Tag Archives: SpaceShuttle

Pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong dies at 82

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Pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong dies at 82

It's a story that we hoped we'd never have to report. Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on Earth's Moon, has died at the age of 82 after complications from heart surgery three weeks earlier. His greatest accomplishment very nearly speaks for itself -- along with help from fellow NASA astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, he changed the landscape of space exploration through a set of footprints. It's still important to stress his accomplishments both before and after the historic Apollo 11 flight, though. He was instrumental to the Gemini and X-series test programs in the years before Apollo, and followed his moonshot with roles in teaching aerospace engineering as well as investigating the Apollo 13 and Space Shuttle Challenger incidents. What more can we say? Although he only spent a very small portion of his life beyond Earth's atmosphere, he's still widely considered the greatest space hero in the US, if not the world, and inspired a whole generation of astronauts. We'll miss him.

[Image credit: NASA Apollo Archive]

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Pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong dies at 82 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 15:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google takes one giant leap: now lets you Street View the Kennedy Space Center

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Google takes one giant leap: now lets you Street View the Kennedy Space Center

Today's a stupendous day for lovers of the one and only National Aeronautics Space Administration -- nearly half as great as when we took you inside Kennedy Space Center shortly after it had opened its fascinating doors to the public. At any rate, Google announced earlier that its captivating (and sometimes troubling) Street View technology had made its way into NASA's KSC, allowing people to check out what the compound is all about and what sort of sensational machinery lies inside. With Mountain View's doings, you can now find your way around different spots within the Space Center, including the Launch Firing Room, Vehicle Assembly Building and, as seen above, the Space Shuttle Launch Pad. There's a video past the break if you're interested in a quick preview, otherwise you can give it a go yourself by clicking the more coverage link below.

Continue reading Google takes one giant leap: now lets you Street View the Kennedy Space Center

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Google takes one giant leap: now lets you Street View the Kennedy Space Center originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sally Ride, first American woman in space, dies at 61 (updated)

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Sally Ride, first American woman in space, dies at 61

It's a sad day for space travel. Sally Ride, the first American woman to ever travel to space, has died at the age of 61 after a bout with pancreatic cancer. She's best known for breaking NASA's gender barrier by flying on Space Shuttle Challenger on June 18th, 1983, but she spent much more of her time guiding our future in space while here on Earth -- she founded NASA's Office of Exploration and directed its early strategy, and she later went on to lead the California Space Institute as well as teach physics at the University of California in San Diego. Her final decade saw her establish Sally Ride Science to encourage students wanting to follow in her footsteps, especially girls. Ride blazed one of the brighter trails in technology, and she'll be missed.

Update: Ride is survived by her same-sex partner of 27 years, Dr. Tam O'Shaughnessy.

[Image credit: National Archives]

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Sally Ride, first American woman in space, dies at 61 (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Space Shuttle Enterprise ready to go on display, space travel gets its fitting tribute

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Space Shuttle Enterprise at sea

The Enterprise has been on what we'd call a very leisurely trip around the East coast, but it's finally time for the original Space Shuttle to settle down. As of Thursday, the only way to glimpse the prototype spacecraft will be under an inflatable roof at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. It's a quiet yet noble end for the vehicle, which didn't go on formal missions but set the ground-- sorry, spacework for the Shuttles that came later. If you're interested in seeing more animated forms of the Enterprise's legacy, you can either sit down to watch its namesake TV franchise or follow the private expeditions that owe it a debt of gratitude.

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Space Shuttle Enterprise ready to go on display, space travel gets its fitting tribute originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inside NASA’s Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center

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Inside NASA's Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center

At the dawn of the Space Shuttle program, NASA's Launch Control Center (LCC) was placed off limits for public tours. On June 15, however, busses embellished with Kennedy Space Center (KSC) decals began whisking visitors off to the control complex for the first time in more than three decades - nearly a year after the final shuttle mission last summer.

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After clearing a security checkpoint, our bus wheels its way deep into Kennedy Space Center, NASA's 240,000-acre property on Merritt Island, Fla., that doubles as a wildlife refuge. The monolithic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) comes into view and grows larger as we approach. Referred to by NASA employees as the heart of the operation, the VAB houses spacecraft as they're pieced together. Once complete, a 6-million-pound crawler-transporter sidles up to the structure, gets fitted with the craft and ferries it over a gravel roadway to the launch pad 3.4 miles away. The LCC, which staff dubbed the brains of the system, is adjoined to the VAB by a slim corridor protruding from its boxy, white exterior.

