DOCSLIB.ORG

Spaceport News John F

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

April 29, 2011 Vol. 51, No. 8 Spaceport News John F. Kennedy Space Center - America’s gateway to the universe Emotions NASA galvanize awards Firing CCDev2 Room 4 contracts By Steven Siceloff By Steven Siceloff Spaceport News Spaceport News he realities of ex- ASA awarded acting, hard work approximately Trequired to launch a N$270 million to four space shuttle and the sensa- commercial companies tion of anticipation meet in April 18 to continue devel- the firing rooms on launch opment of commercial rock- day. ets and spacecraft capable of “It’s electric,” said safely flying astronauts into Charlie Blackwell Thomp- orbit and to the International son, chief of the NASA Test Space Station. The award Director’s Office. “You see was the second phase of the all kinds of emotions when agency’s Commercial Crew you’re in the room.” Development effort, known With Endeavour’s as CCDev2. STS-134 mission about to “We’re committed to get under way, the launch safely transporting U.S. team assembled in Firing astronauts on American- Room 4 at the Launch made spacecraft and ending Control Center on the outsourcing of this work April 26 and began with the to foreign governments,” countdown. However, on NASA Administrator launch morning, engineers Charlie Bolden said. “These detected a failure in one of agreements are significant two heater circuits associ- CLICK ON PHOTO NASA ated with Auxiliary Power milestones in NASA’s Space shuttle Endeavour sits on Launch Pad 39A after the rotating service structure (RSS) is moved away April 28. The Unit 1. The engineers at plans to take advantage of structure provides weather protection and access to the shuttle while it awaits lift off on the pad. RSS “rollback,” as it’s called, American ingenuity to get to Kennedy set out on an began at 11:58 p.m. EST and wrapped up at 12:32 a.m. April 29. Launch is planned for no earlier than May 2 at 2:33 p.m. Endeavour and its six-member STS-134 crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) and Express Logistics See , Page 2 See , Page 3 FIRING ROOM Carrier-3 to the International Space Station. To follow the countdown, click on the photo or go to www.nasa.gov/ntv. CONTRACTS STS-133 crew returns Portable solar power Weather Subsystem Freedom 7 launch Inside this issue... Page 2 Page 4 Page 6 Page 7 Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS April 29, 2011 STS-133 crew reflects on mission, unique shuttle program By Rebecca Regan “No,” Stott replied to a laughing Spaceport News audience. STS-133 also delivered the ppreciating space shuttle station’s first humanoid astronaut Discovery and its many helper called Robonaut 2, or R2. accomplishments was a A Even though they didn’t assist R2 common theme during the vehicle’s out of its container, they did feel an final spaceflight, the STS-133 crew odd sense of camaraderie with the members said during a crew return machine. event at Kennedy Space Center on “We had a running joke that April 18. you’d wake up at night and Ro- “Think about how miraculous it is that you can bring a vehicle back bonaut might be behind you getting on its 39th mission after nearly 30 ready to get you,” Boe joked. years of operation, land it on the “Hopefully a lot of us will get an- runway, and there be absolutely other opportunity to go up in space nothing wrong with it,” STS-133 and see him at work.” Commander Steve Lindsey said to “He’s waiting for you, Eric,” Kennedy workers gathered in the CLICK ON PHOTO NASA/Kim Shiflett Stott jokingly added. Training Auditorium. “I mean, that The STS-133 crew members sign autographs and talk to workers April 18 in the Training Auditorium at Toward the end of the event, a is just a testimony to the work that Kennedy Space Center. From left, are Mission Specialists Nicole Stott, Alvin Drew, Steve Bowen and worker asked the crew what it felt Michael Barratt, Pilot Eric Boe and Commander Steve Lindsey. For more photos of the crew return like to take Discovery on such a his- you all do.” event or the milestones leading up to the STS-133 launch at Kennedy, click on the photo. “I can’t thank you enough from toric flight, which not only marked the bottom of my heart for Discov- deliver Express Logistics Carrier-4, ally well today . as I boss them its final but also a full year in space. ery and all you’ve done for us . or ELC-4, and the Permanent Mul- around.” “Discovery leaves an incredible when we launch off that launch pad, tipurpose Module, or PMM, packed Stott, being quite the instructor, legacy . the challenges for the we launch with no worries because with equipment, experiments and even taught Kennedy’s Center