Exploring The Universe

Columbia Launches - November 10th, 1996.

"Rocket engines blazing, the Space Shuttle Columbia arcs into Florida's morning sky after lifting off from pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center. Seen here in January of 1996, this space shuttle had, at that time, been operational for more than 15 years - racking up 20 flights and over 77 million miles in orbit while spending 177 days in space. The first member of NASA's shuttle fleet, Columbia shares its name with another famous spacecraft launched from pad 39-A, the Apollo 11 command module."

Surveyor Night Launch - November 3rd, 1996.

"In early November of 1967, a dramatic night launch of an Atlas Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral lofted the successful Surveyor 6 spacecraft toward the Moon. The Surveyor series of robotic probes carried out the first US lunar soft landings in preparation for the Apollo program. Atlas Centaur rockets launched many lunar and planetary probes in the 60s and 70s."

NASA's 'Latest' Rockets: X-33 - July 2nd, 1996.

"What will NASA rockets look like in the future? An announcement on the 2nd of July, 1996, gave one indication. Vice-President Al Gore announced that the Lockheed Martin Corporation would work with NASA to produce a reusable rocket with a remote pilot. Designated the X-33 program, the flight demonstration rocket design would utilise only a single stage, cost relatively little per launch, and be ready for re-launch within days. It was expected that an X-33 type rocket would be in use by NASA by the the year 2000. Pictured above is an artistic depiction of the candidate vehicle."

Mercury Astronauts and a Redstone - January 7th, 1996.

"Space suited project Mercury astronauts John H. Glenn, Virgil I. Grissom, and Alan B. Shepard Jr. (left to right) are pictured here posing in front of a Redstone rocket in this 1961 NASA publicity photo. Project Mercury was the first U.S. program designed to put humans in space. It resulted in 6 manned flights using one-man capsules, and Redstone and Atlas rockets. Shortly after the first U.S. manned flight on May 5th, 1961, a suborbital flight piloted by Alan Shepard, President Kennedy announced the goal of a manned lunar landing by 1970. This goal was achieved by NASA's Apollo program and Shepard himself walked on the Moon as a member of the Apollo 14 mission."

An Atlas Centaur Rocket Launches - December 14th, 1995.

"Atlas Centaur rockets have launched over 75 successful unmanned missions. These missions include the Surveyor series - the first vehicles to make soft landings on the Moon, Pioneer 10 and 11 - the first missions to fly by Jupiter and Saturn, the first man-made objects able to leave our Solar System, the Viking missions which landed on Mars, several satellites in the High Energy Astrophysics Observatory (HEAO) series, Pioneer Venus - which circled and mapped the surface of Venus - and numerous Intelsat satellites. Of scientific interest was the Atlas launched SOHO mission which would continually observe the Sun. Atlas rockets are manufactured by Lockheed Martin Co."

A Delta Rocket Launches - December 13th, 1995.

"A Delta rocket is seen being launched in 1988. In use since 1960, Delta rockets have been launched successfully over 200 times. Scientific satellites placed into orbit by a Delta rocket include IUE, COBE, LAGEOS-I, ROSAT, EUVE, GEOTAIL, and WIND. Commercial launches include INMARSAT. Many recent Delta launches have placed Navstar Global Positioning System satellites into orbit. Delta rockets are manufactured for the USAF and NASA by McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co."

The Delta Clipper - October 28th, 1995.

"The Delta Clipper experimental rocket, or DC-X, was intended as a development vehicle to pave the way for a reusable single stage to orbit rocket. Shown here, in an artists conception, it has made several successful test flights since its maiden voyage in August of 1993 - taking off like a rocket, hovering and moving horizontally, and landing tail first on a designated landing pad. The DC-X is actually too heavy and underpowered to achieve orbit, but as part of NASA's Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Program, lessons learned operating the DC-X may help provide science and industry cheaper access to space."

Rockets and Robert Goddard - September 16th, 1995.

"Robert H. Goddard, one of the founding fathers of modern rocketry, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1882. As a 16 year old, Goddard read H.G. Wells' science fiction classic "War Of The Worlds" and dreamed of spaceflight. By 1926 he had designed, built, and launched the world's first liquid fuel rocket. During his career he was ridiculed by the press for suggesting that rockets could be flown to the Moon, but he kept up his experiments in rocketry, supported in part by the Smithsonian Institution and championed by Charles Lindbergh. Pictured above in 1937 in the desert near Roswell New Mexico, Goddard examines a nose cone and parachute from one of his test rockets. Widely recognized as a gifted experimenter and engineering genius, his rockets were many years ahead of their time. He died in 1945 holding over 200 patents in rocket technology. A liquid fuel rocket constructed on principles developed by Goddard landed humans on the Moon in 1969."

Saturn V: NASA's Largest Rocket - August 29th, 1995.

"Pictured, a NASA Saturn V rocket blasts off on July 16th, 1969, carrying the crew of Apollo 11 to the Moon. The Saturn V rocket was the largest rocket ever used by NASA, and the only one able to lift the large masses needed to land astronauts on the Moon and return them safely. Saturn V rockets launched all of the Apollo Moon missions, and several to Earth orbit as well."

Challenger Launches Spacelab 2 - August 9th, 1995.

"Space Shuttle Challenger jumps off the launch pad in 1985 to begin a successful mission. The main purpose of this mission was to test a new space based laboratory named Spacelab 2. Spacelab 2 takes advantage of the effectively weightless conditions in orbit to carry out experiments in areas such as astronomy, physics, life science, materials science, and atmospheric physics. Challenger and her crew were lost in 1986 when a booster failure resulted in the breakup of the vehicle. Previously, Challenger and her crews flew nine successful Space Shuttle missions and made significant contributions to America's scientific growth."

Columbia Waits, Discovery Launches - August 8th, 1995.

"Space Shuttle Discovery launches while the Space Shuttle Columbia is readied for a future mission. Space shuttles are launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At this date there are four operating space shuttles; Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavour. This mission is most famous for carrying the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. The Hubble Space Telescope is the largest public optical telescope ever to operate in orbit, and because it is above Earth's atmosphere its photographs are more clear than any ground-based telescope. Hubble continues to make fundamental discoveries about planets, stars, galaxies, comets, QSOs, and the universe we live in."

Night Launch of Endeavour - August 7th, 1995.

"Space Shuttle Endeavour thunders off into orbit in a rare night launch. This March, 1995 mission is most famous for operating the set of astronomical telescopes known as Astro-2. Astro-2's telescopes observed the universe in ultraviolet light - light so blue humans by themselves can't see it. Astro-2 measured the amount of ultraviolet light emitted by several interesting stars, galaxies, planets, and QSOs. Analysis of data from this NASA mission has yielded the first clear detection of helium created during the beginning of the universe."

Liftoff of Space Shuttle Columbia - August 6th, 1995.

"On April 12th, 1981, space flight entered a new era with the first launch of Space Shuttle Columbia, shown above. NASA's Space Shuttles land like a normal plane, carry a heavy cargo, carry a large crew, make use of cheap solid fuel, and are reusable. Previous to this flight, no manned orbiting space ship had ever landed on a runway. Space Shuttles now are the flagships and the workhorses of NASA's space going rockets."