Portal:Space exploration/Featured
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[edit] This month's featured article
Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. (born February 28, 1924) is a retired NASA engineer and manager. After graduating from Virginia Tech in 1944, Kraft was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor organization to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He worked for over a decade in aeronautical research before being asked in 1958 to join the Space Task Group, a small team entrusted with the responsibility of putting America's first man in space. Assigned to the flight operations division, Kraft became NASA's first flight director. He was on duty during such historic missions as America's first spaceflight, first orbital flight and first spacewalk.
At the beginning of the Apollo program Kraft retired as a flight director in order to concentrate on management and mission planning. In 1972 he became director of the Manned Spacecraft Center (later Johnson Space Center), following in the footsteps of his mentor Robert Gilruth. He held the position until his retirement from NASA in 1982. During his retirement, Kraft has consulted for numerous companies including IBM and Rockwell International, and he published an autobiography entitled Flight: My Life in Mission Control.
Recently featured: Space Shuttle Challenger disaster – Atmospheric reentry – Apollo 8
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[edit] Upcoming featured articles
[edit] April 2007
Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. (born February 28, 1924) is a retired NASA engineer and manager. After graduating from Virginia Tech in 1944, Kraft was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor organization to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He worked for over a decade in aeronautical research before being asked in 1958 to join the Space Task Group, a small team entrusted with the responsibility of putting America's first man in space. Assigned to the flight operations division, Kraft became NASA's first flight director. He was on duty during such historic missions as America's first spaceflight, first orbital flight and first spacewalk.
At the beginning of the Apollo program Kraft retired as a flight director in order to concentrate on management and mission planning. In 1972 he became director of the Manned Spacecraft Center (later Johnson Space Center), following in the footsteps of his mentor Robert Gilruth. He held the position until his retirement from NASA in 1982. During his retirement, Kraft has consulted for numerous companies including IBM and Rockwell International, and he published an autobiography entitled Flight: My Life in Mission Control.
Recently featured: Space Shuttle Challenger disaster – Atmospheric reentry – Apollo 8
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[edit] May 2007
Launch Complex 39 is a large site and a collection of facilities at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA, originally built for the Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. NASA will again modify LC-39 starting in 2007 to accommodate Project Constellation.
The initial design of the launch complex contained 5 pads that were evenly spaced 8700 feet apart to avoid damage in the event of a pad explosion. 3 were scheduled for construction, 2 reserved for future use. The numbering of the pads at the time was from north to south, with the northern most being LC39A, and the southern being LC39C. LC39A was never built, and LC39C became LC39A in 1963.
With the planned retirement of the Shuttle in 2010, NASA will modify the two launch pads to accommodate the manned Ares I (formerly the Crew Launch Vehicle – CLV) and the unmanned Ares V (formerly the Cargo Launch Vehicle – CaLV) in support of Project Constellation. Prior to the announcement that Ares would use LC-39, officials in Florida were concerned by the possibility that the Space Shuttle's successor project may not have launched from Kennedy Space Center.
Recently featured: Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. – Space Shuttle Challenger disaster – Atmospheric reentry
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[edit] Archive
- February 2007: Atmospheric reentry
- January 2007: Apollo 8
- December 2006: Space elevator
- November 2006: Hubble_Space_Telescope
- October 2006: Spacecraft propulsion
- September 2006: Saturn V
