Dr. von Braun briefs President Eisenhower at the front of the S1 Stage (first Stage) of the Saturn 1 vehicle at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) on September 8, 1960. The President's visit was to dedicate Marshall Space Flight Center as a new NASA field center in honor of General George C. Marshall.
The Drifts of Mars
Title
The Drifts of Mars
Explanation
What would it be like to walk across Mars? The robot Opportunity rover [ http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/spacecraft_surface_rover.html ] is currently experiencing what it is like to "roll" across part of the red planet. It's not always easy -- the rover is being instructed to dodge the deeper drifts of dark sand [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010226.html ]. During its exploration of Erebus Crater [ http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/050928_opportunity_update.html ], the rover stopped and took the above picture [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03065 ]. Inside this part of Erebus Crater [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erebus_(crater) ], the surface of mars is covered not only by dark sand [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051024.html ] but also light outcrops of rock [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040127.html ]. Scattered across the exposed rock are numerous small round pebbles known as blueberries [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040405.html ] . Typically smaller than marbles [ http://www.utah.edu/unews/releases/04/jun/marsmarbles.html ], these unexpected and unusual rocks [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2005LPI....36.1402C ] likely formed by accretion [ http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=149472 ] in an ancient wet environment. Also visible are some strange protruding edges known as razorbacks [ http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1085.html ]. The above image [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03065 ] was taken early last month.
Martian Meteorite
title
Martian Meteorite
description
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found an iron meteorite, the first meteorite of any type ever identified on another planet. The pitted, basketball-size object is mostly made of iron and nickel according to readings from spectrometers on the rover. Only a small fraction of the meteorites fallen on Earth are similarly metal-rich. Others are rockier. As an example, the meteorite that blasted the famous Meteor Crater in Arizona is similar in composition. "This is a huge surprise, though maybe it shouldn't have been," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the science instruments on Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. The meteorite, dubbed "Heat Shield Rock," sits near debris of Opportunity's heat shield on the surface of Meridiani Planum, a cratered flatland that has been Opportunity's home since the robot landed on Mars nearly one year ago. "I never thought we would get to use our instruments on a rock from someplace other than Mars," Squyres said. "Think about where an iron meteorite comes from: a destroyed planet or planetesimal that was big enough to differentiate into a metallic core and a rocky mantle." Rover-team scientists are wondering whether some rocks that Opportunity has seen atop the ground surface are rocky meteorites. "Mars should be hit by a lot more rocky meteorites than iron meteorites," Squyres said. "We've been seeing lots of cobbles out on the plains, and this raises the possibility that some of them may in fact be meteorites. We may be investigating some of those in coming weeks. The key is not what we'll learn about meteorites -- we have lots of meteorites on Earth -- but what the meteorites can tell us about Meridiani Planum." The numbers of exposed meteorites could be an indication of whether the plain is gradually eroding away or being built up. NASA Chief Scientist Dr. Jim Garvin said, "Exploring meteorites is a vital part of NASA's scientific agenda, and discovering whether there are storehouses of them on Mars opens new research possibilities, including further incentives for robotic and then human-based sample-return missions. Mars continues to provide unexpected science 'gold,' and our rovers have proven the value of mobile exploration with this latest finding." Initial observation of Heat Shield Rock from a distance with Opportunity's miniature thermal emission spectrometer suggested a metallic composition and raised speculation last week that it was a meteorite. The rover drove close enough to use its Moessbauer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometers, confirming the meteorite identification over the weekend. Opportunity and Spirit successfully completed their primary three-month missions on Mars in April 2004. NASA has extended their missions twice because the rovers have remained in good condition to continue exploring Mars longer than anticipated. They have found geological evidence of past wet environmental conditions that might have, been hospitable to life. Opportunity has driven a total of 2.10 kilometers (1.30 miles). Minor mottling from dust has appeared in images from the rover's rear hazard-identification camera since Opportunity entered the area of its heat-shield debris, said Jim Erickson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., rover project manager. The rover team plans to begin driving Opportunity south toward a circular feature called "Vostok" within about a week. Spirit has driven a total of 4.05 kilometers (2.52 miles). It has been making slow progress uphill toward a ridge on "Husband Hill" inside Gusev Crater. *Image Credit*: NASA
A Bucket-Wheel Excavator on
…
Title
A Bucket-Wheel Excavator on Earth
Explanation
Please wait while one of the largest mobile machines in the world crosses the road. The machine pictured above is a bucket-wheel excavator [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket-wheel_excavator ] used in modern surface mining [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_mining ]. Machines like this [ http://www.tk-mining.com/Data/WebEditor/produkte/BWE.pdf ] have given humanity the ability to mine minerals and change [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal ] the face of planet Earth in new and dramatic ways. Some open pit mines, for example, are visible from orbit [ http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/EarthObservatory/ToquepalaCopperMine,SouthernPeru.htm ]. The largest excavators [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagger_288 ] are over 200 meters long and 100 meters high, now dwarfing the huge NASA Crawler [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020304.html ] that transports [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060708.html ] space shuttles to the launch pads. Bucket-wheel excavators [ http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/Trencher.htm ] can dig a hole the length of a football field to over 25 meters deep in a single day. They [ http://www.tk-mining.com/produkte_listee.asp?Kategorie=67# ] may take a while to cross a road, though, with a top speed under one kilometer per hour.