Di- next ship that takes that name, it’s we know you’ve poured everything supplies. rector Bob Cabana, veteran of four going to have a tough act to follow,” you have into it,” Lindsey added. Stott, who used to work for the shuttle flights, something years ago. Barratt said. “It better go far and Lindsey and his five crewmates shuttle program at Kennedy, talked “Nicole taught me how to land just do an incredible job.” -- Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Spe- the lead spacewalkers through their the space shuttle when she was a Following the event at Kennedy, cialists Alvin Drew, Nicole Stott, tasks outside the station and told flight engineer on the Shuttle Train- about 350 employees, and their Steve Bowen and Michael Barratt -- mission control in Houston, “We’re ing Aircraft,” Cabana said. friends and families, mingled with flew Discovery on a 13-day mission doing really well. They’ve been “And that was no easy task, the crew members at a local restau- to the International Space Station to following instructions exception- right?” rant in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The six veteran astronauts of STS-134, led by The team is as large as it is because the shuttle From FIRING ROOM, Page 1 Commander Mark Kelly, have worked with the systems are enormously complex, and fixing one exhaustive process to try to find the problem and launch team several times on previous launch problem has a potential to cause other problems. fix it during the countdown. days and during countless training sessions. “I don’t think you can have one expert,” The flight team in Houston also lent their Greg H. Johnson is the pilot for the mission, Wyrick said. “I don’t think you can have some- brainpower to the situation, but the system is while Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Drew one who has all the knowledge.” critical for controlling the shuttle at landing and Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut The people who oversee the countdown the teams wanted to make sure they knew what Roberto Vittori are mission specialists. generally come out of the ranks of the special- caused the problem and how to fix it before going The firing rooms are the control center for the ists. Blackwell Thompson worked with payload ahead with the countdown. launch team from the time a shuttle lands through systems before becoming a NASA test director, Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach called its processing for flight and into its next count- or NTD, and Wyrick worked with the ground off the April 29 attempt at 12:16 p.m., a few min- down and launch. Even when a shuttle is months launch sequencer, which is the computer soft- utes before the astronauts would start strapping away from its next mission, there still is a group ware system that controls the last 45 minutes of into Endeavour’s flight deck. in one of the firing rooms overseeing its progress. the countdown and launch. The system that failed is important because “You’re not going to find this anywhere else in After launch, many of the controllers remain at heaters are required to keep the APUs’ hydrazine the world,” said Roberta Wyrick, an orbiter test their consoles to begin the critical steps to make from freezing on orbit. The problem might be as- conductor for United Space Alliance whose first the launch pad safe. sociated with a Load Control Assembly, which is mission in that role came in 1981 on STS-2, the “If you’re the one in charge of the launch, a switchbox, located in the aft end of Endeavour, second shuttle flight. there are still things to do,” Wyrick said. “It’s not or an electrical short in the wires leading into or Although those involved are well-rehearsed for like it’s over.” out of the switchbox. the countdown, launch day does not feel like a Controllers say they never get complacent Liftoff is planned for no earlier than May 2 at final exam, but game day, Blackwell Thompson about a launch or countdown or just work to get 2:33 p.m. said. through them. That may be why so many of them Endeavour will carry the Alpha Magnetic “It doesn’t matter what launch it is, nine have worked in the firing rooms for decades. Spectrometer to the International Space Station minutes and counting, my heart’s beating faster,” Blackwell Thompson said, “For many of us, during the two-week flight. Wyrick said. this is our life’s work.” April 29, 2011 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3 Kennedy showcases current, future work By Linda Herridge continuing value to Amer- He said shuttle and Spaceport News ica’s space initiatives and Apollo era cables were NASA’s mission.
Recommended publications
  • A Pictorial History of Rockets

