One Small Step - The Australian Story

I just finished watching a YouTube link that Colin Mackellar passed to me.
It is about the Apollo 11 Moon landing and the part that Australia played in receiving those first pictures of the stepping off of the lunar lander.
I still have tears in my eyes as I write this.
I had watched those first steps on my own black and white TV while being stationed at Andrews Air Force base in the Naval Air Reserve.
So many memories.
Thanks much Colin.
- LRK -

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Hi Larry and Dave,

Think you would enjoy it.

I had the privilege of helping the producers with content and the story.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF04z8L0WJg>

with best wishes

Colin
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If you have not already had a chance to watch this moving production, I hope you find the time to do so.
It is 54:49 minutes and great behind the scenes action.
This story is told by the folks that were there as it happened.
Thanks much to the crews at the tracking stations in Australia.
- LRK -

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF04z8L0WJg
Uploaded by freehandtv on Dec 5, 2011

Forty years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, the one-hour documentary One Small Step: The Australian Story explores the front-line role Australian radio astronomers and technicians performed in bringing to the world a 'giant leap for mankind'. On July 20th 1969, Australia had just twelve and a half million inhabitants and was known more for its kangaroos than its space program. But the moment Neil Armstrong planted the first human footstep on the moon all that changed.

With host Peter FitzSimons, we meet some of the characters who were directly involved in bringing live pictures from the moon to the rest of the world, and hear about the dramas of this most remarkable day. Their stories are interwoven with snapshots of Australia from July 20th 1969 as we relive the day leading up to one of the most significant events in this country's brief history.

It was Australia that beamed the clearest pictures 'live from the moon' to the rest of the planet and so were the first to witness this momentous footstep. This was no ordinary television signal. After travelling 384,000km, it would inspire Australians from all walks of life and bring a sense of future possibilities to the nation.

Neil Armstrong's "one small step" was the giant leap that put man on the moon and Australia on the map.
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Maybe after you watch the YouTube link you would like to learn more about the tracking stations in Australia.
- LRK -

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http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/index.html
A Tribute to
Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station
Canberra, Australia
and all who worked there

http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/about.html
Acknowledgments and info about this site
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About this website

This site is an ongoing work by Colin Mackellar as a tribute to the pioneering work of all who were involved with NASA’s Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station.

I was too young to be personally involved in Apollo (if you look at the photo on the opening page, that’s me in the foreground – standing outside the Honeysuckle gate in 1971. I was nearly 15). But I have always been very interested in both astronomy and manned space exploration. (On holidays our family will often just “happen” to find ourselves at places like Honeysuckle, Tidbinbilla, Parkes or Siding Spring.)

During the Apollo Program, both Honeysuckle Creek and Tidbinbilla were household names in Australia (as was the Parkes Radio Telescope) and I followed any media references to them closely.

It is surprising that there is not more information readily available about Honeysuckle (other than the tremendous resources of Hamish Lindsay’s book and Mike Dinn and John Saxon’s websites).
http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/the_book/main.html
http://members.pcug.org.au/~mdinn/apollomem/index.htm
http://www.jsaxon.org/

For that matter, there is very little on the Internet about Tidbinbilla, Goldstone or Madrid from the Apollo days. This website is the beginning of an attempt to help correct that.
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It was moving to watch the Moon landing on my BW TV and it was very moving to watch again from Australia by way of the YouTube link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF04z8L0WJg

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
WordPress: http://lrkellogg.wordpress.com/
Newsletter: https://mailman1.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
=========================================
WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
=========================================

Dawn Explores Vesta’s Chemistry

When you read science fiction it seems easy to travel to the stars.
Warp drive engaged and you are there in almost no time at all.

We don't have warp drive yet nor have we been able to use the materials of an asteroid to build spaceships off planet.

It is easy to say we should send humans to far away places to explore, but harder to achieve.
Testing our tools with spacecraft missions sounds good too and here at least we have a beginning.
Ion propulsion is being put to the test to provide long term acceleration.
http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/ion_prop.asp

If you have thought about going to the stars you should find Paul Gilster's blog most informative.
http://www.centauri-dreams.org/

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http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=21450
Dawn Explores Vesta’s Chemistry

by Paul Gilster on January 20, 2012

The Dawn spacecraft, orbiting Vesta since July of last year, reached its lowest altitude orbit in December, now averaging 210 kilometers from the asteroid’s surface. Ceres is Dawn’s next stop, but that journey won’t begin until the close-in work at Vesta is complete, with the craft in its low altitude mapping orbit for at least ten weeks and then another period at higher altitudes before Dawn leaves Vesta in late July. The spacecraft’s Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) instrument is already telling us much about the giant asteroid’s surface composition.

