Free Republic

<p>COCOA BEACH, Fla. — Legendary space industry engineer Thomas J. O'Malley, 94, died Friday evening, shortly after a phone call from Mercury astronaut and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, whom O'Malley launched into space in 1962 by pushing a button.</p>

... The most challenging impediment to human travel to Mars does not seem to involve the complicated launching, propulsion, guidance or landing technologies but something far more mundane: the radiation emanating from the Sun’s cosmic rays. The shielding necessary to ensure the astronauts do not get a lethal dose of solar radiation on a round trip to Mars may very well make the spacecraft so heavy that the amount of fuel needed becomes prohibitive. There is, however, a way to surmount this problem while reducing the cost and technical requirements, but it demands that we ask this vexing question: Why...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 7, 2009 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY On Friday, August 7, 2009, the President signed into law: H.R. 2245, the New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act, to award gold medals on behalf of the United States Congress to Neil A. Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon; Edwin E. `Buzz' Aldrin, Jr., the pilot of the lunar module and second person to walk on the moon; Michael Collins, the pilot of their Apollo 11 mission's...

CROWDED on to the International Space Station (ISS) with as many as 12 colleagues, Koichi Wakata's laundry habits might not ordinarily have gone down well with his fellow astronauts. But thanks to the wonders of science, the Japanese spaceman's revelation that he had been wearing the same pair of underpants for the past month did not cause too much of a stink. After landing back at Florida's Kennedy Space Centre yesterday on board the shuttle Endeavour following 138 days in orbit, Mr Wakata told how an experiment designed to test the prototype pants held up well during the final stages...

On Sunday July 20, 1969 the first people landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were in the lunar lander which touched down at 3:17 Eastern Standard Time. Buzz Aldrin had with him the Reserved Sacrament. He radioed: “Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, whoever or wherever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.”

In this time of VERY JUSTIFIABLE pride in Apollo 11, can we also spare a few moments to remember our Apollo Martyrs of Apollo 1. On January 27, 1969, in a test of the new Apollo Capsule, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died in a horrible fire. In the next year the Apollo Capsule was so redesigned and reworked that it can hardly be called the same machine.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The bathroom lines just got a lot longer at the linked space shuttle and space station. One of the two toilets on the international space station malfunctioned Sunday morning. The pump separator apparently flooded. Mission Control advised the astronauts to hang an "out of service" sign on the toilet, until it can be fixed. In the meantime, the six space station residents will have to get in line to use their one good toilet. And Endeavour's seven astronauts will be restricted to the shuttle bathroom. There have never been so many people — 13 — together...

Canadian astronauts celebrate milestone Published Saturday July 18th, 2009 The Canadian Press LONGUEUIL, Que. - A bear hug in space between two Canadian astronauts marked a history-making moment as Julie Payette floated into the International Space Station and was greeted by fellow Canadian Bob Thirsk. It marked the first time two Canadian astronauts were in space together at the same time. Payette was a member of the seven-member crew of the space shuttle Endeavour who arrived at the space station Friday afternoon after five technical and weather-related delays. Thirsk was so excited about the Canadian rendezvous that he snapped pictures...

The second man to step foot on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, took some time away from celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11's mission to explain his ambitions for space exploration on "Washington Unplugged."

Astronauts Launch New Pro-Life TV Commercial After CNN, NBC Reject Ads Washington, DC -- A pro-life group whose first two television commercials were rejected by NBC and CNN has unveiled a new ads that promote the potential of human life. The ads feature clips of astronaut Neil Armstrong and they have the support of top astronauts Dr. Joseph Kerwin and Gene Krantz. Full story and video of new pro-life ad at: http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5229.html

The NASA astronaut Buzz Adrin has called for the world to press on with establishing a human settlement on Mars to offer the younger generation much-needed objectives. The second person to walk on the moon said that setting up habitation on the surface of the red planet was a "wonderful objective" for humanity. Buzz Aldrin on the moon, 1969 Given the backdrop of the ailing world economy, space exploration could offer younger generations much-needed goals, the 79-year-old said. "I think we need to look quite a way down into the future to inspire our young people with that greatness. "America...

