Space Shuttle Program Commemorative Coin

The Space Shuttle Program is also being commemorated with a special coin made with metal from the first shuttle mission, COLUMBIA. It was flown is space as part of the STS-1 mission, and is now part of each Space Shuttle Program Commemorative Coin.

The website (www.SpaceShuttleCoin.com) has photos and a video describing the significance of the coin’s artwork and the flown-in-space contents of this historic commemorative.

Jim Lovell – Lovell was the only person to ever fly to the moon twice but never walk on it. On Apollo 8 he orbited the moon 10 times (about 20 hours total) with fellow crew members Bill Anders and Frank Borman. He also flew to the moon on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, which technically never orbited the moon, but swung around it and returned immediately to Earth.

John Glenn – Glenn flew in the Mercury program (Mercury-Atlas 6, “Friendship 7″ launched Feb 20 1962) and was the first U.S. Astronaut to orbit the Earth. Glenn also flew a Space Shuttle mission (STS-95 Discovery, launched Oct 29 1998). But contrary to what some believe, he never flew to the moon.

Ron Evans Apollo 17 Spacewalk during the return to the Earth (image credit: NASA as17-152-23391)

Ron Evans - The Apollo 17 Command Module Pilot is the winner and holds the record of more time spent in lunar orbit than anyone else – 148 hours. He was also the last person to ever perform a deep-space EVA.

Neil Armstrong – The Apollo 11 astronaut was the first man to walk on the moon, but that crew didn’t spend much time in Lunar orbit – only 30 orbits lasting less than 60 hours.

Apollo 11 Launch (Image Credit: NASA gpn-2000-000629)

Which Astronaut Spent the Most Time in Lunar Orbit? Come back to see the answer.

Vehicle Assembly Building - Spacious Oceanfront Property Looking for new occupant?

“Kennedy [Space Center] has been working for some time to enable commercial space activities at the center that are in line with NASA’s mission,” Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana said. “Partnering with the commercial space industry will help NASA meet its goals and help sustain facility assets to support our nation’s space objectives.”

Listen to the list of facilities that may be available: : Launch Pads 39A and 39B, the Vehicle Assembly Building, Orbiter Processing Facilities and the Shuttle Landing Facility.

Shuttle, Ares I-X and Saturn V Launch Pad 39B - Before Demolition

We won the Space Race using those facilities. It seems almost impossible to imagine that such facilities could ever come to be in the hands of anyone other than NASA.

Please leave comments and let me know what you think.

–Dave

The plan was to land a man on the moon and return him safely to the Earth before the sixties ended – and we were well on our way. The Mercury Program had successfully placed American astronauts into orbit. The Gemini program had given us skills in long-duration flights, rendezvous and docking, and extra-vehicular activity (EVA, spacewalk). In 1967, the time had come to take the final steps towards that final goal – a voyage to the moon.

Dave at Launch Complex 34 - site of the Apollo 1 Fire

The Apollo 1 mission was scheduled for launch on February 21, 1967 from Launch Complex 34. The goal of Apollo 1 was to checkout the new “Block 1″ Apollo Command and Service Modules in low-Earth orbit. It was to be the first manned flight of Apollo, the first manned flight from Launch Complex 34, and NASA’s first three-man flight.

On January 27, 1967 – just 35 months away from the “end of the decade” goal – things were moving fast and furious. On that Friday afternoon a Saturn 1B rocket with the Apollo 1 crew on top was standing on-pad at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 34. Astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee were going through a realistic simulated countdown called the “Plugs-Out Test.” At about 6:30 PM, a fire broke out in the Command Module that killed the crew and put the U.S. space program on-hold.

Apollo 1 Postal Cover - Jan 27, 1967

I’ve written a lot about that event. The header photo of this blog is Launch Complex 34 at sunrise. In my opinion, this is the site of the greatest leadership lesson from the space race.