Road Damage Following Earthq
…
Name of Image
Road Damage Following Earthquake
Date of Image
1989-10-17
Full Description
Ground shaking triggered liquefaction in a subsurface layer of water-saturated sand, producing differential lateral and vertical movement in a overlying carapace of unliquified sand and slit, which moved from right to left towards the Pajaro River. This mode of ground failure, termed lateral spreading, is a principal cause of liquefaction-related earthquake damage caused by the Oct. 17, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake. Sand and soil grains have faces that can cause friction as they roll and slide against each other, or even cause sticking and form small voids between grains. This complex behavior can cause soil to behave like a liquid under certain conditions such as earthquakes or when powders are handled in industrial processes. Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiments aboard the Space Shuttle use the microgravity of space to simulate this behavior under conditons that carnot be achieved in laboratory tests on Earth. MGM is shedding light on the behavior of fine-grain materials under low effective stresses. Applications include earthquake engineering, granular flow technologies (such as powder feed systems for pharmaceuticals and fertilizers), and terrestrial and planetary geology. Nine MGM specimens have flown on two Space Shuttle flights. Another three are scheduled to fly on STS-107. The principal investigator is Stein Sture of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Credit: S.D. Ellen, U.S. Geological Survey
A New Constellation Takes Ho
…
Title
A New Constellation Takes Hold
Explanation
A new constellation has taken hold of the sky, much to the surprise of many sky gazers [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020813.html ]. The constellation [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html ] of Ollie the Owl [ http://www.paradisepark.org.uk/news/ollie.htm ] has suddenly started dominating the southern hemisphere, as shown above. The constellation [ http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/history/exhibits/constellations/ ] is taking the place of Wrinkles the Rhinoceros [ http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/prose/JustSoStories/chap3_rhinoskin.html ], who was unexpectedly voted off the sky by the other constellations. Happy April Fools day [ http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/top100.html ] from the folks at APOD [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html ]! Pictured above, a bird was photographed taking the Tololo All Sky Camera [ http://www.ctio.noao.edu/~david/tasca.htm ] (TASCA) as a perch, a situation that would be even funnier if the bird's talons hadn't scratched the plastic enclosing dome. TASCA [ http://www.ctio.noao.edu/~david/camera.htm ] continues to monitor the entire night sky [ http://concam.net/ ] as visible from the Cerro Tololo Inter-american Observatory [ http://www.ctio.noao.edu/ ] located in Chile [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html ]. Given the unusual vantage point, one guess is that the bird is a Great Horned [ http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i3750id.html ] Owl [ http://www.owlpages.com/ ], although it is hoped that a properly under-schooled ornithologist [ http://www.birding.com/Ornithology.asp ] can e-mail Dr. Schwarz [ mailto:hschwarz@ctio.noao.edu.AddedtoAvoidSpamPleaseDelete ] with the bird's true species.
NACA Drafting Room
Title
NACA Drafting Room
Full Description
A drafting room at the NACA Airplane Engine Research Laboratory (AERL), now known as the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia.
Date
01/01/1961
NASA Center
Headquarters
Pilot Plasma Engine
Title
Pilot Plasma Engine
Full Description
The Pilot Plasma Engine. This traveling wave accelerator, being operated by Raymond W. Plamer of the Lewis Electromagnetic Propulsion Division, uses an alternating current power supply. The AC feature avoids the life limitations of direct current accelerators where electrode parts rapidly deteriorate from touching the plasma. The traveling wave accelerator works like its name. A neutral plasma of electrons and ions is produced in the source at the left. This plasma moves to the right and is accelerated by a moving magnetic field in the four black coils. Such acceleration produces thrust, perhaps enough to propel a future spacecraft beyond the Moon.
Date
01/01/1961
NASA Center
Headquarters
Echo
Title
Echo
Description
William J. O'Sullivan, the father of the Echo balloon, was also the father of five children. ... The NASA public affairs office distributed copies of this family portrait to the news media along with stories about O'Sullivan's ingenious invention of the Echo balloon.""O'Sullivan became one of NASA's most highly publicized scientists. In December 1960, the U.S. Post Office Department issued a commemorative 4-cent stamp in honor of his beloved Echo balloon. For his concept of the inflatable space vehicle, NASA would award him one of its distinguished service medals, in addition to $5000 cash. In 1962, O'Sullivan would appear as a guest on the popular TV game show "What's My Line?", all four of the celebrity panelists correctly picked him from the lineup as the father of the Echo satelloons.
Date
11.10.1961
General Description
Exploration Imagery
High Energy Astronomy Observ
…
Name of Image
High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO)
Date of Image
1972-01-01
Full Description
This is an artist's concept describing the High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO). The HEAO project involved the launching of three unmarned scientific observatories into low Earth orbit between 1977 and 1979 to study some of the most intriguing mysteries of the universe, pulsars, black holes, neutron stars, and super nova. This concept was painted by Jack Hood of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Hardware support for the imaging instruments was provided by American Science and Engineering. The HEAO spacecraft were built by TRW, Inc. under project management of the MSFC.
Magnetoplasmadynamcis (MPD)
Title
Magnetoplasmadynamcis (MPD)
Description
Technicians work on Magnetoplasmadynamcis (MPD) plasma accelerator. James Hansen wrote in Spaceflight Revolution: "Beginning in the late 1950s, a small group of Langley researchers led by Robert V. Hess, an applied physicist from Austria who had come to work for the NACA in 1945, began pursuing two major variants of the Hall accelerator: the MPD arc and the so-called linear Hall accelerator. Through the 1960s, [Robert] Hess and his associates refined these versions of the plasma accelerator, thus making extensive experimental and theoretical studies of the physics and overall performance of their devices. Although they successfully demonstrated the efficiency of the MPD arc and linear Hall accelerator and made several important findings relating to the manner in which oscillations and instabilities in plasma could develop into turbulent flows, MPD researchers were never able to simulate reentry conditions or the interaction between the solar wind and the geomagnetosphere, and they would never realize meaningful applications in space propulsion. As was the case with the other MPD experimental facilities ..., the linear Hall-current accelerator possessed limitations that Hess and his colleagues could not eradicate. By the late 1960s, Hess and others in MPD shifted the focus of their work with these accelerators to the potential application of gas lasers.
