NASA’s Tragedies Heal with Time 

       NASA’s worst moments are the three deadly tragedies that happened in the same week but 36 years apart.

       The deaths of 17 astronauts on the Apollo 1 moonship, the Space Shuttle Challenger and Shuttle Columbia disasters were horrible reminders of the danger of space travel.  Yet all the lives were avenged with the American conquest of the Moon in the 1960s and the construction of the International Space Station in the 2000s.

NASA 1990 Astronaut Group 13 

      In the 50 years of manned space travel, those three fatal NASA spaceships are joined by two death disasters in the Soviet Union space program that claimed four lives. That’s 21 humans killed in five space-related disasters in the dangerous job of building and riding rockets—a death ratio to manned space launches that is actually quite low over five decades.

       Each fatal incident was a hard lesson and a major setback, but the ingenuity of rocket scientists prevailed. And with the improvements made after reach tragedy, it has been since that reentry destruction of Space Shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003 that anyone has been killed in space.

       But there have been some close calls with luck on the side of threatened spacefliers.  There have also been some deaths by space workers for NASA and Russia, not to mention some major rocket explosions at the factory or on the launch pad that claimed the lives of about 60 Americans and maybe several hundred Russians.

Astronauts Shuttle Era

       As of Jan. 1, 2014, 533 individuals from 38 countries have orbited Earth, and have spent an accumulative 77 years in space, including 100 total days of space walks.    Since 1961, Russia has launched 126 manned spacecraft, America has put 170 spacecraft with humans into space, and China has five manned flights to its credit—totaling 301 spaceships leaving the Earth. 

And then you have the danger of spacewalks, the first being in 1965 by Russian Alexi Leonov. As of January 1, 2013, there have been exactly 205 humans who made a total of 778 individual spacewalks.  That includes the more than 350 individual spacewalks at the International Space Station lasting about 7 hours each.

 Compared to expected fatalities in military training flights around the world, it’s truly amazing that more people haven’t been killed in space.

       The three US space disasters didn’t have to happen—investigation boards all found human judgment errors created the problem. And in each of the three American disasters, NASA was criticized for creating an atmosphere of flying with accepted risks that stifled those people warning of the impending doom.

Those American tragedies were:

Gus Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee at Saturn V pad January 1967

·      Jan. 27, 1967, launch pad 34B at Cape Kennedy, 6:30 pm: 

      An electrical spark in the haphazard wiring in the new Apollo 1 moonship creates an inferno in the pure oxygen, killing three astronauts. The flash fire was caused by wiring under the commander’s seat, and in only 17 seconds asphyxiated the astronauts as they struggled to open the capsule door—a five minute procedure.  Dead were Gus Grissom, veteran of a Mercury and Gemini spaceflight and the favorite to be the first man on the Moon; Ed White, who performed the first American space walk on Gemini IV; and rookie Roger Chafee.

Space Shuttle Challenger crew
Front: Mike Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair
Back: Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, Judy Resnick

·      Jan. 28, 1986, 11:38 am:  Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after lift-off just 9 miles above the Florida coast.

      This was the 25^th launch in the Shuttle program, and coldest launch conditions ever.  Freezing temperatures compromised a segment of the stacked solid rocket booster on the right side, allowing fire to breach a cold O-ring at the connection of a booster segment, erupting like a blow torch and cutting a support beam holding the rocket in place and shoving it into the huge fuel tank.  Challenger was thrown sideways and broke up at 1,200 mph, the seven astronauts surviving in their cabin segment, possibly knocked unconscious from hypoxia—but three of them tried to activate their emergency oxygen. Free-falling for three minutes, many astronaut insiders believe their colleagues were alive when the cabin hit the Atlantic Ocean at 207 mph with an unsurvivable force. The cabin wasn’t found until March 7 in 1,200 feet of water, 20 miles off shore.  The remains of the crew were returned to their families April 29^th. They are Commander Dick Scobee, pilot Michael Smith and mission specialists Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Greg Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, the first civilian as part of a teacher-in-space program.  

Space Shuttle Columbia Crew
David Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon

  

·      Feb. 1, 2003, 9 am, 35 miles above Dallas, Texas: Space Shuttle Columbia is ripped apart at 5,000 mph just 2 minutes from landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

      At blastoff 14 days earlier on its 28^th mission, Columbia was struck by a chunk of insulation that flew off the huge fuel tank, punching a football-sized hole in the right wing. Though the damage was suspected by some engineers, NASA never used spy satellites to check, and the astronauts continued their mission in the Space Lab in the cargo by, unaware of their doomed fate.  Killed were six American astronauts and Israel’s first space flier. They are Commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool and mission specialists Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Israel’s first astronaut, war hero Ilan Ramon. Space Shuttle debris from more than 2,000 locations between East Texas and Western Louisiana included human remains.

