Space Rocket History

“Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you.” Joe Kerwin

The post Space Rocket History #398 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 3 – Kerwin & Lousma first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

“I started out being president of my first grade class, two years in a row.” Ed Gibson

The post Space Rocket History #397 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 2 – Garriott & Gibson first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

“Pete wanted to do Skylab and we both felt that we did not want the moon program to get crowded, other people deserved chances too.” Al Bean

The post Space Rocket History #396 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

Skylab had three bedrooms or sleep compartments, one for each astronaut aboard.  To save space, the beds were arranged vertically in the quarters. 

The post Space Rocket History #395 – Skylab – The Tour Part 2 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

As a crew would approach Skylab in their Apollo Command Module, they would see its docking port that was called the Multiple Docking Adapter or MDA. 

The post Space Rocket History #394 – Skylab – The Tour Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

During 1970-1972, a possible fourth “new” docking mission with Skylab was considered. This new mission would not be just another Apollo docking, instead it was a radically different idea. 

The post Space Rocket History #393 – Skylab – Soyuz Mission first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

On February 1970, Nasa announced that the AAP had been renamed.  America’s first space station would enter the history books as Skylab.

The post Space Rocket History #392 – Skylab – Let’s Call it Skylab first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

The Apollo Applications Program (AAP) was created in 1966 by NASA headquarters to develop science-based human spaceflight missions using hardware developed for the Apollo program.

The post Space Rocket History #391 – Skylab – Pre-history – Apollo Applications Program first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

On June 7th 1969, General Stewart ordered all work on Gemini B, the Titan IIIM and the MOL spacesuit, to cease and to cancel or curtail all other contracts. The official announcement that the MOL had been canceled was made … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #390 – Skylab – Pre-history – MOL Part 4 & Extending Apollo first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

A planning document depicted 12-man and 40-man stations, both with self-defense capability. It described the 40-man, Y-shaped station as a “spaceborne command post” in synchronous orbit. The key requirement was “post attack survivability”, the station would be capable of “Strategic/tactical … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #389 – Skylab – Pre-history – MOL Part 3 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

Strangely enough the MOL astronauts only knew of the cover story that the program would be a space laboratory for military experiments and did not learn of the reconnaissance role until after selection.

The post Space Rocket History #388 – Skylab – Pre-history – MOL Part 2 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

NASA feasibility studies determined that a research space laboratory could be placed in orbit by 1967. However, to fund such a project it had to be justified by achieving a national goal, or an important science goal, or test of … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #387 – Skylab – Pre-history – Dyna-Soar & MOL first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

A scant five months after Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean in December of 1972, NASA launched Skylab to begin a new phase of American manned spaceflight – space station operations.

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Once its antennas were deployed, Explorer 49 was the largest human-made object to orbit the Moon as of 2022.  

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Launched in 1972 and weighing 258 kilograms (569 pounds), Pioneer 10 completed the first mission to the planet Jupiter and became the first of five artificial objects to achieve the escape velocity needed to leave the Solar System.  

The post Space Rocket History #384 – Pioneer 10 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

“The UK 4 (United Kingdom Research Satellite 4), a.k.a. Ariel 4, was a small observatory designed to investigate the interactions between electromagnetic waves, plasmas, and energetic particles present in the upper ionosphere.” Wikipedia            

The post Space Rocket History #383 – Ariel 4, Prospero X-3, Shinsei, Isis-2, And Our 9th Anniversary first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

This is how Deputy Chief Designer for OKB-1, Boris Chertok described the launch of Mars 3. “The red disk of the Sun was just touching the horizon and dramatically illuminated the rocket as it lifted off with a roar. Separation … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #382 – Mars 2 & 3 and Luna 18 & 19 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

Mariner 8 and 9 were virtually identical and designed to continue the atmospheric studies begun by Mariner 6 and 7, and to hopefully map over 70% of the Martian surface.

The post Space Rocket History #381 – Mariner 8 & 9 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

The Apollo 17 mission was the most productive and trouble-free piloted mission to the moon and represented the culmination of continual advancements in hardware, procedures, training, planning, operations, and scientific experiments.

The post Space Rocket History #380 – Apollo 17 – The Finale first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

At 4:56 Houston time, Gene rested the tip of his left index finger on the yellow ignition button.  

The post Space Rocket History #379 – Apollo 17 – Lunar Lift off, Docking & Orbital Science first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

“As we leave the Moon and Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo Seventeen.” – Gene Cernan’s final words from the surface of … Continue reading →

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“How can there be orange soil on the Moon?! (Pause) Jack, that is really orange.” Gene Cernan

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Gene Cernan’s first words were “As I step off at the surface of Taurus-Littrow, I’d like to dedicate the first steps of Apollo Seventeen to all those who made it possible.”  

