On February 20th, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in his Mercury capsule, Friendship 7. It was a short, 3 orbit mission, but regardless, an American had orbited the Earth and returned safely, which was a key goal of Project Mercury from the get-go. Of course, Glenn wasn’t the first …
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Category:History
Nuclear Thermal Rockets: Nuclear Propulsion in Space – 1968 NASA / AEC Film
Nuclear Rockets. They still sound futuristic even today. Interestingly enough, they were under active research in the late 50’s and early 60’s as part of the then-planned natural progression of both manned and unmanned space flight. Nuclear rocketry doesn’t operate the way the common man would normally think; it doesn’t ignite its fuel, but instead …
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Television in the Soviet Union in 1986
Last week I was watching some videos receiving far-away TV transmission when this video was recommended by YouTube – it’s a 1986 American public access show which covers Soviet state TV recorded over 1985 and 1986 – this includes comedy programs, news (including an early Chernobyl report), game shows,special reports on their space program, and …
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NASA Day Of Remembrance
On the tail end of January each year, NASA does its “Day of Remembrance” where they honor the astronauts who have died not just in active missions but also in training accidents, tests, or other situations. Of course, the heavy focus is spent on 3 particular missions: Apollo 1, STS-51L, and STS-107. Apollo 1, as …
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Space Shuttle Challenger Accident Investigation
This video, which was shared in my post last year about Challenger, details the events of the disaster. It explains the root causes of the disaster and takes an extremely detailed look at the 73 second flight of Challenger, the development of the fire plume in the right SRB, and the eventual disintegration of the …
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Apollo 1 News Reports
News spread rather quickly following the fire of Apollo 1. This was back when news really focused on telling the story, rather than on what ratings it will bring in – certainly a different time in media. In any case, many news reports, or snippets from such, are available online. Here are a few more …
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Ad Astra Per Aspera
Ad Astra Per Aspera “A rough road leads to the stars” 6:31 PM Eastern Time, January 27th, 1967 This post was shared at 5:31 PM on January 27th, 2017, exactly 50 years to the instant from when the fire happened. It was originally set to share via social media, but didn’t for some reason.
Apollo 1, 50 Years Later
This is a day I’ve been thinking about for many years now, as I rekindled my love of space flight and its history – The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire, and event which nearly killed the Apollo program, but at the same time caused such improvements to the spacecraft that it may have …
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For The First Time In 50 Years, The Apollo 1 Hatch Is On Display
January 27th, 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire, an event I’ve written about more than any other single event on this site. For the past 50 years, since the disaster, NASA has pretty much buried it. Unlike Challenger and Columbia, which occurred in 1986 and 2003 respectively, the 1967 deaths of …
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Thanks Obama
As I have said before, I try not to get political here on Xadara, but I do have to say what I think from time to time. I’ll try to keep this one brief. Thank you, President Obama. You didn’t always do what I feel was the best thing – there are many times your …
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25 Years Ago – The End of the Soviet Union
It’s by a strange coincidence that I would write a small article late yesterday about the city of Pripyat, Ukraine – the city where the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was located. It’s explosion is one of many events that is called “the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union” and while writing that article …
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Pripyat
Since hearing about the movement and successful installation of the Shelter Object at the remains of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, I’ve been in a weak version what I call a “Chernobyl” mood, where I’ve been hunting for information, photos, and videos of the subject off and on this past month. Nothing too out of …
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STS-95 Mission Highlights
NASA pushed out quite a few videos following the death of John Glenn. The other day I shared some video of the launch of STS-95, Glenn’s 1998 return to space. There was one video I found during the planning of that article, though, that I didn’t share due to its length, and thought more worthwhile …
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The Chernobyl Shelter Object Is Safely In Place Over Reactor 4
File this one under news that reached me 2 weeks after the fact, in late November of 2016, the Shelter Object, a massive arch intended to seal the remains of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor 4 was successfully moved over the structure with the intent of forever sealing the damaged reactor and its deadly nuclear …
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The Launch of STS-95
Normally, following an event like the death of John Glenn, a blogger like me would share video of his Mercury flight. It is, of course, what he was most famous for, being the first American to orbit the Earth back in 1962. My personal experience with John Glenn, however, is a bit more unique – …
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