Date
09.06.1961
Sampling Martian Soil
PIA06881
Sol (our sun)
Microscopic Imager, Mossbaue
…
Title
Sampling Martian Soil
Original Caption Released with Image
Scientists were using the Moessbauer spectrometer on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit when something unexpected happened. The instrument's contact ring had been placed onto the ground as a reference point for placement of another instrument, the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, for analyzing the soil. After Spirit removed the Moessbauer from the target, the rover's microscopic imager revealed a gap in the imprint left behind in the soil. The gap, about a centimeter wide (less than half an inch), is visible on the left side of this mosaic of images. Scientists concluded that a small chunk of soil probably adhered to the contact ring on the front surface of the Moessbauer. Before anyone saw that soil may have adhered to the Moessbauer, that instrument was placed to analyze martian dust collected by a magnet on the rover. The team plans to take images to see if any soil is still attached to the Moessbauer. Spirit took these images on the rover's 240th martian day, or sol (Sept. 4, 2004).
Technicians prepare the infl
…
Title
Technicians prepare the inflatable wing on Paresev 1-C
Description
This photo shows the Paresev (Paraglider Research Vehicle) space frame receiving a new wing. Frank Fedor and a technician helper are attaching a half-scale version of an inflatable wing in a hangar at NASA Flight Research Center at Edwards, California. The Paresev in this configuration was called the 1-C and was expected to closely approximate the aerodynamic characteristics that would be encountered with the Gemini space capsule with a parawing extended. The whole wing was not inflatable, the three chambers that acted as spars and supported the wing inflated.
Date
01.01.1963
General Description
International Space Station Imagery
Apollo Project - OMPRA
Title
Apollo Project - OMPRA
Description
Test subject wearing jet-shoe apparatus and resting in sling support. The cables are not attached. From A.W. Vogeley, "Piloted Space-Flight Simulation at Langley Research Center," Paper presented at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1966 Winter Meeting, New York, NY, November 27 - December 1, 1966. "As mentioned previously, Langley is conducting in-house and contract studies of extra-vehicular activities wherein zero gravity is simulated by the water-immersion technique. ... Water immersion is a very useful technique where motions are slow. When more rapid motion is required, as in studying one-man propulsion systems, other approaches are required. For these studies Langley has been using the RDS [Rendezvous Docking Simulator] in a manner similar to the LLRF [Lunar Landing Research Facility] technique. The test subjects are suspended in a sling support from a single RDS cable. As they translate about, the RDS tracks them, keeping the cable vertical. The test subjects operate in an effectively zero g environment in the horizontal plane. Tracking was originally done visually using closed-circuit TV, but recently a fast-response servo system using cable angle sensors has provided better operation. ... Some results of tests where subjects moved about merely by jumping and also where propulsion in the form of simple "jet-shoes" was provided are given in reference 20. Both methods, within limits, appear feasible. Full six-degree-of-freedom equipment for studies of more sophisticated one-man propulsion systems is now being procured. Called OMPRA (One-Man Propulsion Research Apparatus), the device will provide a gimbal system for rotational freedom, a quick response vertical servo for this translational freedom that is not now feasible with the RDS, and a versatile maneuvering unit.
Date
11.13.1967
Combustion Air Heaters in th
…
Title
Combustion Air Heaters in the process of demolition
Combustion Air Heaters in th
…
Title
Combustion Air Heaters in the process of demolition
Historic Handshake
Title
Historic Handshake
Full Description
Apollo Commander, Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford (in foreground) and Soyuz Commander, Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov make their historic handshake in space during the joint Russian / American docking mission known as the ASTP, or Apollo Soyuz Test Project. The handshake took place after the hatch to the Universal Docking Adapter (UDA) was opened. Stafford is inside the UDA and Leonov is inside the Soyuz. The UDA was a specially designed docking module that was built by the United States that enabled the two spacecraft to link-up. It was attached to the Apollo Command Module during rendezvous and docking maneuvers. Once docking was complete, the module was pressurized. This grainy image was made from a frame of 16 millimeter motion picture film.
Date
07/17/1975
NASA Center
Johnson Space Center
President Nixon visits Apoll
…
Title
President Nixon visits Apollo 11 crew in quarantine
Full Description
President Richard M. Nixon was in the central Pacific recovery area to welcome the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the U.S.S. Hornet, prime recovery ship for the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Already confined to the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) are (left to right) Neil A. Armstrong, commander, Michael Collins, command module pilot, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot. Apollo 11 splashed down at 11:49 a.m. (CDT), July 24, 1969, about 812 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii and only 12 nautical miles from the U.S.S. Hornet. The three crew men will remain in the MQF until they arrive at the Manned Spacecraft Center's (MSC) Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL). While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the Moon, astronaut Collins remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar-orbit.
Date
7/24/1969
NASA Center
Johnson Space Center
Neil Armstrong On The Moon
Title
Neil Armstrong On The Moon
Full Description
Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo ll mission commander, at the modular equipment storage assembly (MESA) of the Lunar Module "Eagle" on the historic first extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. took the photograph with a Hasselblad 70mm camera. Most photos from the Apollo 11 mission show Buzz Aldrin. This is one of only a few that show Neil Armstrong (some of these are blurry).
