As clouds of smoke billowed into the air, the first Space Shuttle rose from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981. The agency’s Space Shuttle team overcame years of setbacks and delays. The result was a first flight that met all the goals set for the mission. When astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen landed Columbia at Edwards Air Force Base two days later, it was called a “textbook flight.”
When retired Kennedy Space Center engineer and NASA astronaut Nicole Stott spoke to spaceport employees in 2015, she encouraged women at the center to take full advantage of expanding opportunities for people of diverse backgrounds. Women now are filling some of the most crucial roles in the agency’s Artemis Program. That effort is designed to establish long-term lunar science and exploration capabilities on the Moon and inspire the next generation of explorers.
When NASA’s Kennedy Space Center became operational in the summer of 1962, very few woman held jobs beyond secretarial or housekeeping positions. Today, they serve in leadership posts, engineering jobs and other key roles alongside their male counterparts. Retired spaceport engineer and NASA astronaut Nicole Stott spoke to employees at the Florida spaceport inspiring women to take full advantages of opportunities now offered.
After a nearly six-month science mission aboard the International Space Station, the Crew-5 astronauts returned to Earth splashing down off the coast of Tampa, Florida at 9:02 p.m. EST on March 11, 2023. The Crew Dragon spacecraft autonomously undocked and departed the orbiting laboratory returning the four crew members and time-sensitive research samples.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has launched another diverse crew of astronauts for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station. The company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off into the pre-dawn sky from Launch Complex 39A at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center on March 2, 2023. The Crew-6 mission includes two NASA astronauts: mission commander Stephen Bowen and pilot Woody Hoburg. They were joined by mission specialists Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev of Russia.
On Jan. 26, 2023, NASA paused agency wide to honor astronauts who perished in efforts to explore and utilize the space frontier. This year’s Day of Remembrance ceremonies focused on the STS-107 crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia who lost their lives when their orbiter broke apart during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003. The seven astronauts included Ilan Ramon, the first citizen from Israel to fly in space.
Capped by the highly successful Artemis I mission, 2022 was a landmark year for NASA. Groundbreaking research continued in Earth orbit, a new human-rated spacecraft circled the Moon, robotic exploration of Mars reached important milestones and the agency’s newest telescope revealed never-before seen images of the universe.
The “Space Race” between the United States and the Soviet Union remains an often studied and debated period of the 20th Century. While the Russians began with a lead, once challenged, the leadership of President John F. Kennedy resulted in Americans surpassing their Cold War rival on the way to the Moon. While the effort was politically motivated, the technology that came from space exploration built the modern world.
A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off with a multi-national group of specialists for a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Ongoing research aboard the orbital laboratory is designed to benefit humans living on and off the Earth. What is learned in orbit will help NASA prepare for long-term operations on and around the Moon and eventual exploration of Mars.
Hurricane Ian is bearing down on Florida’s west coast with its track crossing the state from the Gulf of Mexico making landfall near Fort Myers as a category 4 or 5 storm. It is forecast to move northeast toward the state’s east coast, including Brevard County and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Imagery from NASA-launched GOES satellites and the International Space Station are aiding meteorologists in helping people across the state prepare for the storm’s impact. GOES weather satellites are launched by NASA and operated by NOAA.