Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Saltzman points to history to guide Space Force as it develops, grows, adapts
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The NASA History Office brings you the new Spring 2025 issue of NASA History News & Notes reflecting on some of the transitional periods in NASA’s history, as well as the legacies of past programs. Topics include NASA’s 1967 class of astronauts, historic experiments in airborne astronomy, NASA’s aircraft consolidation efforts in the 1990s, lightning observations from space, the founding of the NACA, the DC-8 airborne science laboratory, and more!
Volume 42, Number 1
Spring 2025
Featured Articles
From the Chief Historian
By Brian Odom
In the first few months of 2025, NASA will celebrate several significant anniversaries, including the 110th anniversary of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) (March 3), the 55th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13 (April 11), and the 35th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (April 24). Celebrating these important milestones is a way for us as an agency and for the public to reflect upon where we have been and what we have accomplished and to think about what we might accomplish next. Continue Reading
The XS-11 and the Transition Away from Mandatory Jet Pilot Training for NASA Astronauts
By Jennifer Ross-Nazzal
Flying in space has been associated with pilots ever since 1959, when NASA announced its first class of astronauts, known as the Mercury 7. Part of being a professional astronaut meant you were a certified jet pilot. Even the scientist-astronauts, so named to differentiate them from the astronauts assigned to the Mercury and Gemini missions, selected in 1965 and in 1967, received pilot training. Until NASA better understood the impact of weightlessness on the human body, Robert R. Gilruth, head of the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) in Houston, believed all astronauts should meet this qualification. But when five scientist-astronauts from the 1967 class had a rocky transition, leading them to resign—due to their disinterest in flying at the cost of their scientific training and no spaceflight opportunities—it eventually led NASA to rethink their idea of having all astronauts become jet pilots. Continue Reading
Portrait of NASA’s 1967 group of astronauts. Seated at the table, left to right, are Philip K. Chapman, Robert A. R. Parker, William E. Thornton, and John A. Llewellyn. Standing, left to right, are Joseph P. Allen IV, Karl G. Henize, Anthony W. England, Donald L. Holmquest, Story Musgrave, William B. Lenoir, and Brian T. O’Leary.NASA The High-Flying Legacy of Airborne Observation: How Experimental Aircraft Contributed to Astronomy at NASA
By Lois Rosson
In June 2011, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) chased down Pluto’s occultation of a far-away star. … SOFIA’s 2011 observation of Pluto followed up on a historic 1988 observation made by the airborne Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) that proved that Pluto had an atmosphere at all. The technical versatility of both flights, conducted from aircraft hurtling stabilized telescopes through the air, speaks to the legacy of airborne astronomical observation at NASA. But how did this idiosyncratic format emerge in the first place? Airborne astronomy, in which astronomical observations are made from a moving aircraft, was attempted almost as soon as airplanes themselves were developed. Continue Reading
NASA’s Tortuous Effort to Consolidate its Aircraft
By Robert Arrighi
Thirty years ago, on January 6, 1995, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin announced, “We’ve started a revolution at NASA. It’s real. We have a road map for change. We’ve already begun.” Thus began one of the agency’s most daunting endeavors, a top-to-bottom reassessment of NASA’s processes, programmatic assignments, and staffing levels. One of the most controversial aspects of this effort was the proposal to transfer nearly all of the agency’s research aircraft to Dryden Flight Research Center (today known as Armstrong). Continue Reading
Three ER-2 Aircraft in formation over Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA on their final flight out of NASA Ames Research Center before redeployment to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, now known as NASA Armstrong.NASA/Eric James The Space Between: Mesoscale Lightning Observations and Weather Forecasting, 1965–82
By Brad Massey
Skylab astronaut Edward G. Gibson looked down at Earth often during his 84 days on NASA’s first space station. From his orbital vantage point, Gibson took in the breathtaking views of our planet’s diverse landscapes. He also noted the interesting behavior of the planet’s most powerful electrical force: lightning. … Gibson’s words were of great interest to the lightning researchers affiliated with NASA’s Severe Storms and Local Research Program and others who believed observing Earth’s lightning from low Earth orbit generated valuable data that meteorologists could use to better forecast dangerous storm characteristics and behavior. With these motivations in mind, researchers created new Earth- and space-based experiments from the mid-1960s to the first Space Shuttle missions in the early 1980s that observed lightning on a regional level. Continue Reading
Adding Color to the Moon: Jack Kinzler’s Oral History Interviews
By Sandra Johnson
Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) Director Robert R. Gilruth placed a call to Jack Kinzler less than four months before the Apollo 11 launch. Gilruth asked him to attend a meeting with a high-level group of individuals from both MSC and NASA Headquarters to discuss ideas for celebrating the first lunar landing. Kinzler, in his capacity as the chief of the Technical Services Division, arrived ready to present his suggestions for commemorating the achievement. Continue Reading
Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during the mission’s extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface.NASA The Founding of the NACA
By James Anderson
One hundred ten years ago this month, NASA’s predecessor organization, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), was founded. The date of the anniversary marks the passage of a rider to a naval appropriations bill that established the NACA for the modest sum of $5,000 annually. Telling the story of the NACA’s founding in this manner—using March 3, 1915, as the moment in time to represent the NACA’s beginning—is true, but it overlooks two crucial aspects of the founding. The founding was both a culmination and a turning point for science and aeronautics in the United States. Continue Reading
Remembering the DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory at NASA
By Bradley Lynn Coleman
The NASA History Office and NASA Earth Science Division cohosted a workshop on the recently retired NASA DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory (1986–2024) at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington, DC, October 24 and 25, 2024. The workshop celebrated the history of the legendary aircraft; documented DC-8–enabled scientific, engineering, education, and outreach activities; and captured lessons of the past for future operators. Continue Reading
The DC-8 in flight near Lone Pine, California. NASA/Jim Ross Download the Spring 2025 Edition More Issues of NASA History News and Notes Share
Details
Last Updated Apr 01, 2025 Related Terms
NASA History Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
NASA History
History Publications and Resources
NASA Archives
NASA Oral Histories
View the full article
-
-
By European Space Agency
Video: 00:08:04 Space Debris: Is it a Crisis?
