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Post by pmossberg on Oct 18, 2009 22:51:00 GMT -5
In honor of my 400th post, here is my favorite photo of all time. It was taken by Mike Collins, who remained in the Apollo 11 Command Module when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went to the lunar surface. The photo was taken during the ascent from the lunar surface and before the rendezvous with the command module This is a photo of everyone alive July 1969, except of course for Collins, the photographer. We are all "earthlings" and need to be reminded of that sometimes.  |
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Post by revilo on Oct 19, 2009 8:00:54 GMT -5
That was impressive, although some people still insist it was all filmed on a sound stage somewhere. I think I have that pic at home somewhere. I bought a series of pictures of the Apollo 11 mission from NASA, and I'm sure they are somewhere in the house. Now I'll have to go searching.
Americans really needed something to be proud of at that point. 1968 and '69 weren't exactly high points in our history.
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Post by songsmith1950 on Oct 19, 2009 10:08:33 GMT -5
I remember it well. I was 19 and bulletproof. And yeah, that is still one of my alltime favorite pics too. Congrats on 400. See ya at 500!  |
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Post by pmossberg on Oct 19, 2009 23:08:20 GMT -5
I was 11 and just knew I was going to be in the air force, then part of the space program. Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men...and kids. That never happened thanks in part to a well intentioned high school guidance counselor who just knew eh "smart kids" had to go to college, not to the military. I listened. So here I am writing from NJ instead of from the ISS. |
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Post by songsmith1950 on Oct 20, 2009 10:05:18 GMT -5
I was going to be a marine like my dad and brother but nephritis took that away, along with baseball, where I had been an all star until the doc set me down.
So I became a musician, and then for a day job got electronics degree, then went into r and d in digital audio to learn how to make music easier and better. Life is good.
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Post by pmossberg on Oct 20, 2009 11:47:50 GMT -5
I'm not complaining; life is good. But every time I see a launch (one shuttle launch in person, many times on NASA's website) I admit to a twinge of envy.
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Post by pmossberg on Oct 20, 2009 11:54:27 GMT -5
My second favorite photo, Bruce McCandless in 1984, spacewalking untethered! At about 100 meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger, Bruce McCandless II was further out than anyone had ever been before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), astronaut McCandless was floating free in space. McCandless and fellow NASA astronaut Robert Stewart were the first to experience an "untethered space walk" during Space Shuttle mission 41-B in 1984. The MMU works by shooting jets of nitrogen and has since been used to help deploy and retrieve satellites. With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU is heavy on Earth, but, like everything, is weightless when drifting in orbit. The MMU was replaced with the SAFER backpack propulsion unit. This must have been an incredible, life changing experience:  |
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Post by ricklou on Oct 20, 2009 12:42:41 GMT -5
Look ma, no hands. Great shot Paul
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Post by songsmith1950 on Oct 20, 2009 14:25:24 GMT -5
Now that is something!!!!!!
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Post by ricklou on Oct 20, 2009 15:07:05 GMT -5
The photograph itself is amazing with a free space walk. What really shows is the clarity of this picture concerning the earth. The color or hue is tremendous. No atmosphere in orbit no doubt gives us an awsome view.
Great job Paul
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Post by revilo on Oct 20, 2009 18:23:03 GMT -5
I have never seen that picture before, and it is amazing. If that had been me, I think there would have been a little extra moisture inside the suit, if you know what I mean. Thank you, Paul.
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Post by pmossberg on Oct 21, 2009 0:09:25 GMT -5
You are all quite welcome...as if I took the picture! lol
Funny story related revilo's comment. When alan Shepard was strapped into hsi Mercury capsule for hsi first flight, he was on teh launch pad for several hours. His mission, MR-3A was to be suborbital mission, but would climb high enough to be considered a true space flight and Shepard the first American in space. A
The planned flight was only 15 minutes long. So no one gave much thought to the issue of personal waste disposal. However, Shepard was strapped into his capsule some three hours before liftoff and after a couple of hours on his back, asked for "permission to relieve his bladder." Launch control's first answer was basically, uh, we don't know, please hold! After some debate, the engineers and medical team decided that this would be OK, presumably realizing that the alternative – postponing the launch while Shepard visited the bathroom – would not amount to a NASA publicity coup. Starting with Gus Grissom's flight, strap-on urine receptacles were provided for the astronauts' use.
Gotta plan for ALL contingencies!
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