Showing posts with label space program. Show all posts

One more on Gagarin



Bill, Pete,

In keeping with historical events, I have enclosed a few snap-shots from the 1961 Pittsburgh Press dated Wednesday, April 12, 1961.
Yes, a few of us recall that very day. I had filed this newspaper in my Scrap Book back then. It was a bitter sweet thing, to read for most, as we hoped the U.S. to be first but none-the-less, we smiled anyway because, it proved a person could go into space and return. (Flight Breaks Barrier to Space Travel). I was very enthusiastic about Rockets, Travel and current events. I built my own capsule in the rafters of my parents home and spent all day up there in the tiny confines as I launched my own secret adventures into Outer-Space.

Hope you enjoy the photos. I can provide a better set of copies if you are interested.

73's

Harv - WA3EIB
Idaho Falls, ID


Harv:   I converted a small closet into what I saw as an excellent simulator of the Apollo 11 Command Module.  Bill


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Cosmonautics Day Follow-up

Mark, K6HX, took a break from Hummingbird photography and captured some of the images streaming down from the International Space Station on Cosmonautics Day (April 11):  http://brainwagon.org/2015/04/11/sstv-from-the-iss/  
Very cool Mark (and I think the bird pictures are just as cool!)

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Happy Cosmonautics Day! Yuri Gagarin Images (SSTV) from Space This Weekend

http://m0dcm.co.uk/?tag=sstv

From the ARISS Web Site:

http://www.ariss.org/news.html

Latest NewsApril 6, 2015

ISS Slow Scan TV Expected Weekend of April 11

In celebration of Cosmonautics Day, Russian ARISS SSTV activity is planned for the second week of April.

Cosmonautics Day celebrates Yuri Gagarin’s famous flight on April 12, 1961 becoming the first human to reach space.

The SSTV event is planned for Saturday, April 11, beginning at 10:00 UTC and continuing until 21:00 UTC. All transmissions will use the high resolution SSTV mode PD180. Transmissions will be at 145.800 MHz. If similar to past events, 12 different photos will be sent through the weekend with 3 minute off periods between transmissions.

To receive the images in real time, all that’s required is a 2 meter radio receiver and a computer to convert the receiver’s audio to image form. The software to do this is available as freeware on the internet at sites such as http://hamsoft.ca/pages/mmsstv.php.  Received images can be uploaded and viewed at the ARISS Image gallery found at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php .

Those capturing images are encouraged to upload them to http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/submit.php

Uploaded images may be viewed at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/

Please be advised that situational demands on crew time could result in postponement or cancellation of any ARISS activity. Please pay attention to the possibility of any change in scheduling.


Soviet Union-1965-Stamp-0.12. Cosmonautics Day.jpg
 
 
 
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This Kid has THE KNACK TO THE MAX! And is in the International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards! (VIDEO)



Oh man, we've all been there in one form or another.  The struggle, the frustration, then, THE TRIUMPH!  I love when his mother drops the plate.  
Thanks to John KC0BMF

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Beagle 2 Found On Mars


I was one of the millions of people who woke up that Christmas morning in 2003  thinking not of Santa Claus but of Colin Pillinger's Mars Lander, the Beagle 2.  We were in London by then, and later on I got to meet Colin Pillinger.  I still have the books about Beagle 2 that he gave to me.   Wow, it looks like they came very close.  Too bad Colin did not live to see these pictures. 

The Planetary Society has a very good article on all this:  

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/01160800-beagle-2-found.html


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Sputnik 40 Launched from MIR in 1997



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Launch of the new Orion rocket



The Saturn V was, of course, far more impressive and beautiful.  But the Orion is pretty cool. When  I was looking at the drawings depicting the various stages of the spacecraft,  that Apollo-shaped capsule brought back some deep memories.  I was 10 years old when Apollo 11 launched.  


A page from the scrapbook I made during the flight of Apollo 11. 

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At the Comet



That's an awe-inspiring "selfie"!   This looks like something out of Kubrick's "2001 -- A Space Odyssey." Congratulations to the European Space Agency! 

Using the CIVA camera on Rosetta’s Philae lander, the spacecraft have snapped a ‘selfie’ at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The image was taken on 7 September from a distance of about 50 km from the comet, and captures the side of the Rosetta spacecraft and one of Rosetta’s 14 m-long solar wings, with 67P/C-G in the background. Two images with different exposure times were combined to bring out the faint details in this very high contrast situation.


