Archives for the 'history' Category
Explorer 1
Published on 30 Jan 2008 at 5:15 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under history, space exploration.
Tomorrow, January 31, marks 50 years in space for the United States.
50 years ago, on the evening of January 31, 1958, a Juno rocket (also known as a Jupiter-C rocket), which was basically a modified Redstone ballistic missile, roared to life on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, in Florida. Seconds later, at […]
2007 –> 2008
Published on 31 Dec 2007 at 7:10 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under history, time.
Happy New Year!
The Earth has completed one more trip around the Sun since my last New Year’s posting. So, we increment the calendar by one year. January 1 has not always been the date marking a new year, but today it is. You can read my post from last year for more […]
JPL 2008 Rose Parade Float
Published on 28 Dec 2007 at 1:09 pm.
5 Comments.
Filed under NASA, history.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is located in Pasadena, California. (Actually, only a small portion of the facility is actually in Pasadena. The rest is in the city of La Canada Flintridge. However, the front gate is in Pasadena, and Pasadena is much easier to say than La Canada Flintridge.) Pasadena, though, […]
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You are go for launch!
Published on 8 Nov 2007 at 6:46 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under history, space exploration.
Both the United States and the Soviet Union had planned to launch a satellite during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958. The Soviets got their satellite, Sputnik, off first, on October 3, 1957. I wrote about that a little over a month ago. American rocket scientists, of course, knew that the Soviets […]
The Legacy of Sputnik
Published on 4 Oct 2007 at 4:27 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under history, space exploration.
The Legacy of Sputnik
50 Years Ago
Published on 3 Oct 2007 at 7:02 pm.
8 Comments.
Filed under history, space exploration.
50 years ago a Soviet R-7 missile sat on its launch pad at its Tyuratam Cosmodrome. The R-7 missile was the creation of Sergei Korolev, a name not known to the western world for many years thereafter. Originally designed to carry a multi-ton nuclear warhead, this missile was carrying another of Korolev’s creations: […]
Speculum Metal Mirrors
Published on 1 Oct 2007 at 4:10 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under history, telescopes.
In my office and at home are a lot of books. Some of these books are quite old. I have a few hand-me-down books that an old astronomy professor gave to me when he retired. At least one of those, his professor had given to him. I like my old books. […]
