Friendship 7's Flight 50 Years Ago

As a child, I remembered asking my parents to go outside into the backyard to see if I could look up in the sky to see the Mercury capsule that was supposely flying over Texas at the time.

I would have been 2-3 years old when that happened and this memory just came up while thinking about the true meaning of this post... 50 years ago, one John Glenn Jr. in his capsule, the Friendship 7; soared into history.

Glenn's flight also marked the first time that NASA used the Atlas rocket to launch a manned Mercury capsule.

Only three orbits were made.  A decision was made to end the flight sooner rather than later due to the heat shield issue.  Glenn survived the successful re-entry by keeping the thruster pack in place - thus hold the heat shield in place.  He became a hero at that point and there was no turning back.  Politics kept him on the ground after that flight.

Fifty years is a long time.  We still have the USAF B-52s and C-130s still flying (aircraft can always be upgraded).  As for space, the Atlas has grown into the Atlas V and it too (in a sense, is still flying).

United Launch Alliance is prepping the Atlas V to be able to take three different types of spacecraft up to the International Space Station. Boeing has the CST-100 spacecraft that they are building. Then there is Sierra Nevada Corp's Dream Chaser mini-shuttle that can be stuck on top of a Atlas V.

But, getting back to John Glenn now.  He denies it, but the movie and book title "The Right Stuff" is firmly attached to his name for the rest of eternity.

Quoting the NSS blog post:  “A true American hero, Glenn ushered in American orbital spaceflight 50 years ago and brought the U.S. into the space age in earnest,” said NSS Executive Director Paul E. Damphousse.  “His service to this nation reminds us of the bravery, determination, and excitement needed to achieve these ambitious goals – we hope his example will serve to further motivate our progress in space.” end quote.

Let's also not forget that SENATOR John Glenn also has the record for being the oldest person (so far) to have travel in space.  He flew on STS-95 (shuttle Discovery) at the ripe old age of 77 for a nine-day mission.

John Glenn Jr. is a member of the NSS Board of Governors and NSS Executive Director Paul E. Damphousse added this quote:  “We expect to build upon his legacy as we advance our goals in space over the next 50 years.”  end quote.



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Ref.
1. SpaceFrontier.org."Friendship 7’s legacy is safe with Commercial Crew" by Space Fontier Foundation.  February 20, 2012. ( http://spacefrontier.org/2012/02/20/friendship-7s-legacy/ ).
2. NSS Blog. "NSS Salutes John Glenn on 50th Anniversary of Friendship 7 Space Flight" February 20, 2012. (http://blog.nss.org/?p=3300).
3. image from nasa files of Atlas/Frendship 7 launch. (http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/IMAGES/SMALL/GPN-2000-000686.jpg).

The Shuttle Fight Begins!

Its all about politics. How else can you explain New York City getting a space shuttle to sit on top of a aircraft carrier and Houston - home of the Johnson Space Center; gets nothing.

New York?!

New Frackin' York?!

President Obama must have been paying back something to Senator Charles "Chucky" Schumer(D) for New York to get the shuttlecraft Enterprise.

Right now, the Enterprise is in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

To read the NY Daily News article about efforts underway to change this out come, the senator said, "Fughgeddaboutit." Actually, the NYD News said in the opening paragraph of their news article the following: "A peeved Utah Congressman, joined by a bunch of poor-loser Texans, is mounting a campaign to yank the NASA shuttle Enterprise from the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum."

Republican Rep Jason Chaffetz of Utah is pushing a bill that will reshuffle the final resting places of the shuttle fleet. Namely, one of the shuttles (either Enterprise or Endeavour) will go to Houston, Texas. The space shuttle Discovery will replace the Enterprise at the The Smithsonian Institutions National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar facility-in Hazy Center, Va.. Cape Canaveral/ Kennedy Space Center in Florida, gets to keep the space shuttle Atlantis. And the California Science Center in Los Angeles would get the remaining shuttle.