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Much at JPL's web page as well.
- LRK -

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http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/
DAWN A Journey to the Beginning of the Solar System

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/
Dawn, as a mission belonging to NASA’s Discovery Program, delves into the unknown, drives new technology innovations, and achieves what's never been attempted before. In Dawn’s case, it is orbiting  one member of the main asteroid belt, Vesta, before heading to gather yet more data at a second, Ceres.

Dawn's goal is to characterize the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch by investigating in detail two of the largest protoplanets remaining intact since their formations. Ceres and Vesta reside in the extensive zone between Mars and Jupiter together with many other smaller bodies, called the asteroid belt.  Each has followed a very different evolutionary path constrained by the diversity of processes that operated during the first few million years of solar system evolution.

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You can follow the DAWN mission at NASA.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/main/index.html
DAWN Journey to the Asteroid Belt

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA's Dawn spacecraft has sent back the first images of the giant asteroid Vesta from its low-altitude mapping orbit. The images, obtained by the framing camera, show the stippled and lumpy surface in detail never seen before, piquing the curiosity of scientists who are studying Vesta for clues about the solar system's early history.

At this detailed resolution, the surface shows abundant small craters, and textures such as small grooves and lineaments that are reminiscent of the structures seen in low-resolution data from the higher-altitude orbits. Also, this fine scale highlights small outcrops of bright and dark material.
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The flight isn't over yet either.
- LRK -

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http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Dawn
DAWN

Goals: Dawn is designed to study the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch by investigating in detail two of the largest protoplanets remaining intact since their formations. The orbiter will visit both the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, two main asteroid belt worlds that followed very differently evolutionary paths.

Accomplishments: Dawn arrived in orbit at asteroid Vesta on 16 June 2011. It will depart for Ceres in 2012.
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Ooops, Last chance to send your name to the Asteroid Belt, November 4, 2006.
- LRK -

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http://www.dawn-mission.org/dawncommunity/sendname2asteroid/nameentry.asp
DAWN Community

Send your name to the asteroid belt on the Dawn spacecraft. Your name will be recorded onto a microchip that will be placed aboard the spacecraft accompanying it on its mission to the asteroid belt. After entering your name below, you will have the opportunity to print a document that verifies your journey aboard the spacecraft.

We are experiencing unusually high volume. If you receive an error message on your certificate, please wait a short while and resubmit. Please note, the database does not recognize entries with apostrophes.

After you hit submit a new page will appear. Print this page as it will be your only opportunity.
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[Note: Error, error, error - looks like my name won't catch up with DAWN. :-) - LRK -]
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If you went to the web site above you will find some broken links.
If you chose to go on a 50 year mission to a star I wonder if your adventure would be forgotten.
- LRK -

Even planetary missions take a long time to plan and launch.
You need to be dedicated to work your way through the many parts of making it happen.
- LRK -

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http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120391_index_0_m.html
BepiColombo overview
Status
Being built and tested

Objective
One of ESA’s cornerstone missions, it will study and understand the composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere and history of Mercury, the least explored planet in the inner Solar System.
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http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=11813
PR 40-1999: ESA's Mercury Mission Named BepiColombo in Honour of a Space Pioneer

29 Sep 1999
Meeting in Naples 20-23 September, the European Space Agency's Science Programme Committee recognised the achievements of the late Giuseppe Colombo of the University of Padua by adopting his name for the Mercury project now being planned. Almost everything known until now about the planet Mercury comes from three passes by NASA's Mariner 10 in 1974/75, which were inspired by Colombo's calculations. He suggested how to put that spacecraft into an orbit that would bring it back repeatedly to Mercury. The Italian scientist also explained, as an unsuspected resonance, Mercury's peculiar habit of rotating three times in every two revolutions of the Sun.
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http://www.parabolicarc.com/2011/06/22/ion-propulsion/
Aerojet and Partners to Market Ion Propulsion Internationally
Posted by Doug Messier on June 22, 2011, at 7:35 am in News

PARIS, Le Bourget and SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 21, 2011 – Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, QinetiQ, (LSE: QQ.L) and EADS Astrium Crisa, an EADS (PAR:EAD) company, announced today that the companies have entered into a joint agreement to supply the XENITH(TM) (Xenon Ion Thruster) ion propulsion system to the worldwide commercial spacecraft market. The agreement will enable customers to benefit from the combined expertise of independent market leaders in design, manufacture and supply of space propulsion systems, who are collaborating to deliver the XENITH(TM) system.