President Obama's selection Saturday of former astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr. to head NASA gives a boost to the agency's manned space program and its stated goal of returning humans to the moon by 2020. During the presidential campaign, Obama had seemed lukewarm toward NASA and its hugely expensive human spaceflight program. Space enthusiasts were particularly worried after Obama staffers floated the idea of taking money from the agency to fund domestic programs.

John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel had trouble removing the old camera from the telescope because a bolt was stuck. They fetched extra tools, but none seemed to work. Finally, Mission Control urged the astronauts to use as much force as possible, even though there was a risk the bolt might break. If that had happened, the old camera would be stuck inside, leaving no room for its souped-up replacement. "OK, here we go," Feustel said. "I think I've got it. It turned. It definitely turned." And then: "Woo-hoo, it's moving out!"

The spacewalk to start repairing the Hubble began about 8:00 CT this morning. They will be outside about 55 minutes. They are currently 23 minutes into the spacewalk.

Science Museum to feature Astronaut Scott Carpenter.

Cheyenne, Dakota and Tahoe One of the top-rated Search and Rescue (SAR) dogs is Dakota, an American Pit Bull Terrier. Dakota is owned by Kris Crawford, who has 2 other pit bulls that are also certified SAR dogs! Dakota is so good at what she does, NASA handpicked Kris and Dakota to assist in the recovery of the Astronauts after the tragic 2003 shuttle disaster. Kris and Dakota were also involved in the Laci Peterson investigation. Kris and her team have been involved in many cases and have made national news on several occasions. Cheyenne, Dakota and Tahoe are also...

US Apache Helicopter crews were on a training mission with foreign pilots on the morning of February 1, 2003. Gun-camera footage picks up the shuttle as it enters the atmosphere over Central Texas...

Astronauts returning to the moon could be threatened by cosmic rays as a result of the sun becoming less active, scientists have said. The sun's ability to shield the solar system from harmful radiation could falter in the early 2020s, research from the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology claimed.At about the same time, the American space agency Nasa plans to send astronauts back to the moon.

As the presidential race enters its final week and the candidates step up their efforts to woo the space vote, both sides are trotting out the biggest space guns they can find: Apollo astronauts. Over the weekend, Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham toured cities around Florida to help promote Republican hopeful Sen. John McCain’s campaign by backing the candidate and his space platform. Cunningham said he had never campaigned for a candidate before but said that unlike Democratic contender Sen. Barack Obama, McCain had a track record supporting NASA and was more reliable on the issue. Obama, he said, was...

Are these pilots, or just spam in a can? On Sept 25th 2008, China launched a Shenzhou VII spacecraft starting their third manned space mission. The three man crew of "taikonauts" (that's Chinaspeak for astronauts) includes mission Commander Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng. All three men are 42 years old and all are pilots from the People's Liberation Army Air Force. Commander Zhigang will perform an EVA during the mission, becoming the first Chinese taikonaut to do a spacewalk. It's too bad they don't have Laika the Russian space dog with them. If they did, they could take...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The crews of the space shuttle and station said a teary farewell, then sealed the hatches between them Sunday after more than a week of working tirelessly together to build a bigger and better scientific outpost in orbit. Atlantis was scheduled to undock early Monday, its load considerably lighter than when it arrived Feb. 9 with Europe's premiere space laboratory, Columbus. Astronaut Daniel Tani was especially emotional as he left the international space station, his home for the past four months. Before floating into Atlantis for his long-overdue ride home, Tani paid tribute to his mother,...

Uncrewed Orion could find astronauts lost in space 17:26 19 December 2007 NewScientist.com news service David Shiga NASA wants its Orion spacecraft, seen here in an artist's conception, to be able to fly itself to the rescue of astronauts stranded in lunar orbit in a Moon lander vehicle (Illustration: NASA) NASA's Orion spacecraft could fly unpiloted to rescue astronauts stuck in orbit around the Moon, using sensors and smart navigation software the space agency is currently developing. The agency plans to carry astronauts to the Moon from 2020 aboard the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), also dubbed Orion. Once in lunar...