As for this Texan. I am somewhat resigned to the fact that Texas will not get a space shuttle do to the fact that our state did not - and still doesn't support President Obama very much. But Obama can and does expect New York to carry his waste water with loving care at his beck and call.

While the Enterprise never made it up into orbit - it was only a prototype test airframe to prove the shuttle concept. To leave Houston out of the picture was the most disturbing thing about this sorry mess. To my fellow Star Trek fans - don't jump the gun too fast next time when it comes time to name another spacecraft after a famous fictional spacecraft.

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Ref.

1. NY Daily News. "Star wars: Rep calls for Houston to get NASA shuttle, not Intrepid; Schumer says 'Fugheddaboutit'" by Richard Sisk. April 15, 2011. (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/04/15/2011-04-15_rep_calls_for_houston_to_get_nasa_shuttle_enterprise_not_intrepid_schumer_says_f.html)

2. photo is AP/Lisa Nipp.

Four Women in Orbit at Same Time

Well, the old workhorse Discovery got off the pad on the first try today at 6:21am in a pre-dawn launch carrying seven astronauts and supplies up to the International Space Station (ISS).

Three on the launch of shuttlecraft Discovery and one up on the ISS already for a record of 4 females in outer space at the same time.

Here is a breakdown of the female crewmembers. Dorothy "Dottie" Metcalf-Lindenburger is 34 years old. Stephanie Wilson is the robot arm expert coming in at age 43. And Naoko Yamazaki who will be the second Japanese woman ever to fly into space. Yamazaki is 39 years old. On the station now is Tracy Caldwell Dyson and she is 40 years old.

Discovery will dock with the space station on Wednesday, April 7, 2010. There will be a total of 13 people (men and women) in orbit this time around.

And Discovery is expected to spend 13 days in orbit.

Now, while the shuttle is docked at the space station, President Barrack H. Obama is planning on holding some sort of summit to discuss the future of American manned spaceflight.

Richard C. Hoagland talked about what might happen in President Obama's speech on April 15, 2010. But no one really knows what is going to happen then. What will be talked about. Even WHERE on Kennedy Space Center complex the event will be held. On Coast to Coast Am radio program on April 4/5, 2010; Richard C. Hoagland stated that he will be posting some information on his website this date. As of 7am CST, I only see the white paper entitled "The New Frontier of Hope" with a picture of President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, that has been 'bumped' to the top behind a promo for a DVD Hoagland is selling. That is entitled "Secrets-The Startling New NASA... Kennedy.. Obama Connection to 2012."

It might be taking longer to finish up the paper to upload to his website. But Hoagland also told the C2Cam audience that China and India will be present at this special summit on the 15th.

So once again, I guess the best way to sum this posting up is that NASA is still acting 'odd.'

UPDATE: Like the title to a 3rd season episode of the original Star Trek series "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky," Enterprise Mission has finally posted its white paper. Please use the link in the ref section below to read that posting. Basically in a nutshell: Mars moon Phobos is an ancient spacecraft. Its one third hollow! It will eventually break up due to the gravational pull of Mars. Quote: For, a Martian moon that is demonstrably "1/3 hollow" ... as measured by two totally independent space programs, and separated by ~20 yars ... under ANY likely astrophysical formation scenario CANNOT EXIST ... as just a "natural" moon! And this pulled quote: Which, according to the verbal description coming from our ESA source, is divided into "three ... or four, major, quarter-to-half-mile-wide geometric chambers ... distributed tetrahedrally inside a denser, partially-hollow RF-translucent interior structure ...."

So that is pretty cool.

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Ref.

Space.com. April 5, 2010. By Tariq Malik.(http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/most-women-in-space-100405.html).

Enterprise Mission.com white paper April 5, 2010. by Richard C. Hoagland and David Wilcock. (http://www.enterprisemission.com/newfrontier.htm).

"For the World is Hollow" Enterprise Mission (http://www.enterprisemission.com/Phobos.html).