Built around the ultra high-efficient T6 ion thruster developed by QinetiQ, the XENITH(TM) propulsion system will provide a reduction in propellant consumed by more than a factor of 12 over conventional chemical propulsion systems. Ion propulsion systems have been used for orbit raising and station keeping of satellites, as well as for primary propulsion for deep space missions.

The T6 ion propulsion technology is based on the lower power T5 system, which provides precision atmospheric drag compensation for the highly successful GOCE gravity mapping mission operated by ESA. A T6-based propulsion system is being qualified for the European Bepi-Colombo mission to Mercury and has been selected to provide onboard propulsion for the Alphabus communications satellite platform. QinetiQ provides the thruster and flow control subsystem, while Crisa provides the thruster power and control electronics.

“The joint effort with Aerojet and Crisa to market the XENITH(TM) propulsion system is a significant step toward delivering QinetiQ’s proven ion propulsion technology for much wider use worldwide,” said Neil Bevan, QinetiQ Technology Solutions, Managing Director of Aerospace.

Aerojet’s electric propulsion products are currently flying on more than 150 operational satellites and span a broad range of electric propulsion products. For the XENITH(TM) system, Aerojet will perform some of the manufacturing, under a licensed arrangement with QinetiQ, and then integrate and deliver the system to spacecraft primes.

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And when you include humans on a space mission there are a lot more new products that need to be developed to provide a safe, habitable environment.
Wouldn't that be nice, and might they just be useful for those that remain on an ever crowded Mother Earth.
Just think of us living on Spaceship Earth and what would you like from the food synthesizer?
What would you like for a beverage?
Shields up, incoming asteroid.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
WordPress: http://lrkellogg.wordpress.com
Newsletter: https://mailman1.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
============================================
WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
============================================

NASA Twin Spacecraft On Final Approach For Moon Orbit

GRAIL update from NASA Headquarters News Media Services.

To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices.nasa.gov

- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/dec/HQ_11-426_GRAIL_Highlights.html 

NASA Twin Spacecraft On Final Approach For Moon Orbit

Dec. 28, 2011

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

Caroline McCall
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
617-253-1682
cmcall5@mit.edu

RELEASE: 11-426

NASA TWIN SPACECRAFT ON FINAL APPROACH FOR MOON ORBIT

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's twin spacecraft to study the moon from crust to core are nearing their New Year's Eve and New Year's Day main-engine burns to place the duo in lunar orbit.

Named Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), the spacecraft are scheduled to be placed in orbit beginning at 1:21 p.m. PST (4:21 p.m. EST) for GRAIL-A on Dec. 31, and 2:05 p.m. PST (5:05 p.m. EST) on Jan. 1 for GRAIL-B.

"Our team may not get to partake in a traditional New Year's celebration, but I expect seeing our two spacecraft safely in lunar orbit should give us all the excitement and feeling of euphoria anyone in this line of work would ever need," said David Lehman, project manager for GRAIL at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.

The distance from Earth to the moon is approximately 250,000 miles (402,336 kilometers). NASA's Apollo crews took about three days to travel to the moon. Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sept. 10, 2011, the GRAIL spacecraft are taking about 30 times that long and covering more than 2.5 million miles (4 million kilometers) to get there.

This low-energy, long-duration trajectory has given mission planners and controllers more time to assess the spacecraft's health. The path also allowed a vital component of the spacecraft's single science instrument, the Ultra Stable Oscillator, to be continuously powered for several months. This will allow it to reach a stable operating temperature long before it begins making science measurements in lunar orbit.

"This mission will rewrite the textbooks on the evolution of the moon," said Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge. "Our two spacecraft are operating so well during their journey that we have performed a full test of our science instrument and confirmed the performance required to meet our science objectives."