Fallen astronaut memorial on the Moon

       All of the 17 killed aboard US spacecraft have been immortalized with their names adorning planetariums, science centers, schools, streets and parks. NASA has the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Space Mirror Memorial at Cape Kennedy.  Constructed of mirror-finished granite, the Sun’s rays are projected through the engraved names of the astronauts. 

       There are 14 dead astronauts and cosmonauts listed on a plaque left in July 1969 at Tranquility Base by Apollo 11 with a mini sculpture of a fallen astronaut. They included spacemen killed in car accidents or succumbed to illness. 

       The two Russian space tragedies could also have been averted.  They are:

        ·      April 24, 1967 – Veteran cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed when his new Soyuz 1 spacecraft hit the ground at 500 mph after a doomed maiden flight.

              The one-day mission was plagued with system problems, including navigation and cabin cooling. Komarov, unable to control his spacecraft accurately, knew he was likely to die, and called the flawed Soyuz a “devil machine.”

The reentry angle was all wrong, and the parachutes were rippe to shreds, causing the fatal impact. The brave cosmonaut’s cremated remains are in the Kremlin Wall at Red Square in Moscow.

 Georgi Dobravolski, Viktor Patsayev and Vladislav Volkov

·      June 30, 1971 – Russia was shocked when their new space heroes were found dead in their seats after a soft landing of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft.

      The three cosmonauts had spent three weeks aboard the new Salyut 1 Space Station, and had been on Russian national TV several times to show off their new home. They were actually the backup crew, replacing the prime crew just four days before launch when a cosmonaut was diagnosed with tuberculosis. After undocking from the Salyut 1 in triumph, they heading for a fiery reentry and a safe landing. But a cabin vent valve accidentally opened about 1/16^th of an inch during reentry, allowing the air to escape, asphyxiating the crew, who were not in helmeted space suits.  The automated landing proceeded perfectly with good telemetry. Mission control thought something was wrong with the radio, thus the silence from the cosmonauts.  When the hatch was opened, found dead were Georgi Dobravolski, Viktor Patsayev and Vladislav Volkov.  They are interred in the Kremlin Wall and are the last Russian fatality.  

Soyuz 11 Funeral July 1971

       Five American astronauts and two Soviet Cosmonauts have died while training for flights, including the prime crew of Gemini 9 in February 1966.  Elliot See was piloting the T-38 jet with his partner Charles Bassett in the backseat when they crashed while landing in bad weather at the St. Louis, Missouri factory where, ironically, their Gemini spacecraft was being built. 

Friends Gagarin and Komorov hunting

       In another tragedy, Russian hero Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space on April 20, 1961, was killed March 27, 1968 when his MiG jet trainer crashed in bad weather.  Gagarin was training for a Moon mission at the time of his death, though some Russian space officials wanted him grounded because of his fame. Gagarin insisted he wanted to fly in space again instead of becoming a political trophy. Ironically, he was the backup pilot in Soyuz 1, and it's said Komorov wouldn't give up the seat despite doubts for his safety in order to keep the iconic Gagarin alive. He is interred in the Kremlin Wall at Red Square.

              The history of the Space Age has also seen many space workers killed while working on rockets or spacecraft in both America and Russia.  Some of the more tragic were:

·      April 4, 1964, Cape Canaveral

      While being mated to the Orbiting Solar Observatory in a test facility, the solid rocket motor was accidently ignited by static electricity, killing three and injuring eight people.

·      July 3, 1969, the launch pad explosion of the Soviet Union’s Moon rocket, called N-1. 

China Long March rocket launch

     A secret for decades, the sketchy details reveal a shutdown of all 30 first stage engines of the unmanned vehicle just 5 seconds after ignition, causing the huge rocket to fall back onto the launch pad.  Loss of life was not revealed, those some top rocket scientists are suspected victims. US spy satellites and seismometers recorded the aftermath, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history.  

·      June 26, 1973, Plesetsk Cosmodrome, USSR

     Forty-eight technicians were killed when a Vostok 2M rocket blew up during fueling.

·      Feb. 15, 1996, Xichang, China

      A Long March rocket with a communications satellite veered off course immediately after launch crashing into a nearby village less than 30 seconds in flight.  Chinese officials officially said six people

died, but other reports estimated 100 deaths.

       Without a doubt, launching rockets into space is serious business, fraught with danger, yet the rewards are great. Just look at our 21^st Century world so dependent on satellites to provide instant information that drives modern business and pleasure. 

So, when you hear of the anniversaries of the space tragedies of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia, take a moment to think of the human sacrifice in this glorious Space Age.

