Human space flight is still in its infancy; spacecraft navigate narrow tracks of carefully computed ascent and entry trajectories with little allowable deviation. Until recently, it remained the province of a few governments. As private industry and more countries join in this great enterprise, we must share findings that may help protect those who venture into space. In the history of NASA, this approach has resulted in many improvements in crew survival. After the Apollo 1 fire, sweeping changes were made to spacecraft design and to the way crew rescue equipment was positioned and available at the launch pad. After the Challenger accident, a jettisonable hatch, personal oxygen systems, parachutes, rafts, and pressure suits were added to ascent and entry operations of the space shuttle. As we move toward a time when human space flight will be commonplace, there is an obligation to make this inherently risky endeavor as safe as feasible. Design features, equipment, training, and procedures all play a role in improving crew safety and survival in contingencies. In aviation, continual improvement in oxygen systems, pressure suits, parachutes, ejection seats, and other equipment and systems has been made. It is a core value in the aviation world to evaluate these systems in every accident and pool the data to understand how design improvements may improve the chances that a crew will survive in a future accident. The Columbia accident was not survivable. After the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) investigation regarding the cause of the accident was completed, further consideration produced the question of whether there were lessons to be learned about how to improve crew survival in the future. This investigation was performed with the belief that a comprehensive, respectful investigation could provide knowledge that can protect future crews in the worldwide community of human space flight. Additionally, in the course of the investigation, several areas of research were identified that could improve our understanding of both nominal space flight and future spacecraft accidents. This report is the first comprehensive, publicly available accident investigation report addressing crew survival for a human spacecraft mishap, and it provides key information for future crew survival investigations. The results of this investigation are intended to add meaning to the sacrifice of the crew’s lives by making space flight safer for all future generations. Many findings, conclusions, and recommendations have resulted from this investigation that will be valuable both to spacecraft designers and accident investigators. This report provides the reader an expert level of knowledge regarding the sequence of events that contributed to the loss of Columbia’s crew on February 1, 2003 and what can be learned to improve the safety of human space flight for all future crews. It is the team’s expectation that readers will approach the report with the respect and integrity that the subject and the crew of Columbia deserve.

Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report

Science & Math

Administration, National Aeronautics and Space

Astronomy & Space Science

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

This publication “Authoritatively documents the many accomplishments of NASA's Space Shuttle Program from its origins to the present. Beginning with a Foreword by astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen, this compelling book provides clear, accurate, and authentic accounts from NASA's best subject matter experts, including aerospace engineers who worked with the shuttle program, and leading experts from the science and academic communities. The book captures the passion of those who devoted their energies to the program's success for more than three decades. It focuses on their science and engineering accomplishments, the rich history of the program, and the shuttle as an icon in U.S. history. Its comprehensive overview of the shuttle and its accomplishments, combined with its lucid prose, makes Wings in Orbit a unique resource for anyone interested in the history and achievements of American space exploration." The first great age of space exploration culminated with the historic lunar landing in July 1969. Following that achievement, the space policymakers looked back to the history of aviation as a model for the future of space travel. The Space Shuttle was conceived as a way to exploit the resources of the new frontier. Using an aviation analogy, the shuttle would be the Douglas DC-3 of space. That aircraft is generally considered to be the first commercially successful air transport. The shuttle was to be the first commercially successful space transport. This impossible leap was not realized, an unrealistic goal that appears patently obvious in retrospect, yet it haunts the history of the shuttle to this day. Much of the criticism of the shuttle originates from this overhyped initial concept. In fact, the perceived relationship between the history of aviation and the promise of space travel continues to motivate space policymakers. In some ways, the analogy that compares space with aviation can be very illustrative. If the first crewed spacecraft of 1961 are accurately the analog of the Wright brothers’ first aircraft, the Apollo spacecraft of 1968 should properly be compared with the Wright brothers’ 1909 “Model B”—their first commercial sale. The “B” was the product of 6 years of tinkering, experimentation, and adjustments, but were only two major iterations of aircraft design. In much the same way, Apollo was the technological inheritor of two iterations of spacecraft design in 7 years. The Space Shuttle of 1981—coming 20 years after the first spaceflights—could be compared with the aircraft of the mid-1920s. In fact, there is a good analogy in the history of aviation: the Ford Tri-Motor of 1928. But here the aviation analogy breaks down. In aviation history, advances are made not just because of the passage of calendar time but because there are hundreds of different aircraft designs with thousands of incremental technology advances tested in flight between the “B” and the Tri-Motor. Even so, the aviation equivalent compression of decades of technological advance does not do justice to the huge technological leap from expendable rockets and capsules to a reusable, winged, hypersonic, cargo-carrying spacecraft. This was accomplished with no intermediate steps. Viewed from that perspective, the Space Shuttle is truly a wonder. No doubt the shuttle is but one step of many on the road to the stars, but it was a giant leap indeed. That is what this book is about: not what might have been or what was impossibly promised, but what was actually achieved and what was actually delivered. Viewed against this background, the Space Shuttle was a tremendous engineering achievement—a vehicle that enabled nearly routine and regular access to space for hundreds of people, and a profoundly vital link in scientific advancement. The vision of this book is to take a clear-eyed look at what the shuttle accomplished and the shuttle’s legacy to the world. This book will serve as an excellent reference for building future space vehicles.

