I’ve been browsing through NASA’s 50 Years at Kennedy Space Center gallery, and found these gems from 1964. It’s neat to see the “baby pictures”, if you will, of a spaceport to the Moon. Above, Launch Pad 39A, under construction; below, the Vehicle Assembly Building, also under construction. (Another “growing” VAB shot over here.)

Launch day of STS-133, February 24, 2011. Photo by me.

0 Days to Launch!

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year already, but the calendar doesn’t lie: one year ago today, I was standing at the Kennedy Space Center press site, part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup crowd, waiting to see if Discovery would launch.

It was a beautiful, clear day, and I was surrounded by wonderful people, many dear friends.

We listened to astronauts, watched as a mobile version of Astro Robonaut ran around the lawn (he mutated since we first saw him; I wonder what he’s been eating?), ate Ultimate Party Meatballs (courtesy of @TheSuss, and #BetaHouse), and milled around, soaking up the space ambiance….

And then the most wonderful thing happened.

This:

Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery - February 24, 2011

I’m a big fan of Alan Bean, as some of you probably know. Here he is, descending the ladder, about to walk on the Moon. (And how cool is that??)

Alan L. Bean, Lunar Module pilot for the Apollo 12 mission, starts down the ladder of the Lunar Module (LM) “Intrepid” to join astronaut Charles Conrad, Jr., mission Commander, on the lunar surface.

Image credit: NASA and Charles Pete Conrad

Photograph © collectSPACE/Robert Z. Pearlman

Check out this fantastic photo gallery of space shuttle Atlantis during one of her final powered-up moments. I look at her, and all I can think is that she’s been nerfed. It’s sad.

A gorgeous photo of the Soyuz spacecraft as it rolls to the launch pad for your Monday.

The Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft is rolled out by train on its way to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 30 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of Russia, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers is scheduled for 7:16 p.m. local time on Wednesday, December 21.
Photo Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

If it’s been 39 years since we left the Moon… how depressing is that? At least we have photos, I guess.

39 years ago, today, scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt is photographed standing next to a huge, split lunar boulder during the third Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), which transported Schmitt and Eugene A. Cernan to this extravehicular station from their Lunar Module (LM), is seen in the background. The mosaic is made from two frames from Apollo 17 Hasselblad magazine 140. The two frames were photographed by Cernan.
Image Credit: NASA/Eugene Cernan

I’ve always loved this photo. There’s something a little ethereal about it. Alan Bean gets double points in my book for being a moon-walker/artist.

Astronaut Alan L. Bean, Lunar Module pilot, pauses near a tool carrier during the Apollo 12 spacewalk on the moon’s surface. Commander Charles Conrad, Jr., who took the black-and-white photo, is reflected in Bean’s helmet visor.
Image Credit: NASA

The North America Nebula, seen in infrared by the Spitzer Space Telescope:

This swirling landscape of stars is known as the North America Nebula. In visible light, the region resembles North America, but in this image infrared view from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the continent disappears.

Where did the continent go? The reason you don’t see it in Spitzer’s view has to do, in part, with the fact that infrared light can penetrate dust whereas visible light cannot. Dusty, dark clouds in the visible image become transparent in Spitzer’s view. In addition, Spitzer’s infrared detectors pick up the glow of dusty cocoons enveloping baby stars.

Clusters of young stars (about one million years old) can be found throughout the image. Some areas of this nebula are still very thick with dust and appear dark even in Spitzer’s view.

The Spitzer image contains data from both its infrared array camera and multi-band imaging photometer. Light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color-coded blue; 4.5-micron light is blue-green; 5.8-micron and 8.0-micron light are green; and 24-micron light is red. This image is from February 2011.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

A beautiful concept of the Space Shuttle from 1972, courtesy of x-ray delta one. It’s interesting to see how the external tank evolved — here it looks like a larger SRB, with a penthouse (or whatever other purpose that little top spike is supposed to serve.) The orbiter itself has a bit of a streamliner/Art Deco look to it.

35 years ago, on September 17, NASA unveiled the space shuttle Enterprise to the delight of her TV crew. (Why Bones, you look so STYLIN’ in those gold bell-bottom slacks!)

In 1976, NASA’s space shuttle Enterprise rolled out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities and was greeted by NASA officials and cast members from the ‘Star Trek’ television series. From left to right they are: NASA Administrator Dr. James D. Fletcher; DeForest Kelley, who portrayed Dr. “Bones” McCoy on the series; George Takei (Mr. Sulu); James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott); Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); series creator Gene Rodenberry; an unnamed NASA official; and, Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov).
CREDIT: NASA

SPACE.com has a nice article about the Enterprise, a prototype and test vehicle that never felt the chill of space, but paved the way for the rest of the fleet!

The space shuttle prototype Enterprise flies free after being released from NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft over Rogers Dry Lakebed during the second of five free flights carried out at the Dryden Flight Research Center, in Edwards, Calif., as part of the shuttle program’s Approach and Landing Tests (ALT). The tests were conducted to verify aerodynamics and handling characteristics in preparation for orbital flights with the Space Shuttle Columbia, which began in April 1981.
CREDIT: NASA