    A Pictorial History of Rockets

    he mighty space rockets of today are the result A Pictorial Tof more than 2,000 years of invention, experi- mentation, and discovery. First by observation and inspiration and then by methodical research, the History of foundations for modern rocketry were laid. Rockets Building upon the experience of two millennia, new rockets will expand human presence in space back to the Moon and Mars. These new rockets will be versatile. They will support Earth orbital missions, such as the International Space Station, and off- world missions millions of kilometers from home. Already, travel to the stars is possible. Robotic spacecraft are on their way into interstellar space as you read this. Someday, they will be followed by human explorers. Often lost in the shadows of time, early rocket pioneers “pushed the envelope” by creating rocket- propelled devices for land, sea, air, and space. When the scientific principles governing motion were discovered, rockets graduated from toys and novelties to serious devices for commerce, war, travel, and research. This work led to many of the most amazing discoveries of our time. The vignettes that follow provide a small sampling of stories from the history of rockets. They form a rocket time line that includes critical developments and interesting sidelines. In some cases, one story leads to another, and in others, the stories are inter- esting diversions from the path. They portray the inspirations that ultimately led to us taking our first steps into outer space. NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS), commercial launch systems, and the rockets that follow owe much of their success to the accomplishments presented here.
  • Project Mercury: First Step on the Way to the Moon

    Project Mercury: First Step on the Way to the Moon

    Historical Perspective Project Mercury: First step on the way to the moon By Henry T. Brownlee Jr. ore than 50 years ago, Mon Oct. 4, 1957, the former Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik shocked the United States and initiated a space race between the two world powers to demonstrate political superiority through technological advancement. Less than two years PHOTO: James McDonnell (right) and later, in February 1959, T. Keith Glennan, the first NASA NASA awarded the administrator, discuss the Mercury prime contract to program using a model of the manned space capsule. BOEING ARCHIVES design, test and build the Project Mercury manned spacecraft to McDonnell Aircraft Corporation (MAC). Twelve companies, including Boeing predecessor companies MAC, Douglas Aircraft and North American Aviation, submitted proposals. The selection of McDonnell was a carefully guarded secret until the day of the announcement. Several years before the launch of Sputnik, and before Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the first American to achieve suborbital spaceflight in May 1961, James S. McDonnell, president of MAC, studied placing a human in space. Indeed, in a May 26, 1957, commencement speech at the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in Rolla, Mo. (now the Missouri University of Science and Technology), McDonnell provided the engineering graduates a speculative timetable for space travel. He thought the United States would not achieve a manned Earth satellite until 1990, and a manned spaceship to land on the moon and return to Earth until 2010. It was in this same speech that McDonnell referenced the dangerous dilemma PHOTO: McDonnell workers hoist the Freedom 7 capsule onto its Redstone launch vehicle.
  • The Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation: 2017

    The Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation: 2017

    Federal Aviation Administration The Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation: 2017 January 2017 Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation: 2017 i Contents About the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation The Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA AST) licenses and regulates U.S. commercial space launch and reentry activity, as well as the operation of non-federal launch and reentry sites, as authorized by Executive Order 12465 and Title 51 United States Code, Subtitle V, Chapter 509 (formerly the Commercial Space Launch Act). FAA AST’s mission is to ensure public health and safety and the safety of property while protecting the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States during commercial launch and reentry operations. In addition, FAA AST is directed to encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space launches and reentries. Additional information concerning commercial space transportation can be found on FAA AST’s website: http://www.faa.gov/go/ast Cover art: Phil Smith, The Tauri Group (2017) Publication produced for FAA AST by The Tauri Group under contract. NOTICE Use of trade names or names of manufacturers in this document does not constitute an official endorsement of such products or manufacturers, either expressed or implied, by the Federal Aviation Administration. ii Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation: 2017 GENERAL CONTENTS Executive Summary 1 Introduction 5 Launch Vehicles 9 Launch and Reentry Sites 21 Payloads 35 2016 Launch Events 39 2017 Annual Commercial Space Transportation Forecast 45 Space Transportation Law and Policy 83 Appendices 89 Orbital Launch Vehicle Fact Sheets 100 iii Contents DETAILED CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .
  • Curriculum Vitae

