Posted by SpaceSightSeer on April 13, 2009 under Manned Spaceflight | 
Richard Garriott’s Space Mission
Richard Garriott, son of astronaut Owen Garriott, has been active in various space-related ventures such as the Zero-G corporation, X-Prize, Spacehab, and is currently vice-chairman of Space Adventures. He became the world’s sixth private space explorer on October 12, 2008, traveling to the International Space Station on board Soyuz TMA-13. His website includes photos, videos, and information from Garriott’s 12-day flight.
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on April 12, 2009 under Manned Spaceflight |
STS-1
On April April 12, 1981 at 7:00:03 a.m. EST, NASA began a new chapter in manned spaceflight with the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Columbia. In a mission lasting 2 days, 6 hours astronaut John Young and Robert Crippen tested the performance of the shuttle and demonstrated a safe launch and return. Payloads included the Developmental Flight Instrumentation (DFI) and the Aerodynamic Coefficient Identifications Package (ACIP) pallet containing equipment for recording temperatures, pressures and acceleration levels at various points on the vehicle. Linked is NASA’s gallery of press release images from the mission as we mark the anniverry of the shuttle’s maiden voyage.
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on March 27, 2009 under Manned Spaceflight |
Images from Apollo
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong took “one small step” and “a giant leap for mankind.” NASA is commemorating this historic moment with a series of activities throughout the year. Thousands of images along with archival footage have been released in this online gallery.
Apollo 40th Anniversary
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on February 9, 2009 under Manned Spaceflight |
China’s First Spacewalk
On September 25, 2008, China launched Shenzou VII for a three day mission. This mission marked an important milestone in the Chinese space program - China becomes only the thirn space-faring nation to sucessfully perform a space walk or extra-vehicular activity (EVA). The spacewalk lasted 20 minutes and was very limited in nature. Astronaut Zhai Zhigang, was tethered to the craft and movements were restricted to remain near the hatch. A relay satellite was also released during the mission. A photo gallery related to this mission is available courtesy of China Central Television (CCTV) providing a rare glimpse into the Chinese space program.
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on January 25, 2009 under Spacecraft |
Silver Dart
Canadian Arrow
PlanetSpace’s Canadian Arrow was among the top competitors for the Ansari X-Prize. Once the prize was won by the Scaled Composites team in 2004, PlanetSpace hoped to complete the craft and begin offering suborbital flights to space tourists. The company is also continuing to develop an eight-man lifting body spacecraft known as Silver Dart. It was expected that this craft would be used for crew and cargo flights to the International Space Station. The links above conain both press release images and artists renderings of the two spacecraft.
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on January 22, 2009 under Manned Spaceflight |
The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth
There’s no denying it - the view of earth from space is spectacular! From the earliest days of the Mercury program to the present crew of the International Space Station, space travelers can’t resist the view. This site boasts the best collection of astronaut photography looking back at earth from space. Images are downloaded from the space station and added daily so there’s always something new to see. There is a complex variety of search tools, but the casual visitor can bypass these by clicking on a world map to find a specific view.
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on January 17, 2009 under Manned Spaceflight |
NASA Human Spaceflight Gallery
This site does better with current events over historical photos, though some historical photos are included. NASA has created a system of quick menus to allow the visitor to jump to collections of images organized by mission. The past few years are fairly complete with images from the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle. Older materials are included, but appear to be only selectively included.
Tags: apollo, constellation, gemini, human spaceflight, images, mercury, NASA, photos, pictures, shuttle, skylab, space station