MOSCOW - Just a month after the Soviet Union stunned the world by putting the first artificial satellite into orbit, it boasted a new victory — a much bigger satellite carrying a mongrel dog called Laika. The mission, 50 years ago Saturday, ended sadly for Laika but helped pave the way for human flight. As with other episodes of the Soviet space program, Laika's mission was hidden under a veil of secrecy, and only after the collapse of the Soviet Union could the participants tell the real story behind it. The satellite that carried Laika into orbit was built in...

HOUSTON - Spacewalking astronauts bolted a solar power tower to the international space station on Tuesday, completing an ambitious three-day moving process that ended with elation when the beam's giant solar panels began to unfurl. Their joy turned to concern, however, when a rip was spotted in the second solar panel. NASA needs to get the tower up and running to prevent malfunctioning station equipment from delaying the addition of a much-anticipated European research lab. A massive rotary joint is supposed to make sure the solar panel wings on the right side of the space station are facing the sun....

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts added a new room to the international space station on Friday in the way of Harmony. That's the name of the school bus-size compartment that was attached by a team of spacewalkers working outside and robot arm operators working inside. "I don't know that anybody's ever told our crew that we bring harmony with us, but we sure bring fun," Discovery's commander, Pamela Melroy, said as the spacewalk ended and the congratulations began. The Italian-built Harmony — 24 feet long and 31,000 pounds — was unloaded from the shuttle's payload bay and hoisted into place...

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - A crew that includes Malaysia's first astronaut and an American who will become the first woman to command the international space station prepared Monday for blastoff later this week. The Soyuz-FG rocket is scheduled to blast off from the Central Asian steppe on Wednesday night to take Malaysia's Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Peggy Whitson of Beaconsfield, Iowa, and Russian Yuri Malenchenko into orbit. During his 12-day space trip, Shukor is to study of the effects of microgravity and space radiation on cells and microbes, as well as experiments with proteins for a potential HIV vaccine. The rocket —...

09/06/2007 By MARCIA DUNN / Associated Press An Air Force doctor who headed a controversial astronaut health study told Congress on Thursday that NASA is discouraging open communications by rebutting reports of drunken astronauts on launch day and deriding the claims as urban legends. The bigger issue, more than drinking, is NASA's apparent disregard of mental health and behavior issues among its astronauts, and the demoralizing reluctance among flight surgeons and astronauts to report improper conduct, said Col. Richard Bachmann Jr. Last week, NASA released the results of its own internal investigation, saying it had found no evidence or even...

The lack of privacy on launch day makes it nearly impossible to hide alcohol use or alcohol-induced impairment. Could a crewmember drink to the point of inebriation in his/her room the night before launch? Certainly, but, from the time the crew wakes on launch morning until they lift off, they are surrounded by other astronauts, managers, support crew, television (TV) cameramen, still photographers, crew quarters staff and others. Breakfast, the first scheduled event, usually starts 30 minutes after wakeup and is held in the same dining room shared by support crew and operational managers." "The result of my tours and...

Ex-astronaut Wants Ankle Bracelet Off By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer ORLANDO, Fla. - Interviewing former astronaut Lisa Nowak was "like a chess game," a detective testified Friday as Nowak's attorney urged a judge to throw out evidence and a police interview in which she talked about the alleged attack on a romantic rival. Nowak also took the stand and asked the court to let her remove her electronic monitoring bracelet, complaining that it cuts her ankle and gets in the way of her military boot lace. As Nowak testified, the rival she was accused of pepper spraying in an...

listen to the question and answer session between the astronauts and students........ Link is on the right side... http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html "Morgan, Crewmates Talk With Students STS-118 astronauts take questions from students in Boise, Idaho." One of the students asks... "can you see global warming from space?" Second to answer was Clay Anderson.... "I don't know, necessarily, if I agree with that whole concept". His Bio... http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/anderson-c.html

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A close-up laser inspection by Endeavour's astronauts Sunday revealed that a 3 1/2-inch-long gouge penetrates all the way through the thermal shielding on the shuttle's belly, and had NASA urgently calculating whether risky spacewalk repairs are needed. A chunk of insulating foam smacked the shuttle at liftoff last week in an unbelievably unlucky ricochet off the fuel tank and carved out the gouge. The unevenly shaped gouge — which straddles two side-by-side thermal tiles and the corner of a third — is 3 1/2 inches long and just over 2 inches wide. Sunday's inspection showed that...

