“Space War” History

Scientific American put out an article a few weeks ago about the first advertised use of Global Positioning satellites during the Persian Gulf War. At least it’s the first time a type of space infrastructure was used aside from satellite communications and satellite imagery. We were pretty used to the idea of satellite communications by […]

Gemini V

Gemini V astronauts Conrad and Cooper, practicing for yet another thing that could go wrong in a mission (but didn’t). Image from NASA JSC archive. Last August was the 50th anniversary of the Gemini V mission. For this blog, the Gemini V mission begins a theme for a small series of stories about astronauts and […]

Moving Big Things with, um, Big Things?

It’s been a fairly hectic few weeks with not so much spare time–relatives were visiting. Which is great, but didn’t leave much for posts. For now, I leave you all with another of my Apollo 50th Anniversary Moment posts for the Space Foundation’s Space Watch. I know everyone else posted about going to the moon […]

The Starman Walking in the Sky

Some people actually look forward to reading my next Apollo 50th Anniversary Moment. So here it is–just a bit about Gemini IV and the first U.S.-conducted spacewalk–all in the monthly “Space Watch:” Gemini IV: There’s a Starman Walking in the Sky. For those who don’t know, NASA’s Gemini program was a “bridge” program. Most of what […]

Another Apollo-related post

If you’ve been following this blog for a bit, then you know that about once a month I write a little history article for the Space Foundation’s “Space Watch” e-mail newsletter. Now’s the time to lead you to my most recent article for them: From Underneath Apollo’s Boilerplate, a Pegasus Emerges.