In Flight USA Article Categories
In Flight USA Articles
Interview With Astronaut, Chris Hadfield
By Shanon Kern
The following is an interview by In Flight USA reporter, Shanon Kern, with astronaut and author, Chris Hadfield. Chris started in general aviation at age 16 and has flown nearly every aircraft available. He currently has a book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life, on the New York Times Bestseller List.
SK: Over the last couple of years, you’ve kind of given the world a front-row view of space and what it’s like to be an astronaut. What made you decide to put everything out on social media?
CH: I served as an astronaut for 21 years. I’ve always felt that a really vital part of the job was to share the experience, not to keep it to myself. So, through the whole 21 years, I used all the technology I could think of to share it. I used ham radio. I used Castle Blends 70 mm film and Imax movies. I spoke in thousands of places in person, but it wasn’t until my third space flight that social media was invented. That was when we had connectivity. The space station is not the best place all the time, but it has Internet connectivity. So you could take a picture and often within a few minutes share it with the world, so it was really just a continuation of what I’d been doing for 20 years, and I was doing my absolute best to use the technology that existed to share a really rare human experience. It’s just been amazing to see the result of that work.
The Smithsonian Book of Air & Space Trivia is a Godsend for the Aviation and Space Travel Buff
By Mark Rhodes
What was the world’s first military airplane? (Smithsonian Air and Space Museum)Serious space history and aviation geeks are not an easy group to stump. However, with The Smithsonian Book of Air & Space Trivia (www.smithsonianbooks.com) there will be ample opportunity for even the most sophisticated and well-read space and aviation buffs to be challenged. This concise but thoroughly researched volume covers a wide range with categories such as pioneers of aviation, commercial flight, aviation and space travel in popular culture, female aviation, military aviation and controversies in aviation history and lore.
NASA’s Orion Travels Country
See If You Can #SpotOrion
This map shows the route the Orion mockup will travel through on its way to its final destination in California. Image Credit: Google Earth.A test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft has taken to the road, as it makes its way across country for recovery tests off the coast of California.
The mockup rolled away from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., on Dec. 11, and will arrive at Naval Base San Diego in California in early January. There, the Orion stand-in will be used in February to support tests simulating the recovery of Orion following its return from space.
Surrounded By Thunder-The Story Of Unsung Heroes Who Made Space Travel Possible
From America’s first satellite Explorer I, through Apollo and putting the first man on the moon, aeronautical engineer Darrell Loan had a hand in them all! Surrounded by Thunder: The story of Darrell Loan and the Rocket Men (Inspire on Purpose Publishing), by Tom Williams, tells the true story of this extraordinary man, his family, friends and colleagues, and of a time not to be forgotten in America’s history - a time that has never been surpassed and that truly was and always will be, Surrounded by Thunder.
Only twelve years separated the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik and Americans landing on the moon, but during those golden years of space exploration the most fearless aviators ever climbed aboard the most dangerous creations ever assembled to rocket into space and claim a true pinnacle of human achievement. Information on the mission dates, the astronauts, and many of the unforgettable characters that made up this account of America’s race for space and then to the moon are all factual; however, thanks to the author’s talent for gripping storytelling, this historical narrative reads more like an incredible science-fiction adventure.
World Remembers Neil Armstrong: One Small Step… For All Mankind
Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, died on Saturday, Aug. 25, following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.
An Interview with NASA’s STS 135 Crew… Is it an end of an era?
By Pete Trabucco
In order from left to right: Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus, Shuttle Pilot Douglas Hurley, Pete Trabucco, Commander Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialist Rex Walheim (Pete Trabucco)It’s hard to believe that the NASA Space Shuttle program is actually at an end. It wasn’t very long ago we were marveling at this new flying vehicle that could not only orbit the earth but also glide back from the heavens to be reused over and over again. Thirty years ago, NASA launched Columbia, the first space shuttle, on a two-day mission to circle the Earth. Aboard the space vehicle were veteran astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen. Since then, 135 shuttle missions (at an average cost of 1.4 billion dollars per flight) on five different shuttles has carried more than 350 astronauts into space. This represents almost 70 percent of the 523 people (since the beginning of spaceflight) from all nations that have been in space. Indeed, it was a vehicle unparalleled by any that have come before. This past July the last of these incredible vehicles, Atlantis, left Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral for the final time and since then has successfully completed its mission and has been recorded in the history books for all of us to remember.