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Astronaut Lt Gen Thomas Stafford dies, age 93

| March 20, 2024 | 11 Comments
Astronaut Lt Gen Thomas Stafford dies, age 93

For those who grew up idolizing the trailblazers of the space race, the name Thomas Stafford will be familiar. He was part of NASA Astronaut Group 2. Also in Group 2 were several other well known astronauts of the Gemini and Apollo Era (and beyond). Along with Stafford, Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Jim […]

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Astronaut RADM Ken Mattingly, USN passes away

| November 4, 2023 | 16 Comments
Astronaut RADM Ken Mattingly, USN passes away

Astronaut and retired two-star admiral Ken Mattingly passed away on Halloween at the age of 87. NASA announced his death on 2 November. For those who came of age during and after the space race, the men of the early American space program will always be heroes and inspirations. Mattingly earned his naval aviator wings […]

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Overachiever finds yet one more way to overachieve

| April 24, 2023 | 39 Comments
Overachiever finds yet one more way to overachieve

I talked about Silver Star recipient Jonny Kim a while back in a Valor Friday piece. Since then the man who enlisted into the Navy, became a SEAL, was decorated for valor in action, was commissioned an officer, became a medical doctor (from Harvard no less), and then became an astronaut has squeezed another extremely […]

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Astronauts chosen to fly around the moon

| April 4, 2023 | 58 Comments
Astronauts chosen to fly around the moon

Four astronauts have been chosen for a lunar mission that could be launched as early as late next year. Two of the astronauts chosen are naval aviators. These astronauts will neither land on the moon, nor orbit it, but go around the moon and return to Earth. NASA hopes to follow this mission with a […]

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Extra dose of valor for your Friday

| February 3, 2023 | 5 Comments
Extra dose of valor for your Friday

I’ve previously talked about some recipients of the Dickin Medal, awarded by the British animal humane organization People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA). It is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, the United Kingdom’s (and Commonwealth’s) highest honor, awarded only for battlefield gallantry. A US Marine Corps dog is the latest recipient of the […]

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NASA hopes to station nuclear reactors on the moon

| June 26, 2022 | 26 Comments
NASA hopes to station nuclear reactors on the moon

Three design proposals have been selected by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy for the first single run of this technology. NASA ultimately wants to use fission surface power systems to power equipment and stations on the moon. These nuclear reactors would produce power regardless of the amount of sunlight or other environmental conditions. […]

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Interested in contributing to a successful manned Mars mission?

| August 16, 2021 | 14 Comments
Interested in contributing to a successful manned Mars mission?

NASA is looking for volunteers to live and work, for a year, in a simulated Mars environment. Volunteers will perform tasks, duties, and experiments, that are expected to be performed once we have a manned mission on the Martian surface. Researchers will gather information on the participants, and on their performance, that they hope could […]

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The redemption of Gus Grissom

| July 26, 2021 | 18 Comments
The redemption of Gus Grissom

Lieutenant Colonel Virgil “Gus” Grissom, USAF was many things in life. He died at the all-too-young age of 40 in the disastrous Apollo 1 capsule fire in 1967 along side Lieutenant Colonel Ed White, USAF (the first American to walk in space) and Lieutenant Commander Roger Chaffee, USN. Before that, Gus had been an aviation […]

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