The skies over Florida’s Space Coast lit up as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocketed from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center sending four astronauts to the International Space Station. After they arrive, the orbiting laboratory will be staffed for the first time by seven astronauts and cosmonauts increasing the amount of time available for research and additional opportunities for discoveries.
In 1983, The Right Stuff movie premiered claiming to tell the story of test pilots and those who became America’s first astronauts. The film received acclaim from the majority of the critics who wrote reviews. But, as an accurate chronicle of efforts to pave the road to space, it failed. Astronaut Wally Schirra summed it up best: “The movie was fun. It was well-produced and the acting is great. But as history, it‘s merely ‘Animal House’ in space.’”
In 1976, America’s second-generation human space program came together with an iconic story line inspired by the nation’s first efforts to “boldly go where no one has gone before.” Key players in the popular televisions series, Star Trek, attended the rollout of NASA’s prototype Space Shuttle orbiter, Enterprise.
This is the second of a two-part series on the history of commercial flight. For years, aerospace corporations took the world to the skies. Now these companies and more are supporting efforts well beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. The Space Age began on Oct. 4, 1957, with the launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union. An American satellite, Explorer 1, soon followed, with plans for sending humans into space in the near future.
On a brisk day just over a century ago, what started as a venture between two brothers changed the world forever. On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright opened the realm of air travel with their first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 10 short years, commercial aviation became a reality. Fast forward another 50 years and humans not only were flying in the air, but also in space.
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.
After 64 days in space, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken returned to Earth on Aug. 2, 2020 completing Demo-2, the agency’s first Commercial Crew mission. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took place May 30, 2020, from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center. Due to Tropical Storm Isaias moving up the east coast of Florida, landing was moved to the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Florida.
When NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover launched it marked the continuation of exploration of one of Earth’s nearest celestial neighbors that began 56 years ago. During that time, a fleet of robotic spacecraft and rovers have landed on and orbited the Red Planet. Collectively, they have dramatically increased the knowledge base about Mars, helping pave the way for future human pioneers.
NASA’s Perseverance rover is part of the agency’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. Lift off is scheduled for 7:50 a.m. EDT, July 30, 2020 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Mars Perseverance mission goals include answering questions about the potential for life on the Red Planet.
A new era of human spaceflight launched at 3:22 p.m. EDT on May 30, 2020 as American astronauts once again lifted off on an American rocket from American soil headed for the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully docked at the International Space Station the next day.