Tag archives for shuttle
Whenever someone meets me, it doesn’t take them long to ask me the question, “How did you get so into space?” Given that I’ve likely just worked the space shuttle into a conversation about owls or mentioned a solar flare as part of ordering a pizza, it’s not surprising. It could have been all the…
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We knew Discovery had arrived when the large crowd waiting on the National Mall for the historic final flypast of the iconic Space Shuttle let out a collective cheer. The spacecraft was bolted to the top of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Boeing 747 flying low along the Potomac River, following the flightpath familiar to…
Posted by By Chris Combs for Breaking Orbit This is how it ended: We drove a few more miles, parked the car, stopped in at Cosmic Coffee for a cup of joe, and watched a bright speck sear its way out of sight. About a year ago, my partner, Rachel, and I had heard the nearly thirty-year-old…
“Go” for Final Launch of Discovery
Posted by Susan Poulton on February 24, 2011 
By Susan Poultonfor Breaking Orbit As far as space shuttle launches go, it doesn’t get much better than this. Tanking of Space Shuttle Discovery began on time at 7:25 am ET this morning, getting it ready for its final flight scheduled for 4:50pm ET this afternoon. The weather forecast has been upgraded to a…
Twenty-five years ago today, seven astronauts embarked on NASA’s 25th space shuttle mission, on January 28, 1986. The shuttle Challenger lifted off from Launch Complex 39-B at Kennedy Space Center at 11:38 a.m. local time. Then, 73 seconds into the flight of STS-51L, the shuttle was engulfed in a cloud of vapor as it began…
The space shuttle Discovery is slated to launch on its final mission this week, and that means voting will soon close on NASA’s Space Rock contest. —Image courtesy NASA As we reported back in August, it’s been a tradition since the Apollo program to rouse slumbering astronauts with music selected either by flight controllers or…
It’s almost Halloween, and it’s almost the final launch of the space shuttle Discovery. These two events have me thinking about Space Bat. It’s been more than a year since Discovery lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with a small bat clinging to its external fuel tank. —Image courtesy NASA The animal, according to…
Discovery’s Last Ride
Posted by Susan Poulton on September 21, 2010 
By Susan Poultonfor Breaking Orbit Space Shuttle Discovery rolled out to the launch pad for the final time tonight, with first motion out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) coming 30 minutes early at 7:23pm ET, beneath a stunning sunset. Hundreds of employees gathered to watch the event and cheer on Discovery as they watched…
William Lenoir, an astronaut who flew aboard the first space shuttle mission to deploy commercial satellites, died August 26 from head injuries sustained during a bicycle accident. —Image courtesy NASA Born March 14, 1939, in Miami, Florida, Lenoir earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ultimately graduating with a Ph.D. in electrical…
Since the heady days of the Apollo program, NASA has asked friends and family of astronauts to select “wakeup music” for slumbering spacefarers. Astronaut Gregory C. Johnson rests in his sleeping bag on the space shuttle Atlantis in May 2009. —Picture courtesy NASA After all, sunrises are a dime a dozen in low-Earth orbit, and…
That was the most asked question during an event this morning at the National Air and Space Museum featuring the crew of STS-132, the final flight of the space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station. A student asks a question of the STS-132 crew. —Image by Eric Long/NASM Well, the final “scheduled” flight, anyway.…
NASA announced today that they’ve officially decided to postpone the final two space shuttle launches, pushing Discovery’s launch to November and the [supposed] last-ever shuttle launch featuring Endeavour to February 2011. For followers of the intrepid space agency, news of the delay—or any delay, really—will surely come as no surprise. Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off…
Barring only the Hubble Space Telescope, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi may go down in history as the most beloved orbiting space photographer. Bye! The Yokohama native spent just over five months as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station, returning to Earth today via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. That’s the longest time any Japanese…
Space Shuttle Launch Coverage: Launch
Posted by Susan Poulton on May 14, 2010 By Susan Poulton for Breaking Orbit Space Shuttle Atlantis is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) in a spectacular on time launch from Kennedy Space Center at 2:20pm ET. This marks the 32nd and final launch for the shuttle Atlantis who had its maiden voyage on October 3, 1985. Cheers and applause…
Space Shuttle Launch Coverage: All Aboard!
