Monthly Archives: December 2010

Ten Events of Great Significance in Space Exploration during the Twenty-first Century’s First Decade

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As the first decade of the twenty-first century comes to a close—I know that one could make the case that the first decade ended in 2009 but we had this argument during Y2K and I’m not going to rehash it here—what might we consider the ten most important events in space exploration and discovery? Everyone is free to come up with their own lists, but here is mine. These are in no particular order, at least it is not a countdown, and it is weighted toward recent acquisitions at the National Air and Space Museum. What would your list look like?

•   SpaceShipOne, June 21, 2004, September 29, 2004, and October 4, 2004: Launched from its White Knight mothership, the rocket-powered SpaceShipOne and its pilot ascended just beyond the atmosphere, arced through space (but not into orbit), then glided safely back to Earth. The three flights of SpaceShipOne represented the first times in which a privately-developed spacecraft reached space. The flights were part of the Ansari X-Prize competition to develop a robust and reliable piloted space vehicle that could offer space tourism to a broad set of participants. Based on this success, prospects for suborbital space tourism are expanding as successor vehicles are being built. SpaceShipOne is on display in the National Air and Space Museum’s “Milestones of Flight” exhibition.

SpaceShipOne

•    Mars Exploration Rovers, 2004-Present: On January 3, 2004, the “Spirit” rover landed on Mars in Gusev crater, followed on January 25 by “Opportunity” reaching the Sinus Meridiani region, halfway around the planet from its twin. Since that time, both rovers have been operating on the Martian surface and returning stunning scientific findings that are restructuring our knowledge of the red planet. For one, we now know that Mars was once a watery world, and that water may yet be under its surface. This discovery has profound consequences for the possibilities of life having once been there. A mockup of the Mars Exploration Rover is on display in the National Air and Space Museum’s “Exploring the Planets” exhibition.

Mars Exploration Rover (Image courtesy NASA/JPL)

•    Stardust Comet Sample Return Mission, 1999-2006, extended mission, on-going: Stardust was the first U.S. space mission dedicated solely to returning extraterrestrial material from beyond the Moon. It collected samples from Comet Wild 2 and interstellar dust. Launched in 1999, it returned to Earth seven years later, parachuting to a landing in the Utah desert in 2006. The Stardust canister containing samples was sealed in an exterior shell that protected them from the heat of reentry. The material Stardust returned may date from the formation of the solar system. Scientific studies of the samples are altering our understanding of the universe. One major discovery is that ice-rich comets, the coldest and most distant bodies in the solar system, also contain fragments of materials. This return capsule is on display in the National Air and Space Museum’s “Milestones of Flight” exhibition.

Stardust Return Capsule on display in "Milestones of Flight"

•    Columbia Accident, 2003, and return to flight, 2005: The tragedy of STS-107 on February 1, 2003, cannot be overemphasized. It led to a stand down of the Space Shuttle program for more than two years, a hiatus on most construction for the International Space Station, and the decision to retire the shuttle by the end of the decade. The loss of the crew of seven, including international astronauts, was traumatic. The return to flight with STS-114 on July 26, 2005, brought a return to activity for the U.S. human spaceflight program, but the imminent retirement of the Space Shuttle opens questions about how the U.S. will undertake human activities in space. The Space Shuttle program is a major focus of the “Moving Beyond Earth” exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum.

Space Shuttle Discovery Launches on Return to Flight mission STS-114, July 26, 2005. (Image courtesy NASA/KSC)

•    Building of International Space Station (ISS), 1998-2009: With the first elements launched and joined in orbit in 1998, the building of ISS has consumed most of the human space missions of both the United States and Russia for the last decade. Since the occupation of the Expedition One crew to ISS—William M. (Bill) Shepherd, Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko, and Sergei K. Krikalev—in 2001 there has been a crew of between two and six aboard the station throughout the decade. The ISS is a major focus of the “Moving Beyond Earth” exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum.

International Space Station (ISS) in August of 2001. Photographed from the Shuttle Orbiter Discovery (STS-105) after separating from the ISS. (Image courtesy NASA/MSFC)

•    Discovery of Extrasolar Planets, 1995-present: The first planet discovered around another star was announced on October 6, 1995, and since that time 358 extrasolar planets have been discovered. Although no Earth-like planets have been discovered yet, the prospects seem good for discovery in the next few years. Imagine the excitement of such a discovery? Information about cosmology, astronomy, and astrophysics is available in the National Air and Space Museum’s “Explore the Universe” exhibition.