    Curriculum Vitae

    CURRICULUM VITAE MICHAEL JOHN NEUFELD Space History Division (MRC 311) office: (202) 633-2434 National Air and Space Museum fax: (202) 786-2947 Smithsonian Institution [email protected] P.O. Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 EDUCATION 1970-74 University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. B.A.(First Class Honours), History. 1974-76 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. M.A., History. 1978-84 The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. M.A., Ph.D., History. Dissertation: "From Artisans to Workers: The Transformation of the Skilled Metalworkers of Nuremberg, 1835-1905." RESEARCH AND TEACHING POSITIONS 1983-85 Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York. Part-time Assistant Professor (1984-85), Part-time Instructor (1983-84). 1985-86 State University of New York College at Oswego. Visiting Assistant Professor. 1986-88 Colgate University, Hamilton, New York. Visiting Assistant Professor. 1988- National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Senior Curator (2014- ), Museum Curator, (1999-2014), Chair, Space History Division (2007-11), Museum Curator in Aeronautics Division (1990-99), Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow and NSF Fellow (1989-90), A. Verville Fellow (1988-89). Fall 2001 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Senior Lecturer (visiting position). BOOKS The Skilled Metalworkers of Nuremberg: Craft and Class in the Industrial Revolution. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1989. The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. New York: The Free Press, 1995. (Paperback edition, Harvard University Press, 1996; German translation, Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1997, 2nd ed. Henschel Verlag, 1999; paperback and e-book edition, March 2015 2 Smithsonian Books, 2013). Winner of the 1995 AIAA History Manuscript Award and the 1997 SHOT Dexter Prize.
  • Unit 5 Space Exploration

    Unit 5 Space Exploration

    TOPIC 8 People in Space There are many reasons why all types of technology are developed. In Unit 5, you’ve seen that some technology is developed out of curiosity. Galileo built his telescope because he was curious about the stars and planets. You’ve also learned that some technologies are built to help countries fight an enemy in war. The German V-2 rocket is one example of this. You may have learned in social stud- ies class about the cold war between the United States and the for- mer Soviet Union. There was no fighting with guns or bombs. However, these countries deeply mistrusted each other and became very competitive. They tried to outdo and intimidate each other. This competition thrust these countries into a space race, which was a race to be the first to put satellites and humans into space. Figure 5.57 Space shuttle Atlantis Topic 8 looks at how the desire to go into space drove people to blasts off in 1997 on its way to dock produce technologies that could make space travel a reality. with the Soviet space station Mir. Breaking Free of Earth’s Gravity Although space is only a hundred or so kilometres “up there,” it takes a huge amount of energy to go up and stay up there. The problem is gravity. Imagine throwing a ball as high as you can. Now imagine how hard it would be to throw the ball twice as high or to throw a ball twice as heavy. Gravity always pulls the ball back to Earth.
  • Exploring Space

    Exploring Space

    EXPLORING SPACE: Opening New Frontiers Past, Present, and Future Space Launch Activities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center EXPLORING SPACE: OPENING NEW FRONTIERS Dr. Al Koller COPYRIGHT © 2016, A. KOLLER, JR. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the written consent of the copyright holder Library of Congress Control Number: 2016917577 ISBN: 978-0-9668570-1-6 e3 Company Titusville, Florida http://www.e3company.com 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Foreword …………………………………………………………………………2 Dedications …………………………………………………………………...…3 A Place of Canes and Reeds……………………………………………….…4 Cape Canaveral and The Eastern Range………………………………...…7 Early Missile Launches ...……………………………………………….....9-17 Explorer 1 – First Satellite …………………….……………………………...18 First Seven Astronauts ………………………………………………….……20 Mercury Program …………………………………………………….……23-27 Gemini Program ……………………………………………..….…………….28 Air Force Titan Program …………………………………………………..29-30 Apollo Program …………………………………………………………....31-35 Skylab Program ……………………………………………………………….35 Space Shuttle Program …………………………………………………..36-40 Evolved Expendable Launch Program ……………………………………..41 Constellation Program ………………………………………………………..42 International Space Station ………………………………...………………..42 Cape Canaveral Spaceport Today………………………..…………………43 ULA – Atlas V, Delta IV ………………………………………………………44 Boeing X-37B …………………………………………………………………45 SpaceX Falcon 1, Falcon 9, Dragon Capsule .………….........................46 Boeing CST-100 Starliner …………………………………………………...47 Sierra
  • Launch Abort System Crew Module Service Module