In light of the bad news that NASA has been enduring over the past couple of weeks, I think that one man and one man alone can save the program. The man whose support for the space program garnered him an honorary place amongst the astronauts of the Mercury program: Jose Jimenez! We've heard that NASA allowed some astronauts to fly while intoxicated. What the media forgets is that, as Jose pointed out so many years ago, the blast-off is the most important thing in space travel! The astronauts always take a blast before they take off! Otherwise they wouldn't...

MOSCOW. July 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's Federal Space Agency dismissed the possibility that any drunk or hungover American astronauts flew into orbit from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. "This is completely out of the question. Practically two weeks before a flight from Baikonur, cosmonauts and astronauts are put under continual medical surveillance," Roscosmos spokesman Igor Panarin said. During the last 48 hours before the flight, "they are isolated from all external contacts," he said.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EuGpfT308zY I think NASA is becoming less relevant with every year anyway.

Report: Drunk astronauts were allowed to fly BY MARTIN MERZER NASA allowed at least two astronauts to fly into space even though they were so drunk that flight surgeons considered them a safety risk, according to a report published Thursday by Aviation Week and Space Technology.In a brief account reported on the publication's website, the trade journal said an independent health panel commissioned by NASA also found a pattern of ''heavy use of alcohol'' by astronauts before launch.The report did not include any details about which astronauts or space programs were involved or how recently the problems might have...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - An independent health panel studying NASA astronauts found "heavy use of alcohol" before launch, according to a published report Thursday. Aviation Week & Space Technology, a weekly trade journal, reported the finding from the panel on its Web site. The weekly said that the committee found that on at least two occasions, astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so intoxicated that they posed a flight-safety risk. The alcohol use by astronauts was within the standard 12-hour "bottle-to-throttle" rule applied to NASA flight crew members, Aviation Week reported. The...

Excerpt - A panel reviewing astronaut health issues has found that on at least two occasions astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so intoxicated that they posed a flight-safety risk.Full story

Britain should not rule out the possibility of sending a real-life Dan Dare into space, MPs have said. A report from the Science and Technology Select Committee criticised the Government for refusing to consider the idea of future manned British space missions. Historically Britain has always rejected the notion of manned space flights because of the enormous costs involved. Although Britons have flown on the US space shuttle, the only astronauts to be launched on a British mission have been fictional, such as the comic book hero Dan Dare. But the MPs believe a blanket ban on manned missions is...

Atlantis Astronauts Inspect Shuttle Heat ShieldTariq Malik Staff Writer SPACE.com 37 minutes ago A torn insulation blanket (upper right) on the port side of the Shuttle Atlantis is shown in this video grab from the orbiter's end effector camera during a survey of the spacecraft's thermal protection system June 8, 2007. (NASA TV/Reuters) Astronauts aboard NASA's shuttle Atlantis scanned their spacecraft's heat shield for any signs of damage Saturday as they continue on course towards the International Space Station (ISS). Atlantis launched into orbit late Friday on a planned 11-day construction mission to the orbital laboratory. Commanded by veteran shuttle...

BALTIMORE - The astronauts who will service the Hubble Space Telescope were greeted enthusiastically Wednesday by astronomers who had faced the loss of the orbiting observatory when NASA canceled their mission. The seven astronauts will be "doing as much as we can cram in" to the September 2008 servicing mission that will keep the Hubble alive, mission commander Scott Altman told a crowded auditorium at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which coordinates the use of the telescope. "We will do our absolute best to leave the telescope in the most phenomenal condition that it can be when we let go...

When astronauts return from space, what they talk about isn't the brute force of the rocket launch or the exhilaration of zero gravity — it's the view. And it's mankind's rarest view of all, Earth from afar. Only two dozen men — those who journeyed to the moon — have seen the full Earth view. Most space travelers, in low orbit, see only a piece of the planet — a lesser but still impressive glimpse. They have seen the curvature of Earth, its magnificent beauty, its fragility, and its lack of borders. The first full view of Earth came from...

