News Archive / Heritage
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Our spaceflight heritage: A conversation with Fred Haise
Scott JohnsonDecember 24th, 2021Spaceflight Insider spoke with Fred Haise after a ceremony commemorating the 2020 designation of the A-1 Test Stand after the Apollo 13 astronaut.
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Wally Funk of the ‘Mercury 13’ to finally fly into space next week
Theresa CrossJuly 13th, 2021On July 1, 2021, Blue Origin announced that Wally Funk, a member of the “Mercury 13," would fly into space atop the company’s suborbital New Shepard rocket.
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Light this candle! The 60th anniversary of the first American in space
Matt HaskellMay 5th, 2021Sixty years ago today, on May 5, 1961, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard rocketed to space in his Mercury capsule to become the first American and the second human in space.
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Wings of exploration: reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the space shuttle
Matt HaskellApril 12th, 2021The launch of the space shuttle on April 12, 1981, proved to be a history-making event. For many, that day stemmed careers, dreams and imaginations alike.
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Damaged Arecibo Observatory collapses
Laurel KornfeldDecember 1st, 2020The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, a world-famous 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope through which major discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics were made, collapsed on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 1, after one of its main cables broke on Nov. 6.
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VP Pence reinforces lunar convictions at Apollo 11 celebration
Cullen DesforgesJuly 21st, 2019KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Vice President Mike Pence paid a visit to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, July 19 at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. His appearance came at a time when the agency both remembered past achievements and worked toward restoring along-lost capability.
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Doubters, difficulty and distance – Apollo 11’s LRR experiment
Jason RhianJuly 18th, 2019To hear Moon landing conspiracy theorists tell it, the U.S. never sent men to the Moon during the Apollo Program of the 60s and 70s. A recent SpaceFlight Insider interview about a remote facility suggests otherwise.
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Virginia Tech celebrates the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11
Steve HammerJuly 17th, 2019BLACKSBURG, Va. -- “The Real McCoy”, that’s what astronaut Michael Collins wrote on the cover of the Apollo 11 flight plan on display at the "Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 presentation at Virginia Tech." That is a great way to describe this collection of memorabilia and artifacts. The flight plan, which outlined all aspects of the mission, was just a small part of the present...
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Was Apollo 11 faked? USSR: ‘Nyet’
Jason RhianJuly 16th, 2019Anyone who has ever had a disagreement with anyone else can expect their 'opponent' to paint them as the worst person on the planet and to point out every failure, every falsehood (real or imagined) you've ever had or uttered. In terms of lunar conspiracy theorists this consideration, seems to have eluded them. There were people who would have loved to have proved Apollos 11-17 were faked - a whol...
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Private astronauts to be included on Space Mirror Memorial
Jason RhianJuly 16th, 2019There can be little doubt that the age of commercial space flight is here. A recent announcement made by the Astronaut Memorial Foundation has shown that another, more somber, milestone in this new age has been reached.
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Proof of Apollo 11 landing hard as ‘rock’
Joe LatrellJuly 15th, 2019JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas -- When asked why they believe the Apollo 11 Moon landings were faked, conspiracy theorists point to the lack of stars in the photos taken by the astronauts, incongruous shadows and other bits of data from that mission. Some evidence that counters their claims isn't so fragile, in fact - it's written in stone.
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Alan Parsons Live Project set to sing Apollo 11’s praises
Mike HowardJuly 11th, 2019COCOA, Fla. -- With the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing just around the corner, the Alan Parsons Live Project will put on a concert to honor the occasion. SpaceFlight Insider spoke with Parsons to get his take on the mission and how he is working to honor its memory.
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Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Apollo 10 paves way for 1st human lunar landing
Derek RichardsonMay 18th, 2019As NASA takes aim on the Moon with its Artemis program, it is important to remember the missions that paved the way for the agency's first manned landing. One of the most critical of these - was Apollo 10.
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US Mint unveils Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin
Mike HowardJanuary 25th, 2019The United States Mint unveiled a series of commemorative coins celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
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Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Still silent, Mars rover Opportunity marks 15 years on Mars
Jason RhianJanuary 24th, 2019NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, safely touched down on Mars 15 years ago today, on Jan. 24, 2004.
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Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Two craters named in honor of Apollo 8
Tomasz NowakowskiOctober 10th, 2018This December marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission to the Moon. The International Astronomical Union has found a special way to honor the occasion.
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Our SpaceFlight Heritage: ICE—The first comet flyby
Andrew LepageSeptember 12th, 2018While NASA has become known for successful spacecraft that extend well past their warranty, the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) showed that a well-designed spacecraft can serve many purposes long after its primary mission ends.
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Inside Opportunity: ‘Oppy’ fights for its life in massive Martian dust storm
James RiceJuly 1st, 2018Our intrepid Opportunity rover is currently in the midst of riding out a massive global dust storm that began May 30. This storm moved south down the well-known Acidalia storm track into Xanthe Terra. A few days later the storm had stretched from eastern Valles Marineris to northern Arabia Terra. It then moved across the equator and south toward Meridiani Planum where Opportunity is located.
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Neil Armstrong’s Dyna-Soar abort training aircraft being restored for Moon landing anniversary
Michael ColeMay 20th, 2018A piece of Neil Armstrong's pre-astronaut space history is being restored in preparation for next July's 50-year anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.
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Yuri’s Night comes to Kennedy Space Center
Bart LeahyApril 16th, 2018KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Yuri’s Night, the world’s largest space party, made its first appearance at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The event occurred April 13, 2018, and brought together over 750 space professionals and fans for the space-themed merriment beneath Space Shuttle Atlantis.