The European Space Agency’s short documentary film ‘Space Debris: Is it a Crisis?’ on the state of space debris premiered at the 9th European Conference on Space Debris on 1 April 2025.
Earth is surrounded by thousands of satellites carrying out important work to provide telecommunications and navigation services, help us understand our climate, and answer fundamental questions about the Universe.
However, as our use of space accelerates like never before, these satellites find themselves navigating increasingly congested orbits in an environment criss-crossed by streams of fast-moving debris fragments resulting from collisions, fragmentations and breakups in space.
Each fragment can damage additional satellites, with fears that a cascade of collisions may eventually render some orbits around Earth no longer useable. Additionally, the extent of the harm of the drastic increase in launches and number of objects re-entering our atmosphere and oceans is not yet known.
So, does space debris already represent a crisis?
The documentary explores the current situation in Earth’s orbits and explains the threat space debris poses to our future in space. It also outlines what might be done about space debris and how we might reach true sustainability in space, because our actions today will have consequences for generations to come.
ESA’s Space Safety Programme
ESA’s Space Safety Programme aims to safeguard the future of spaceflight and to keep us, Earth and our infrastructure on the ground and in space safe from hazards originating in space.
From asteroids and solar storms to the human-made problem of space debris, ESA works on missions and projects to understand the dangers and mitigate them.
In the longer term, to ensure a safe and sustainable future in space, ESA aims to establish a circular economy in space. To get there, the Agency is working on the technology development necessary to make in-orbit servicing and zero-debris spacecraft a reality.
View the full article
-
By NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 members stand inside the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. From left are Mission Specialist Kimiya Yui from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Commander NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Mission Specialist Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos, and Pilot NASA astronaut Mike Fincke.Credit: NASA As part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission, four crew members from three space agencies will launch in the coming months to the International Space Station for a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory.
NASA astronauts Commander Zena Cardman and Pilot Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Mission Specialist Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Oleg Platonov will join crew members aboard the space station no earlier than July 2025.
The flight is the 11th crew rotation with SpaceX to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The crew will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions to the Moon, as well as benefit people on Earth.
Cardman previously was assigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, and Fincke previously was assigned to NASA’s Boeing Starliner-1 mission. NASA decided to reassign the astronauts to Crew-11 in overall support of planned activities aboard the International Space Station. Cardman carries her experience training as a commander on Dragon spacecraft, and Fincke brings long-duration spaceflight experience to this crew complement.
Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, Cardman will conduct her first spaceflight. The Williamsburg, Virginia, native holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a master’s in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the time of selection, she had begun pursuing a doctorate in Geosciences. Cardman’s research in geobiology and geochemical cycling focused on subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. Since completing initial training, Cardman has supported real-time station operations and lunar surface exploration planning.
This will be Fincke’s fourth trip to the space station, having logged 382 days in space and nine spacewalks during Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2008, and STS-134 in 2011, the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour. Throughout the past decade, Fincke has applied his expertise to NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, advancing the development and testing of the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner toward operational certification. The Emsworth, Pennsylvania, native is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School and holds bachelors’ degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in both Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well as Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. He also has a master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University in California. Fincke is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.
With 142 days in space, this will be Yui’s second trip to the space station. After his selection as a JAXA astronaut in 2009, Yui flew as a flight engineer for Expedition 44/45 and became the first Japanese astronaut to capture JAXA’s H-II Transfer Vehicle. In addition to constructing a new experimental environment aboard Kibo, he conducted a total of 21 experiments for JAXA. In November 2016, Yui was assigned as chief of the JAXA Astronaut Group. He graduated from the School of Science and Engineering at the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1992. He later joined the Air Self-Defense Force at the Japan Defense Agency (currently Ministry of Defense). In 2008, Yui joined the Air Staff Office at the Ministry of Defense as a lieutenant colonel.
The Crew-11 mission will be Platonov’s first spaceflight. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, Platonov earned a degree in Engineering from Krasnodar Air Force Academy in Aircraft Operations and Air Traffic Management. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in State and Municipal Management in 2016 from the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia. Assigned as a test cosmonaut in 2021, he has experience in piloting aircraft, zero gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.
For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA’s Artemis campaign is underway at the Moon, where the agency is preparing for future human exploration of Mars.
Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
-end-
Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Courtney Beasley / Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov / chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Mar 27, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Commercial Space Commercial Crew Humans in Space International Space Station (ISS) ISS Research Johnson Space Center Low Earth Orbit Economy Space Operations Mission Directorate
View the full article
-
By Space Force
The U.S. Space Force and ULA launch team successfully completed the certification process of the Vulcan rocket. The first NSSL mission on Vulcan is expected this summer.
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.