by Ben | Mar 15, 2024 | NASA
Fifty-five years ago today, NASA astronauts James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart splashed down 4.5 nautical miles from the USS Guadalcanal, concluding a successful 10-day Earth-orbital mission in space. In this image from March 13, 1969, a...
by Ben | Mar 13, 2024 | NASA
By Andrew Chaikin, Independent Space Historian and member of the NESC Human Factors Technical Discipline Team I recently watched NESC Deputy Director Mike Kirsch stand before a roomful of engineers at the Langley Research Center and tell them that with every...
by Ben | Mar 8, 2024 | NASA
Astronaut David R. Scott, command module pilot for the Apollo 9 Earth-orbital mission, stands in the command module’s open hatch during his stand-up spacewalk on March 6, 1969. Astronaut Russell L. Schweickart, lunar module pilot, took this...
by Ben | Feb 21, 2024 | NASA
Following the success of the Apollo 8 circumlunar mission, NASA believed that it could achieve a Moon landing by the summer of 1969 and meet President John F. Kennedy’s goal. Much work remained to accomplish that objective. Three crews and their backups trained for...
by Ben | Feb 14, 2024 | NASA
In early 1969, the goal set by President John F. Kennedy to land a man on the Moon seemed within reach. A new president, Richard M. Nixon, now sat in the White House and needed to chart America’s course in space in the post-Apollo era. President Nixon...