Posted by Susan Poulton on May 14, 2010 By Susan Poulton for Breaking Orbit The crew is now on board and completing their communication checks and the hatch has been closed. Liftoff of Atlantis is still on schedule for 2:20pm ET with the weather forecast holding steady at 70%. There’s still a slight chance of a low cloud ceiling over the launch pad…
Space Shuttle Launch Coverage: Quiet Morning for Atlantis’ Last Flight
Posted by Susan Poulton on May 14, 2010 By Susan Poulton for Breaking Orbit The press site is quiet for the moment as the sun rises behind Atlantis, poised on the launch pad ready for her final flight. The weather looks good and there are no technical problems, but the mood here is a mixture of somber excitement as the space shuttle program…
After traveling more than 6.2 million miles in just over 15 days, the space shuttle Discovery glided back to Earth this morning, touching down at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at 9:08 a.m. local time. —Photo courtesy NASA/Bill Ingalls The mission, known as STS-131 among NASA folk, marks the second of the “final five” launches of…
Intrepid “shuttle geek” Susan Poulton is winging back home today after witnessing the space shuttle Discovery’s successful predawn lift-off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. —Image courtesy NASA Look out for further Poulton pictures and ruminations from the scene, but in the meanwhile, here’re a few details on STS-131. Marking the fourth to the last shuttle…
Space Shuttle Launch Coverage: Dawn Breaks Over Discovery
Posted by Susan Poulton on April 4, 2010 By Susan Poulton for Breaking Orbit Fog drifted across the press site as photographers gathered this morning for the routine RSS (Rotating Service Structure) rollback, revealing space shuttle Discovery on the launch pad, ready and waiting for her 6:21am ET lift of early Monday morning. RSS rollback occurred precisely on time at 9:30am ET and…
From huge patches of plastic in remote corners of the ocean to piles of consumer electronics in rural Nigeria, trash has a way of accumulating even in places few of Earth’s 6.8 billion people have ever been. Space is no exception: Even though the first satellite went into low-Earth orbit a little over 50 years…
Do you love stellar nurseries, space shuttles, and weightless chicken tacos? Then get out of the house tonight and go see Hubble 3D at an IMAX theater near you! I was lucky enough to see the world premiere last week here at the Air and Space Museum, where astronauts walked the red carpet and NASA…
STS-130 Launch Coverage: Tanking Begins
Posted by Susan Poulton on February 6, 2010 By Susan Poulton for Breaking Orbit The press center is very quiet right now as most members of the media (and Kennedy Space Center staff) have gone home to get some rest before tonight’s excitement. Only those of us who were not able to get a hotel room thanks to the Super Bowl being played…
STS-130 Launch Coverage: Sunrise at the Launch Pad
Posted by Susan Poulton on February 6, 2010 By Susan Poulton for Breaking Orbit It was a chilly morning at the launch pad, as the sun rose on Endeavour during the rollback of the Rotating Service Structure (RSS). When the shuttle is on the launch pad, it is covered by a gantry structure to protect it from the elements and allow for access…
Diary of a Shuttle Launch Enthusiast: STS-130 Launch Coverage
Posted by Susan Poulton on February 5, 2010 By Susan Poulton for Breaking Orbit We’re in the final stages of the countdown of both STS-130, the final night launch of the space shuttle, and possibly the U.S. manned space program–at least for quite some time. President Obama’s recent announcement regarding the approved 2011 budget for NASA effectively cancels the next phase of the…
The space shuttle has been on my mind a lot lately, since 2010 will see the final five shuttle launches for all time. Already NASA has plans to distribute the decommissioned shuttles to museums and education centers. And the space agency just announced that the Endeavour launch, slated for February 7, will be the last-ever…