Gene had a deadlock visual on the landing site. He knew exactly where he was, and the LM had become part of him, responding to his wishes as well as his touch on the controls as they lowered closer to

For the next two days, Jack Schmitt would do a running account of Earth’s weather patterns. One Capcom even called Schmitt the human weather satellite.      

At 12:33 A.M. Dec. 7th 1972, “the hold-down arms released and the mighty Saturn V stirred, balanced on a dazzling fireball that grew to the size of an atomic bomb. As a show-stopping spectacular, noth

By the time they reached the elevator, Cernan felt absolutely charmed, and was grinning from ear to ear. His Saturn V sparkled like a 363-foot-high jewel rampant against the night sky, center stage an

Flight director Gene Kranz wrote that Cernan was his favorite because of his carefree and jovial attitude, unabashed patriotism, and his close personal relationship with the flight controllers. 

Harrison Schmitt played a key role in training Apollo crews to be geologic observers when they were in lunar orbit and competent geologic field workers when they were on the lunar surface. After each

Apollo 17 would break several crewed spaceflight records: 1) longest moon mission duration: 12 days 13 hours 52 minutes (just a day and a third shorter than the 14 days set in 1965 by Gemini 7), 2) lo

On re-entry Casper hit the atmosphere at an altitude of about 400,000 feet above the earth and at a velocity of nearly 25,000 miles per hour. 

The LM eventually crashed due to lunar gravity anomalies. Since Houston didn’t know exactly where it landed, it was not useful to calibrate seismic experiments on the surface. 

It was the only time in their whole lunar stay that Charlie had a real moment of panic and thought he had killed himself.

The crew nicknamed this operation “The Big Sneak.” They figured the only way to do this was to approach from behind a big rock, then reach over and collect the sample.

John and Charlie also collected several rusty-looking rocks with brown stains on their surfaces. These were exciting finds because the rusty appearance suggested the presence of hydrated oxides of iro

As the red smoke cleared, Al saw widening holes in one of their parachutes, collapsing it into a useless strip of cloth. “We’ve got a streamer on one,” Al reported.

On Hadley Plain, at 171:37 GET, right on schedule, Falcon’s engine lit, hurling the ascent stage upward in an impressive flurry of dust and debris, captured for the first time on camera and transmitted live to a world-wide audience.

After being cooped up together so closely with his fellow astronauts inside Endeavor, Worden enjoyed stretching out for his solo flight.  Now he really got to fly.

“We pray for one last landingOn the globe that gave us birth;Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skiesAnd the cool, green hills of Earth.” Robert A. Heinlein

Both men realized what they had discovered. The rock was almost entirely plagioclase. This was surely a chunk of anorthosite, a piece of the primordial crust, the Genesis Rock.

Suddenly, Scott called out that the Rover was beginning to slide down the hill.  As the back wheels came off the ground, Scott quickly got back on to hold the rover down.

The whole stripped-down rover weighed about 455 pounds on Earth but only 76 pounds on the moon and was built to carry 2 1/2 times its weight at a maximum speed of about 10 miles per hour.

After a good nights sleep, Houston woke the astronauts up an hour early the next morning because of a slight oxygen leak.

It was immediately clear that Falcon had landed on uneven ground, right on the rim of a small crater; the LM was tipped backward at a slight angle. It turned out that one of the rear feet had landed in … Continue reading →

Craning to look through the triangular window for a glimpse of the land ahead, Scott saw no sign of Hadley Rille.

The SPS engine was used for all the future burns.   It was the astronauts ticket home.  Any doubt as to whether it could fire raised the question as to whether the mission could continue.

For Scott all feelings were forgotten. All senses except sight were subordinated. All Scott’s concentration was focused on hearing information from Irwin, Worden and Mission Control about the status of the spacecraft and the Saturn V.

The last face they saw was Guenter’s, smiling and waving an enormous crescent wrench. Then the heavy hatch closed with a deep thunk.

As Command Module Pilot for Apollo 9, Scott’s responsibilities were heavy. The Lunar Module was to separate from the Command and Service Module during the mission; if it failed to return, Scott would have to run the entire spacecraft for … Continue rea...

Dave Scott showed incredible presence of mind during the unexpected events of the Gemini 8 mission. Even in the middle of an emergency, out of contact with Mission Control, he had thought to reenable ground control of the Agena before … Continue reading →