    Launch Abort System Crew Module Service Module

    LAUNCH ABORT SYSTEM National Aeronautics and The launch abort system, positioned on a tower atop the Space Administration crew module, can activate within milliseconds to propel the vehicle to safety and position the crew module for a safe landing. CREW MODULE The crew module is capable of transporting four to six crew members beyond the moon, providing a safe habitat from launch through landing and recovery. Inside the familiar deep-space capsule shape are advances in life support, avionics, power systems, and advanced manufacturing techniques. SERVICE MODULE Created in collaboration with ESA (European Space Agency), the service module provides support to the crew module from launch through separation prior to entry. It NASA’s Orion spacecraft will carry astronauts provides in-space propulsion capability for orbital transfer, farther than humans have ever gone before. attitude control and high altitude ascent aborts. While It will serve as the exploration vehicle that will mated with the crew module, it also provides water and air carry the crew to deep space, provide to support the crew. emergency abort capability, sustain astronauts during their missions and provide safe re-entry SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM back to Earth. The Space Launch System is a powerful launch vehicle, which will expand human presence to celestial destinations beyond low-Earth orbit and throughout the Orion features technology advancements and solar system. This launch vehicle will be capable of innovations that have been incorporated into launching Orion to asteroids, the moon and on the the spacecraft's design. It includes crew and journey to Mars. service modules, a spacecraft adapter and a revolutionary launch abort system that will significantly increase crew safety.
  • Gemini 4 by John Pollock

    Gemini 4 by John Pollock

    5-Cent GEMINI 4 Stamps By John Pollock This is a preamble to the following short article. In 1965, as part of the Space Race with Russia, aerospace companies in the country operated at full capacity in an effort to put a man on the moon. Such was the case in Southern California. As a design engineer at that time, I lived in Fountain Valley, after moving from Los Angeles in that same year because of racial eruptions. My involvement in the Space Race is that I was one of the engineers for a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project at Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. The project consisted of several buildings designed and constructed for the assembly, as well as systems testing of the second stage rocket S-II for the Apollo 11 Saturn V moon rocket. The second stage was designed and fabricated by North American Aviation Company in nearby Downey. When Commander Neil A. Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. of the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, the United States achieved the goal of winning the race. After landing on the moon, a statistician estimated that this achievement was supported by the efforts of about half a million Americans involved. On the heels of the successful NASA Mercury flights to space, the Gemini Program was the next intermediate step, and was recognized as a bridge to the Apollo missions. In other words, it was a training ground for the lunar landing. Specifically, Gemini 4’s objective was to increase the time in space to days rather than hours, because of the need to execute a booster rendezvous, extra vehicular activity (EVA) to include maneuvers outside of the space craft, plus a multitude of scientific experiments.
  • A Bold Approach for Space Exploration and Discovery (2010)

    A Bold Approach for Space Exploration and Discovery (2010)

    A Bold Approach for Space Exploration and Discovery Fact Sheet on the President’s April 15th Address in Florida On Thursday, April 15, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the President will outline a bold strategy for human spaceflight that increases the NASA budget by $6 billion over the next five years. His plan represents an ambitious effort to foster the development of path-breaking technologies; increase the number, scope, and pace of manned and unmanned space missions; make human spaceflight safer and more efficient; and help create thousands of jobs. The President will lay out the goals and strategies in this new vision for NASA, including a sequence of deep-space destinations matched to growing capabilities, progressing step-by-step until we are able to reach Mars. He will provide new information about specific elements of the plan, including proceeding with a scaled- down variant of the Orion space-capsule technology developed in the Constellation program (to support crew escape requirements on the International Space Station) and setting a decision date for moving from research to development and production of a heavy-lift launch vehicle. In addition, he will speak to the new technologies, new jobs, and new industries this approach will create along the way. This new strategy means more money for NASA, more jobs for the country, more astronaut time in space, and more investments in innovation. It will result in a longer operating lifetime for the International Space Station, new launch capabilities becoming available sooner, and a fundamentally more ambitious space strategy to take us to an increased number of destinations and to new frontiers in space.
  • Orion Spacecraft