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) discarded an unmanned cargo ship packed full of trash Tuesday as they ready the orbital laboratory to welcome a new crew. ISS Expedition 14 commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Sunita Williams successfully jettisoned the unmanned Russian supply ship Progress 23 at 2:11 p.m. EDT (1811 GMT) to help prime the station for the April arrival of two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. space tourist. "This was the longest increment we have had to date," Ginger Kerrick, NASA's lead Expedition 14 flight director, in a mission briefing. "I'm proud of...

Lunar dust 'may harm astronauts' By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News, Houston Lunar dust brought back to Earth from the Apollo 17 mission Scientists are investigating the possible threat posed to astronauts by inhaling lunar dust. A study suggests the smallest particles in lunar dust might be toxic, if comparisons with dust inhalation cases on Earth apply. Teams hope to carry out experiments on mice to determine whether this is the case or not. Nasa has set up a working group to look into the matter ahead of its planned return to the Moon by 2020. A team at...

ORLANDO, Fla. - The space shuttle pilot at the center of a bizarre love triangle that now has astronaut Lisa Nowak facing attempted kidnapping charges told detectives Nowak "seemed a little disappointed" but accepting when he told her he was dating another woman, court records released Tuesday show. That conversation was in January. On Feb. 5, Nowak drove 900 miles from Houston to Orlando to confront the other woman. Police say Nowak, a mother of three, donned a wig and followed Colleen Shipman from an airport terminal to her car to confront her, then pepper sprayed her through a cracked...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- What would happen if an astronaut came unglued in space and, say, destroyed the ship's oxygen system or tried to open the hatch and kill everyone aboard? That was the question on some minds after the apparent breakdown of Lisa Nowak, arrested in Orlando this month on charges she tried to kidnap and kill a woman she regarded as her rival for another astronaut's affections. It turns out NASA has a detailed set of written procedures for dealing with a suicidal or psychotic astronaut in space. The documents, obtained this week by The Associated Press, say...

SAN FRANCISCO (Feb. 18) - An asteroid may come uncomfortably close to Earth in 2036 and the United Nations should assume responsibility for a space mission to deflect it, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists said on Saturday. Astronomers are monitoring an asteroid named Apophis, which has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036. Although the odds of an impact by this particular asteroid are low, a recent congressional mandate for NASA to upgrade its tracking of near-Earth asteroids is expected to uncover hundreds, if not thousands of threatening space rocks in the near...

Astronauts heading to the Moon should learn the art of cross-country skiing, a scientist who flew on the last lunar Apollo mission claims. Harrison Schmitt, part of the 1972 Apollo 17 crew, said it would allow them to explore faster and more easily. Addressing scientists in San Francisco, he said his knowledge of Nordic skiing had allowed him to glide effortlessly across the dusty lunar surface. The US space agency (Nasa) will send manned missions to the moon by 2020. "When you're cross-country skiing, once you get a rhythm going, you propel yourself with a toe push as you slide...

MIDI - MAJOR TOM (near the bottom of the midi site) Oefelein's the guy...hunky pilot Joystick's on her mind...all the time Now Lisa has been charged...the DA filed it It was Lust in Space The poor astronaut...poor astronaut On rival Colleen, she was preying She had tubing and...a big knife She practiced several times her pepper spraying It was Lust in Space Poor astronaut...poor astronaut 5 4 3 2 1....there's no time to be a wiper Lisa had to put some diapers on She drove on and on a thousand miles She must be on time for the plane...

...."Veteran NASA flight surgeon and professional psychiatrist Patricia Santy worked at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston from 1984 to 1991, eventually becoming flight surgeon, or flight doctor, at Mission Control Center. She also is a board-certified psychiatrist, and helped develop psychiatric standards used to assess astronaut applicants in that period. She literally wrote the book on the physiological analysis involved in choosing space flyers titled "Choosing the Right Stuff: The Psychological Selection of Astronauts and Cosmonauts." She is widely regarded as a leading authority on the psychology of human spaceflight."...

Even before she was charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted kidnapping and three other crimes, there were signs that not everything was right in her life UNTIL a few months ago, Lisa Nowak’s life seemed to be on a perfect trajectory. She became an astronaut after winning a series of Navy service awards. She had flown on the shuttle Discovery, and was a mother of three children. She said in a September interview with Ladies Home Journal that her husband, Richard, “works in Mission Control, so he’s part of the whole space business, too. And supportive also.� But even...