Georg von Tiesenhausen died on Sunday, at the age of 104. He was the last of von Braun’s rocket team. Amazing that he lived so long after what he went through in his youth.
Category Archives: Space History
And Then There Were Four
Alan Bean has left the earth for the last time.
I just saw Buzz last night at the ISDC awards ceremony, which was probably the most encouraging in the history of that meeting, in which (amid saving The Expanse for another season, with many of the cast and production crew present) Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men in the world, laid out his vision for humanity in space that was shared by all in that room. There will be a party tonight, and I don’t think the organization will have had a more joyous one in its history. It was fitting that it occurred in the very same hotel where the very first conference was held, thirty-seven years ago.
Tom Wolfe
Thoughts from Tim Fernholz on his space legacy.
NASA’s Aging Work Force
I talked to Haley Byrd about this yesterday, and she quoted me.
Columbia Anniversary
It’s been fifteen years. Challenger was the beginning of the end of the Shuttle program, less than five years after the first flight. Columbia doomed it, though it continued to fly for eight more years. But the decision to end it led to the much more hopeful future we have now, with new commercial vehicles finally demonstrating real reusability, and competing with each other to drive down costs.
Here are my immediate thoughts at the time. Click on follow-up posts for a lot more.
[Update a few minutes later]
Glenn Reynolds: We just entered a golden age of space exploration. Why all the pessimism?
More importantly, we’re finally entering an age of not merely exploration, but development and ultimately settlement.
[Afternoon update]
In rereading what I wrote then, I’m surprised at how prescient it was and how well it held up. Including the foretelling of the book that was to come a decade later.
[Update a few minutes later]
Note my comment there at the time:
Who has an operational solution that’s any better than NASA’s?
Who’s been funded to provide one?
The fact that NASA hasn’t done better does not imply that it cannot be done better. NASA operates under significant political constraints.
Note that fifteen years later (and the two people doing this had started two years earlier), that problem seems to have been solved.
The Challenger Anniversary
It’s been thirty-two years now.
What I wrote about the Challenger loss in 2002: https://t.co/824SNJrUb2
And 2008: https://t.co/kl1Vv3D8Pihttps://t.co/TyeTJz6EVj
It was my birthday.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) January 28, 2018
Comments open for peoples’ memories.
Lunar Science Workshop
Light posting because I decided at the last minute to fly up to San Jose for the workshop at NASA Ames. Been listening to lunar stuff all day. Highlight: a talk by Jack Schmitt, the only geologist to walk on the moon, and the second to last to walk on it, a little over 45 years ago. And with the death of John Young a few days ago, only one of five remaining moon walkers. He’s looking pretty good at 82, and I think he stands a good chance of seeing the next person walk on the moon.
John Young
Haven’t seen a story to link yet, but my Twitter TL is full of announcements that he’s departed earth for the final time. Flew in every NASA spacecraft except Mercury, first man to orbit the moon solo, and commander of the first Shuttle flight.
[Update a few minutes later]
Here‘s the NASA press release.
Gaps In Exploration
Are they “normal“?
If it’s exploration for exploration’s sake, probably. But if it’s for creation of wealth, I’d expect things to happen faster.
The New Space Race
…is postponed until next year. This is interesting, politically:
In one corner, we have the SpaceX Crew Dragon, a successor to the original Dragon capsule it’s been using to deliver supplies to the ISS. The seven-seater vehicle appears to be quite the looker, with fairly large windows to give passengers a stunningly clear view of their journey — a feature you’d definitely appreciate if you were a paying customer. The company already has a solid idea of what to do with the capsule outside of its Commercial Crew responsibilities. In fact, it already sold two seats to take private citizens on a trip around the moon next year … but only if it has already started taking astronauts to the ISS for NASA.
A successful Falcon Heavy flight (hopefully next month) is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for SpaceX to attempt an Apollo 8 recreation (the fiftieth anniversary is almost exactly a year from now). If they do it before they’re flying commercial crew, it will have the appearance of not keeping their eyes on the ball for NASA’s needs. But NASA can control the schedule by throwing up impediments to first flight, and some at the agency might be motivated to see that happen, because it would be politically embarrassing to see a private company do an Apollo 8 re-enactment before the agency can with SLS, causing even more people to question the need for the latter. It will be an interesting year.
Oh, one other point. Amusing to see a woman journalist using the terms “manned” and “unmanned.” I personally try to only use those terms to describe historical events (e.g., Apollo). It appears that “crewed” and “uncrewed” are gaining acceptance, but there remain two problems with that. First, “crewed” sounds like “crude” when verbalized. Second, not everyone who flies will be crew. Maybe we need to start saying “humanned” spaceflight.