Happy Birthday NASA!
Fifty-three years ago today, on October 1st, 1958; NASA became an operational and fully functioning governmental administration.
From the National Archives of Australia: “In July 1979 the US Skylab space station, in a poor state of repair and with its orbit decaying, spiralled back to earth and crashed into the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Several fragments from the wreck fell in the Western Australian outback, and became popular finds. This image shows a piece of the debris on display at the 1979 Miss Universe contest held in Perth.”
Father and Son: STS-1 and STS-135 by arockalypse on Flickr.
the first and the last space shuttle launches being watched by father and son
Space shuttle beginning and end.
Tribute to the Space Shuttle from the European astronauts (by ESA)
Space Shuttle is perhaps the most complex technological system ever built. In 30 years, it has flown 135 times and helped humankind to dispatch and partially even return many satellites and deep-space probes, to build the International Space Station and to conduct out-of-this-world science. The Shuttle has transported also 24 European astronauts to Earth orbit on 25 missions.
This video highlights these flights with European flavour - from STS-9 in 1983 to STS-134 in last May.Credit: ESA
This European film and international cooperation in SPACE RULES.
Hi. This isnt really a submission, but just a question. Do you know any way to join NASA or any other organization or corporation of such? Do you a list of them? And the qualifications and everything? [popsiclesregiment]
Thank you for the question popsiclesregiment. If you dream of working in the space industry do the following:
- Stay in school
- Study math(s) and science
- Say NO to drugs
- Eat your vegetables
Initiative, problem solving skills and and a bit of creativity will help too.
Here’s a website to get you started: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/dictionary/NASA.html
Good luck and remember: SPACE RULES
Space Shuttle: Three decades in three minutes (by NPR)
Myth: Tang was invented for the NASA space program.
In fact, Tang was actually invented by chemist and occasional playwright William A. Mitchell in 1957 while he was working for General Foods. General Foods introduced Tang to the public in powder form in 1959, but it wasn’t popular initially. Eventually, NASA decided to use it in 1962 during John Glenn’s Mercury flight and later in 1965 for the Gemini program. In both instances, the Tang was used to improve the poor taste of the water from the life support system.
The usage in the Gemini program particularly contributed to the previously unpopular drink mix becoming a huge hit. Because most people were introduced to Tang for the first time through the space program, this lead to the misconception that it was invented for that program, rather than just a generally available product that NASA decided to use, as it was.
Bonus Factoids:
- Mitchell didn’t just invent Tang, he also invented Cool Whip, Pop Rocks, quick-setting Jell-O, powdered egg whites, and a popular Tapioca substitute, among other things (70 patents total). In the non-food related field, Mitchell also helped invent a chemical process for developing the color green, while working for Eastman Kodak.
Tang
Read the stories of early space exploration from the original NASA transcripts. Now open to the public in a searchable, linkable format.
NASA’s Orion Tests Used Corpses
For science - Space Rules (even when we are dead because we are all made of star dust)