Tribute Corn Maze Drewberry Farm, Brookshire, Texas

     

SPACE ART IS REAL IMPRESSIONISM

       I have often said that science fact is stranger than science fiction.  And the 21st Century images from America’s robotic explorers have taken scientific photos to an artistic level that borders on impressionism.

       Mercury, our Moon, Mars and Saturn are currently under orbital surveillance, and some of their photos are astounding abstracts of alien worlds.

       There are hundreds of images that look like works of art by Picasso, Monet or Rembrandt.  Some are Martian sand dunes, or braided rings around Saturn…and how about an Earthrise over lunar mountains?

 The fabulous photos taken by our robotic warriors in the Solar System have become as iconic as the works of art celebrated in galleries around the world.

       Now the beauty of our Solar System is being celebrated by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC with an exhibit called “Spirit and Opportunity: 10 Years Roving Across Mars.”

The Smithsonian exhibit features photos taken by the two NASA, golf cart-sized rovers that landed on opposite sides of the Red Planet in January 2004.  Some of the spectacular images remind us of vistas in the American Southwest, while others are purely alien art from what is legitimate scientific data.

Tennessee Valley on Mars

       The six-wheeled Mars Excursion Rovers were guaranteed to last 90 days, but have lasted far beyond their warranty—by more than 25 times NASA’s expectations.

       The first rover landed, Spirit, got trapped in a sandy bog and its solar rechargeable batteries died sometime in 2010.  Opportunity is still trucking, now in its 10^th year and exploring the rim of a big crater after driving almost 25 miles from its original landing spot.

       We compare these alien images to all that we know—our vision of earthly lands.  And like the great landscape artists who depict America’s western wonders, the electronic images beamed back to Earth across 50 million miles from Mars are records of worlds in their geologic glory.

       For some great Martian art, check out the Smithsonian website at http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/mer/. The exhibit is open through September 14, 2014.

       Other Mars images taken by NASA’s orbiters also tickle the artist vision, like sand dunes and polar caps that often look like bizarre artwork from surrealists like Dali.

Martian Sand Dunes

       For pure alien abstraction on canvass, it’s hard to beat the amazing images of NASA’s billion dollar Cassini spacecraft and its subject of Saturn, its shattered rings and retinue of 62 moons.  The juxtaposition of rings, moons and the butterscotch globe of our sixth planet give us a billion-mile perspective that can be jaw-dropping. 

       There are photos of a cratered moon against the blackness with edge-wise rings bisecting the crescent planet in the background.  Not to be outdone by the amazing hexagonal shape of the South Pole vortex that is as a dramatic image as it is a physical anomaly that has planetary atmospheric scientists scratching their heads—both left and right brain merging in amazement. 

Saturn's rings and moons

       The Cassini website is filled with photos that boggle the mind as the interplay of sunlight reflecting off the rings can illuminate Saturn’s night side and give an eerie look never seen by human eyes.  Like the amazing photo taken in July 2014 from the backside of Saturn, eclipsing the Sun and showing the Earth as a pale, blue “star” in the sky.

Apollo 8 Earthrise

       There are many historical images from NASA’s space exploration have been ingrained as classic artwork in our minds.  Like the Earth rising over the Moon as first seen by orbiting Apollo 8 in 1968. Or Buzz Aldrin on the Moon with photographer Neil Armstrong’s reflection in his gold face plate.  Or the free-floating image of America’s first spacewalker, Ed White.  And you can't leave out the beauty of our planet Earth from orbit 200 miles high--always keeping astronauts aboard the International Space Station pressed against their windows.  

       Some of the most amazing space art has been taken by the Galileo spacecraft of the 1990s when it spent 8 years orbiting Jupiter.  The swirling colors of the intense cloud bands whipping around the largest planet can look like colored oils mixing in water.  Looking at the complex clouds of Jupiter brings Van Gogh to mind.  Toss in the four giant moons and another 60 smaller moons and the imagery from the Galileo spacecraft can be mind-boggling.

       Space art is not just limited to our Solar System as images from the Hubble Space Telescope have become iconic images of our modern times.  Two amazing Hubble photos that have become part of our culture of art include “The Pillars of Creation” and “Hubble Deep Space Galaxies”, each a scientific bonanza that are imagery as beautiful as any canvass painted by a fine artist.

Pillars of Creation by Hubble Space Telescope

       Outer space has been depicted by masters of the space art genre like Chesley Bonestell in the 1950s, to Don Davis of the ’70s and Joe Tucciarone of today. Though what comes out of space artists' minds is based on fact, the "real thing" captured by the imaging electronics of interplanetary robots can blow our minds. Arguably, the vast catalog of two decades of Hubble images contains hundreds of space art masterpieces.

       One unique aspect about all the images captured by NASA's spacecraft during the past 50 years of space exploration--there are no copyrights.  Because American taxes paid for these space probes, their images are accessible free to anybody in the world to do with them as they please.  The Hubble website encourages the printing of its images--even offering some mega files of some photos to cover a wall!  A visit to NASA's website will direct you to any of its spacecraft and their fantastic space images. 

