The history of early space exploration.
Episodes
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Monday Mar 04, 2019
The Pegasus satellite was named for the winged horse of Greek mythology. Like its namesake, the Pegasus was notable for its “wings”, a pair of 29 meter long, 4.3 meter wide arrays of 104 panels fitted with sensors to detect punctures by micrometeoroids at high altitudes. In its stored position with panels folded inside the Apollo service module, the Pegasus was 5.3-meters high, 2.1 meters wide, and 28-cm deep.
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Space Rocket History #120 – Apollo: Stages S-IV and S-IVB
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Monday Mar 04, 2019
The key to high-energy stages was to use liquid hydrogen as the fuel. Liquid hydrogen fuel appealed to rocket designers because of its high specific impulse, which is a basic measure of rocket performance. Specific Impulse is the impulse delivered per unit of propellant consumed. You might think of it as the efficiency of the rocket. Compared to an RP-1 (kerosene) fueled engine of similar size, liquid hydrogen fuel could increase the specific impulse or efficiency of an engine by 40 percent. The combination of hydrogen and oxygen for propellants made the moon shot feasible.
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Space Rocket History #119 – Apollo: Lunar Module Design – Part 3
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Monday Mar 04, 2019
At various stages of lunar module design, mockup reviews were conducted to demonstrate progress and identify weaknesses. These inspections were formal occasions, with a board composed of NASA and contractor officials and presided over by a chairman from the Apollo office in Houston.
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Space Rocket History #118 – Apollo: Lunar Module Design – Part 2
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Monday Mar 04, 2019
The Lunar Lander originally had two docking hatches, one at the top center of the cabin and another in the forward position, or nose, of the vehicle, with a tunnel in each location to permit astronauts to crawl from one pressurized vehicle to the other…
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Space Rocket History #117 – Apollo: Lunar Module Design
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Monday Mar 04, 2019
Since the lunar module would fly only in space (earth orbit and lunar vicinity), the designers could ignore the aerodynamic streamlining demanded by earth’s atmosphere and build the first true manned spacecraft, designed solely for operating in the spatial vacuum.