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2:24 Today, Sunday January 28, 2024, is the 38th anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle explosion that took the lives of an entire crew, a loss that deeply grieved Americans across the nation, per WGAL. The seven NASA astronauts were killed 73 seconds after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, according to History.com. The site noted that prior to the disaster, the launch was delayed for several days because of weather and technical issues.

Not off to a good start. A brand-new, self-driving shuttle bus suddenly crashed into another carrier in Orlando, Fla. — just two days after the shuttle service officially hit the streets. The SWAN shuttle — short for Shuttling with Autonomous Navigation — collided with a full-size bus in the city’s downtown area Tuesday, cops said. The crash was caught on camera by a passenger testing out the city’s hyped new service.

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded. All seven astronauts were killed. Eyewitness Frank Mottek described the scene: Just then we both stood up and looked up at the shuttle making its way farther and farther into the sky. Suddenly, I was struck by a pattern I had never seen before. From our vantage point, it appeared that an extra flame was trailing from the shuttle. Then, in that split second, a silent fireball appeared in the sky. Then there was silence, the silence of alarm. . . Investigations later revealed that two rubber O-rings, which were designed...

A preliminary investigation showed the fire broke out at about 4:17 p.m. EST from an apparent engine issue, said Shawn Whited, division chief with Pasco Fire Rescue. “The captain of the boat said there was an issue with the engine. He said he noticed smoke coming form the engine room and turned the boat around,” Whited said. The 60-foot shuttle boat was on its way to the Sun Cruz Casino boat, a little more than three miles away in international waters. It had only made it about 100 yards from where it originated in Port Richey, about 30 miles north...

Legendary astronaut John Young, who twice ventured into space in pioneering two-man Gemini capsules, orbited the moon and then walked on its cratered surface before commanding two space shuttle missions, including the program’s maiden flight, has passed away. NASA confirmed the death early Saturday in a posting on Twitter: “We’re saddened by the loss of astronaut John Young, who was 87. Young flew twice to the Moon, walked on its surface & flew the first Space Shuttle mission. He went to space six times in the Gemini, Apollo & Space Shuttle programs.” Tweeted astronaut Terry Virts: “Rest In peace John...

A driverless shuttle in Las Vegas crashed Wednesday after it was launched only hours earlier. The shuttle crashed just before noon not far from the Las Vegas Strip, less than two hours after officials held an unveiling ceremony to promote the vehicle. Dozens of people had lined up to board the shuttle, but no one was injured in the accident, which saw the bus collide with a semi-truck, KSNV reported.

A shuttle bus carrying Apple employees from San Francisco to Cupertino caught fire this morning in unincorporated San Mateo County near Menlo Park, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said. The fire was reported at 6:40 a.m. on southbound Interstate Highway 280 at Sand Hill Road, CHP Officer Art Montiel said. The rear left side of the bus caught fire. Montiel did not know what caused the fire. No one was injured. Two lanes of the highway were closed for more than an hour and reopened at about 8 a.m. No other vehicle was involved in the incident, Montiel said. The...

In the aftermath of Challenger, there was never any doubt about continuing, never the thought of quitting. After the Columbia accident almost seventeen years later, however, the program was wound down over the next eight years. Once construction of the International Space Station was completed, the Shuttles were grounded and the shuttle program ended. I think that was a mistake. Space Shuttle was and remains the most capable flying machine ever conceived, built and operated. We learned much from the thirty years of Shuttle flights, and in my opinion, we should still be flying them. Shuttle carried a crew of...

NASA Space Shuttle Discovery Launch: Return to Flight | View 2 On July 26, 2005, Space Shuttle Discovery’s STS-114 mission launched on the first Return to Flight mission since the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003. The years between the Columbia tragedy and the flight of Discovery were spent researching and implementing new safety improvements, including a redesigned external tank, new sensors, and a boom that allowed the astronauts to inspect the Shuttle for any damage. The crew’s objectives were to test and evaluate these new safety procedures in addition to conducting maintenance on the International Space...

The orbital airframe structure for the first commercial Dream Chaser mini-shuttle that will launch to Earth orbit just over two years from now has been unveiled by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and program partner Lockheed Martin. Sierra Nevada is moving forward with plans for Dream Chaser’s first launch and unmanned orbital test flight in November 2016 atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The winged Dream Chaser is being developed under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program aimed at restoring America’s indigenous human spaceflight access to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station (ISS).

About 10 years ago I wrote a history of the National Aerospace Plane Program, published by the USAF. It was restricted, expensive, and difficult to obtain. I guess the USAF decided to make it more available, releasing it in paperback. I just discovered it, but I've talked about this project with many of you:

Unexceptional: China becomes the third country to land a spacecraft on the moon in preparation for a manned visit. Meanwhile, U.S. astronauts have to ride Russian spacecraft to fix toilets on the International Space Station. Tourists visiting the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where one of America´s retired space shuttles now resides, were no doubt able to see news reports of the landing of China´s first lunar vehicle, a solar-powered rover, on the surface of the moon. The landing of the rover 37 years after the last such mission by the Soviet Luna 24 sample-return voyage in 1976 makes China...

YouTube:Awesome View of the Shuttle Launch in HD and Enhanced Sound From the upcoming Special Edition Ascent: Commemorating Space Shuttle DVD/BluRay by NASA/Glenn a movie from the point of view of the Solid Rocket Booster with sound mixing and enhancement done by the folks at Skywalker Sound. The sound is all from the camera microphones and not fake or replaced with foley artist sound. The Skywalker sound folks just helped bring it out and make it more audible.

Possible that this has been on here before but it's a nice remeberance of what once was despite the enormous costs. It paid my bills for 36+ years so thanks to all you taxpayers. Hell, I even paid myself some of it.

Was that the space shuttle that just went by? Garnering attention that could make even a movie star blush, thousands of people watched in awe as a quintessential icon of the space age was towed through the streets of Los Angeles. After landing at LAX airport late last month, the shuttle Endeavour was carefully loaded onto rolling trailers and maneuvered down roads and across bridges to the California Science Center, 20 kilometers away. To many, there was a majesty to the voyage that was beyond description, inspiring people to line the LA streets and wait at windows and balconies to...

Main site link: http://www.launchphotography.com/

HOUSTON –  A replica space shuttle went on a Sunday morning (June 3) road trip, making its way from the lakeside dock here where it arrived on Friday to the NASA visitor center where it will go on public display. The 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) trek was originally scheduled to take just three hours to complete, but obstacles along the way doubled that time . The mockup, loaded atop a 144-wheel transporter, was slowly and methodically trucked down NASA Parkway — also known as NASA Road 1 — to Space Center Houston, the official visitor center for the Johnson Space Center (JSC)....

if interested, live view cam of shuttle...

Houston Gets Lame Space Shuttle Replica Delivered In Lamest Way Possible The deliveries of the real Space Shuttles to their final resting places were grand events that created amazing images. Houston, which deserved a real d@mn shuttle, is getting a replica. And just in case Houstonians didn't know they were getting shortchanged, it was delivered on a plane but instead on a d@mn barge. Thanks, NASA. I'm not going to get into all the reasons why Houston didn't get a Space Shuttle as it might be mistaken as saying someone else doesn't deserve one. Clearly, both D.C. and Los Angeles...