Wings In Orbit: Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle

Revolutionary Atmosphere: The Story of the Altitude Wind Tunnel and the Space Power Chambers

This scholarly look at the Altitude Wind Tunnel covers the transformations the wind tunnel made in its long history from a wind tunnel doing full-scale testing for wartime applications, to a vacuum chamber supporting the Vision for Space Exploration, and even a brief period as home to Mercury astronaut training. The book also addresses the attempts to resurrect the facility and its eventual decommissioning and demolition. The Altitude Wind Tunnel's (AWT) steel shell loomed, almost threateningly, over the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center s main campus in Cleveland, Ohio, for over 60 years. The facility had been inactive since 1975, but the hulking tunnel sat in a conspicuous location between the visitors’ center and the Icing Research Tunnel and was seen daily by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. The tunnel slowly ebbed from NASA Glenn's collective consciousness. Inside the steel shell, significant contributions had been made in the advancement of the jet engine and the high-profile Project Mercury and Centaur Program. Yet, the AWT had remained a mystery to most current employees and the public. Not only did the rusting giant have an obscure past, few even knew its name. This book and other documentation have been created to resurrect the esteemed reputation of this once-vital and historically significant facility. The AWT's unrivaled capability to test full-scale engines in simulated altitude conditions advanced the development of the jet engine considerably during its formative period in the 1940s and in its maturity in the 1950s. The AWT was the nation's first wind tunnel built specifically to study the operation of engines. Its ability to consistently re-create flight conditions allowed researchers to systematically study engine behavior and perfect innovations such as the afterburner and the variable-area nozzle. Between 1959 and 1963 the AWT was slowly transformed into two large test chambers. The tunnel's simulated high-altitude conditions allowed NASA to cancel costly and time-consuming flight testing for Project Mercury. Afterward the tunnel was converted into one of the nation's first large vacuum chambers and renamed the Space Power Chambers (SPC). It was used to quickly remedy a number of problems for the Centaur second-stage rocket. The SPC tests allowed the Centaur to sustain its tight schedule for the Surveyor and later orbiting observatory missions. Use of the facility tapered off in the 1970s, and an effort to resurrect the wind tunnel failed in the early 1980s. After years of neglect, the tunnel was demolished in late 2008 and spring 2009. NASA's historical publications tend to focus on center histories, specific programs (particularly the human space program), or chronologies and other reference materials. The NASA Glenn Research Center has carved out a niche by writing the histories of several of its research facilities. The Icing Research Tunnel, Rocket Engine Test Facility, and Plum Brook Reactor have all been documented in recent years. These three books appear to be the only single-facility studies in NASA's historical collection.

History

Arrighi, Robert S.

World

The text tells the story from the human side. It is based on reflections and quotes from the astronauts, cosmonauts, and team members who participated in the historic partnership. The main chapters give the perspectives of the seven U.S. astronauts living on Mir. The "STS boxes" share the Space Shuttle crews' experiences from the II Shuttle-Mir missions. The "Meanwhile on Earth" sections provide details of what was happening on Earth while the attention of the Program focused on the situations in space. The text reflects conventional usage; that is, temperature is given in degrees Fahrenheit, and metrics are used as appropriate.

Shuttle-Mir: The United States and Russia Share History's Highest Stage

Morgan, Clay

Since the dawn of spaceflight, advocates of a robust space effort have argued that human activity beyond earth makes a significant difference in everyday life. Assertions abound about the “impact” of spaceflight on society and its relationship to the larger contours of human existence. Fifty years after the Space age began, it is time to examine the effects of spaceflight on society in a historically rigorous way. Has the Space age indeed had a significant effect on society? If so, what are those influences? What do we mean by an “impact” on society? And what parts of society? Conversely, has society had any effect on spaceflight? What would be different had there been no Space age? The purpose of this volume is to examine these and related questions through scholarly research, making use especially of the tools of the historian and the broader social sciences and humanities. Herein a stellar array of scholars does just that, and arrives at sometimes surprising conclusions. Once contemplated, the subject is broad, rich and stimulating. Spaceflight has commercial and economic dimensions, as well as social, cultural, and ideological ramifications. It touches on enduring American values of pioneering, progress, enterprise, and rugged individualism. Worldwide it encompasses international cooperation and competition, and affects foreign policies, national security, and questions of the global environment. Viewing earth from space, and space from the vicinity of earth, alters world views, conceptions of self and others, and understandings of our place and purpose in the universe.