I’ve recorded a two-part video (15 minutes each part) that primarily addresses how we will remember the Space Shuttle program as it winds-down to the program’s final flight, and also addresses the subject of why we collect space memorabilia. Although the videos are mainly aimed at promoting the Space Shuttle Program Commemorative Coin*, the last part of the second video specifically addresses the greatest leadership lesson that was learned during the Space Race – a lesson learned from the Apollo 1 fire.

*The Space Shuttle Program Commemorative Coin, which my company is developing, is the focus of the first video. Please leave a comment and let me know how you like them.

Shuttle Atlantis at Pad 39A

As readers of this blog already know (from a previous post on the last external shuttle tank), the production line for Shuttle external tanks is already shut-down, and only three tanks remain. STS-133 is having its External Tank repaired for launch on Feb 24 after finding cracks in the tank. The next launch (which until today was the last scheduled launch of the Space Shuttle Program) is STS-134. Each of those launches was to have the third “spare” External Tank ready for a rescue mission, if needed. Now it looks like June 28 will see Atlantis fly with that final External Tank – and none left to fly a rescue mission. The thinking is that since the mission would be to the International Space Station, any emergency would be mitigated by having the astronauts stay at the ISS until Soyuz capsules could be sent to bring them back to Earth.

So with this news it looks like the Space Shuttle Program may have bought a little time – but with no way to ever make another External Tank, STS-135 would certainly be the end of the Space Shuttle Program.

Space Shuttle Program Commemorative Coin Video

As the Space Shuttle Program winds down to the final launch this year, things are ramping up for the Space Shuttle Program Commemorative Coin project. New video about the Shuttle Program Commemorative Coin project at www.SpaceShuttleCoin.com.

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,000 times in 2010. That’s about 5 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 42 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 89 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 138mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was September 11th with 65 views. The most popular post that day was NASA Quiz 004 ANSWER- Who was the first to walk in space?.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, space.flatoday.net, healthfitnesstherapy.com, statistics.bestproceed.com, and homemaketingbusiness.blogspot.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for photos iss cupola, space shuttle, space, walter schirra, and spaceflight.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

NASA Quiz 004 ANSWER- Who was the first to walk in space? September 2010

Space History – Little-Known Apollo 11 Facts July 2010
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This week in Space History, July 3 1969 – Russian N1 Rocket Explodes after liftoff July 2010

Without VISION, the Space Program Perishes July 2010

NASA Pop Quiz #002 – Apollo 11 August 2010

Apollo 8 Earthrise Stamp

The previous mission – Apollo 7 – paved the way with a check-out of the newly-upgraded Command Module (which was redesigned after the Apollo 1 fire on January 27 1967). Now that the Command Module was checked-out in low-Earth orbit, it was now time to see it perform in Lunar orbit.

Apollo 8 was the first manned Lunar flight, and carried astronauts Frank Borman (his second spaceflight), Jim Lovell (his third spaceflight), and Bill Anders (his first mission).

This mission had many firsts and was unique in several aspects.

• It was the first manned flight of the Saturn V rocket.
• First manned Lunar mission (10 orbits around the Moon)
• It carried with it no Lunar Module (Command Module only) since this mission would not attempt to land
• First humans to see lunar far side and Earthrise (photo taken of Earthrise during Apollo 8 was later made into a Stamp by the US Postal Service)
• Choice to go to the Moon on Apollo 8 was done to beat any potential Russian attempt to have the first human visitors to the Moon
• Reading from Genesis on Christmas Eve. I remember listening to Frank Borman as he read the creation account from the first book of the Bible. As he read, the camera was showing the lunar surface pass by as they orbited far from the Earth. Amazing moment.

With the end of the Space Shuttle program drawing near, we’ll soon be posting a video describing how we remember the Space Race. We’ll show you important sites at the Cape (that you can’t see on the tour), we’ll show what those sites look like today, and we’ll focus on how we will remember the Space Shuttle Program as it comes to an end.