Born: Aug. 26, 1918Died: Feb. 24, 2020Hometown: White Sulphur Springs, WVEducation: B.S., Mathematics and French, West Virginia State College, 1937Hired by NACA: June 1953Retired from NASA: 1986Actress Playing Role in Hidden Figures: Taraji P. Henson Topics: African Americans, Black History Month, Diversity in Science, Mathematics, NASA, Spaceflight, STEM, Women in Science Being handpicked to be one of three black students toContinue reading “Katharine Johnson…”
Category Archives: Spaceflight
Dr. Ronald E. McNair…
Topics: African Americans, Astronautics, Black History Month, Diversity in Science, Lasers, NASA, Space Shuttle, Spaceflight Ronald McNair (born October 21, 1950, in Lake City, South Carolina, U.S.—died January 28, 1986, in flight, off of Cape Canaveral, Florida) was an American physicist and astronaut who was killed in the Challenger disaster. McNair received a bachelor’s degree in physics from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, in 1971 andContinue reading “Dr. Ronald E. McNair…”
Colonel Frederick D. Gregory…
Ronald McNair, Guion Bluford, and Frederick Gregory, NASA’s first Black astronauts, from the 1978 astronaut class. Topics: African Americans, Astronautics, Black History Month, Diversity in Science, NASA, Space Shuttle, Spaceflight Frederick Drew Gregory is the first astronaut born, reared, and educated in the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, which is also home to the Smithsonian’s NationalContinue reading “Colonel Frederick D. Gregory…”
Dr. Guion “Guy” S. Bluford Jr…
Topics: African Americans, Astronautics, Black History Month, Diversity in Science, NASA, Space Shuttle, Spaceflight Dr. Guion “Guy” S. Bluford Jr. (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) was the first African American to fly in space. He was also the first African American to return to space a second, third and fourth time. As the first African American toContinue reading “Dr. Guion “Guy” S. Bluford Jr…”
The Checkbook of Space Travel…
An illustration of NASA’s Orion spacecraft in orbit around the moon. (Image credit: Lockheed Martin) Topics: Astronautics, History, NASA, Space Exploration, Spaceflight Between 1969 and 1972, the Apollo missions sent a total of a dozen astronauts to the surface of the moon — and that was before the explosion of modern technology. So why does it seem likeContinue reading “The Checkbook of Space Travel…”
Valentina Tereshkova…
Valentina Tereshkova. Credit: ESA Topics: Astronautics, ESA, History, NASA, Space Exploration, Spaceflight, Women in Science The first female cosmonaut flew years before NASA put a man on the Moon and decades before any other country would send a woman into orbit. On a drab Sunday in Moscow in November 1963, a dark-suited man stood besideContinue reading “Valentina Tereshkova…”
Caveat Colonizing…
Topics: Astronautics, Climate Change, Environment, Futurism, Global Warming, Mars, Spaceflight When Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, he envisioned a greenhouse on Mars, not unlike the one later depicted in the 2015 blockbuster The Martian. Soon, his fantasy grew from a small-scale botanical experiment into a vision for a self-sustaining Martian city. In a speech at theContinue reading “Caveat Colonizing…”
Proxima Oceans…
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Exoplanets, Space Exploration, Spaceflight Astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Sun. Called Proxima Centauri d, the newly spotted world is probably smaller than Earth and could have oceans of liquid water. “It’s showing that the nearest star probably has a very rich planetary system,”Continue reading “Proxima Oceans…”
HETs…
Topics: Applied Physics, Computer Modeling, NASA, Space Exploration, Spaceflight Abstract Hall effect thrusters operating at power levels in excess of several hundreds of kilowatts have been identified as enabling technologies for applications such as lunar tugs, large satellite orbital transfer vehicles, and solar system exploration. These large thrusters introduce significant testing challenges due to theContinue reading “HETs…”
Uhura to Proctor…
Topics: NASA, Space Exploration, Spaceflight, SpaceX, Star Trek Dr. King revealed to Nichols that TOS was the only show that he and his wife, Coretta, allowed their little children to stay up and watch. Further, he told Nichols what the show meant to him personally and detailed the importance of her having created a character with “dignityContinue reading “Uhura to Proctor…”
Physics and Nano 