Artists concept of an extrasolar planet. (Image courtesy NASA/STScI)

•    Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker Mission, 1996-2001: NEAR Shoemaker was launched on February 17, 1996, journeyed to the Mathilde asteroid for a flyby, and then landed on the Asteroid 433 Eros on February 12, 2001, while transmitting 69 close-up images of the surface during its final descent. It was the first spacecraft mission specifically designed to study an asteroid. We would really like to collect NEAR Shoemaker for the National Air and Space Museum, but that will have to await a return to Asteroid 433 Eros with capability to return cargo. I probably won’t see this in my lifetime. There is more information on asteroids and their exploration in the National Air and Space Museum’s “Exploring the Planets” exhibition.

433 Eros (Image courtesy JHU/APL)

Last image of 433 Eros sent back from NEAR Shoemaker before it landed. (Image courtesy JHU/APL)

•    Chandra X-Ray Observatory, 1999-Present: Since its launch on July 23, 1999, the Chandra X-ray Observatory has engaged in X-ray astronomy of the universe, taking its place in the fleet of what NASA calls its “Great Observatories” program. Designed to observe X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe, such as the remnants of exploded stars and even particles up to the last second before they fall into a black hole, Chandra has greatly enhanced our understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe. There is a Chandra 1/5-scale model in the National Air and Space Museum’s “Explore the Universe” exhibition.

1/5-scale model of Chandra X-ray Observatory hangs in "Explore The Universe"

•    Hubble Servicing Missions, STS-109 (2002), STS-125 (2009): The Hubble Space Telescope is acclaimed as one of the most significant astronomical instruments in history. First deployed in 1990, it has been serviced five times by astronauts visiting it aboard the Space Shuttle. These missions have extended its service life, and the most recent in 2009 appears to have extended its capabilities for the better part of the next decade. The structural dynamics test article for the Hubble Space Telescope is on display in the “Space Race” exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum. During that last servicing mission, NASA removed the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) and it is on display in the National Air and Space Museum’s “Moving Beyond Earth” exhibition.

Hubble Test Telescope in "Space Race"

COSTAR

•    Shenzou V, 2003: Until 2003 only two nations had sent humans into space. On October 15-16, 2003, China joined Russia and United States in that exclusive club when taikonaut Yang Liwei completed 14 orbits of the Earth. The trip into space started when the Long March rocket carrying Yang in the Shenzhou V capsule blasted off from the Jiuquan launch center. The National Air and Space Museum looks forward to the prospect of displaying objects associated with the Chinese space program.

I could have offered several other events for this list—the completion of the Milstar constellation, the advance of GPS into everyday life, the launch of Falcon 9 with its Dragon capsule, and the recognition of John Mather and George Smoot with the Nobel Prize for their elucidation of the Big Bang theory with data from the Cosmic Background Explore—all come to mind. I invite others to offer their own lists of significant space events in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

Roger D. Launius is senior curator in the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

Lion Cubs? Yeah, We’ve Got Lion Cubs, Too.

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Ever since our colleagues over at the National Zoo introduced their seven beautiful lion cubs to the public, some of the staff here at the National Air and Space Museum have been feeling a bit envious. Yes, we have priceless historic artifacts like the 1903 Wright Flyer and the Spirit of St. Louis; but lacking a single lion cub or even a panda, we do have something of a cuteness gap – we simply can’t compete with the Zoo when it comes down to Cute.

Roscoe Turner and Gilmore

Roscoe Turner and Gilmore. (80-12371, National Air and Space Museum Archives)

But a sifting of the files in the Museum’s Archives Division actually turned up a respectable number of lion cubs in photographic form. The most famous of them is Gilmore, shown above, posing with his partner Roscoe Turner (1895-1970) on Turner’s Lockheed Air Express 3. Turner was one of the most memorable figures from the Golden Age of flight – winner of the Bendix Trophy and three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy, he was known for his splendid custom-designed uniforms. In 1930, Turner was flying for the Gilmore Oil Company, which used a lion’s head as its trademark.  Thinking that having a real lion might boost publicity, he adopted a 3-week old cub and named him after the company. Little Gilmore was an immediate hit with the public, and with the possible exception of the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, Gilmore became the most famous lion of the 1930s.

Gilmore

Gilmore, outfitted in his parachute and harness, with Roscoe Turner. (99-40528, National Air and Space Museum Archives)

But Gilmore was not immediately charmed by the idea of flight. Roscoe told the story of the cub’s first flight:

He was a pretty tired and nervous little cub when it was over. He was all right until we began to take off, but the moment the plane left the ground he made one terrified dive for  Mrs. Turner’s lap and stayed there. It was weeks before he stopped trying to scramble in someone’s lap when we took off…

The Humane Society raised fears of Gilmore’s in-flight safety, so Roscoe had a cub-size parachute and harness made for him. He’s wearing the ‘chute in the photograph above, and…

parachute harness

Gilmore's parachute and harness

… Gilmore’s parachute and harness are on display at the Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. Gilmore quickly became a confident flyer, logging over 25,000 miles in the air and working the stick with Roscoe’s assistance, but in turbulent weather, he would still curl up in Roscoe’s lap. But it wasn’t long…

Gilmore

Roscoe Turner with Gilmore, full-grown. (78-13936, National Air and Space Museum Archives)

… Before Gilmore grew too large for Roscoe’s lap. He was grounded, retiring first to the Turner home in Beverly Hills, and finally ending his days in a California wildlife park, with Roscoe footing his hefty food bills. “For a long time he paid my bills; now it’s my turn,” Roscoe said.