Gallery: NASA's Launch Control Center

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Inside NASA's Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visualized: Enterprise cruises around Jersey on its air, land and sea triathlon

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On our last episode of "Spot the Enterprise," the grizzled shuttle prototype was being unloaded from a wheeled transporter after a private 747 flight. Now it's arrived on a barge at New Jersey, and onlookers on cruise ships, beaches and Coney Island were treated to a glimpse of the wayfaring craft. After a quick layover, it'll begin the final stage of its comeback tour by sailing up the Hudson River where it'll thrill crowds forever more at Manhattan's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Big show-off.

Visualized: Enterprise cruises around Jersey on its air, land and sea triathlon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 01:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visualized: Space Shuttle Enterprise disembarks the 747 en-route to its watery retirement home

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Two weeks after arriving into JFK on the back of a Boeing 747, the Enterprise has been hoisted from the back of the jet and onto a wheeled transporter. From there, the prototype spacecraft will be taken down the Hudson river on a barge, where it'll end up exhibited on the flight desk of the USS Intrepid (CV-11). The museum will open on July 19th, while the plane that carried it has one more historic flight to carry out -- taking the Endeavour to the California Science Center before both are retired.

[Image Credit: Dennis Jenkins / Collectspace.com]

Continue reading Visualized: Space Shuttle Enterprise disembarks the 747 en-route to its watery retirement home

Visualized: Space Shuttle Enterprise disembarks the 747 en-route to its watery retirement home originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 May 2012 06:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Artificial Space Shuttle Explorer readies for launch at sea, journey to Houston

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Artificial Space Shuttle Explorer readies for launch at sea, journey to Houston

Were you asleep at mission control during Endeavor's final flight? Did you forget to look to the New York City skyline for the Enterprise's last adventure? Buck up buttercup, there's still one Space Shuttle launch you haven't missed -- a faux Space Shuttle, named Explorer, is prepping itself to ride a barge to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The full-size shuttle mockup was shuffled out of the Kennedy Space Center Complex to make way for an actual spacecraft last year, and will now embark on a ten day journey by sea to its new home in Texas. "NASA's Space Shuttle changed the way we think about space, making it more accessible, understandable and useful," stated Space Center Houston President, Richard Allen. "It is our intent to continue that legacy with this exciting new attraction." The replica shuttle will be getting a few upgrades, including a new cockpit that more closely resembles the interior of space shuttle Atlantis, and will be housed in a new education facility that is being built around the mock spacecraft. Sure, it's not as exciting as a legitimate shuttle launch, but we're still happy to give the old bird one final send off.

Artificial Space Shuttle Explorer readies for launch at sea, journey to Houston originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 May 2012 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Commercial space shuttle prototypes fly through wind tunnel testing

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Commercial space shuttle prototypes fly through wind tunnel testing

A pair of companies developing their own commercial space shuttles are presumably trying to flatten their hair after some rigorous wind tunnel testing. First up, Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos (the guy behind Amazon), a company that's remained pretty quiet on its efforts to shuttle astronauts to the International Space Station. Its Space Vehicle setup will plump for a biconic shape (seen above), with a flattened side and a split flap. According to Blue Origin's president, Rob Meyerson, the shape allows greater volume than traditional designs, but forgo the "weight penalty" of winged craft. Compared to earlier capsules, the Space Vehicle's shape, with its fuselage flap to generate lift, should also give it better control on re-entry to earth.

Juggling for wind tunnel time, Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser has also been blasted with smoke to test its own air resistance credentials. Its module would lauch from the top of the rocket, and glide (as much as anything that costs this much can) back to earth like NASA's own space shuttles. The Dream Chaser is planning its first flight for this fall. You can check out its more traditional take on the future of space travel after the break -- and decide which of the two you'll want sending your children to the mines.

[Picture credit: Blue Origin, SNC]

Continue reading Commercial space shuttle prototypes fly through wind tunnel testing

Commercial space shuttle prototypes fly through wind tunnel testing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Space Shuttle Enterprise flying over NYC this morning

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Space Shuttle Enterprise

JFK may be a place that many, many people have gone to before, but it's safe to say that the Space Shuttle Enterprise will be going there boldly. Much like the Space Shuttle Discovery turned heads in DC last week, Space Shuttle Enterprise will be stopping traffic in New York City today. NASA has confirmed that today's 747-100 ferry flight across Manhattan is a "Go" and that the duo will "fly at a relatively low altitude over various parts of the New York City metropolitan area on Friday" before landing at JFK. The Shuttle will then, in the coming weeks, be put on a ferry of a floating variety and brought to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Today's flying tour is scheduled to take place between 9:30 and 11:30 am and... oh look, at the time, we must be going.

Update: NASA has confirmed takeoff from Dulles! The flight plan is not known, but as before your best bet is to follow the #spottheshuttle hashtag on Twitter.

PSA: Space Shuttle Enterprise flying over NYC this morning originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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