Gene Cernan: A conversation with the last men on the Moon
Forty years have passed since he left mankind’s last bootprint on the Moon, but Gene Cernan is a man focused on the future. He strongly believes that inspiring dreams within children, and encouraging STEM education is the path to a future where we walk on the Moon again. Cernan: “What we have to do is …
Harrison Schmitt: A conversation with the last men on the Moon
Of the 12 men who explored the Moon, only Dr. Harrison ‘Jack’ Schmitt was a professional geologist. After years spent training those who had gone before him, he blazed a trail for the scientist-astronauts who would later follow him into space. Schmitt: “Well I think it was important to the space program because it set …
Apollo 17: Final voyage to the Moon
Forty years ago, humanity left its last footprints on the surface of another celestial body. Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison ‘Jack’ Schmitt guided their lunar module Challenger down into a beautiful, mountain-ringed valley in the Taurus Mountains, on the edge of the Moon’s Serenitatis basin, just south of the ancient crater Littrow. The spectacular …
NASA Spinoffs from Apollo
With the success of the Apollo program, NASA delivered great progress in the fields of rocketry and aeronautics, as well as the fields of civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. Lesser known accomplishments are some of the many spinoffs that came from the Apollo program—partnerships created between NASA and industry to commercialize the technologies developed for …
Julian Leek has an eagle’s eye view of Space Coast
It may seem like nothing more than a tall tale, to hear that after arriving at the Space Coast in the last 1960s, a teenager from England soon would be riding atop the launch tower for a Saturn V as it rolled out to the launch pad. But in this case, it is the real …
Emily Nelson working to keep astronauts safe aboard the ISS
At all times, astronauts live aboard the International Space Station (ISS). They carry out their daily activities working in a zero gravity habitat orbiting Earth, while their lives are in the hands of a ground crew hundreds of miles below them back on the ground. These “professional problem solvers” monitor everything happening inside and outside …