Societal Impact of Spaceflight

Business & Money

Education & Reference

During its maiden voyage in May 1962, a Centaur upper stage rocket, mated to an Atlas booster, exploded 54 seconds after launch, engulfing the rocket in a huge fireball. Investigation revealed that Centaur’s light, stainless-steel tank had split open, spilling its liquid-hydrogen fuel down its sides, where the flame of the rocket exhaust immediately ignited it. Coming less than a year after President Kennedy had made landing human beings on the Moon a national priority, the loss of Centaur was regarded as a serious setback for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). During the failure investigation, Homer Newell, Director of Space Sciences, ruefully declared: “Taming liquid hydrogen to the point where expensive operational space missions can be committed to it has turned out to be more difficult than anyone supposed at the outset.” .After this failure, Centaur critics, led by Wernher von Braun, mounted a campaign to cancel the program. In addition to the unknowns associated with liquid hydrogen, he objected to the unusual design of Centaur. Like the Atlas rocket, Centaur depended on pressure to keep its paper thin, stainless-steel shell from collapsing. It was literally inflated with its propellants like a football or balloon and needed no internal structure to give it added strength and stability. The so-called “pressure-stabilized structure” of Centaur, coupled with the light weight of its high-energy cryogenic propellants, made Centaur lighter and more powerful than upper stages that used conventional fuel. But, the critics argued, it would never become the reliable rocket that the United States needed. Others, especially military proponents of Centaur, believed that accepting the challenge of developing liquid-hydrogen technology was an important risk to take. Despite criticism and early technical failures, the taming of liquid hydrogen proved to be one of NASA’s most significant technical accomplishments. Centaur not only succeeded in demonstrating the feasibility of liquid hydrogen as a rocket fuel, but it also went on to a brilliant career as an upper stage for a series of spectacular planetary missions in the 1970s. Ironically, this success did little to ensure the future of the Centaur rocket. Once the Shuttle became operational in the early 1980s, all expendable launch vehicles like Centaur were slated for termination. Centaur advocates fought to keep the program alive.

Taming Liquid Hydrogen: The Centaur Upper Stage Rocket, 1958-2002

Bowles, Mark D.

Dawson, Virginia P.

Each time a space vehicle visits another world it runs the risk of forever changing that extraterrestrial environment. We are surrounded on Earth by a m#65533;lange of different microorganisms, and if some of these hitchhike onboard a space mission, they could contaminate and start colonies on a different planet. Such an occurrence would irrevocably alter the nature of that world, compromise all future scientific exploration of the body, and possibly damage any extant life on it. And by inadvertently carrying exotic organisms back to Earth on our spacecraft, we risk the release of biohazardous materials into our own ecosystem. Such concerns were recognized by scientists even before the 1957 launch of Sputnik. This book presents the history of planetary protection by tracing the responses to the above concerns on NASA's missions to the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and many smaller bodies of our solar system. The book relates the extensive efforts put forth by NASA to plan operations and prepare space vehicles that return exemplary science without contaminating the biospheres of other worlds or our own. As Cassie Conley, NASA's Planetary Protection Officer, has said, "The public can be proud of the way that NASA has responded to planetary protection concerns, with its efforts to act responsibly, communicate openly, and address effectively the potential for contamination." Humans have a powerful urge to explore the unknown, but to protect irreplaceable environments, NASA has committed to conducting space exploration in a manner that is protective of the bodies visited, as well as of our own planet.

