Top ten things to know about the Apollo 11 mission

The Apollo 11 Mission – Must-know facts

1. Launched: July 16, 1969 – 13:32:00 UT (09:32 a.m. EDT) Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A
2. First manned lunar landing took place on July 24, 1969 at 12:50:35
3. Crew: Neil Armstrong ,commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; Edwin Aldrin, lunar module pilot
4. Present location of capsule: National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institution), Washington, DC.
5. Astronaut Neil Armstrong emerged from the spacecraft first.
6. The first EVA or spacewalk took approximately two and a quarter hours, after which the astronauts began preparations to reenter the LM.
7. The ascent from the lunar surface began at 124:22 GET, 21 hours and 36 minutes after the lunar landing.
8. The name of the Lunar Module was Eagle.
9. The name of the Command and Service Module was Columbia.
10. Landing site: Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility)

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-122) rolled to launch pad

NASA rolled out the Space Shuttle Atlantis out to the launch pad (39A) on November 10th to prepare for a planned early December launch at Cape Canaveral. Discovery space shuttle recently returned to earth, completing mission STS-120, to great fanfare.  STS-122 Columbia is planned to launch on December 6th.

Image credit: NASA

Mission of STS-122 (Shuttle mission) to expand science capabilities of International Space Station

NASA says that the upcoming shuttle mission STS-122, Columbia, is key to expanding our science capabilities on the ISS. Now that connecting modules (i.e., Unity and Harmony) and solar arrays have been installed on recent missions, the ISS is set to benefit from the completion of that important foundational work.

Michael Sarafin, lead shuttle flight director for STS-122, says, “This is the next phase of the international mission. We’re finally going to use a lot of that new capability that we’ve delivered. It really will be true utilization of the station by international partners.”

Columbia (STS-122) will deliver a vital component of the European’s Space Agency future – a 23X15 feet research laboratory named Columbus. The installation and delivery of Columbus will be followed by key Japanese components – headlined by a component named Kibo.

Young women looking for models and mentors

I have two young daughters, one 18 and the other 12. I need only look in today’s headlines to find a worthy model for them to emulate: astronaut Pamela A. Melroy, the Commander of the current STS-120 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

Melroy, who is just 46, is only one of twenty-five women who are active astronauts, and she is only one of two female Commanders in the program. There are a total of eleven Commanders in all, and just 92 active qualified astronauts. Melroy is indeed in elite company.

She retired from the Air Force in February 2007 having started her military career interest in ROTC. Melroy is a veteran of Operation Just Cause (Panama, 1989) and Operation Desert Shield/Storm (1990). She has logged over 5,000 flight hours in over 45 different aircraft.

Melroy was one of just 15 astronauts that were graduates of the class of 1995. Of the eleven present astronauts qualified as Commander, only two have been astronauts longer than her. STS-120 Shuttle Mission to the ISS is her first space flight as Commander. Melroy’s first space experience was in 2000 aboard STS-92 Discovery (Oct 11-24).

Young girls and women today are very fortunate to have models like astronaut Pamela Melroy and twenty-four other woman who have aimed high, and have seen their success in space science reach the heavens!

What are “heritage technologies” and how will NASA leverage those in the transition to the Constellation Program?

Examples of transition technologies are elements of the Apollo-era Saturn V Rockets like the J-2 engine. These kind of technologies will be an integral part of the Areas launch vehicles. As well, Ares will build upon the Space Shuttle elements. For example it will use the shuttle’s solid rocket booster technology and the external tank fabrication facilities.

About the J-2x engine (right) NASA says:

The U.S. launch vehicles that will carry explorers back to the moon will be powered in part by a J–2X engine that draws its heritage from the Apollo-Saturn Program. The new engine, being designed and developed
in support of NASA’s Constellation Program, will power the upper stages of both the Ares I crew launch vehicle and Ares V cargo launch vehicle.

The J–2X builds on the legacy of the Apollo-Saturn Program and relies on nearly a half-century of NASA spaceflight experience, heritage hardware and technological advances.

To learn more about the J-2x Engine download this PDF

Image credit: NASA

NASA’s administrator likens new space exploration program to the importance of the Pilgrims

NASA’s administrator, Michael Griffin, compares the importance of future exploration by the United States to the importance of the Pilgrims exploring North America hundreds of years ago. Griffin stated:

If humans are indeed going to go to Mars, if we’re going to go beyond, we have to learn how to live on other planetary surfaces, to use what we find there and bend it to our will, just as the Pilgrims did when they came to what is now New England – where half of them died during that first frigid winter in 1620. There was a reason their celebration was called “Thanksgiving.”

The Pilgrims were only a few thousand miles from home, and they were accomplished farmers and artisans. And yet, when they came to an unfamiliar land, they didn’t know how to survive in its harsh environment. They didn’t know what food would grow and what wouldn’t. They didn’t know what they could eat and what they couldn’t.

The Pilgrims had to learn to survive in a strange new place across a vast ocean. If we are to become a spacefaring nation, the next generation of explorers is going to have to learn how to survive in other forbidding, faraway places across the vastness of space. The moon is a crucially important stepping stone along that path – an alien world, yet one that is only a three-day journey from Earth.

