Fwd: Update from Save Manned Space!

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From: The Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration <noreply+feedproxy@google.com>
Date: December 24, 2015 at 12:02:47 PM CST
To: bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com
Subject: Update from Save Manned Space!
Reply-To: The Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration <space@conservativeusa.org>

Update from Save Manned Space!

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Christmas Greetings from Apollo 8 Posted: 24 Dec 2015 12:09 AM PST Forty seven years ago today, on Christmas Eve, 1968, Apollo 8 took man for the first time around the moon. One of the most famous photographs of all time is the "Earthrise" over the moon, shot by William Anders. Watch the Christmas Greeting from the Moon: A Reading of Genesis by Apollo 8 Astronauts As they orbited the moon, the three astronauts, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, took turns reading from the book of Genesis. Watch the above video for their historic broadcast. From NASA.gov: "We were told that on Christmas Eve we would have the largest audience that had ever listened to a human voice," recalled Borman during 40th anniversary celebrations in 2008. "And the only instructions that we got from NASA was to do something appropriate." "The first ten verses of Genesis is the foundation of many of the world's religions, not just the Christian religion," added Lovell. "There are more people in other religions than the Christian religion around the world, and so this would be appropriate to that and so that's how it came to pass." Christmas Greetings from the Moon Jim Lovell: "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth." William Anders: "For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you". "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." Jim Lovell: "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." Frank Borman: "And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good." Frank Borman: "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."  Best wishes for a Merry Christmas from the Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration Photo and video credits NASA

Historic Space X Rocket Landing Posted: 23 Dec 2015 11:27 PM PST Falcon 9 Landing Space X made history this week with its successful landing of the Falcon 9 first stage after boosting eleven Orbcomm satellites to orbit.  The significance of landing and reusing rockets can not be undervalued. Once the return and reuse of rockets becomes routine and dependable--and critically--as safe and reliable as new rockets, the cost of launches will drop dramatically. Reusability has always been the 'gold standard' for the ideal rocket. Early designs for the space shuttle offered full reusability, though the 'bean-counters' chose a cheaper hybrid design that in the long run probably cost more per launch. More than 20 years ago, the X-30 National Aerospace Plane was almost built in the 1980's to replace the shuttles with a runway-to-runway reusable spaceplane. The DC-X was another important stepping stone. Blue Origin successfully landed their rocket a few weeks ago, and now Space X brings the light of dawn to reusability. There may be many great successes and failures to come as the technology gets perfected, but at the end of the rainbow may be reusable rockets as dependable as new ones, as is the case with airplanes.  The stresses of spaceflight and landing may limit the number of times a rocket can be reused--the comparison with airplanes is similar, however the forces are greater and possibility of crashes due to high winds or mechanical failures will be greater for the near future.  Lessons to be learned over the next few years will include the amount of refurbishing necessary to assure a dependable relaunch. With the space shuttles, there was a always great deal of refurbishment, so we should not expect short turnarounds with minimal work. Also, for the near future Space X will be focusing on recovering first stages, and not the second stage.   One day, you might ride on a reused rocket system to orbit, the moon or Mars for a fraction of the price imaginable today. And perhaps one day too disreputable used rocket lots will appear on the wrong side of the tracks, offering worn out 'fixer-uppers' to the handyman astronaut or the uninformed. Congratulations and best wishes to Space X for the perfect landing, and to all the predecessors who helped pioneer the way. Watch Space X's great video from launch to landing: Full Launch and Return Landing from Helicopter Photo and video credits: Space X

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