NASA

Trumpler 14 – a collection of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope

 

Trumpler 14 is a glittering star cluster that contains a collection of some of the brightest stars seen in our Milky Way galaxy. It was captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 2017.

I used this photo for the sky in the 360° interactive panorama photo I created of the Martian surface by NASA’s Rover – the Perseverance. See that photo here. …

Trumpler 14 – a collection of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Read More »

NASA Perseverance 360° Panorama of Mars Surface

 

360° Interactive PHOTO of Mars

You can interact with this photo by clicking anywhere on it and sliding your mouse (or finger if you're on a mobile device) in any direction!

This panorama of the Martian surface was taken with the Navigation Cameras, or Navcams, aboard NASA’s Rover – the Perseverance on Feb. 20, 2021. It was “stitched” together by NASA from several individual images after they were sent back to Earth.

I added the sky using a photo of Trumpler 14 – a glittering star cluster that contains a collection of some of the brightest stars seen in our Milky Way galaxy. It was captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. See the original photo here.

Although NASA made the original Mars image available for all to see on their website – it is not viewable in the 360° interactive format I created here. …

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My Visit to Udvar-Hazy Center – Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum ✈️

 

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I've always loved anything dealing with outer space going all the way back to my childhood. I was thrilled to watch the Gemini missions 🚀 in the 1960s when teachers brought TVs into the classroom so we could see lift-offs and splashdowns as they happened!

I always wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up – 👨‍🚀. My dad used to call me an astro-NUT because I was such a space geek. I am still fascinated by the U.S. space program and recently watched the NASA “Perseverance” rover land on Mars via live TV. It was exciting to see the mission unfold and I actually got emotional seeing the amazing technicians and scientists at mission control high-fiving each other and whooping it up when they got word that the spacecraft had landed safely. …

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Cleveland’s NASA Glenn Research Center 🚀- 75 Year Anniversary

 

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It was a birthday present to myself… a visit to Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center's 🚀- 75 Year Anniversary Open House on May 22, 2016. When I read that the sprawling facility was going to be open to the public with many areas previously unseen – I just HAD to “get onboard!”

The facilities have contributed to some of the nation’s greatest innovations over the last 75 years (now 80 years).

Visitors were guided through world-class facilities where we saw technologies that contribute to the future of NASA in aeronautics and our journey to Mars. We saw a research plane, rocket, a couple of wind tunnels, the Zero-Gravity facility, GRUVE Lab, Propulsion System Lab, Engine Research Building, Glenn Extreme Environment Rig (GEER), the COMPASS Lab and so much more! …

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John Glenn – I don’t remember his record setting orbital flight

John Glenn looks through a device used in astronaut training on August 17, 1961.
John Glenn looks through a device used in astronaut training on August 17, 1961. (Photo by NASA)

The date was February 20, 1962. Ohio native John Glenn became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the earth. I was a toddler, not quite three years old, probably staring out a window as snowflakes gently fell around my home in the Western Pennsylvania town of Du Bois. I had no clue that a historical event was unfolding – one that would captivate my imagination of space travel and someday living on the moon.

I had a poster with colorful illustrations of all the planets, I built model replicas of the Saturn V rocket and the Lunar Lander – complete with legs that extended as it came to rest on my own imaginary moon.

I remember the Apollo 13 flight that put three Americans in dire straights. If not for the creativity of those brave astronauts and Mission Control using “ball-and-twine” like solutions that only MacGyver himself would have marveled at – they would have perished. I stayed glued to the TV – watching the drama unfold when I was suppose to be heading off to school.

I remember the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster in 1986 – when the first school teacher to fly in space lost her life along with six other astronauts – just 73 seconds into the flight. And then there was Columbia – the shuttle that broke apart as it re-entered the earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003. I was in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania photographing the world famous Punxsutawney Phil festivities when I was shocked by the news.

But probably my all-time favorite memory of the NASA space program came when I was in Orlando with my family enjoying Disney World on October 30, 1998. As we were exiting the park, we heard a loud roar off in the distance as Space Shuttle Discovery took flight from the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island. There was a large plume of rocket engine exhaust marking the location of lift-off that made chills run through my spine. On that flight was the oldest human to ever fly in space – none other than astronaut and then Ohio Senator John Glenn – all of 77 years old. And that record still stands today.

Although I never became an astronaut – I've lived vicariously through the lives and legends of our very own American heroes.

So what is YOUR favorite memory of the NASA space program? Please share your thoughts by clicking the comment link at the top of this article.

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