Gilmore

Gilmore

Gilmore died in 1952 at the age of 22. When Roscoe Turner died in 1970, he left Gilmore to the National Air and Space Museum. Turner’s Boeing 247-D is exhibited in the National Mall Building, and his RT-14 Meteor racer can be seen at the Udvar-Hazy Center. As for Gilmore, he’s currently in storage at the Museum’s Paul E. Garber Facility.

Whiskey and Soda

From left to right: Soda, Douglas MacMonagle, Raoul Lufbery and Whiskey. (2006-21463, National Air and Space Museum Archives)

The pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille – Americans flying for the French air service – had a pretty good selection of mascots – dogs, cats, Esther the civet cat, and a fox. But the most famous of the Escadrille’s mascots were the lion cubs Whiskey and Soda – that’s Whiskey, above, gnawing on the ace Raoul Lufbery as Soda and pilot Douglas MacMonagle watch. Whiskey was “… a cute, bright-eyed baby who tried to roar in a most ferocious manner, but who was blissfully content the moment one gave him a finger to suck.” Unfortunately, Whiskey later made the mistake of eating the Escadrille’s commander’s expensive new uniform cap, and the lions were exiled to the Paris Zoo. But they’re commemorated on the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial at Villeneuve l’Etang near Paris with life-sized sculptures.

Henry Tyndall Merrill

Henry Tyndall "Dick" Merrill and Princess Doreen. (7B06596, National Air and Space Museum Archives)

Henry Tyndall “Dick” Merrill (1894 – 1982) and Princess Doreen peer from the cockpit of Merrill’s mail plane. Merrill started as a barnstormer, flying a war surplus Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, He later became an air mail pilot, and later still he  “flew the Hump” as a civilian pilot during World War II, and serving as Eastern Air Lines ‘ senior pilot for many years. Merrill spent much of his time on the ground at racetracks, and he named Princess Doreen after a favorite horse.

lion cub mascot

Mascot belonging to Luftwaffe bomber group Kampfgeschwader 76. (74-3126, National Air and Space Museum Archives)

One more lion cub appears in our files – a mascot belonging to Luftwaffe bomber group Kampfgeschwader 76. The group’s motto, Ran an’ n Speck, means “Let’s get the bacon”; possibly the equivalent to our “let’s pig out”. Whatever it means, Smithsonian visitors now know that the National Zoo doesn’t have a corner of cuddly lion cubs – we’ve got the cute, too. If only we had a couple of air and space-related panda photos in the files, too…

Allan Janus is a museum specialist for the Museum’s Archives Division, and is the author of Animals Aloft.

Update: It turns out that we do have a couple of panda photographs in the files – thanks to Dr. Don Moore of the National Zoo for reminding us of the specially emblazoned FedEx Boeing 777 Panda Express which flew the Zoo’s four and a half year old panda Tai Shan to China back in February.

FedEx "Panda Express." Photograph by Dane Penland, National Air and Space Museum.

Santa’s Balloons and Arctic Airships

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Christmas Greetings

X-Mas Greetings - Success, Prosperity, Good Will. Chromolithograph postcard, c. 1910.

Although the reindeer-powered sleigh is the form of transportation most usually associated with Santa Claus, the right jolly old elf displays an unexpected interest in lighter than air flight by launching festive fire balloons over the North Pole while a polar bear watches admiringly.

Santa wasn’t the last to attempt an LTA mission to the Pole, though – on May 11, 1926, the airship Norge took off from Spitsbergen, Norway. The crew included Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth, and the airship was commanded by its designer, Umberto Nobile (and accompanied by his terrier Titina). The Norge flew over the North Pole on May 12, and the crew dropped Norwegian, American and Italian flags over the Pole. The Norge landed near Nome in Teller, Alaska on the 15th.

But a later North Pole airship expedition, the Italia flight of 1928, ended tragically. Commanded once again by Umberto Nobile, Italia overflew the Pole on May 23 but crashed on the ice the following day. Roald Amundsen took part in the international rescue effort to save Nobile and his crew. Amundsen’s plane went missing on June 18 in the Barents Sea; he and his crew of five were never found.

