini.” Up until that point it had been called Mercury Mark II, and NASA considered other names such as “Diana,” “Valiant,” and “Orpheus.” But Gemini it became.

For more on the names of NASA’s early missions, check out the “Origins of NASA Names”.

I’m the Anti-Candidate, and I approved this space history post.

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Space History: Apollo Enters the 'Hardware Phase'

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Fifty years ago today — November 28, 1961 — North American Aviation won the prime contract to develop the Apollo Command & Service Module.


(Apollo-15 Command & Service Module, in lunar orbit. NASA image from Wikimedia Commons.)

This NASA history page has an interesting run-down of the competition and the source selection. The contract was critical to the overall Apollo effort:

The prime spacecraft contractor would develop and build the command module, service propulsion module, adapter (to fit the spacecraft to a space laboratory for earth-orbital flights and to the lunar landing propulsion section for lunar missions), and ground support equipment.


(Diagram of the Command Module interior. NASA image from Wikimedia Commons.)

While 14 companies received the request for proposal, in the final source selection North American Aviation competed against only General Dynamics Astronautics, General Electric, the Martin Company, and McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. Each company submitted a detailed technical and program management package in October 1961, which “were scrutinized and evaluated by more than a hundred specialists.”

The Martin Company actually had the highest aggregate rating from the source evaluation board, but North American Aviation had scored highest in technical qualifications and had “the longest record of close association with NACA-NASA and the most straightforward advance into space flight.” That apparently won the day for them, although Martin employees had been told — erroneously, as it turned out — on the 27th that they had won the contract.

With this contract, the Command & Service Module was the first part of the Apollo system to enter the “hardware phase.”

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Last Gemini Launch

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Forty-five years ago today — November 11, 1966 — Gemini XII launched from Cape Canaveral atop a Titan-II rocket.


(Gemini-12 astronaut “Buzz” Aldrin outside the capsule during an EVA. NASA image.)

Gemini-12 astronauts James A. Lovell, Jr. and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., spent 4 busy days in space, completing three extra-vehicular activities (EVA) — including one full-up “spacewalk” — as well as docking with a target vehicle, an Agena that was launched less than 2 hours earlier.

During one of the spacecraft’s orbits on November 12th, the crew were able to take pictures of a total eclipse that was visible in the Southern Hemisphere.

With the completion of the Gemini program, the U.S. space program turned its full attention to Apollo and the Moon.

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First Saturn Suborbital Test Flight

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Fifty years ago today — October 27, 1961 — Saturn-I launched from Cape Canaveral. This launch was, as the title stated, the first test flight of the Saturn family of rockets that were intended to propel the Apollo astronauts to the Moon.


(Saturn SA-1 launch. NASA image.)

Also known as SA-1, the upper stages of the Saturn-I were filled with water ballast. The vehicle reached 84.8 miles altitude and flew 214.7 miles downrange into the Atlantic Ocean, achieving its mission objective of “verifying the aerodynamical and structural design of the Saturn 1 booster.”

Oh, to have been a part of that program! But at least I have a small collection of Saturn-related relics I salvaged during my time at the Rocket Lab.

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Double Dose of Space History: Lunar Photos Station Shuttle

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Forty-five years ago today — August 10, 1966 — Lunar Orbiter 1 was launched atop an Atlas Agena rocket out of Cape Canaveral.


(Lunar Orbiter spacecraft. NASA image.)

Lunar Orbiter 1 was the first of five spacecraft that took photographs of predominantly smooth areas of the Moon so landing sites for Surveyor and Apollo missions could be selected. Mission controllers got the opportunity to deal with some real-time problems during the spacecraft’s flight to the Moon:

The spacecraft experienced a temporary failure of the Canopus star tracker (probably due to stray sunlight) and overheating during its cruise to the Moon. The star tracker problem was resolved by navigating using the Moon as a reference and the overheating was abated by orienting the spacecraft 36 degrees off-Sun to lower the temperature.

Although some of the first orbiter’s photographs were smeared, the mission was an overall success, including taking the first two images of the Earth from the vicinity of the moon.

And on this date 10 years ago, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched from the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-105. Astronauts Scott J. Horowitz, Frederick “Rick” W. Sturckow, Daniel T. Barry, and Patrick G. Forrester transported 7,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. They also ferried the ISS Expedition 3 crew — Frank L. Culbertson, Jr. (see below), Vladimir N. Dezhurov, and Mikhail Tyurin — to the station and returned the Expedition 2 crew — Yury V. Usachev, James S. Voss, and Susan J. Helms — to Earth.

Eight years after his return to earth, I sat next to Captain (USN, Retired) Culbertson at the NASA Industry-Education Forum in Washington, DC. He was a very nice fellow, despite having graduated from a rival high school down in Charleston.

Many years ago I gave up my dream of being an astronaut (I’d already worked Shuttle landings at Edwards AFB, but failed to be accepted as a Flight Test Engineer candidate), but it’s cool to have met and worked for some. Thankfully, I can still take imaginary voyages through my own and others’ fiction.

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