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Hacker with The Knack Does Well, Working for JPL



Wow.  This guy has a really inspirational Knack story.  He welded (with coat hangers!) a sidecar onto his bike when he was a kid.  He majored in Physics and Theater.  He did all kinds of hardware and software hacks. He plays a Theravin in a band.   He now flies spacecraft for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

And Congratulations to Peter Parker, VK3YE, for having one of his ingenious hacks picked up by Hackaday:
http://hackaday.com/2014/10/06/dusty-junk-bin-downconverter-receives-fm-on-an-am-radio/

Thanks Hackaday! And Happy Tenth Birthday to You!  

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Beautiful Pictures of Mars from India's Spacecraft


Congratulations to the Indian Space Research Organization.  They put a spacecraft into Mars orbit on their first attempt, and they are getting back some spectacular images.  

I also like the banner on their web site: 


More info here: 

http://www.isro.org/pslv-c25/Imagegallery/mom-images.aspx

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Making Hardware for Mars in a Lab in New York City

I liked this video about building hardware for a Mars mission at a lab in New York City.

http://www.sciencefriday.com/video/08/10/2012/building-for-mars-sometimes-painful-always-glorious.html


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ISEE-3 Recovery Hiccup



Now that's a McDonald's that you would want to work in!  That's the headquarters for the ISEE-3 recovery effort. (Is it also the place where they recovered the long-lost moon photos from the 1960s?) 

This week the ISEE-3 effort hit a bump in the road.  Getting old gear to work properly is never easy.   Be patient fellows! 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/us/in-effort-to-shift-abandoned-nasa-craft-a-hiccup-or-burp.html?action=click&contentCollection=Science&region=Footer&module=MoreInSection&pgtype=article

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Contact Reestablished with ISEE-3 Satellite




http://spacecollege.org/isee3/we-are-now-in-command-of-the-isee-3-spacecraft.html


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Hackers Recover 1960's Moon Pictures


http://www.wired.com/2014/04/lost-lunar-photos-recovered-by-great-feats-of-hackerdom-developed-at-a-mcdonalds/

Thanks to Mark, K6HX, for alerting me to this wonderful project.   

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A Worthy Cause: Help Save the ISEE-3 Spacecraft!


http://www.rockethub.com/projects/42228-isee-3-reboot-project-by-space-college-skycorp-and-spaceref

Here is an excerpt from the above website:


Our plan is simple: we intend to contact the ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer) spacecraft, command it to fire its engine and enter an orbit near Earth, and then resume its original mission - a mission it began in 1978. ISEE-3 was rechristened as the International Comet Explorer (ICE). If we are successful it may also still be able to chase yet another comet.

Working in collaboration with NASA we have assembled a team of engineers, programmers, and scientists - and have a large radio telescope fully capable of contacting ISEE-3.  If we are successful we intend to facilitate the sharing and interpretation of all of the new data ISEE-3 sends back via crowd sourcing.

Time is short. And this project is not without significant risks.  We need your financial help. ISEE-3 must be contacted in the next month or so and it must complete its orbit change maneuvers no later than mid-June 2014. There is excitement ahead as well: part of the maneuvers will include a flyby of the Moon at an altitude of less than 50 km.

Our team members at Morehead State University, working with AMSAT-DL in Germany, have already detected the carrier signals from both of ISEE-3's transmitters.  When the time comes, we will be using the large dish at Morehead State University to contact the spacecraft and give it commands.

Thanks to Dave, WA8JNM, for the heads up on this. 
 

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German Radio Amateurs Receive Signals from ICE Spacecraft


The wizards at AMSAT-DL have done it again!  Their latest feat of outer space derring-do is the reception of the 5 watt (QRP!) signal from the lost (now found) ICE spacecraft.  Details here:
http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/09/radio-amateurs-receive-nasa-isee-3ice-spacecraft/

Here is their facility:


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Taking the Knack a Bit Too Far



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ISEE-3 Spacecraft Returns after Being Forgotten



Hack-A-Day has issued a challenge to hams and hackers:

http://hackaday.com/2014/02/14/call-for-hams-and-hackers-welcome-iceisee-3-home/#more-114769

If a BITX 20/40 would help, I stand ready to assist!  


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How they took the iconic Apollo 8 Earthrise Photo (Amazing Video)



I was ten years old and totally obsessed with the space program.  This video brought back a lot of the magic. Wow. You really have to see this one.


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The NASA Juno Fly-by "Hams say HI to Juno" Video (very nice)



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