Scott & Carol Present: NASA's Day of Remembrance

Today is Nasa's Day of Remembrance, when they pause to recognize those who gave their lives pushing the envelope of space exploration. Neil Armstrong said it best,"The rate of progress is proportional to the risk encountered. The public at large my well be more risk advers than the individuals in our business, but to limit the progress in the name of eliminating risk is no virtue."

It was fifty years ago today, when Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee perished in a "plugs out" ground test of command module 012. The test was the first time a mission rehearsal was done under the spacecraft's own power, using the pure oxygen like that would be used on the first mission. Everything was proceeding normally except for some troubleshooting of the communications system when at 6:31 PM the crew report fire in the Command Module. They suffered for only 17 seconds, when they perished due to inhalation of the toxic gases from the fire. "Go Fever," and a nationwide belief in the infallibility of America's Space Program had claimed their first victims. Today NASA opens a long overdue display honoring the trio at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at the Kennedy Space Visitor Center. In the under thirty months fallowing the tragedy, NASA flew five missions and landed on the moon, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted an American flag. America had won the space race to the moon, albeit as a high cost.

The Space Mirror Memorial was dedicated in 1991 by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation to honor all astronauts who lost their lives on missions or during training. It was designated a National Memorial by Congress in that same year. It serves as a reminder that space is an unforgiving and very dangerous environment.

The astronauts have flown T-38 Talons for over forty years, both to keep their flying skills sharp, and also to travel to contractors and do public relations work. Unfortunately, four member of the astronaut corps have lost their lives in these planes. Their names are Ted Freeman, Elliot See, Charlie Bassett, and Clifton Williams.

Following the Columbia accident in 2006, NASA took thirty-two months to return to flight. Along with some recovered parts of the orbiter, there are memorabilia honoring the flight crew, as selected by their families. It give a more personal appreciation of each individual. Here is a listing of the crew: Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon.

It only took thirty months for the space shuttle to fly again  after the Challenger accident in 1986. The flight crew is similarly honored with personal effects selected by their families. Here is the complete crew list: Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe.

Today at 10:00 AM, NASA will pay tribute to their colleagues, with a ceremony at the Space Mirror Memorial. Following the wreath laying, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will provide flowers for visitors to place at the memorial. NASA's Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of space exploration and discovery.

A Celebration at the Falcon Creative Booth

Falcon Creative had a big celebration at their booth on the show floor at IAAPA Expo. Anytime you can bring in an astronaut to recreate a grand opening, it is bound to attract a crowd. This was no exception. Jon McBride, who piloted Challenger back in 1984 on STS-41 G, which among other things, proved the concept of refuelling satellites with the orbiters.

This project was very important to Falcon, so much that they formed a new division to complete it. Here is a video with the executive producers:

Here is a couple of photos of the completed project, inside and out.

Falcon also sponsored a tour, complete with lunch, of the project on the last day of the IAAPA Expo, but since we had attended the grand opening the previous week, we elected to pass. Here is a video of the booth event, and the enthusiasm generated by those in attendance:

Congratulations to Flacon and the Kennedy Space Visitors Center. Several years in development, the end result is nothing short of amazing, and it is a true legacy to heroes from all walks of life.

A Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Christmas Blast Off

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Holidays in Space is the Kennedy Space Visitor Center's unique high-tech holiday celebration. While the rest of us hang up a few lights, the Saturn 1B in the Rocket Garden serves as the projection screen for historical footage and computer-generated fun.

It kicked off on 12/21/2016 and starting the day after Christmas through 1/2/2017, there will be two shows nightly, at 6:45 and 7:45 PM. They are free and included with admission.

They did add a few lights and accent pieces throughout the facility like this tree.

A special kickoff event was held for season pass holders featuring sweet treats and hot chocolate with reserved prime seating. 

Another one of the many views afforded during the show. Every time the Saturn 1B transformed into an entirely different colored pattern, the children all oohed and aahed in appreciation.

Here are some highlights from the performance, which was re-imagined for 2016-17.

Just one of the many scenes from the show. It is the only rocket used as a projection screen that we have ever heard of, and it is definitely the most unusual backdrop employed in projection mapping shows.

The fireworks finale was great, as was the hospitality afforded by the Kennedy Space Visitor Center. Thanks to Andrea and Lauren, with special thanks to whoever baked all those great treats. It took a whole day to come down from the sugar high, but it was so, so good.

Scott And Carol Present - Kennedy Space Center's New Heroes and Legends, Presented by Boeing

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A traditional countdown and a lot of bangs saluted the reopening of the Astronaut Hall of Fame in its new location on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Visitors Center.

Here is the whole crew, including Buzz Aldrin, the last man to walk on the moon. They were all previous members of the Hall of Fame and came to the celebration to honor their peers.
 

Image courtesy of the Kennedy Space Visitors Center 

The 3D imagery is state of the art and the sound system makes you feel like you are there in the moment, whether handling flight operations for an F-86 jet or flying in the Mercury capsule.

 

Eric, from NASA, talks about his organization's support for the project. In the background, you can see the actual Mission Control equipment used in the early space pioneering days.

The silhouette of the X-15 appears to be headed toward the Mercury Redstone. Both of the aircraft were utilized in the early days of space travel and the X-15 built by North American, flown by Neil Armstrong, Joe Engle, and others. Joe Engle also flew the flight testing for the Intrepid shuttle and well as performing the only non-computer aided shuttle landing.

Hall of Fame Astronaut Karol "Bo" Bobko performed much of the baseline and support mission for Skylab, Appolo-Soyuz Test Project, and preparation for the first flight of Columbia, STS-1

This Mercury Sigma 7 actually flew Walter  Shirra Jr for 6 orbits on October 3, 1962. The rocket is an actual human rated Mercury-Redstone 6 that never flew.

 

 

Melissa from Nassal surprises us with her knowledge of trivia about the pods. Each of the nine pods explores different attributes of history-making astronauts, complete with personal artifacts.

 

 

The dramatic entrance into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

 

Hall of Fame Astronaut Jerry Ross, current record holder for most space launches tells us his tale of what it took to accomplish his stellar career.

In this 360-degree discovery bay, guests attempt to define what is a hero, and one of the best is a young girl who said, "A hero is someone who inspires me to try harder and do my best." Very similar to Gus Grissom when he asked the workers at the Saint Louis McDonnell Aircraft plant to "Do good work," when they were building the Mercury space capsule.

Here Cecil and David, from Falcon Creative, talk about the difficulty of refining the 126 interviews which resulted in too many hours of video and photos into the less than 5 hours of video, and under 8 thousand pictures used in the final production. Not to mention that you are dealing with mankind's greatest accomplishment, so it wouldn't be a good thing for it to be less than perfect.

John from Boeing, the company who helped make this renovation so wonderful took some time to relate how Boeing is celebrating their 100th year, and due to their rich aviation history, they are giving back to keep the legacy of pushing the boundaries of known science further away into the future. A big thank you to Boeing and all the other partners in this magnificent accomplishment.