NASA History

NASA Plane Supported Innovative Microgravity Research in ‘90s

A bell rings and a strobe light flashes as a pilot pulls the nose of the DC-9 aircraft up sharply. The blood quickly drains from researchers’ heads as they are pulled to the cabin floor by a force twice that of normal gravity. Once the acceleration slows to the desired level, and the NASA aircraft […]

Posted November 27, 2024

NASA History

STS-129

15 Years Ago: STS-129 Delivers Cargo on the Third Utilization and Logistics Flight

On Nov. 16, 2009, space shuttle Atlantis began its 31st trip into space, on the third Utilization and Logistics Flight (ULF3) mission to the International Space Station, the 31st shuttle flight to the orbiting lab. During the 11-day mission, the six-member STS-129 crew worked with the six-person Expedition 21 crew during seven days of docked […]

Posted November 18, 2024

NASA History

Apollo 12

55 Years Ago: Apollo 12 Makes a Pinpoint Landing on the Moon

In November 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, Command Module Pilot (CMP) Richard F. Gordon, and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Alan L. Bean completed the second crewed lunar landing mission.

Posted November 14, 2024

NASA History

STS-51A

40 Years Ago: STS-51A – “The Ace Repo Company”

Successfully deployed from the space shuttle Challenger during the February 1984 STS-41B mission, the Westar 6 and Palapa B2 communications satellites ended up in incorrect orbits due to failures of their upper stage rockets. During STS-51A in November 1984, Discovery’s second trip into space, the crew of Commander Frederick H.

Posted November 8, 2024

NASA History

Oral History with Jon A. McBride, 1943 – 2024

Selected as an astronaut in 1978, Jon A. McBride served as the pilot for STS 41-G, launched October 5, 1984, the first shuttle mission to carry a full crew of seven. His other NASA assignments included lead chase pilot for the maiden voyage of Columbia and CAPCOM for three early shuttle flights. Read more about […]

Posted November 7, 2024

NASA History

STS-66

30 Years Ago: STS-66, the ATLAS-3 Mission to Study the Earth’s Atmosphere

On Nov. 3, 1994, space shuttle Atlantis took to the skies on its 13th trip into space. During the 11-day mission, the STS-66 crew of Commander Donald R. McMonagle, Pilot Curtis L. Brown, Payload Commander Ellen Ochoa, and Mission Specialists Joseph R. Tanner, Scott E.

Posted November 4, 2024

NASA History

Halloween on the International Space Station

Although no ghouls or goblins or trick-or-treaters come knocking at the International Space Station’s front hatch, crew members aboard the orbiting facility still like to get in the Halloween spirit.

Posted October 31, 2024

NASA History

60 Years Ago: The First Flight of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle

President John F. Kennedy’s national commitment to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth before the end of the decade posed multiple challenges, among them how to train astronauts to land on the Moon, a place with no atmosphere and one-sixth the gravity on Earth. The Lunar Landing Research […]

Posted October 30, 2024

NASA History

STS-34

35 Years Ago: STS-34 Sends Galileo on its Way to Jupiter

On Oct. 18, 1989, space shuttle Atlantis took off on its fifth flight, STS-34, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Its five-person crew of Commander Donald E. Williams, Pilot Michael J. McCulley, and Mission Specialists Shannon W. Lucid, Franklin R. Chang-Díaz, and Ellen S. Baker flew a five-day mission that deployed the Galileo […]

Posted October 21, 2024

NASA History

Five Years Ago: First All Woman Spacewalk

The fifth anniversary of the first all-female spacewalk by NASA astronauts Christina H. Koch and Jessica U. Meir seems like a good time to tell the story of women spacewalkers. Since the first woman stepped outside a spacecraft in 1984, 23 women from four nationalities have participated in 61 spacewalks.

Posted October 18, 2024