Astronauts Story Musgrave and Jeff Hoffman install protective covers onto NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope alongside the Space Shuttle Endeavor, c. 1993. Musgrave (R) is being raised by Canadarm (AKA the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System), which was designed by the Canadian aerospace industry to deploy, maneuver, and capture payloads in space. In 1981, Canadarm was delivered via truck from Toronto’s Spar Aerospace plant to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Canadarm is now on display at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. Canadarm2 now services the International Space Station approx. 250 miles above the Earth; Canadarm3 will eventually stay in space aboard the next major international collaboration: The Lunar Gateway. (Photo: NASA)
Social Distancing, Jet Pack Edition
Tales of Social Distancing, Jet Pack Edition: Astronaut Bruce McCandless II floats in space alongside the Space Shuttle Challenger on the debut mission of the MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit), circa 1984. The MMU allowed for tether-free mobility for the ultimate in antenna-adjustment when deploying & retrieving satellites, and moved around by shooting nitrogen from 24 nozzle thrusters at different locations. It weighed about the same as the fridge in your kitchen. Originally developed by McCandless & engineer Charles “Ed” Whitsett (who first posited the idea in a master’s thesis), the MMU was first tested inside the Skylab space station in 1973. Who says you can’t have fun indoors. (Photo: NASA)
Old School Social Distancing
Old school social distancing: Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong chill-out in the Mobile Quarantine Facility after Earth’s first successful moon landing. They spent 2.5 days in this converted Airstream trailer while traveling back from their recovery ship (the USS Hornet), then 21 days at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston. What’d they do for 3 weeks? Wrote reports, met with scientists through a big glass wall, and celebrated Neil Armstrong’s 39th birthday. (Photo: NASA)
Cosmosphere Newsletter Article
Had a blast writing this article for the great Cosmosphere science museum in Hutchinson, Kansas, where I was lucky to attend (and later work) at space camp.
The Cosmosphere is also home to the Apollo 13 Command Module, celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this April. Enjoy!
Helping Hand
Here’s Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Lunar Module (“LM”) pilot hopping out of the Command Module (“CM”), with help from a Navy underwater demolition team swimmer. Great reminder that leaving and returning from space requires the efforts of thousands of people. Plus, when you’re going from a Zero-G environment (and 1/6-G on the surface of the Moon) to Earth’s fully loaded Doc-Brown-heavy environment, it’s always nice to get a helping hand. (c. Feb 9, 1971, South Pacific Ocean). (Photo: NASA)