Apollo 11 Moon Landing 40th Anniversary

Comment by James Everitt on July 14, 2009 at 2:09pm

We Choose The Moon

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has launched a new website. The goal of the website is to allow visitors to experience the Apollo 11 mission in real time. In fact, the website will go live at 9:32am on July 16th which is exactly 40 years to the minute after the historic launch.

The website is sponsored by the JFK Presidential Library and Museum because it was under President Kennedy’s direction that a mission to the moon be planned and executed. To allow visitors to experience the Apollo 11 mission as it happened the website utilizes archival audio, video, photos and “real time” transmissions. Besides the AOL powered website, visitors can also receive mission updates through three different Twitter accounts.

A mission widget is also available for download which will allow folks to keep track of the mission on their desktop or through their Facebook or MySpace pages. The website will even allow for updates to be received via email by simply signing up on the website’s mailing list. The concept for the website was originally dreamed up by The Martin Agency which is a 15-year partner of the JFK Presidential Library and Museum.

Read more at the press release and the We Choose The Moon website.

Brian’s Opinion
What a fantastic way for children born after the moon landing to experience it as it was experienced by millions of others almost 40 years ago. It’s also a great way for those who experienced it 40 years ago to remember what it was like to be a part of an event that was so historic. The good news is that thanks to modern technology the moon mission can be experienced in a way which would have been inconceivable 40 years ago.

During the original moon mission folks had basically three ways to receive mission updates. They could choose from their television, radio or newspaper. Now the “sky is the limit” thanks to the Internet. Now mission updates can be received via Facebook, MySpace or even Twitter.

It’s good to relive the accomplishment of the moon landing in a time where NASA attempts to return to the moon in only a few years. It’s really amazing if you think about it that we basically went to the moon and then simply decided to focus on orbiting the Earth. Now that NASA’s mission to the stars is back in focus it’s a good time to remember why it’s so important that we push the limits of human exploration to beyond Earth’s orbit. It also a little bewildering to think that what NASA is trying to do now was already accomplished 40 years ago. Of course, now NASA wants to do it safer. Thus, the many years of delay.

Comment by James Everitt on July 16, 2009 at 3:47am

We Choose the Moon

As we sit at the precipice of a new era of exploration, I thought it appropriate to revisit the original inspiration and rationale for the first lunar exploration program as so eloquently stated by John F. Kennedy. The original speech by JFK was held in Houston, TX at the Rice Stadium in the fall of 1962.

"Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, 'Because it is there.' Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."

-John F. Kennedy, Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962

Comment by James Everitt on July 16, 2009 at 9:47am

Restored Apollo 11 Moonwalk Video Released

The U.S. space agency has made public a newly restored video from the July 20, 1969, live television broadcast of the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

The release commemorates the 40th anniversary of the first mission to land astronauts on the moon.

NASA officials said the initial video release is part of a larger Apollo 11 moonwalk restoration project, featuring 15 key moments from the historic lunar excursion of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The restoration effort is to be completed in September.

NASA Television will provide a high definition video feed of the Apollo footage hourly from 12-7 p.m. EDT Thursday and Friday. Each feed is one hour. NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information is available at NASA Television

A copy of the newly restored scenes from the Apollo 11 restoration effort can be found at Apollo 11 Partial Restoration HD Videos

A video edit commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first walk on the moon. The lift off was July 16, 1969. The moon landing and first walk took place July 20, 1969. Astronauts on the flight Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins, and Buss Aldrin. (All footage of the Apollo 11 mission supplied by NASA)

Comment by James Everitt on August 2, 2009 at 9:30am

PLEASE CONTACT: Human Space Flight Committee

It's time for NASA to get back on track

By WALTER CUNNINGHAM
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 1, 2009, 7:47PM

The Review of the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee is expected to publish its report at the end of the month. It is charged with the thankless task of reaffirming or redirecting NASA's vision for space exploration. What should the agency be doing with its existing hardware and its plans for the future? The real catch is the part of their charter that reads, “fitting within the current budget profile for NASA exploration activities.”

Money isn't NASA's only problem, but it has been its biggest problem for decades. NASA is one of the most successful agencies in history, providing the best return on investment of any government agency in my lifetime.

My main concerns with NASA's plans going forward include the decision to ground the space shuttle, the woefully inadequate funding for the last several decades and the absence of a space program that will restore the sense of wonder and adventure to space exploration that we knew in the 1960s.

The continuing debate for several years over the Constellation program and alternatives to the Orion/Ares architecture needs to be resolved. There is a general feeling that NASA's 2007 trade-off study of those alternatives, updated last year, is tainted and protective of the status quo. NASA officials are best qualified to make that evaluation if they can find it within themselves to be objective.

The international space station is one of the great engineering marvels of history and is now funded only through 2015. The political decision to make Russia a full partner in the ISS condemned it to a 51.6-degree orbit. That orbit has pretty well compromised its utilization for anything but a laboratory in space. There are many highly qualified scientists prepared to exploit the ISS beyond 2015. We should fund it and operate it for as long as it is viable.

