Explosion of Russian launch vehicle and loss of Progress freighter to the ISS

Photo Caption: BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN, 30th OF JUNE, 2010 Russian Progress cargo spacecraft launch from Baikonur cosmodrome to deliver cargos and payloads to the International Space Station. (Licensed image, canstockphoto.com)

It’s unfortunate for the loss of rocket, spacecraft and the supplies bound for ISS.  However it should act as a reminder to all that this space industry is never to be taken for granted at any level at any time.  It’s very fortunate there were no crew on board as the very same rocket is used to launch Soyuz, which is the only way right now to get to and from the ISS.

Hope the cause is found and fixed in a very timely fashion.

Nick

40 Years since Apollo 15

It was July 31, 1971 and there I was….in the studios of the CTV network in Scarborough, Ontario ( a suburb of Toronto at the time) setting up my model display of the Apollo 15 landing site. It included the lunar module “Falcon” along with a scratch-built model of the lunar rover, along with 2 astronaut figures and the ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package) that was used on the mission. CTV anchor Harvey Kirch and co-anchor Henry Champ were getting ready to go on the air with the network’s coverage of the first of 3 moonwalks. When I finished setting up the landscape I stood back and watched Harvey, Henry and the technical staff go to work, watching first-hand how television coverage of an event was brought into the homes of people across Canada, and what a thrill it was.

CTV went on through the mission coverage that day and used my 42″ x 24″ layout in their coverage of the mission using my name on the air at least a couple of times. It was an exciting, unique experience for a 17 year old and was certainly once of the most exciting summers of my life…one I will always remember. It also became a major catalyst in the formation of a company that keeps the exciting moments of the US Space Program alive by providing detailed, accurate models and displays of the hardware that was used to get man to the moon. And just to live at a time to witness that excitement of man walking on another world!

It may be asking for quite a bit, but I hope we can return to that excitement to soon see man wallking on another world again. Too bad the capabilities got thrown away in the first place!

Shuttle – NOT the time to end it

No doubt the shuttle has been around too long and, yes, it’s high time it’s retired. To retire it now, however, is not the right time. How about having another vehicle ready to take over once the shuttle retires?

It seems the 1986 report from the National Commission on Space is largely ignored today. The Commission, formed under the Reagan Administration, outright said, “Never again should the US experience the hiatus in manned space flight that it did from 1975 to 1981″, the period between Apollo and Shuttle.

My, how people forget! For the amount of money it takes to fund the Space Program compared to many other government agencies it’s about time the U.S. considers whether or not they really want to continue to lead the world in space technology and space firsts.

If it does, then first, fund the commercial sector and let it take over flights to the ISS and other earth orbit missions. Fund NASA so it can develop Ares V and Orion and, yes, get back to the moon and use that as the start to Mars and beyond. Forget Ares I. Work to develop new technologies in propulsion and life support and the like that can be employed in future programs, but don’t wait for this to happen. Let’s use what we have now to get back to the moon and beyond.

But in the meantime, use shuttle twice a year (like the later Apollo flights) until new vehicles are ready for service. Let’s get out of Earth orbit and get “out there”, and let’s start doing it within this decade. And keep in mind, manned space flight is the biggest peaceful drive of technology and the economy we have.