On this day (18th May 2017), 26 years ago, in 1991, Helen Sharman Became Britain’s first astronaut!
Photo Source – RocketSTEM
27 year old Sharman, from Sheffield, blasted into to orbit, from Baikonur cosmodrome in the Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, with fellow astronauts, Anatoly Artebartsky and Sergei Krikalyov – aboard the Soviet Soyuz TM-12 space capsule.
“Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary”
Helen Sharman, a former chemist, won her place in space in 1989, after answering an advertisement she heard on the radio – “Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary”.
The countdown is on for the launch of the Lego Saturn V moon rocket.
On Friday (April 28), Lego rolled out its first photos and filed its “launch plan” for its “NASA Apollo Saturn V” set to be released on June 1. The towering model – the toy brick rocket when fully assembled will stand more than 3 feet tall!
Source – Lego via collectSPACE.com
With 1,969 pieces, it Includes – three stands to display the rocket model horizontally, astronaut microfigures for role-play recreations of the moon landings, plus a booklet about the manned Apollo missions and the fan designers of this educational and inspirational Lego Ideas set!
Recommended for Lego fans 14 years of age or older, the NASA Apollo Saturn V set will go on sale just five months before the 50th anniversary of the first Saturn V launch in November 1967!
The story of a team of African-American women mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the US space program.
The intellectuals, played a pivotal role in the launch of the now late astronaut John Glenn into orbit, as well as orchestrating his safe return.
This film is inspiring, uplifting and exciting!
The courage and determination shown by these women is something to be admired by all!
It showcases what can be done in the face of adversity, when sexism and racism tries to put you in ‘a box’, and what can happen when these walls are knocked down!
I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who is interested in Astrophysics, STEM, Spaceflight or the history of NASA!
A fantastic film based on an untold true story, it’s not to be missed!
Red Bull Stratos was a space diving project involving Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner.
On 14 October 2012, Baumgartner flew approximately 39 kilometres (24 mi) into the stratosphere over New Mexico, United States, in a helium balloon before free falling in a pressure suit and then parachuting to Earth.
He ascended to 128,100 feet in a stratospheric balloon and made a freefall jump rushing toward Earth at supersonic speeds before parachuting to the ground. His successful feat on Oct. 14, 2012 holds the potential to provide valuable medical and scientific research data for future pioneers.
The Red Bull Stratos team brings together the world’s leading minds in aerospace medicine, engineering, pressure suit development, capsule creation and balloon fabrication. Retired United States Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, previously held the record jump from 102,800 ft in 1960. This was during a time when no one knew if a human could survive a jump from the edge of space. Joe was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and had already taken a balloon to 97,000 feet in Project ManHigh and survived a drogue mishap during a jump from 76,400 feet in Excelsior I. The Excelsior III mission was his 33rd parachute jump.
Although researching extremes was part of the program’s goals, setting records wasn’t the mission’s purpose. Joe ascended in helium balloon launched from the back of a truck. He wore a pressurized suit on the way up in an open, unpressurized gondola. Scientific data captured from Joe’s jump was shared with U.S. research personnel for development of the space program. Today Felix and his specialized team want to take what was learned from Joe’s jumps more than 50 years ago, and combine that with data aquired during Felix’s supersonic freefall.
Scientific benefits
There were many unknowns about what would happen with Baumgartner when he jumped, the biggest of which was what breaking the sound barrier would do to his body. Gathered information on the feasibility of high-altitude bailouts will be useful to the budding commercial space-flight industry.
Dr. Jonathan Clark, medical director of the project, said:
We’ll be setting new standards for aviation. Never before has anyone reached the speed of sound without being in an aircraft. Red Bull Stratos is testing new equipment and developing the procedures for inhabiting such high altitudes as well as enduring such extreme acceleration. The aim is to improve the safety for space professionals as well as potential space tourists.
The project provided data for the development of high-performance, high-altitude parachute systems. It has been stated these will inform the development of new ideas for emergency evacuation from vehicles, such as spacecraft, passing through the stratosphere.
On 22 February 2013, FAI announced that Baumgartner had broken three of the four planned records.
The jump records Baumgartner attained:
Exit altitude of 38.9694 kilometres (24.2145 mi)
Maximum vertical speed (without drogue) of 1,357.6 kilometres per hour (843.6 mph)
Vertical distance of freefall (without drogue) of 36,402.6 metres (119,431 ft)
Facts!
To make Felix’s balloon rise into the air, his engineers needed to fill the balloon with a gas that is lighter than air.