As of Dec. 28, GRAIL-A is 65,860 miles (106,000 kilometers) from the moon and closing at a speed of 745 mph (1,200 kph). GRAIL-B is 79,540 miles (128,000 kilometers) from the moon and closing at a speed of 763 mph (1,228 kph).

During their final approaches to the moon, both orbiters move toward it from the south, flying nearly over the lunar south pole. The lunar orbit insertion burn for GRAIL-A will take approximately 40 minutes and change the spacecraft's velocity by about 427 mph (688 kph).  GRAIL-B's insertion burn 25 hours later will last about 39 minutes and is expected to change the probe's velocity by 430 mph (691 kph).

The insertion maneuvers will place each orbiter into a near-polar, elliptical orbit with a period of 11.5 hours. Over the following weeks, the GRAIL team will execute a series of burns with each spacecraft to reduce their orbital period from 11.5 hours down to just under two hours. At the start of the science phase in March 2012, the two GRAILs will be in a near-polar, near-circular orbit with an altitude of about 34 miles (55 kilometers).

When science collection begins, the spacecraft will transmit radio signals precisely defining the distance between them as they orbit the moon. As they fly over areas of greater and lesser gravity, caused both by visible features such as mountains and craters and by masses hidden beneath the lunar surface. they will move slightly toward and away from each other. An instrument aboard each spacecraft will measure the changes in their relative velocity very precisely, and scientists will translate this information into a high-resolution map of the Moon's gravitational field. The data will allow mission scientists to understand what goes on below the surface. This information will increase our knowledge of how Earth and its rocky neighbors in the inner solar system developed into the diverse worlds we see today.

JPL manages the GRAIL mission. MIT is home to the mission's principal investigator, Maria Zuber. The GRAIL mission is part of the Discovery Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.

For more information about GRAIL, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/grail

-end-

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Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
WordPress: http://lrkellogg.wordpress.com/
Newsletter: https://mailman1.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

===========================================
WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
===========================================

THE GRAVITY RECOVERY AND INTERIOR LABORATORY (GRAIL)

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/grail/home.cfm

I was asked if GRAIL launched and I must admit I had not followed in detail.
What I found and let me know if things change.
- LRK -

http://moon.mit.edu/
Says will but doesn't look current.

Says launched 10 September but will take some time getting to the Moon.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Recovery_and_Interior_Laboratory
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) is an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program, which will use high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraft GRAIL A and GRAIL B were launched on 10 September 2011 aboard a single launch vehicle: the most-powerful configuration of a Delta II, the 7920H-10.[1][3][4] GRAIL A separated from the rocket about nine minutes after launch, GRAIL B followed about eight minutes later. They will arrive at their orbits around the Moon 24 hours apart.[5]

The science phase of the mission will last for 90 days. Following the science phase (or extended mission phase), a five-day decommissioning period is planned, after which the spacecraft will impact the lunar surface in about 40 days.[6] The gravity mapping technique is similar to that used by Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), and the spacecraft design is based on XSS-11.[7]

Unlike the Apollo program missions, which took three days to reach the Moon, GRAIL will make use of a three- to four-month low-energy trans-lunar cruise via the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L1 to reduce fuel requirements, protect instruments and reduce the velocity of the two spacecraft at lunar arrival to help achieve the extremely low 50 km (31 mi) orbits with separation between the spacecraft (arriving 24 hours apart) of 175 to 225 km (109 to 140 mi).[8][9] The very tight tolerances in the flight plan leaves little room for error correction leading to a launch window lasting one second and providing only two launch opportunities per day.[10]

Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is GRAIL's principal investigator. The mission's team of expert scientists and engineers also includes former NASA astronaut Sally Ride, who will lead the mission's public outreach efforts. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the project. As of August 5, 2011, the program has cost US$496 million.[11]
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Aaah, the NASA GRAIL site with mission elapsed clock.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/grail/main/index.html
 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/grail/launch/index.html
Spacecraft: GRAIL
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 17B
Launch Date: Sept. 10, 2011
Launch Time: 9:08:52 a.m. EDT

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Twin GRAIL Spacecraft Begin Journey to the Moon Aboard Delta II Rocket

A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket successfully sent NASA's twin moon-bound GRAIL spacecraft on their way at 9:08 a.m. EDT on Sept. 10, 2011. The launch came during the second window of the day when upper-level winds proved out of limits during the day's first opportunity, just as they had during the first launch attempt on Sept. 8.

