Mars Lander Is Dead—or Hibernating.

Donn Eisele, an Apollo astronaut, had one flight: Apollo 7. This was the shakedown flight to test out “America’s moonship”and put the country back on track after the tragic Apollo 1 fire. Eisele performed his job well on the mission. But he had problems nonetheless which contributed to his short career as an active astronaut. [...]

Sunday’s New York Times Magazine included a discussion of the idea of advertising on the lunar surface. This is, apparently, possible but very expensive. Coca Cola was reportedly considered using lasers to illuminate a portion of the moon with an advertisement for its flagship soft drink. But the number of lasers needed—to be visible from [...]

After achieving international fame as the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin fought to get back into orbit. But, as a national hero, the Soviet government seemed to consider him too valuable to risk sending up a second time. Still, Gagarin continued to try. In 1967, he was finally given an assignment—as backup pilot—for the [...]