       As mankind probes deeper into the Universe for the facts, our mind can’t be separated from the esoteric beauty of what we find.  It’s just part of the human experience that we bring to the quest of alien worlds. 

2014 HIGHLIGHTS...ANOTHER YEAR OF CELESTIAL FRIENDS

 Two eclipses of the Moon during the “graveyard shift” of early morning will highlight the stargazing in our celestial skies for 2014.

       April 15 the Moon slips into the Earth’s shadow beginning at 2:46 am and be total at 3:46 am. The same celestial magic happens again Oct. 8^th, but dawn will ruin the total phase on our Eastern USA coast. 

Lunar Eclipse October 2004
Photo by MarQ

       The planet Jupiter dominates the winter and late spring as the third brightest star in Gemini the Twins, joining brothers Pollux and Castor.  And then the will be the April close approach of Mars to Earth.   The third and fourth planets will be about 55 million miles apart on April 8th, not super close but a distance that will make it easy to see dark surface markings and bright white polar caps.

The planet Venus will become the pre-sunrise beacon in the east through summer, while Mercury will play its usual back and forth in the morning and evening horizons twice throughout the year.

       The year ends with Saturn bejeweling the autumn in Virgo, a sight in a telescope that simply says “astronomy.”

       Any astronomy year is full of surprises, new discoveries and a closer understanding of just where we humans on Earth fit into the grand scheme of the Universe.  There could be a comet come out of nowhere (like Hale-Bopp in 1997, or there might be another destructive asteroid collide with Earth, like the Russian explosion in February 2013.  Maybe Mars rover Curiosity will turn over a rock and find a fossilized fish skeleton!  Now, THAT would be a surprise for the ages.

Saturn South Pole Hexagonal Vortex

       And there will no doubt be more fabulous images of Saturn and its retinue of fascinating moons from the billion dollar Cassini spacecraft, now in its 10^th year orbiting the ringed world.  One area under study this year is the unique hexagonal hurricane in the center of the south pole, as well as the environment on moon Titan’s surface of lakes and rivers made up of minus -200 liquid methane.

        In the human space frontier, the International Space Station is experiencing its 13^th year of continued occupancy with 12 more astronauts that make up Expeditions 39 and 40 taking residence for 5-month stints.  Business as usual will include more supply missions with modules built by two private contractors who have billion dollar contracts with NASA. 

Still the only ticket to ride to the ISS is the Russian Soyuz TMZ spacecraft—its first generation flown 45 years ago. And an expensive ticket it is with NASA spending up to $60 million for one of three seats on the cramped Soyuz space capsule.

ISS Captures Dragon supply ship 2013

The New Year will show progress in the building of NASA’s four-man Orion space capsule, much like the Apollo spaceship of the 1960s.  And private space entrepreneur Space X is involved in test to convert its Dragon spaceship into a manned vehicle for trips to the ISS. 

       One unique aspect of a new year of stargazing is looking forward to seeing the same old celestial friends that avid amateur astronomers have become familiar with—much like old friends.

       For instance, watching Orion leap over the eastern horizon on its side and then standing straight up in the direct south hours later as a rite of the Winter season.  And with a backyard telescope, there are dozens of celestial sites that include the Great Nebula of Orion, The Pleiades star cluster, and brightest star of all, Sirius.

Orion the Hunter

       When Leo is seen rising in the east, it’s time to think of Spring, reinforced when Hercules joins the early evening.  Then the parallelogram of stars that make up Lyra the Harp with brilliant star Vega signifies Summer time.  And when the Great Square of Pegasus rides high in the eastern sky in the early evening, it’s Autumn time.  And then, again, appears Orion as the cycle of Earth orbiting the Sun continues.

Think of our 365 and one-fourth day trip around the Sun as being on an 800 million mile circle race track.  The Sun is in the middle, and we start out the year looking at the stars of Orion and company in Turn 1. As we approach Turn 2, the grandstands represent the stars of Spring with Leo and friends.  The backstretch is filled constellations that lead into Turn 3 and the Summer stars.  Finally, Turn 4 is where the Autumn stars are seen as we whizz by at 30,000 mph. 

When down the front stretch and looking at Winter’s starry wonders in the stands, we can’t see the stars of Summer on the backstretch of the orbital racetrack because of the bright Sun.  They are in the daytime sky.  So every celestial lap, we are looking in the grandstands of stars, and briefly enjoying the sights as we move at a predictable speed governed by the gravity of the Sun and laws of physics.

That is what makes every celestial year a special one, reacquainting the stargazer with the familiar starry friends.  After all, they are always there—and never let you down.