Umberto Nobile

Umberto Nobile and Titina following the flight of the Norge, 1926.

Allan Janus is a museum specialist in the Museum’s Archives Division.

Rutan Voyager

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rutan voyager

Rutan Voyager. Photo courtesy of Visions.

On December 23, 1986, nine days, three minutes, and 44 seconds after taking off, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager touched down at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, in the Rutan Voyager aircraft to finish the first flight around the world made without landing or refueling.  Rutan’s brother Burt had designed Voyager but it was the availability of carbon-fibers coated with epoxy allowing Burt to design an airframe that could lift more than ten times its flying weight (including 3,180 kg, 7,011 lb, of fuel) that made the flight even possible.  The ultra lightweight airframe, advanced technology propellers and engines, state-of-the-art navigation equipment, and a command center on the ground to radio continuous updates on the weather did little to make the flight comfortable for the crew.  Dick and Jeana had to take turns sitting at the controls in the cockpit and lying down in the “cabin” which is only .4 m (7 ft 6 in) long and about .6 m (2 ft) in diameter.  At least one engine was always operating and even earphones designed to cancel the noise hardly quieted the din.

Jeana Yeager

Jeana Yeager inside the Rutan Voyager. Photo courtesy of Visions.

Along with the incredible physical challenge was the constantly changing weather they faced as they made their way around the world.  In the end, Voyager performed flawlessly except for four minutes when the rear engine quit due to a fuel problem.   It was considered the “last” great aircraft record and indeed brothers Burt and Dick Rutan, and Jeana Yeager won the Collier Trophy, aviation’s most prestigious award, for the accomplishment.

Russ Lee is a curator in the Aeronautics Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

Imaging the Lunar Eclipse

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I was pleasantly surprised when the clouds rolled out and the weather turned out to be favorable for the total lunar eclipse last night!  After work, I went home for a quick nap and put on layers and layers of clothing to help me brave the cold on the eve of the winter solstice.  Friends and coworkers told me I was crazy to come back to work at midnight for the eclipse, especially with the temperatures predicted to be in the 20s.  But the clear skies, which have been hard to come by so far this month, were more than this astronomy educator could resist.

So I met fellow astronomy educator Erin Braswell at National Air and Space Museum’s Public Observatory at 1 a.m. to begin preparations for a night of observing and imaging the lunar eclipse.  Our goal was twofold: to experience the eclipse for ourselves, and to capture it to share with our colleagues and visitors.

The 16-inch Boller and Chivens which is the main telescope at the Public Observatory, is a very high-powered telescope, great for seeing the tiny details of the Moon’s craters and other features. However, it magnifies too much to see the entire Moon in one shot so isn’t a great choice for eclipse viewing or imaging. Instead, we used the Public Observatory’s TeleVue-85 refracting telescope along with a Lumenera 2-0 color camera and a Lumenera 2-2 monochromatic camera.

eclipse

Lunar eclipse seen from The National Air and Space Museum's Public Observatory on the morning of December 21, 2010. Photos by Erin Braswell and Katie Moore.

The photograph, above, will give you a quick snapshot of our experience.  If you observed the eclipse, you might notice that the photo does not do it justice. The human eye is much more capable of seeing a range of details and colors on the bright and the eclipsed portions of the Moon, while the camera can only detect one part at a time.  In reality, the “dark” portion of the Moon is still easily visible to the naked eye, although noticeably fainter than normal.  Our cameras only capture, the brighter, uneclipsed portions of the Moon during the partial phases. During totality, they capture the fainter, eclipsed Moon.  In addition, the color is more vivid to the naked eye, during totality.

As predicted, during totality, the Moon was not uniform in brightness – it was slightly dimmer at the bottom, which was closer to the center of the Earth’s shadow.  Also, since the Moon didn’t pass through the middle of the Earth’s umbra, the eclipse doesn’t progress straight across the Moon.

The things I most enjoy about lunar eclipses are seeing such a familiar object as the Moon take on an unusual appearance,  and thinking about how our closest celestial neighbors are arranged to make it happen.  The Sun’s rays usually illuminate the Moon directly, but during a lunar eclipse, the Earth gets in the way.  This causes the partial stages of the eclipse.  Here you can rediscover that the Earth is a spherical object when watching the curved shadow of the Earth moving across the Moon! Then, during totality, the Moon is illuminated by sunlight that seeps through the Earth’s atmosphere, giving it the fainter, reddish glow.  You can almost feel the heavens line up!

Did you photograph the total lunar eclipse? We’d love to see the results! Upload your images to the Public Observatory Project’s group page on Flickr.

Katie Moore is an astronomy educator at the National Air and Space Museum