The twin spacecraft will study the moon in unprecedented detail. GRAIL-A is scheduled to reach the moon on New Year's Eve 2011, while GRAIL-B will arrive New Year's Day 2012. The two solar-powered spacecraft will fly in tandem orbits around the moon to measure its gravity field. GRAIL will answer longstanding questions about the moon and give scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.

› GRAIL/Delta II Summary (PDF 650KB)
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/583711main_GRAIL%20508%20(2).pdf
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lunar insertion to be in January 2012
- LRK -

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http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/grail/home.cfm
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Welcome
The Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission will create the most accurate gravitational map of the moon to date, Improving our knowledge of near-side gravity by 100 times and of far-side gravity by 1000 times. The high-resolution gravitational field, especially when combined with a comparable- resolution topographical field, will enable scientists to deduce the moon's interior structure and composition... More >


Key Dates:
Launched: Sept. 10, 2011
Lunar Orbit Insertion: January 2012
Science Mission: March - May 2012
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Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
WordPress: http://lrkellogg.wordpress.com/
Newsletter: https://mailman1.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==========================================
WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
==========================================

Fourth Status Report on Commercial Partners Progress Released

This notice received.  The report is only a 3 page PDF file.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/dec/HQ_M11-253_CCP_60-day_Report.html
Dec. 16, 2011

Michael Braukus/J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979/5241
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov / j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-253

FOURTH STATUS REPORT ON COMMERCIAL PARTNERS PROGRESS RELEASED

WASHINGTON - NASA released the fourth in a series of 60-day reports today showing that commercial spaceflight development programs are moving forward. The agency's U.S. industry partners continue to make progress in developing a transportation system to ferry cargo and U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station. The development of industry systems will allow NASA to concentrate its resources on deep space exploration.

The latest status report highlights the progress and accomplishments for the agency's commercial spaceflight development efforts. The bi-monthly report is targeted toward non-technical stakeholders and the American public, to inform them of NASA's achievements in maintaining spaceflight leadership.

NASA's Commercial Spaceflight Development programs are investing financial and technical resources to stimulate efforts within the private sector to develop and demonstrate safe, reliable, and
cost-effective space transportation capabilities.

For the report and more information visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial

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The report link.
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/610831main_Dec_2011_60_Day_Report-508.pdf

The Commercial Space Transportation page.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/
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   Commercial space transportation is a vital component to the future of human space exploration. As NASA charts a new course to send humans deeper into space than ever before, we are stimulating efforts within the private sector to develop and operate safe, reliable and affordable commercial space transportation systems. Once the capabilities are matured and available to the government and other customers, NASA could purchase commercial services to transport crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and low Earth orbit.

   This approach will provide assured access to the ISS, strengthen America's space industry and provide a catalyst for future business ventures to capitalize on affordable access for space.

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And if you are part of the media.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/dec/HQ_M11-252_SpaceX_Media.html
Dec. 16, 2011

Michael Braukus/J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979/5241
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov/j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-252

MEDIA ACCREDITATION NOW OPEN FOR NASA/SPACEX LAUNCH

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., -- Media accreditation for NASA's second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services demonstration flight is open. Liftoff of a Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., is targeted for Feb. 7, 2012.

During the flight, the Dragon spacecraft will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems in advance of a rendezvous with the International Space Station. The primary
objectives for the flight include a fly-by of the space station at a distance of approximately two miles to validate the operation of sensors and a flight system necessary for a safe rendezvous and approach. The spacecraft also will demonstrate the capability to abort the rendezvous.

International news media representatives without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities by Jan. 5. The early accreditation deadline is needed because the U.S. Air Force requires 30 days to process international media credentials.
For U.S. news media, the deadline to apply is Jan. 30.

All media accreditation requests need to be submitted online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

For questions about accreditation or additional information, contact
NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site at 321-867-2468.

