Chuck Hollinshead, former director of Public Affairs at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, died Jan. 25, 2021 in Asheville, North Carolina. He was 89. Hollinshead helped shape the course of media services at the Florida spaceport and throughout the agency over 28 years, 17 as director of Public Affairs.
The Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, is the most recognizable structure at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It is so big, it can be seen from miles away. Now that the center is a premier, multi-user spaceport, industry partners soon will share the facility. It also is the only building in the world where human spaceflight rockets have been prepared for trips to low-Earth orbit, the Moon and — in the future – to Mars.
Spaceflight is inherently dangerous. From the earliest days of designing spacecraft for crews, engineers have looked for ways astronauts could be rescued in the event of a mishap involving the rocket. An American-developed option — a launch escape system, or escape tower – was copied by the Soviet Union and it saved the lives of two Russian cosmonauts.
“Apollo 13” set out to chronicle NASA’s dramatic third mission to land on the lunar surface. It was based on Jim Lovell’s best-selling book, “Lost Moon.” On the big screen, what happened in 1970 is pretty much what you get.
In the moments following Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell’s report, “Houston, we’ve had a problem,” things happened fast. Lovell and his crewmates, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, worked with the team in Mission Control to sort out the issues facing the mission. But, key members of that effort believe they also were aided by a Higher Power.
What was to have been America’s third lunar landing in April 1970, became a struggle to safely return the crew after an oxygen tank explosion crippled the crew’s spacecraft. During a reunion of key players involved in the Apollo 13 mission, they recalled what has been termed “NASA’s finest hour.”
Maxime “Max” Faget (pronounced: fah-ZHAY) was one of the most important leaders in the history of America’s space program, but relatively unknown to the general public. He designed the Mercury capsule and was a key contributor to plans for spacecraft flown during NASA’s Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle Programs.
In an address to Congress in 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged the nation to “land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth” before the end of the decade. With the flight of Apollo 12, 50 years ago, NASA achieved that goal a second time.
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex captures the excitement of the historic lunar landing in their revamped Apollo/Saturn V Center. This feature will focus on the new exhibits at that facility that includes a 1969 period living room recreating what life was like a half-century ago.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, the U.S. Postal Service issued two stamps marking the event. The first day of issue ceremony took place July 19, 2019 at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.