Date
07/20/1969
NASA Center
Johnson Space Center
Neil Armstrong At Lunar Land
…
Title
Neil Armstrong At Lunar Landing Research Facility
Description
Nearly 25 years ago, on July 20,1969, Neil Armstrong, shown here with NASA Langley Research Centers Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) Simulator, became the first human to walk on the moon after practicing with the simulator in May of 1969. Training with the simulator, part of Langleys Lunar Research Facility, allowed the Apollo astronauts to study and safely overcome problems that could have occurred during the final 150-foot descent to the surface of the moon. NASA needed such a facility in order to explore and develop techniques for landing the LEM on the moons surface, where gravity is only one-sixth as strong as on the Earth, as well as to determine the limits of human piloting capabilities in the new surroundings. This unique facility, completed in 1965 and now a National Historic Landmark, effectively canceled all but one-sixth of Earths gravitational force by using an overhead cable system.
Date
02.12.1969
Apollo 11 Astronauts During
…
Name of Image
Apollo 11 Astronauts During Press Conference
Date of Image
1968-07-15
Full Description
Apollo 11 crew members (L-R) Edwin Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins were amused by a question posed during a closed circuit press conference the night before they began their historic first lunar landing mission. The press conference with questions via intercom, was held under semi-isolation conditions to avoid exposing the astronauts to possible illness at the last minute. The Apollo 11 mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard the space craft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot, and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, ?Columbia?, piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, ?Eagle??, carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.
Apollo 11 Astronauts During
…
Name of Image
Apollo 11 Astronauts During Press Conference
Date of Image
1969-07-15
Full Description
The night before launch day, Apollo 11 crew members (R-L) Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Edwin Aldrin, participated in a closed circuit press conference the night before they began their historic lunar landing mission. At far left is chief astronaut and director of flight crew operations, Donald K. Slayton. The press conference with questions via intercom, was held under semi-isolation conditions to avoid exposing the astronauts to possible illness at the last minute. The Apollo 11 mission, the first lunar landing mission, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard the space craft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot, and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, ?Columbia?, piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, ?Eagle??, carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.
Apollo 11 Lunar Message For
…
Name of Image
Apollo 11 Lunar Message For Mankind- Reproduction
Date of Image
1969-07-03
Full Description
Millions of people on Earth watched via television as a message for all mankind was delivered to the Mare Tranquilitatis (Sea of Tranquility) region of the Moon during the historic Apollo 11 mission, where it still remains today. This photograph is a reproduction of the commemorative plaque that was attached to the leg of the Lunar Module (LM), Eagle, engraved with the following words: ?Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July, 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all of mankind.? It bears the signatures of the Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot, and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot along with the signature of the U.S. President Richard M. Nixon. The Apollo 11 mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. The CM, ?Columbia?, piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, ?Eagle??, carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.
Lunar Landing Research Facil
…
Title
Lunar Landing Research Facility At Night
Description
A reproduction of a portion of the lunar surface was constructed on the concrete pad where the Lunar Excursion Module Simulator (LEMS) was tested at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The LEMS was a manned rocket-powered vehicle used to familiarize the Apollo astronaut with the handling characteristics of a lunar-landing type vehicle. The vehicle was designed and fabricated at Langley. On July 20,1969, as the Eagle was landing on the Moon, Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong reported, I see my shadow, exactly as he had during the Langley tests. Armstrong returned to Langley following his historic flight and piloted the lunar module once more. He verified that it was a very valid simulation of the actual experience. The LEMS, designated a national historic landmark in 1986, is on display in the Virginia Air and Space Center/Hampton Roads History Center.
Date
06.20.1969
Cooks Prepare Meals For Apol
…
Name of Image
Cooks Prepare Meals For Apollo 11 Astronauts Prior to Launch
Date of Image
1969-07-14
Full Description
Cooks at the astronaut quarters of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) prepared meals for the Apollo 11 astronauts a few days before their historic first lunar landing mission. The Apollo 11 mission launched from KSC in Florida via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard the space craft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot, and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, ?Columbia?, piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, ?Eagle??, carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.
Dignitaries Await Apollo 11
…
Name of Image
Dignitaries Await Apollo 11 Lift Off
Date of Image
1969-07-16
Full Description
From the right, NASA administrator, Dr. Thomas O. Paine talks with U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew while awaiting the launch of Saturn V (AS-506) that carried the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the Moon for man?s historic first landing on the lunar surface. At center is astronaut William Anders, a member of the first crew to orbit the moon during the Apollo 8 mission. At left is Lee B. James, director of Program Management at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) where the Saturn V was developed. The craft lifted off from launch pad 39 at Kennedy Space Flight Center (KSC) on July 16, 1969. The moon bound crew included astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (M) pilot. The mission finalized with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.
The Road to Apollo
A full-scale model of the Me
…
3/16/09
Description
A full-scale model of the Mercury capsule was tested in the Langley 30- by 60-Foot Full-Scale Wind Tunnel. Managed at Langley Research Center, the objectives of the Mercury program were quite specific -- to orbit a crewed spacecraft around the Earth, to investigate the ability of humans to function in space and to recover both human and spacecraft safely. Project Mercury accomplished the first orbital flight made by an American, astronaut John Glenn. Credit: NASA
Date
3/16/09
NASA Langley Magnetic Suspen
…
Title
NASA Langley Magnetic Suspension/Balance System
Full Description
A shuttle model is magnetically suspended in the transparent hexagonal test section of the MIT/NASA Langley 6 inch MSBS. Massive power supplies are required to drive electromagnets for model position control. A unique electromagnetic position sensor, similar to a linear variable differential transformer, provides five degrees of freedom for the test model. The low speed (Mach 0.5) wind tunnel was hand crafted from mahogany. Aerodynamic forces on the test model are measured by the proportional electrical current used to hold the model in place. The system was built by MIT in the late sixties, and was relocated to Langley in the mid eighties. In a joint effort with Old Dominion University in 1992 the MSBS was used to test the aerodynamics of store separation, simulating a bomb released from an aircraft. The system has been donated to Old Dominion University.