For more information on NASA's COTS program, visit
http://www.nasa.gov/cots

-end-
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Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
WordPress: http://lrkellogg.wordpress.com/
Newsletter: https://mailman1.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
============================================
WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
============================================

[history] Passing of Boris Chertok

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/chertok_obit.html
Russian rocket designer Boris Yevseyevich Chertok,
one of the founding fathers of the Russian space program,
passed away on Dec.14 at the age of 99.
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Russian rocket designer Boris Yevseyevich Chertok
Image Credit: NASA
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I received an e-mail from Steve Garber for the NASA History Program Office about the death of Boris Chertok.
He provided some information about his four volume memoir, "Rockets and People" and its availability on-line.
A check of Amazon . com showed that even used books are quite pricy so maybe you won't mind reading a PDF version before buying.
http://www.amazon.com/Rockets-People-V-Boris-Chertok/dp/0160732395

On NASA Technical Reports Server the whole volume 1 can be down loaded but you might want it in three parts as listed by Steve Garber.
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050010181_2005010059.pdf (3.4 MB PDF)
- LRK -

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Readers:

        With great sadness, our office announces the recent death of Boris Chertok, a towering figure in Soviet and Russian space history.  Chertok’s four-volume memoir, Rockets and People, has received wide acclaim.  The first three volumes of this series, edited by Dr. Asif Siddiqi, are available electronically from the links below and hard copies may be obtained through http://history.nasa.gov/series95.html#order online.  The fourth and final volume, subtitled The Moon Race, will be published early next year.  For more information on Chertok’s tremendous life story, see http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/chertok_obit.html online. In sympathy,

        Steve Garber

 

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol1-1.pdf

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol1-2.pdf

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol1-3.pdf

 

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol2.pdf

 

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol3.pdf

 

Stephen Garber
NASA History Program Office

Mail Suite CO72, Room 5N11
NASA Headquarters
Washington, DC 20546
202-358-0385
202-358-2866 fax
http://history.nasa.gov

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history mailing list
history@lists.hq.nasa.gov
https://lists.hq.nasa.gov/mailman/listinfo/history
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There are a lot of books available on line or that can be ordered from NASA.
- LRK -

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http://history.nasa.gov/series95.html

Management Histories, (SP-4100 Series):

• Rosholt, Robert L. An Administrative History of NASA, 1958-1963. NASA SP-4101, 1966. Out of print.
• Levine, Arnold S. Managing NASA in the Apollo Era. NASA SP-4102,1982. Out of print.
• Roland, Alex. Model Research: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics,1915-1958. NASA SP-4103, 1985.
• Fries, Sylvia D. NASA Engineers and the Age of Apollo. NASA SP-4104,1992. Out of print.
• Glennan, T. Keith. The Birth of NASA: The Diary of T. Keith Glennan. Edited by J.D. Hunley. NASA SP-4105, 1993.
• Seamans, Robert C. Aiming at Targets: The Autobiography of Robert C. Seamans. NASA SP-4106, 1996.
• Garber, Stephen J., editor. Looking Backward, Looking Forward: Forty Years of Human Spaceflight Symposium. NASA SP-2002-4107.
• Mallick, Donald L. with Peter W. Merlin. The Smell of Kerosene: A Test Pilot's Odyssey. NASA SP-4108. Out of print.
• Iliff, Kenneth W. and Curtis L. Peebles. From Runway to Orbit: Reflections of a NASA Engineer. NASA SP-2004-4109.
• Chertok, Boris. Rockets and People, Volume 1. (NASA SP-2005-4110).
  Click below to view this book in a three part PDF:
  Part 1.
  Part 2.
  Part 3.
• Chertok, Boris. Rockets and People: Creating a Rocket Industry, Volume II. (NASA SP-2006-4110).
• Chertok, Boris. Rockets and People: Hot Days of the Cold War, Volume III.(NASA SP-2009-4110).
• Laufer, Alexander, Post, Todd, and Hoffman, Edward. Shared Voyage: Learning and Unlearning from Remarkable Projects (NASA SP-2005-4111).
• Dawson, Virginia P. and Bowles, Mark D. Realizing the Dream of Flight: Biographical Essays in Honor of the Centennial of Flight, 1903-2003. (NASA SP-2005-4112).
• Mudgway, Douglas J. William H. Pickering: America's Deep Space Pioneer.(NASA SP-2008-4113).
  Click below to view this book in a three part PDF:
  Part 1.
  Part 2.
  Part 3.

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Much to learn from those that have gone on before.
We stand on their shoulders as we reach for the stars.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ 

BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ 

WordPress: http://lrkellogg.wordpress.com/ 

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK 

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