News Archive / Author: Gregory Cecil

Gregory N. Cecil is the only Florida State Certified Educator and Nationally Certified Aerospace Technician in the nation. He holds a Masters in Aeronautical Science: Space Operations Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and worked on the Space Shuttle Program. He is a science teacher and has taught in both public and private schools. Gregory has written over 50 articles relating to the space program and continues to contribute to the promotion of space.

Articles By Gregory Cecil

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Apollo 11’s fading light

  July 20th, 2015

  Forty-six years ago today on July 20, 1969, history was made – men walked on the surface of another world. Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first to do so when their Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LEM) Eagle descended onto the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility. The duo touched down on what was to become known […]

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: One giant leap, the flight of Apollo 11

  July 16th, 2015

  Forty-six years ago today, on July 16, 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida – for the Moon. At 9:32 a.m. EDT (13:32 GMT), the Saturn V rocket SA-506 lifted off with 7.5 million lbs. of thrust carrying the crew consisting of Neil Armstrong, […]

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Launching Opportunity

  July 7th, 2015

  Twelve years ago, on July 7, 2003, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity (MER-B ) launched aboard a Delta II Heavy rocket. Lifting off from launch pad SLC-17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Opportunity began its six-month journey to Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program.

• Our Spaceflight Heritage: Tereshkova’s flight for equality

  June 16th, 2015

  Fifty-two years ago today, on June 16, 1963, Cosmonaut Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova became the first woman in space. She launched from the Baikonur Launch Complex aboard her Vostok 6 booster in what was the former Soviet Union. The flight of the first woman in space was considered a propaganda stunt, but actual science was performed […]

• Our Spaceflight Heritage: Remembering Spirit

  June 10th, 2015

  On June 10, 2003, the Mars rover Spirit (Mars Exploration Rover A (MER-A)) launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) Space Launch Complex 17A (SLC-17A) aboard a Delta II rocket bound for Mars. Spirit was the first of two twin rovers, the other being Opportunity which followed 3 weeks later. Both rovers, built by […]

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: A life of exploration and discovery – Remembering Sally Ride

  May 26th, 2015

  Today, May 26, 2015, would have been U.S. astronaut Sally Ride’s 64th birthday. Although Ride is mainly known for her tenure as an astronaut, Ride was much more than just the first U.S. woman to venture into the blackness of space. Her legacy is something that we at SpaceFlight Insider wanted to provide a review […]

• Our Space Flight Heritage: Launch of Apollo 10 forty six years ago

  May 18th, 2015

  Forty-six years ago today on May 18, 1969, the crew of Apollo 10 lifted off from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center for what NASA described as “a dress rehearsal for the first Moon Landing.” On board the Apollo Command Module, named Charlie Brown, were commander Thomas Stafford, lunar module pilot Eugene Cernan, and command module […]

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: The flight of Freedom 7 fifty four years ago

  May 5th, 2015

  Fifty four years ago today, Alan Shepard Jr. became the first American in space flying aboard the Mercury capsule Freedom 7. Shepard and his ship lifted off atop a Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 5 and followed by a successful splashdown in the Atlantic after a flight lasting just over […]

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: A successful failure – 45 years later

  April 17th, 2015

  Forty five years ago today, as the nation held its collective breath, Apollo 13 successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. Jim Lovell, Fred Haise Jr., and John “Jack” Swigert had lifted off from Launch Complex 39A from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center atop a Saturn V rocket on April 11, 1970, on what the public had considered a […]

• Our Spaceflight Heritage: This Day in Spaceflight History

  April 12th, 2015

  April 12 is a historic day in terms of human spaceflight. Today marks the 54th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight on Vostok 1 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the former Soviet Union. He was the first human to ever fly in space. Twenty years later, in 1981, the first reusable spacecraft Columbia was launched from […]

• Expedition 43: The time of the Kelly twins

  April 4th, 2015

  On March 27, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko (along with Gennady Padalka, also a Russian cosmonaut) launched to the International Space Station to begin a one year mission in orbit. The particular focus of the mission is to do 12 months’ worth of human research and study the effects of microgravity on […]

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: The 33rd Anniversary of the launch of STS-3

  March 22nd, 2015

  On March 22, 1982, Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off for her third mission (STS-3 ) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. On board were Commander Jack Lousma and Pilot C. Gordon Fullerton. Their mission included testing the orbiter’s Remote Manipulator System (RMS) – also known as the “Canadarm” – conduct thermal testing on […]

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: 50 Years since the launch of Ranger 9

  March 21st, 2015

  On March 21, 1965, Ranger 9 was launched from Launch Complex 12 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It was carried aloft by the Atlas Launch Vehicle 3 and boosted out of Earth orbit by an Agena B booster. Ranger 9 was developed and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Its purpose was […]

• Our Spaceflight Heritage: NASA celebrates 100 years of NACA with symposium

  March 4th, 2015

  On March 3 and 4, NASA and the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum are hosting “The NACA Centenary: A Symposium on 100 Years of Aerospace Research and Development.”  This event is open to the public and is being held at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C. and broadcast on NASA TV. The National […]

• Our Spaceflight Heritage: Marking the 36th Anniversary of SAGE 1

  February 18th, 2015

  On Feb. 18, 1979, NASA launched the first of the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) series of experiments. SAGE 1 was placed aboard the Explorer Mission-B (AEM-B) satellite and was launched atop a Scout Rocket. The purpose of the experiment was to measure aerosols and other stratosphere gases, and to obtain a baseline to […]