Date
6/11/1991
NASA Center
Langley Research Center
X-5 Multiple Exposure Photo
…
Title
X-5 Multiple Exposure Photo Showing Wing Sweep
Description
This NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station photograph of the X-5 was taken at the South Base of Edwards Air Force Base. The photograph, a multiple exposure, illustrates the X-5's variably swept wing capability. The Bell, X-5 was flight tested at the NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station (now the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California) from 1952 to 1955. The X-5 was the first aircraft capable of sweeping its wings in flight. It helped provide data about wing-sweep at angles of up to 60 degrees at subsonic and transonic speeds. There were two X-5 vehicles. Ship 1 was flown at the NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station (High-Speed Flight Station, as it was redesignated in 1954) from 1951 to 1955. Ship 2 was operated by Bell and the U.S. Air Force and was lost in a spin accident in 1953. Following the conclusion of the contractor's test program, the X-5 was grounded for installation of a NACA instrument package. The Air Force conducted a short, six-flight, evaluation program. Since the Air Force evaluation program included data collection, it was considered as part of the overall NACA effort and flights were logged as AF/NACA. In the NACA test program, the X-5 demonstrated severe stall-spin instability. The X-5 was also used as a chase plane for other research aircraft because it could vary its flying characteristics to suit the airplane it was chasing. Ship 1 flew a total of 133 flights during its three years of service. In spite of the problems with the aircraft, the X-5 provided a significant full-scale verification of NACA wind-tunnel predictions for reduced drag and improved performance that resulted from this configuration's increasing the wing sweep as the speed of the aircraft approached the speed of sound. The X-5 flight tests provided some of the design data for the Air Force F-111 and Navy F-14 tactical aircraft. Although the mechanism by which the X-5 changed its wing sweep made this particular design impractical, development of a viable variable-sweep aircraft had to await Langley Aeronautical Laboratory's concept of an outboard wing pivot in the mid-1950s. (Langley was a NACA research laboratory in Hampton, Virginia.) The X-5 was a single seat aircraft powered by an Allison J-35-A-17A jet engine. It was 33.33 feet long with a wingspan of 20.9 feet (with the wings swept back at an angle of 60 degrees) to 33.5 feet (with the wings unswept). When fully fueled, the X-5 weighed 9,875 pounds.
Date
09.23.1952
Effect of TwinJet Exhausts i
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Title
Effect of TwinJet Exhausts in Simulation Take Off
Full Description
Study of effect of twin-jet exhausts inclined toward the ground in simulation of take-off conditions for certain engine installations. Such an engine installation is useful for decreasing the takeoff distance of aircraft. This is one of many problems of operation under study at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, now known as John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, Cleveland, Ohio.
Date
07/07/1944
NASA Center
Glenn Research Center
Bell X-14A VTOL
Title
Bell X-14A VTOL
Full Description
A landing on the lunar surface is simulated by the NASA Ames Research Center's Bell X-14A Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft. Photographed by a Fairchild flight data analyzer camera, the X-14A approaches its predetermined landing point from the right at an altitude of 1000 feet. Vanes in the jet exhaust pipe are then turned to deflect the jet exhaust downward allowing the aircraft to descend vertically to a soft landing. The forward motion in the latter half of the descent was the result of the pilot's controlled correction to assure landing on a pre- determined point. The inset in the lower right hand corner of the photo is a close-up of the Bell X-14A during descent.
Date
12/07/1962
NASA Center
Ames Research Center
The P-1 truss, a component o
…
Description
The P-1 truss, a component of the International Space Station, is moved from the Shuttle Landing Facility toward the newly constructed RLV hangar (viewed here from inside the hangar) as precaution against bad weather approaching the Center (background). The truss will eventually be transferred to the Operations and Checkout Building for processing. In the background is the Super Guppy transport that brought it to KSC. The P-1 truss, scheduled to fly in spring of 2002, is part of a total 10-truss, girder-like structure on the Station that will ultimately extend the length of a football field. Astronauts will attach the 14-by-15 foot structure to the port side of the center truss, S0, during the spring assembly flight. The 33,000-pound P-1 will house the thermal radiator rotating joint (TRRJ) that will rotate the Station?s radiators away from the sun to increase their maximum cooling efficiency
Release Date
07/26/2000
Saturn The Giant
Title
Saturn The Giant
Explanation
Forty years ago today (May 25, 1961) U.S. president John Kennedy announced [ http://history.nasa.gov/moondec.html ] the goal of landing Americans on the Moon by the end of the decade. Kennedy's ambitious speech triggered [ http://www.wamu.org/special/moon.html ] a nearly unprecedented peacetime technological mobilization and one result was the Saturn V [ http://www.hrw.com/science/si-science/earth/spacetravel/ spacerace/SpaceRace/sec300/sec380.html ] moon rocket [ http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/Rockets/ ]. Its development directed by rocket pioneer Wernher Von Braun, the three stage Saturn V stood [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-350/ch-3-1.html ] over 36 stories tall. It had a cluster of five first stage [ http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2000-000559.html ] engines fueled by [ http://users.commkey.net/Braeunig/space/propel.htm ] liquid oxygen and kerosene which together were capable of producing 7.5 million pounds of thrust. Giant Saturn V rockets ultimately hurled [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ contents.html ] nine Apollo missions [ http://history.nasa.gov/apollo.html ] to the Moon and back again [ http://www.literature.org/authors/verne-jules/ round-the-moon/ ] with six landing on the lunar surface [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ ]. The first landing, by Apollo 11 [ http://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/ introduction.htm ], occurred on July 20, 1969 achieving Kennedy's goal. Bathed in light, this Saturn V [ http://www.apollosaturn.com/frame-sv.htm ] awaits an April 11, 1970 launch on the third lunar landing mission, Apollo 13 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010519.html ].
