THE SPACEX TOURISTS CAN’T LEAVE THE SPACE STATION QUITE YET, NASA SAYS

Futurism ^

[SmokingJoe]

Landings from a Falcon Heavy launch.

[SmokingJoe]

Even sadder was the Apollo 1 disaster.

https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo1info.html

[null and void]

I don’t remember the dog. I remember a monkey.

Chimp. We Ham'd it up...

[null and void]

The oil rig islands off Long Beach, CA are named White, Grissom, and Chaffee.

[telescope115]

Laika the dog was Soviet. She was shot up into space and died during re-entry.
Ham the chimp was ours. He survived and lived for many years.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Me, too. You're probably as old as me and remember when the very first artificial satellite Sputnik was launched into orbit on October 4, 1957. People everywhere went nuts at the prospect of the Russkies shooting at us from space and the "space race" was born.

Three years later NASA launched the "Echo" satellite. I still remember Dad taking me out to see it in the night sky and, being nine years old, I thought to myself "What's the big deal?"

NASA launched the Echo I communications balloon satellite on Aug. 12, 1960. The 100-foot-diameter satellite, designed by the Space Vehicle Group of the NASA Langley Research Center and constructed by General Mills of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was shown during ground inflation tests in 1959.

Suspended from the ceiling of a hangar the sphere, named "Echo," was inflated by use of a blower connected to the satellite by a hose. Forty thousand pounds of air was required to inflate the sphere on the ground, while in orbit it only required several pounds of gas to keep it inflated.

It carried no active communication components, no relays. Just two FM transmitters for telemetry purposes, powered by nickel-cadmium batteries charged by solar cells. The satellite achieved its purpose by passively reflecting any radio signal directed towards its large shiny surface. For eight years it relayed radio and television signals, and made intercontinental telephone calls possible. The best part was—any individual with the right equipment could use the satellite at no cost.

"Project Echo" was interesting as it was the first attempt at satellite communications for use by consumers.

Arthur Summerfield, U.S. Postmaster General from 1953 to 1961, ran a system that was still largely processing the mail by hand. He set out to automate and mechanize the work. But he also had big dreams of the next frontier in mail: space.

In 1960 Summerfield partnered with NASA to use the space agency’s Echo 1 satellite for Speed Mail, a service that would allow customers to send letters rapidly across the country. Echo 1 was an early experiment in satellite communication. Launched inside a metal sphere [a spare of which is shown above], it inflated in low Earth orbit into a giant Mylar balloon, 100 feet (30.5 meters) across. Project personnel dubbed it a “satelloon.” It circled the globe every 2 hours, reflecting radio, telephone, and TV signals on two channels—960 megahertz and 2390 megahertz—between ground stations.

How did Speed Mail work? Patrons would compose their Speed Mail missives on special stationery, similar to the Victory Mail forms used to expedite letters to U.S. soldiers during World War II. The sender would take the Speed Mail form to a designated post office. In accordance with privacy laws and expectations, postal employees would never see the contents of the sealed letter. Instead, a special machine would automatically open the letter, scan it, and then beam the contents via Echo 1 to the destination post office, where it would be printed, sealed, and delivered.

On 9 November 1960, the postmaster sent the first Speed Mail letter. Addressed to “Mr. and Mrs. America,” the letter urged people to post their holiday cards and presents early. That remains sound advice even in the Internet age and certainly during a global pandemic.

The Balloon Satellites of Project Echo
Project Echo - NASA
When a Giant Mylar Balloon Was the Coolest Thing in Space

[telescope115]

THAT was a stunning disaster. I remember watching tv with Mom and Dad that night when the news cut in…..
Absolutely shocking.

[Fireone]

yes, and don’t forget about Ham!

[markman46]

That was ham

[LouAvul]

I was a kid. Didn’t even realize he had a name.

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, they gotta wait until Jeff Bezos gets an orbital craft up to ISS rendezvous, or the SLS.

[SunkenCiv]

SpaceX launched a classified spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on Sunday morning.

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped with the NROL-87 classified payload blasted off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California just after 9 a.m. ET.

After the launch, SpaceX brought the first stage of the two-stage Falcon 9 back for a pinpoint touchdown.

SpaceX launches spy satellite for US military | FULL | Streamed live 4 hours ago | Global News |

[Textide]

According to this article, 107 billion people have ever lived (ever. period).

That means that 100/107,000,000,000 = 9.34 x e^-9 or .000000009.34% of all humans who have ever lived have been in space. Pretty exclusive club.

[M Kehoe]

Hi.

Long time ago someone asked me, would you like to become an Airborne Ranger?

I asked, what’s that?

The person then said, you go off to distant lands, meet interesting people and jump out of airplanes (perfectly good ones).

No, don’t think so, thanks for asking (this person had a smokey the bear hat. Weird).

Later on someone asked me if I’d like to be an astronaut. I asked, what’s that?

The person says to me, you will see the stars and moon. We strap your ass to 40 tons of hydroxyzine and oxygen, and light it off.

Riiight...

5.56mm

[BenLurkin]

You didn’t want to be an airborne ranger? Live on blood, and guts, and danger?

[SunkenCiv]

Well said. It's also hilarious how many class warriors we have among FR's alleged conservatives.

In ten years' time, there will be a human presence on Mars, and the numbers will be in the hundreds, at least.

[M Kehoe]

Nor did I want to stand up, hook up and shuffle to the door.

5.56mm

[markman46]

yes, i was a kid too. about 5 or 6, i remember the news making a big deal about a monkey flying into space

[Spacetrucker]

Just watched that movie again, dang good one.

[Paul R.]

I remember my Dad taking us out to watch Echo 1 and Echo 2 passes. They were really bright!

More:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Echo#:~:text=The%20first%20transmissions%20using%20Echo,atmosphere%20on%207%20June%201969.