NASA's current plans call for grounding the shuttle in 2010, launching an Orion/Ares mission in 2015, returning to the moon by 2020 and flying a mission to Mars “sometime after 2030.” The 2015 date could easily slip to 2016 or beyond, and is only crucial in limiting “the gap” created by the arbitrary and self-imposed grounding of the shuttle and the first flight of our next-generation manned spacecraft. The 2020 date is only significant if we choose to compete with the Russians or the Chinese who, conceivably, could land a man on the moon in that time frame. If NASA meets either or both of these deadlines, it contributes nothing to maintaining America's preeminence in space, which should be our principal focus.

I believe strongly that we should continue to fly the shuttle while we develop our next generation of spacecraft in an orderly fashion. Continuing shuttle operations will automatically minimize any gap, eliminate pressure on the first manned Orion/Ares mission date, allow time to update trade-off studies of Ares, shuttle-C, Jupiter 120, Delta IV and any other candidate, and allow NASA to retain its trained work force. Continuing to fly the space shuttle is the only practical way to shorten “the gap” and remove our vulnerability to future Russian political pressure. The only price we would pay is a delay in the non-time-critical deployment of the next-generation spacecraft.

CONTINUE READING ARTICLE.....

PLEASE CONTACT: Human Space Flight Committee

Comment by James Everitt on August 7, 2009 at 11:32am

Space Subsite Home

Be sure to visit Space Quotes to Ponder
What famous people (and some not famous) have said about why humankind must expand into space!

The Importance of Human Space Exploration

People complain about costly things such as space exploration and high energy physics experiments. Why spend money on these things when we have issues like poverty?

This argument is nihilistic. Why do we build monuments, paint, make films, write music, when there is still poverty all around? There is enough food in the world; poverty is the result of politics, exploitation and war above all.

Human space exploration is one of our greatest achievements. To try and rationalize unmanned space flight on the grounds of practicality misses the point, it is like saying that the Sistine Chapel would be brighter if it were whitewashed.

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your Eyes Turned Skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."

It's a famous line, seen often online and in print. It's almost always in quotation marks, and it's almost always attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. But that is wrong. How could Leonardo (1452 - 1519) taste flight? I've searched for years, but have never found definitive source information for this line. National Geographic Magazine researchers talked to a leading da Vinci expert who said Leonardo never wrote it. But this 'quote' holds a strong appeal to our psyche, as many of us have our eyes, minds and hearts turned upward to space. So it's my title here. A place where astronomers and astronauts, dreamers and doers, share with us their best quotes on space. And the title is a reminder to me to be as accurate as I can.

This is a growing collection of man's first-hand thoughts on the universe around us. Please feel welcome to help by emailing me with additions, corrections or any other thoughts. I hope you enjoy the view.



Colonizing Space - Watch Documentary Online - Docu-log.com - The most amazing home videos are here

Comment by James Everitt on August 23, 2009 at 9:32am

Do Aliens Exist?

Aliens Exist: Are Aliiens Among Us?

In Hollywood, extraterrestrials always seem to favor the grand entrance. They land on the White House lawn and implore us to end our violent ways (The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951). They replace the citizens of a California town with listless pod people (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956). They persuade Richard Dreyfuss to play with his mashed potatoes (Close Encounters, 1977). They even look like David Bowie (The Man Who Fell to Earth, 1976). Right now, in fact, two unrelated alien posses are invading theaters near you: the insectoid stars of District 9, who make their presence known by parking a UFO above Johannesburg, and the hyperactive green gremlins of Aliens in the Attic, who battle a group of plucky tweens over a Midwestern rental home. (Listen to Andrew Romano on our fascination with whether aliens exist.)

But even if E.T. exists off the silver screen, the chances that he'll discover us any time soon are vanishingly slim (Reese's Pieces or not). After all, projects like SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) have been waiting since 1960 for aliens to make contact—without hearing the slightest peep. The good news, however, is that some scientists are finally focusing on the other side of the equation: a series of high-tech missions designed to help us find them. And even at this early stage, the circumstantial evidence they've gathered has made it clear that we're probably not alone in the universe.

Here's what we know. In 1995, Swiss astronomers pinpointed the first-extrasolar planet. Unfortunately, it was a giant ball of gas orbiting so close to its sun that it glowed with enough heat and radiation to vaporize even the hardiest little green men. But at least the discovery proved that planets occurred outside our own cozy solar system. A few years later, "super-Earths" started to reveal themselves—smaller, firmer, at a discrete distance from their companion stars. Although these planets are much larger and less temperate than ours, they prompted some astronomers to estimate that perhaps half of the 200 billion or so suns in the Milky Way support terrestrial, Earth-like worlds.

We've also discovered that water, the essential ingredient for life, exists elsewhere in the universe—starting with our own solar backyard. Robots have spotted gullies freshly carved in the sides of Martian hills—evidence of recent upwellings. In June, astronomers observed geysers of water vapor on Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons. Even ghastly Jupiter is a candidate—or at least its moons Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, the last of which may have oceans larger than ours hidden beneath its crust of perpetual ice.

"We will know." CONTINUE: Aliens Exist: Are Aliiens Among Us?

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