Using the space station and building an outpost on the moon to prepare for the trip to Mars are critical milestones in America’s quest to become a truly spacefaring nation. I think that we should want that. I want that. I want it for the American people, for my grandchildren, for my great-grandchildren.

Throughout history, the great nations have been the ones at the forefront of the frontiers of their time. Britain became great in the 17th century through its exploration and mastery of the seas. America’s greatness in the 20th century stemmed largely from its mastery of the air. For the next generations, the frontier will be space.

Other countries will explore the cosmos, whether the United States does or not. And those will be Earth’s great nations in the years and centuries to come. I believe America should look to its future – and consider what that future will look like if we choose not to be a spacefaring nation.

Image and quote source: NASA

Future space missions will see human and robotic partnering

The current Space Shuttle mission – STS-120 – [Oct-Nov 2007] is perhaps one of the last 8-10 shuttle missions NASA will execute between now and 2010, assuming no major set-backs occur.

So, as the Shuttle Program begins to wind down and perform its last mission perhaps in 2010, how will space exploration transition between now and then?

According to NASA (NASA. NASA’s future: The Vision for Space Exploration, Feb 2004 | PDF), we are going to see a synergistic partnership between robotic explorers and human explorers. We’ve come a long way since the late 50s and early 60s when the Russian and United States space exploration programs used monkeys as test-explorers.

Sam the rhesus monkey flew to an apogee of 88 km in 1959. (NASA)

And if plans proceed accordingly the next explorers to visit the Moon will apparently be robotic, not human. What are NASA’s objectives for the forthcoming robotic explorers?

1. Obtain scientific data
2. Assess risks for human explorers/astronauts for similar missions
3. Demonstrate breakthrough technologies
4. Identify space resources
5. Send imagery of space back to earth.

And how will the objectives of human explorers differ from that of their robotic explorer partners?

1. Conduct in-depth research
2. Direct and upgrade advanced robotic explorers
3. Prepare space resources
4. Demonstrate new exploration capabilities

NASA officials say that the first robotic explorer mission to the Moon could take place as early as 2008, and the first human explorer missions could come as early as 2015. Until then, NASA is undergoing a major revamping and re-tooling.

Source: NASA. NASA’s Future: The Vision for Space Exploration, Feb 2004 (p.3)

Likely future missions for robotic explorers?

The current space exploration program led by NASA is shifting into a transition from the human explorer Shuttle Program to a new era – Constellation Program – where robotic technology and human astronaut will partner together to conquer space.

Robotic probes have already identified potential resources on the Moon, and discovered evidence of water on Mars and the moons of Jupiter.

NASA plans several forthcoming robotic explorer missions between 2008 and 2012. What are some of them and what are their targets?

Exploration Testbeds, Resources, and Solar System History (targets)

• Deep Impact Comet Mission
• Stardust Comet Return
• New Horizons Pluto Flyby
• Messenger/Mercury Orbiter
• Dawn Asteroid Orbiter
• Lunar Orbiter
• Robotic Landing

Past and Present Water and Life; Testbeds and Resources (targets)

• Mars Rovers
• Recon Orbiter
• Phoenix Lander
• Mobile Lab

Underground Oceans, Biological Chemistry, and Life (targets)

• Cassini Saturn Arrival
• Cassini Titan Landing

Earth-Like Planets and Life (targets)

• Kepler Mission
• Spitzer Space Telescope
• Space Interferometry Mission (SIM)

Source: NASA. NASA’s future: The Vision for Space Exploration, Feb 2004 | PDF), pp. 4-5

NASA Administrator contrasts the Apollo program with the Shuttle program

In a post STS-120 shuttle mission interview, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin compared the difficulty of the Apollo program to the present-day Shuttle program:

“I think that building the space station is far more difficult, and certainly far more complex, than was executing Apollo. Apollo was an incredible leap from where we were. But it was simpler than what we are trying to do today.

“We don’t have the experience base to appreciate how great it really is. Humans have been building bridges for a thousand years, more, so each new, more exciting bridge is an extension beyond what was done (before), but because it’s just an extension, it’s an increment, we don’t see it. If somebody puts a picture of the new, highest bridge in the world in France on the internet, everybody says wow, that’s great.

“Well, building the space station is like building the world’s newest and highest bridge, except people can’t drive across it,” Griffin said. “The only way you can see it is in the photos we bring back or the TV images we send. What we are building here is larger than a football field. And we’re doing it in zero gravity. … What’s happening here is extraordinary. I mean, you need to be able to appreciate it. And it’s way beyond anything that has ever been done by human beings before, anywhere.”

STS-122 Shuttle Mission is set to launch in early December

According to NASA:

With Discovery and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the next phase of station assembly. Before Atlantis’ STS-122 mission delivers the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory module to the station, Harmony must be relocated to its permanent location at the front of the complex. The station crew will conduct three spacewalks and robotically move two components this month to complete that task, allowing Atlantis to dock and Columbus to attach to Harmony.
NASA web site