Helium is a gas that is about seven times less dense than air (i.e. 7 times lighter).
Once the balloon was at the correct height, the engineers had to release some of the helium out of the balloon.
When the balloon and capsule were at neutral buoyancy, i.e. not floating up and not dropping down, Felix could then complete his jump.
The spacecraft that carried Tim Peake to and from the International Space Station (ISS) last year has gone on display at London’s Science Museum.
The museum says, the Russian capsule, is an important part of UK space history and hopes it will inspire the public.
The Soyuz TMA-19M has been refurbished, but is still slightly singed from re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Business Secretary Greg Clark has confirmed that Major Peake will make a second mission to the space station.
The timing will be decided by the European Space Agency (ESA).
Mr Clark said: “Tim Peake’s Principia mission inspired a generation, and showed just how far science can take you”.
Tim Peake said he was delighted to see the capsule in the UK: “I hope that for everybody who gets to visit it will have a really great source of inspiration and maybe sow the seeds of future dreams for other people”.
Just over a year ago, Tim Peake set off for his mission to the International Space Station.
Executives at the Science Museum hope the spacecraft’s connection to the British astronaut will prove a major draw.
The right-hand seat was Tim’s and from it he looked out of the window and saw the curvature of the Earth for the first time. It was also from this window that he witnessed what it was like to re-enter the atmosphere at the end of his mission.
The spacecraft provides the UK with a link to its own astronauts and a reminder of its role in space exploration.
The Science Museum says that it wants the display to inspire those that see it, especially children – many of whom might wish to follow in Major Peake’s footsteps.
Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, died Monday January 16th aged 82, surrounded by his family.
Cernan, a Captain in the U.S. Navy, left his mark on the history of exploration by flying three times in space, twice to the Moon. He also holds the distinction of being the second American to walk in space and the last human to leave his footprints on the Lunar surface.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement after Cernan’s death, “Truly, America has lost a patriot and pioneer who helped shape our country’s bold ambitions to do things that humankind had never before achieved”.
A statement from Cernan’s family said in part, “Even at the age of 82, Gene was passionate about sharing his desire to see the continued human exploration of space and encouraged our nation’s leaders and young people to not let him remain the last man to walk on the Moon”.
Gene Cernan was one of 14 astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963. He piloted the Gemini 9 mission with Commander Thomas P. Stafford on a three-day flight in June 1966. He logged more than two hours outside the orbiting capsule.
In May 1969, he was the Lunar module pilot of Apollo 10, the first comprehensive lunar-orbital qualification and verification test of the lunar lander. The mission confirmed the performance, stability, and reliability of the Apollo command, service and lunar modules. The mission included a descent to within eight nautical miles of the Moon’s surface.
“We leave as we came, and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind”. – Cernan’s closing words on leaving the moon at the end of Apollo 17.
Hidden Figures, based on a true story. A team of African-American women provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program’s first successful space missions.
The incredible untold story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) – Brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
Vera Rubin, from Philadelphia, helped find powerful evidence of dark matter by discovering galaxies don’t quite rotate in the way they were predicted. Sadly died aged 88, her son said on Monday.
She died on Sunday evening (25.12.16) of natural causes, Allan Rubin told the Associated Press. The professor of geosciences at Princeton University said his mother, a Philadelphia native, had been living in the Princeton area.
Vera Rubin found that galaxies don’t quite rotate the way they were predicted, and that lent support to the theory that some other force was at work, namely dark matter.
Dark matter, which hasn’t been directly observed, makes up 27% of the universe – as opposed to 5% of the universe being normal observable matter. Scientists better understand what dark matter is not rather than what it is.
Rubin’s scientific achievements earned her numerous honours, including becoming the second female astronomer to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She also received the National Medal of Science from President Bill Clinton in 1993 ‘for her pioneering research programs in observational cosmology’.
Her interest in astronomy began as a young girl and grew with the involvement of her father, Philip Cooper, an electrical engineer who helped her build a telescope and took her to meetings of amateur astronomers.
She was the only astronomy major to graduate from Vassar College in 1948. When she sought to enrol as a graduate student at Princeton, she learned that women were not allowed in the university’s graduate astronomy program, so she instead earned her master’s degree from Cornell.
Rubin earned her doctorate from Georgetown University, where she was later employed as a faculty member for several years before working at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, a nonprofit scientific research centre.
During her career, Rubin examined more than 200 galaxies.
Vera Rubin uses a measuring engine in the 1970s. Source – Carnegie Institution/AP