    Orion Spacecraft

    NASA’S ORION SPACECRAFT NASA is building a sustainable presence on and around the Moon as part of the Artemis Program. The journey begins with the Orion spacecraft – NASA’s next generation spaceship that will launch atop the world’s most powerful rocket to take astronauts on a journey of exploration to the Moon and on to Mars. Orion is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Space Launch System rocket and the lunar Gateway. To protect astronauts on these long-duration missions and return them safely to Earth, Orion engineers have woven innovative technology, advanced systems and state-of-the-art thermal protection into the fabric of the spacecraft. The team behind Orion has built upon the past 50 years of space exploration experience in human spaceflight, launch operations, robotic precursor missions, in-space construction and mission management. Launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida Lunar Flyby Orion approaching Returning to Earth at the lunar Gateway 25,000 MPH Crew Module Pressure Vessel Heat Shield Kennedy Space Center, Florida Kennedy Space Center, Florida Artemis I The Space Launch System rocket with Orion atop is targeted to launch from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. Artemis 1 will send Orion on a path more than 40,000 miles beyond the Moon over a course of three weeks, farther into space than human spaceflight has ever traveled before. The spacecraft will return to Earth and safely splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. The mission will advance and validate capabilities required for human exploration of Mars.
  • 1967 Spaceport News Summary

    1967 Spaceport News Summary

    1967 Spaceport News Summary Followup From the Last Spaceport News Summary Of note, the 1963, 1964 and 1965 Spaceport News were issued weekly. Starting with the July 7, 1966, issue, the Spaceport News went to an every two week format. The Spaceport News kept the two week format until the last issue on February 24, 2014. Spaceport Magazine superseded the Spaceport News in April 2014. Spaceport Magazine was a monthly issue, until the last and final issue, Jan./Feb. 2020. The first issue of Spaceport News was December 13, 1962. The two 1962 issues and the issues from 1996 forward are at this website, including the Spaceport Magazine. All links were working at the time I completed this Spaceport News Summary. In the March 3, 1966, Spaceport News, there was an article about tool cribs. The Spaceport News article mentioned “…“THE FIRST of 10 tool cribs to be installed and operated at Launch Complex 39 has opened…”. The photo from the article is below. Page 1 Today, Material Service Center 31 is on the 1st floor of the VAB, on the K, L side (west side) of the building. If there were 10 tool cribs, as mentioned in the 1966 article, does anyone know the story behind the numbering scheme? Tool crib #75? From The January 6, 1967, Spaceport News From page 1, “Launch Team Personnel Named”. A portion of the article reads “Key launch team personnel for the manned flight of Apollo/Saturn 204 have been announced. The 204 mission, to be launched from KSC’s Complex 34, will be the first in which astronauts will fly the three-man Apollo spacecraft.
  • Lunar Star Tive and Pursue Entrepreneurial Approaches to Human Spaceflight

    Lunar Star Tive and Pursue Entrepreneurial Approaches to Human Spaceflight

    COMMENT BOOKS & ARTS knew him — a reti- cence that was com- NASA pelling in itself. Always gracious, Armstrong was nonplussed by the attention he received after Apollo 11; he knew that he was simply one among Neil Armstrong: thousands who made A Life of Flight the Moon landing JAY BARBREE possible. Regardless, Thomas Dunne: 2014. he carried the weight of that historical mis- sion on his back for more than 40 years. And he did much during his reclusive years after Apollo 11, serving on multiple national stud- ies about spaceflight for NASA and various presidents. Although some at NASA would have preferred that he gave more public sup- port to the agency’s initiatives, Armstrong’s thoughtful perspective carried weight. I would have appreciated an explanation of the space-policy issues that Armstrong became involved in, as well as a full discussion of his role. Barbree briefly mentions a letter sent by Gene Cernan (Apollo 17), Jim Lovell (Apollo 8 and Apollo 13) and Armstrong to US President Barack Obama in response to the space shuttle’s impending retirement, but does not fully explain its content. It warned that failure to pursue an aggressive govern- ment spaceflight programme “destines our nation to become one of second- or even third-rate stature”. That debate still rages. It originated in no small measure over whether to maintain the traditional approach to Neil Armstrong trains in a simulator ahead of the Apollo 11 Moon landing mission. human spaceflight that NASA has taken for 50 years, which Armstrong apparently SPACE SCIENCE backed: owning the vehicles and operat- ing them through contractors.