When Biospheres Collide: A History of NASA's Planetary Protection Programs

Meltzer, Michael

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Human spaceflight is the driver for most activities that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) undertakes. While NASA certainly has a rich aviation research heritage and has also done pathbreaking scientific and applications work using robotic spacecraft, human spaceflight is a difficult and expensive endeavor that engenders great popular enthusiasm and support for NASA. Much of this public interest stems from pushing boundaries of adventure, by exploring the unique and challenging physical environment of space. Humans can also perform tasks in space that machines cannot. We can think, analyze, and make judgment calls based on experience and intuition in real time. This NASA history document contains sixteen fascinating essays about the past and future of spaceflight, written by some of the most important and famous figures in the space community. A confluence of anniversaries made the spring of 2001 a propitious time for reflection on a forty-year record of achievement and on what may lie ahead in the years to come. The fortieth anniversary of Alan Shepard's first spaceflight, the first time an American flew in space, took place on 5 May 2001. The fortieth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's spaceflight, the first time a human traveled into space and orbited Earth, took place on 12 April 2001. Coincidentally, this date was also the twentieth anniversary of the launch of STS-1, the first Space Shuttle flight. In addition, 25 May was the fortieth anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's famous "urgent needs" speech in which he proposed putting an American on the Moon "before this decade is out," initiating the Apollo Project. Last but not least, the Expedition One crew to the ISS had finished its historic first mission in the spring of 2001.

Looking Backward, Looking Forward: Forty Years of U.S. Human Spaceflight Symposium

"Science in Flux" traces the history of one of the most powerful nuclear test reactors in the United States and the only nuclear facility ever built by NASA. In the late 1950s NASA constructed Plum Brook Station on a vast tract of undeveloped land near Sandusky, Ohio. Once fully operational in 1963, it supported basic research for NASA's nuclear rocket program (NERVA). Plum Brook represents a significant, if largely forgotten, story of nuclear research, political change, and the professional culture of the scientists and engineers who devoted their lives to construct and operate the facility. In 1973, after only a decade of research, the government shut Plum Brook down before many of its experiments could be completed. Even the valiant attempt to redefine the reactor as an environmental analysis tool failed, and the facility went silent. The reactors lay in costly, but quiet standby for nearly a quarter-century before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided to decommission the reactors and clean up the site. The history of Plum Brook reveals the perils and potentials of that nuclear technology. As NASA, Congress, and space enthusiasts all begin looking once again at the nuclear option for sending humans to Mars, the echoes of Plum Brook's past will resonate with current policy and space initiatives.

Science in Flux: NASA's Nuclear Program at Plum Brook Station, 1955 - 2005

Apollo was America's program to land men on the moon and get them safely back to the earth. In May 1961 President Kennedy gave the signal for planning and developing the machines to take men to that body. This decision, although bold and startling at the time, was not made at random nor did it lack a sound engineering base. Subcommittees of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), predecessor of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), had regularly surveyed aeronautical needs and pointed out problems for immediate resolution and specific areas for advanced research. After NASA's creation in October 1958, its leaders (many of them former NACA officials) continued to operate in this fashion and, less than a year later, set up a group to study what the agency should do in near−earth and deep−space exploration. Among the items listed by that group was a lunar landing, a proposal also discussed in circles outside NASA as a means for achieving and demonstrating technological supremacy in space. From the time Russia launched its first Sputnik in October 1957, many Americans had viewed the moon as a logical goal. A two-nation space race subsequently made that destination America's national objective for the 1960s. America had a program, Project Mercury, to put man in low-earth orbit and recover him safely. In July 1960 NASA announced plans to follow Mercury with a program, later named Apollo, to fly men around the moon. Soon thereafter, several industrial firms were awarded contracts to study the feasibility of such an enterprise. The companies had scarcely finished this task when the Russians scored again, orbiting the first space traveler, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, on 12 April 1961. Three weeks later the Americans succeeded in launching Astronaut Alan Shepard into a suborbital arc. These events and other pressures to get America moving provided the popular, political, and technological foundations upon which President Kennedy could base his appeal for support from the Congress and the American people for the Apollo program. The Apollo story has many pieces: How and why did it start? What made it work? What did it accomplish? What did it mean? Some of its visible (and some not so visible) parts the launch vehicles, special facilities, administration, Skylab program, Apollo−Soyuz Test Project, as examples, have been recorded by the NASA History Office and some have not. A single volume treating all aspects of Apollo, whatever they were, must await the passage of time to permit a fair perspective. At that later date, this manuscript may seem narrow in scope and perhaps it is. But among present readers, particularly those who were Apollo program participants there are some who argue that the text is too broad and that their specialties receive short shrift. Moreover, some top NASA leaders during Apollo's times contend, perhaps rightly, that the authors were not familiar with all the nuances of some of the accounts set down here. Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft begins with the creation of NASA itself and with the definition of a manned space flight program to follow Mercury. It ends with Apollo 11, when America attained its goal of the 1960s, landing the first men on the moon and returning them to the earth. The focal points of this story are the spacecraft the command and service modules and the lunar module.

Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft (The NASA History Series)

Grimwood, James M.

Swenson, Jr., Loyd S.

Brooks, Courtney G.

Americas

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