Oct. 1, 2008 Vol. 48, No. 20 NASA celebrates 50th Anniversary ct. 1 marks the 50th the STS-125 Hubble Space Anniversary of Director’s Note Telescope servicing mission. NASA as it was on Over Hubble’s 18 year O By Bill history, many extraordinary this date in 1958 that the Na- Parsons tional Aeronautics and Space discoveries have been Director, made by what this amazing Administration began opera- Kennedy tions. Over the past 50 years, Space instrument has captured. We the employees of America’s Center also are preparing for the space program have been at upcoming missions to the the forefront of many incred- I mention this historic date International Space Station ible accomplishments. because once again we are and preparing for launches Kennedy Space Center preparing to go back to the through the Launch Services has a rich history in the space moon. This time, we are Program. Our Constellation program having been named going to stay. We will have Program work is moving ahead, and we are preparing an independent NASA a sustained human presence. for the Ares I-X test fl ight installation in 1962. NASA is a forward-looking next year. From the historic launch agency, and this is our future. In the short history of pads here in Florida, we NASA’s 50th NASA, numerous benefi ts to have launched missions Anniversary is a historic society have come through of discovery. Next year, milestone that gives us an the work of America’s we will celebrate the 40th opportunity to refl ect on past space program. The anniversary of a human accomplishments, but we scientifi c discoveries and being setting foot on the need to prepare for what’s technological innovations moon. That mission, ahead. that have been made through Apollo 11, launched right We need to stay America’s space program NASA fi le/ 2006 here from our center. Some focused on our mission. give us reason to proud to be Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off Launch Pad 39B on its STS-115 mission on of our employees today were This month, we will launch part of this legacy of space Sept. 9, 2006. The Space Shuttle Program has helped NASA reach many working here at that time. space shuttle Atlantis for exploration. of its milestones throughout the past 50 years. ELVs Four Great Inside this special edition Observatories Kurt Debus The Apollo Program 50 years of accomplishments Page 8 Page 10 Page 4 VIPs at Kennedy Page 2 The Bumper Project The Space Shuttle Space Center Mercury and Gemini Program Page 3 Page 5 Pages 6-7 Page 9 Page 11 Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS Oct. 1, 2008 NACA’s dreams turned into NASA reality By Kate Frakes Spaceport News ince its inception 50 years ago, NASA’s scientifi c and Stechnological excellence has helped power the nation into the 21st century, shaping and improving life. As icons of human achievement, NASA’s enduring accomplishments promise another era of discovery and innovation. Before NASA could stamp its permanent presence in history, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA, conducted the nation’s aeronautical research. In NASA fi le/1958 response to the advancing European This photo, taken May 26, 1958, shows members of NACA’s Special Committee on Space Technology, from right, Wernher von Braun, Abe Silverstein, Dale Corson, Hugh Dryden, H. Guyford Stever, Carl Palmer, J.R. Dempsey, Rober Gilruth, H. Julian Allen, Milton Clauser, aeronautical programs in 1915, Samuel Hoffman, W. Randolph Lovelace, Hendrik Bode, left of Lovelace, Abraham Hyatt, Col. Norman Appold, with arm on table, and President Woodrow Wilson cre- Edward Sharp. ated NACA to gain back the U.S. lead. Its fi rst center, known today as On April 2, 1958, the bill for establishing a broad charter for civil- dent John F. Kennedy proposed a NASA’s Langley Research Cen- establishing a National Aeronautics ian aeronautical and space research. lunar landing initiative to Congress ter in Hampton, Va., was the fi rst and Space Agency was submitted. Two months later, on Oct. 1, the fi rst that required a new launch facility government facility to coordinate It reinforced the belief that space NASA personnel reported to work. capable of launching larger space- aeronautical research in the civil and should only be used for peaceful After receiving control of the craft. military sectors. purposes and stated that NACA Army’s Missile Firing Laboratory in In 1962, NASA broke away NACA’s peace-oriented opera- would be absorbed into the new 1960, NASA changed the name to from the Launch Operations Di- tions and signifi cant contributions to agency with new development and the Launch Operations Directorate rectorate in Huntsville and desig- aeronautics, throughout its 43-year fl ight operations responsibilities. and formed NASA’s Marshall Space nated Merritt Island Launch Area history, led Congress to organize a On July 29, President Eisen- Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. an independent fi eld installation in national program in space science hower signed into law the National When the space competition Cape Canaveral, Fla., which became formed around NACA. Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, rose with the Soviet Union, Presi- Kennedy Space Center in 1963. Debus a forefather of NASA, Kennedy Space Center By Kate Frakes velopment program, Debus and initiating emergency into space - a fi rst for Amer- Spaceport News helped lay the groundwork scenarios. ican history books, and for human spacefl ight. He Debus’ insistence on the beginning of President To go to the moon overcame problematic re- demonstrated reliability is symbolic of man’s Kennedy’s manned lunar leaving Earth, the entry heating challenges for during the 1961 Mercury- landing challenge. “ long-range missiles and suc- Redstone precursor fl ights After 14 years as opening of a vast new fron- tier.” cessfully launched the fi rst helped NASA attain the con- Kennedy’s center director, Twenty-fi ve years after orbiting object, the Explorer fi dence to launch a manned Debus retired in 1974 and his death, the words of Dr. I Earth satellite. spacecraft. He believed “at completed his historical ten- Kurt H. Debus continue to With new aspirations, least one unmanned shot ure with words of inspira- challenge future generations NASA turned to Debus and must be obtained with fl aw- tion for the next generation to steadily travel down the his team for help in the race less performance” before the of innovators: path of progress he helped NASA fi le to space. fl ight of one of the Mercury “This is not an ending, map out for space explora- Dr. Kurt H. Debus was director of In 1959, Debus began Seven astronauts. but a point of departure. tion. Kennedy Space Center from July converting old launch com- NASA Headquarters I don’t fear overpopula- 1962 until November 1974. Before the creation of plexes into Launch Complex offi cials and the Space Task tion or that the Earth will the National Aeronautics NASA helped turn President 56 to support the Mercury- Group added an extra poison itself with pollution. and Space Act in 1958, John F. Kennedy’s vision of Redstone program for the MR-Booster Development The Earth will fi nd ways to Debus and his colleagues landing man on the moon a fi rst suborbital missions. He fl ight that fl ew with com- become that beautiful island already had taken the fi rst reality. contributed largely to the plete success on March 24, that our astronauts saw technical steps toward Throughout his time development of the com- 1961. Less than two months when they viewed it from the traveling to the moon. Their with the United States plex’s new abort scenarios later, NASA successfully moon … and I can say, ‘I scientifi c contributions to ballistic missile systems de- and techniques for detecting launched Alan Shepherd told you so.’ ” Oct. 1, 2008 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3 NASA fi le Mercury 7 astronauts, from left, are Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil I. Grissom, Walter M. Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Donald K. Slayton. Mercury 7 proved they had the right stuff By Cheryl Mansfi eld the new, uncharted vastness of and added the numeral “7” to sym- American to orbit Earth. Spaceport News space. bolize the team of seven astronauts. His Friendship 7 capsule The Mercury 7 were: Walter The program used two launch launched aboard a Mercury-Atlas n October 1958, just six days M. Schirra Jr., Donald K. “Deke” vehicles: a Redstone for subor- rocket, and during his almost fi ve- after NASA formally organized, Slayton, John H. Glenn Jr., Scott bital fl ights and an Atlas for or- hour fl ight he circled Earth three IAmerica’s fi rst human space- Carpenter, Alan B. Shepard Jr., Vir- bital fl ights. Unmanned tests of the times before splashing down in fl ight program was born. Project gil I. “Gus” Grissom and L. Gordon booster and capsule preceded the the Atlantic 800 miles southeast of Mercury’s manned fl ights spanned Cooper. fi rst human fl ight. Bermuda. just two years – from May 1961 to These seven adventurers - and Alan Shepard was chosen for Among the original Mercury 7 May 1963 – making history with its a quiet cape that juts out from the fi rst manned Mercury launch, astronauts, only Slayton didn’t make six missions launched from Cape Florida’s east coast - were destined becoming the fi rst American to fl y in a Mercury fl ight, but he did go on Canaveral. to become the focus of the new space on May 5, 1961.