The Vintage Space

Why Does a Rocket Need to Roll Going Into Orbit?

Following launch rockets normally pitch to the east to reach orbit taking advantage of their motion gained for the rotation of the Earth thus saving fuel. But for moon launches the rotation of the Earth is not aligned with the orbit of the moon so the rock rolls to align with the moon's orbit before pitching over.

Jul 1, 2016

Only Three People Have Died in Space

Despite the myriad of dangers to space flight and the many crewed missions in space over the past sixty years only on mission resulted in fatalities; the crew of three of Soyuz 11 in 1971.

Aug 16, 2017

Eleven Deaf Men Helped NASA Leave Earth

Since motion sickness is related to balance and would likely be a major issue in space flight NASA wanted to learn more about how balance works. And since balance originated in the inner ear it makes sense that motion sickness is also triggered in the inner ear. To test this possible correlation NASA recruited several deaf men and tried to give them motion sickness.

May 17, 2018

Let's Talk About Space Force

Amy describe the United States military's (Air Force and Navy) past and present use of space then postulates on the likely goals of a United States Space Force.

Sep 14, 2018

How Apollo Astronauts Didn't Get Lost Going to the Moon

Rather that relying on mission control for navigation the Apollo spacecraft had on-board navigation. This was the cold war after all and NASA was concerned about Soviet jamming. The navigation system relied on good old dead reckoning adapted for three dimensions.

Jun 13, 2019

U-2s over China: Operation Tackle

Jan 13, 2021

America Spying with the Corona Satellites

Jan 29, 2021

When a Nuke Nearly Killed the Moon Landing

To travel to the moon Apollo astronauts had to pass through the Van Allen radiation belts. NASA scientists eventually concluded that radiation exposure would be minimal with the shielding on the command module. Still, a proposal to purge the radiation with a nuclear explosion was considered. But the 1964 Starfish Prime atmospheric nuclear test actually enriched the radiation in the Van Allen belts.

Jan 12, 2022