A Hindu Moon

I can understand getting butterflies before a launch, but the next space shuttle mission will have butterflies in the launch vehicle. The upcoming November 14th shuttle mission will have a bunch of “Painted Lady” butterflies aboard. The butterflies are black, white, orange and grey, and will be studied for the effects of zero g on [...]

I had a correspondence with H. D. McDaniel, a man who worked at the Cape in the early sixties and beyond. He worked in “Launch Sequencing” which is monitoring preparations and activities up to (and including) the launch of a space vehicle. This is a pretty obscure area. Even as a space buff, I really [...]

India plans manned space missions. They are still some years away. (Their actual spacecraft is still under development.) But they are busy naming their future space explorers: both selecting them, and deciding what they will be called. First, selection. The initial group of Indian astronauts will be four fighter pilots. They are looking at a [...]