Quarantined Apollo 11 Astron
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Name of Image
Quarantined Apollo 11 Astronauts Addressed by U.S. President Nixon
Date of Image
1969-07-24
Full Description
The Apollo 11 mission, the first manned lunar mission, launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida via the Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. The Saturn V vehicle was developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun. Aboard were Neil A. Armstrong, commander, Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, piloted by Michael Collins remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, named ?Eagle??, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, landed on the Moon. Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. The recovery operation took place in the Pacific Ocean where Navy para-rescue men recovered the capsule housing the 3-man Apollo 11 crew. The crew was airlifted by helicopter and taken to safety aboard the U.S.S. Hornet, where they were quartered in a Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF). Shown here are the Apollo 11 crew members (L to R) Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin inside the MQF as U.S. President Richard Milhous Nixon speaks to them via intercom. The president was aboard the recovery vessel awaiting return of the astronauts. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.
Buzz Lightyear Returns From
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ED09-0266-34 Disney's space
…
9/16/09
Description
ED09-0266-34 Disney's space ranger Buzz Lightyear returned from space on Sept. 11 aboard space shuttle Discovery's STS-128 mission after 15 months aboard the International Space Station. While on the station, Buzz supported NASA's education outreach program «Éœ STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) by creating a series of fun educational online outreach programs. Following his return, Disney is partnering with NASA to create a new online educational game and an online mission patch competition for school kids across America. NASA will fly the winning patch in space. In addition, On Oct. 2 NASA plans to announce details of a new exciting educational competition that will give students the opportunity to design an experiment for astronauts on the space station. September 11, 2009 NASA Photo / Tony Landis
Date
9/16/09
Dr. von Braun at His Desk
Name of Image
Dr. von Braun at His Desk
Date of Image
1960-01-01
Full Description
Photo of Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Director Dr. Wernher von Braun at his desk with moon lander in background and rocket models on his desk. Dr. von Braun served as Marshall's first director from 1960 until his transfer to NASA Headquarters in 1970
Walt Disney visited Marshall
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Name of Image
Walt Disney visited Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Date of Image
1965-04-13
Full Description
Walt Disney toured the West Test Area during his visit to the Marshall Space Flight Center on April 13, 1965. The three in center foreground are Karl Heimburg, Director, Test Division, Dr. von Braun, Director, MSFC, and Walt Disney. The Dynamic Test Stand with the S-1C stage being installed is in the background.
Portrait of Dr. Von Braun wi
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Name of Image
Portrait of Dr. Von Braun with Walt Disney, 1954.
Date of Image
1954-01-01
Full Description
Marshall Center Director Dr. Wernher Von Braun is pictured with Walt Disney during a visit to the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1954. In the 1950s, Dr. Von Braun while working in California on the Saturn project, also worked with Disney studios as a technical director in making three films about Space Exploration for television. Disney's tour of Marshall in 1965 was Von Braun's hope for a renewed public interest in the future of the Space Program at NASA.
First-ever evening public en
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Thousands of people watch th
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4/21/01
Description
Thousands of people watch the first-ever evening public engine test of a Space Shuttle Main Engine at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center. The spectacular test marked Stennis Space Center's 20th anniversary celebration of the first Space Shuttle mission.
Date
4/21/01
The STS-1 Crew
Title
The STS-1 Crew
Full Description
The STS-1 crew members are: Commander, John W. Young and Pilot Robert L. Crippen.
Date
05/07/1979
NASA Center
Johnson Space Center
Apollo 13 Senate Space Commi
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Title
Apollo 13 Senate Space Committee Hearings
Full Description
Astronaut James A. Lovell, Jr., Commander of the Apollo 13, relates to the members of the Senate Space Committee in an open session the problems of the Apollo 13 mission. In the background is Dr. Thomas O. Paine, NASA Administrator.
Date
04/24/1970
NASA Center
Headquarters
Odyssey On Deck
Title
Odyssey On Deck
Full Description
Crewmen aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, prime recovery ship for the Apollo 13 mission, hoist the Command Module aboard ship. The Apollo 13 crewmen were already aboard the Iwo Jima when this photograph was taken. The Apollo 13 spacecraft splashed down at 12:07:44 p.m., April 17, 1970 in the South Pacific Ocean.
Date
04/17/1970
NASA Center
Johnson Space Center
Apollo 13
President Richard M. Nixon a
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4/13/09
Description
President Richard M. Nixon and the Apollo 13 crew salute U.S. flag during the post-mission ceremonies at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. Earlier, the astronauts John Swigert, Jim Lovell and Fred W. Haise were presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the Chief Executive. Apollo 13, launched on April 11, 1970, was NASA's third manned mission to the moon. Two day later on April 13 while the mission was en route to the moon, a fault in the electrical system of one of the Service Module's oxygen tanks produced an explosion that caused both oxygen tanks to fail and also led to a loss of electrical power. The command module remained functional on its own batteries and oxygen tank, but these were usable only during the last hours of the mission. The crew shut down the Command Module and used the Lunar Module as a "lifeboat" during the return trip to earth. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, and a shortage of potable water, the crew returned to Earth, and the mission was termed a "successful failure." Image Credit: NASA
Date
4/13/09
Photo Description
F-107A ground loop landing mishap.
