Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS
Pioneer 11 detected Saturn’s bow shock on Aug. 31, 1979, about 932,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) out from the planet, thus providing the first conclusive evidence of the existence of Saturn’s magnetic field.
Pioneer 11 Launch
Pioneer 11 Beginning Gravity Slingshot Maneuver
Pioneer 11 Saturn Photo Taken 08/28/1979
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS
“I would like to reiterate once more that it is absolutely mandatory that we arrive at a definite mode decision within the next few weeks. . . . If we do not make a clear-cut decision on the mode very soon, our chances of accomplishing the first lunar expedition in this decade will fade away rapidly.” Wernher Von Braun June 7, 1962.
Rocket Comparison
Shea demonstrates Lunar Docking
Lunar orbit insertion
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS
Langley’s brochure for the Golovin Committee described Lunar landers of varied sizes and payload capabilities. There were illustrations and data on a very small lander that was able to carry one man for 2 to 4 hours on the moon. There was an “economy” model that could two men for a 24-hour stay. The third model was called the “plush” module, it would carry two men for a 7-day stay on the moon. Weight estimates for the three craft, without fuel, were 580, 1,010, and 1,790 kilograms, respectively…
Langley’s Small Lunar Lander Concept.
Proposed Lunar Lander for an Advanced Mercury
Design Concepts of Saturn C-1 thru C-5
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS
No previous maiden launch had gone flawlessly, and the Saturn C-1 was considerably more complicated than any rocket launched thus far. Launch Operations Directorate officials gave the rocket a 75% chance of getting off the ground, and a 30% chance of completing the eight-minute flight…
LC-34 Block House Control Room
Abe Silverstein, Director of Space Flight
All Eight Engines Firing and Liftoff of Saturn SA-1
Saturn SA-1 on Launch Pad 34
Saturn SA-1 Leaving the Pad
The First Saturn (SA-1) in Flight.
The Michoud Facility near New Orleans
Ground Breaking at MSC
