Timothy Peake, the former British Army Air Corps helicopter test pilot, was officially announced to be the UK’s first astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS), in a press conference held in London on 20th May. It was revealed that Peake will fly to the ISS in 2015, and spend 6 months onboard the station as part of Expedition [...]
Post Tagged with: “Astronaut”
Challenger Astronaut’s Brother Recalls Boundary-Breaking Childhood
Astronaut Ronald E. McNair died on the Challenger space shuttle 27 years ago this week, a mission specialist on his second spaceflight. McNair’s brother Carl recorded this remembrance of his brother with StoryCorps, an organization dedicated to capturing the oral histories of everyday people. Mission Specialist McNair was more than an everyday person; StoryCorps undertook to animate the story contributed by Carl [...]
Photography in Space: Not Quite Like Earth
On September 13, astronaut Don Pettit, only months back from his third stint on the International Space Station, spoke at the Luminance conference for “the intersection of business, technology, culture, and photography.” Pettit, who is an avid photographer and took some spectacular shots from his perch in the station’s cupola, described both his equipment – much of it rigged – and his [...]
Hundreds Honor Neil Armstrong at Memorial Services
On Friday, August 31, Neil Armstrong was remembered in a private ceremony in Cincinatti, Ohio that included family, fellow astronauts, and a naval fighter plane salute. At the same time NASA’s Kennedy Space Center held an open memorial ceremony, while the flag of the United States flew at half-mast across the country in honor of the fallen legend. A national memorial [...]
Sally Ride, First American Woman in Space, Dead at 61
On July 23, Sally Ride died peacefully in her San Diego home of pancreatic cancer. She was 61 years old. Ride is survived by Tam O’Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years, as well as her mother Joyce, sister “Bear,” niece Caitlin, and nephew Whitney. Sally Ride became a household name when she was selected for the STS-7 Space Shuttle mission [...]
Former Astronaut Alan “Dex” Poindexter Dead in Jet Ski Accident at 50
Space shuttle veteran Alan Goodwin ”Dex” Poindexter died on July 1 from injuries incurred in a jet ski accident while on vacation in Florida with his family. He is survived by his wife Lisa, and sons Samuel, 22, and Zachary, 26. Poindexter was 50 years old. “We in the astronaut family have lost not only a dear friend, but also a patriot of [...]
Learn to Dock ATV the Astronaut Way
Source: ESA. Do you have what it takes to be an astronaut? ESA is making actual astronaut training available on your computer and tablet, so you can see for yourself. ESA’s third Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Edoardo Amaldi, has safely docked with the International Space Station. ATV is the largest supply ship to fly to the Space Station. A truly [...]
ESA Astronaut Timothy Peake Joins NEEMO
Source: ESA. ESA astronaut Timothy Peake will soon dive to the bottom of the sea to learn more about exploring space. A permanent underwater base almost 20 m below the waves off the coast of Florida will be Tim’s home for more than a week in June. The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, allows space agencies to test [...]
Confirmed: Long Duration Space Flight Threatens Vision
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of a group of astronauts revealed changes in the eyes and pituitary gland-brain connectors similar to a particular type of intracranial hypertension. Authors of the study published in the journal Radiology worked with 27 long duration astronauts who spent on average 108 days in microgravity either on the Space Shuttle or in the ISS. [...]
A Look at NASA’s Astronaut Crew Quarters
Former NASA shuttle commander Bob Cabana shows off the quarters where astronauts used to stay before a launch from Kennedy Space Center in a new video from NASA. Cabana tours rarely seen parts of the facility such as sleeping quarters and medical offices, as well as more commonly seen rooms such as the cafeteria where astronauts are seen eating breakfast [...]