Project Description
Two North American F-107A airplanes were flown at NACA/NASA High-Speed Flight Station starting November 1957 and continuing until September 1959. The F-107A possessed some interesting features that NACA wished to examine in detail. NACA acquired the first and third F-107As built. Originally called the F-100B, the tactical flighter bomber was so extensively redesigned that the designation was changed before the first F-107A (Serial #55-5118) flew in 1956. It featured a large inlet located above the fuselage for a Pratt & Whitney YJ75-P-11 engine with afterburner, a very sophisticated stability augmentation system, and a movable vertical fin. In July 1959 the F-107A (Serial #55-5118) airplane designated NACA #207 was donated to NASA High-Speed Flight Station. The first aircraft proved mechanically unreliable and only made 4 flights before NASA grounded it. The third aircraft built, F-107A (Serial #55-5120) made its first NACA flight on July 25, 1958. It would complete 39 more flights during 1958 and 1959 before being destroyed in a takeoff accident on September 1, 1959, fortunately without injury to the pilot. During this period a sidestick program was NACA's major accomplishment with the craft, after the proposed inlet and fin studies went by the wayside. The complex inlet, with its movable inlet ramps and variable inlet control, caused many problems and was finally positioned in a fixed mode. Engineers at NACA modified the F-107A NACA #120, with a so-called Sidestick Flight Control System. (Sidestick was the center stick, modified and moved to the side of the cockpit area and could be used with wrist motion only) This system had been planned for the upcoming X-15 program. North American refined the design and the designated X-15 test pilots gained experience before having to use it in the actual X-15 airplane.
Photo Date
September 1, 1959
X-36 Being Prepared on Lakeb
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Title
X-36 Being Prepared on Lakebed for First Flight
Description
28-percent scale representation of a theoretical advanced fighter aircraft. The Boeing Phantom Works (formerly McDonnell Douglas) in St. Louis, Missouri, built two of the vehicles in a cooperative agreement with the Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California., As the sun creeps above the horizon of Rogers Dry Lake at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, technicians make final preparations for the first flight of the X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft. The NASA/Boeing X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft program successfully demonstrated the tailless fighter design using advanced technologies to improve the maneuverability and survivability of possible future fighter aircraft. The program met or exceeded all project goals. For 31 flights during 1997 at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, the project team examined the aircraft's agility at low speed / high angles of attack and at high speed / low angles of attack. The aircraft's speed envelope reached up to 206 knots (234 mph). This aircraft was very stable and maneuverable. It handled very well. The X-36 vehicle was designed to fly without the traditional tail surfaces common on most aircraft. Instead, a canard forward of the wing was used as well as split ailerons and an advanced thrust-vectoring nozzle for directional control. The X-36 was unstable in both pitch and yaw axes, so an advanced, single-channel digital fly-by-wire control system (developed with some commercially available components) was put in place to stabilize the aircraft. Using a video camera mounted in the nose of the aircraft and an onboard microphone, the X-36 was remotely controlled by a pilot in a ground station virtual cockpit. A standard fighter-type head-up display (HUD) and a moving-map representation of the vehicle's position within the range in which it flew provided excellent situational awareness for the pilot. This pilot-in-the-loop approach eliminated the need for expensive and complex autonomous flight control systems and the risks associated with their inability to deal with unknown or unforeseen phenomena in flight. Fully fueled the X-36 prototype weighed approximately 1,250 pounds. It was 19 feet long and three feet high with a wingspan of just over 10 feet. A Williams International F112 turbofan engine provided close to 700 pounds of thrust. A typical research flight lasted 35 to 45 minutes from takeoff to touchdown. A total of 31 successful research flights were flown from May 17, 1997, to November 12, 1997, amassing 15 hours and 38 minutes of flight time. The aircraft reached an altitude of 20,200 feet and a maximum angle of attack of 40 degrees. In a follow-on effort, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, contracted with Boeing to fly AFRL's Reconfigurable Control for Tailless Fighter Aircraft (RESTORE) software as a demonstration of the adaptability of the neural-net algorithm to compensate for in-flight damage or malfunction of effectors, such as flaps, ailerons and rudders. Two RESTORE research flights were flown in December 1998, proving the viability of the software approach. The X-36 aircraft flown at the Dryden Flight Research Center in 1997 was a
Date
05.17.1997
X-15 and XB-70 parked on NAS
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Title
X-15 and XB-70 parked on NASA ramp
Description
The X-15A-2 with drop tanks and ablative coating is shown parked on the NASA ramp in front of the XB-70. These aircraft represent two different approaches to flight research. The X-15 was a research airplane in the purest sense, whereas the XB-70 was an experimental bomber intended for production but diverted to research when production was cancelled by changes in the Department of Defense's offensive doctrine. The X-15A-2 had been modified from its original configuration with a longer fuselage and drop tanks. To protect it against aerodynamic heating, researchers had coated it with an ablative coating covered by a layer of white paint. These changes allowed the X-15A-2 to reach a maximum speed of Mach 6.7, although it could be sustained for only a brief period. The XB-70, by contrast, was designed for prolonged high-altitude cruise flight at Mach 3. The aircraft's striking shape--with a long forward fuselage, canards, a large delta wing, twin fins, and a box-like engine bay--allowed it to ride its own Mach 3 shockwave, so to speak. A joint NASA-Air Force program used the aircraft to collect data in support of the U.S supersonic transport (SST) program, which never came to fruition because of environmental concerns. X-15: The X-15 was a rocket-powered aircraft. The original three aircraft were about 50 ft long with a wingspan of 22 ft. The modified #2 aircraft (X-15A-2 was longer.) They were a missile-shaped vehicles with unusual wedge-shaped vertical tails, thin stubby wings, and unique side fairings that extended along the side of the fuselage. The X-15 weighed about 14,000 lb empty and approximately 34,000 lb at launch. The XLR-99 rocket engine, manufactured by Thiokol Chemical Corp., was pilot controlled and was rated at 57,000 lb of thrust, although there are indications that it actually achieved up to 60,000 lb. North American Aviation built three X-15 aircraft for the program. The X-15 research aircraft was developed to provide in-flight information and data on aerodynamics, structures, flight controls, and the physiological aspects of high-speed, high-altitude flight. A follow-on program used the aircraft as testbeds to carry various scientific experiments beyond the Earth's atmosphere on a repeated basis. For flight in the dense air of the usable atmosphere, the X-15 used conventional aerodynamic controls such as rudder surfaces on the vertical stabilizers to control yaw and movable horizontal stabilizers to control pitch when moving in synchronization or roll when moved differentially. For flight in the thin air outside of the appreciable Earth's atmosphere, the X-15 used a reaction control system. Hydrogen peroxide thrust rockets located on the nose of the aircraft provided pitch and yaw control. Those on the wings provided roll control. Because of the large fuel consumption, the X-15 was air launched from a B-52 aircraft at approximately 45,000 ft and a speed of about 500 mph. Depending on the mission, the rocket engine provided, thrust for the first 80 to 120 sec of flight. The remainder of the normal 10 to 11 min. flight was powerless and ended with a 200-mph glide landing. Generally, one of two types of X-15 flight profiles was used, a high-altitude flight plan that called for the pilot to maintain a steep rate of climb, or a speed profile that called for the pilot to push over and maintain a level altitude. The X-15 was flown over a period of nearly 10 years -- June 1959 to Oct. 1968 -- and set the world's unofficial speed and altitude records of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7) and 354,200 ft in a program to investigate all aspects of manned hypersonic flight. Information gained from the highly successful X-15 program contributed to the development of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo manned spaceflight programs, and also the Space Shuttle program. The X-15s made a total of 199 flights, and were manufactured by North American Aviation. X-15-1, serial number 56-6670, is now located at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC. North American X-15A-2, serial number 56-6671, is at the United States Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. X-15-3, serial number 56-6672, crashed on 15 November 1967, resulting in the death of Maj. Michael J. Adams. XB-70: The XB-70 was the world's largest experimental aircraft. It was capable of flight at speeds of three times the speed of sound (roughly 2,000 miles per hour) at altitudes of 70,000 feet. It was used to collect in-flight information for use in the design of future supersonic aircraft, military and civilian. The major objectives of the XB-70 flight research program were to study the airplane's stability and handling characteristics, to evaluate its response to atmospheric turbulence, and to determine the aerodynamic and propulsion performance. In addition there were secondary objectives to measure the noise and friction associated with airflow over the airplane and to determine the levels and extent of the engine noise during takeoff, landing, and ground operations. The XB-70 was about 186 feet long, 33 feet high, with a wingspan of 105 feet. Originally conceived as an advanced bomber for the United States Air Force, the XB-70 was limited to production of two aircraft when it was decided to limit the aircraft's mission to flight research. The first flight of the XB-70 was made on Sept. 21, 1964. The number two XB-70 was destroyed in a mid-air collision on June 8, 1966. Program management of the NASA-USAF research effort was assigned to NASA in March 1967. The final flight was flown on Feb. 4, 1969. Designed by North American Aviation (later North American Rockwell and still later, a division of Boeing) the XB-70 had a long fuselage with a canard or horizontal stabilizer mounted just behind the crew compartment. It had a sharply swept 65.6-percent delta wing. The outer portion of the wing could be folded down in flight to provide greater lateral-directional stability. The airplane had two windshields. A moveable outer, windshield was raised for high-speed flight to reduce drag and lowered for greater visibility during takeoff and landing. The forward fuselage was constructed of riveted titanium frames and skin. The remainder of the airplane was constructed almost entirely of stainless steel. The skin was a brazed stainless-steel honeycomb material. Six General Electric YJ93-3 turbojet engines, each in the 30,000-pound-thrust class, powered the XB-70. Internal geometry of the inlets was controllable to maintain the most efficient airflow to the engines.
Date
01.01.1967
Centurion during takeoff on
…
Title
Centurion during takeoff on lakebed
Description
The Centurion solar-electric flying wing, one of several remotely piloted aircraft being developed under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program, touches down on a Rogers Dry Lake runway following a test flight at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. The 206-foot-wingspan lightweight aircraft demonstrated its flying qualities during an initial series of three low-altitude test flights under battery power in late 1998. The Centurion was developed by AeroVironment, Inc., under NASA's ERAST program, managed by NASA Dryden. The Centurion is a prototype technology demonstrator designed to reach altitudes of 90,000 to 100,000 feet, powered entirely by the Sun. Solar cells will eventually cover most of the wing's upper surface, providing power to its 14 electric motors, flight controls and communications systems. Centurion is helping to validate technology for the Helios, a planned high-altitude solar-powered aircraft which could fly for days or weeks at a time on atmospheric sampling, telecommunications or imaging missions, using rechargeable fuel cells to maintain flight at night.
Date
12.01.1998
Light Show
Rollout of space shuttle Dis
…
8/4/09
Description
Rollout of space shuttle Discovery is slow-going due to the onset of lightning in the area of Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. First motion of the shuttle out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 2:07 a.m. Aug. 4. Discovery's 13-day STS-128 mission will deliver a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Image courtesy of Justin Dernier Aug. 4, 2009
