All Four Space Capsules United in New Exhibit. NASA Gemini Test Capsule and Mercury 14 Spacecraft were welcomed to the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton Saturday evening to permanently join the collection. This is the first collection to exhibit four space modules. The modules were unveiled among attendees clad in 1960s iconic clothing at the Space Blast party, a celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 12 landing on the moon. Gemini and Mercury joined the Apollo 12 Command Module and Orion PA1 Flight Test Vehicle already on display at the center. As special guest, Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise shared some of his personal training experiences at Langley and cued the unveiling of the exhibits. “I’m happy to be here to represent the Apollo 12 crew,” said Haise. “During the Apollo program, there was a docking simulator (at Langley), and they had a vehicle that could emulate landing on the moon, and it’d give you the same appearance and maneuvering characteristics. I flew a number of flights on that simulator during those days.”The collection portrays the advancements made through the years with the U.S. space program beginning with the Mercury and advancing on to the Gemini, Apollo and the future with Orion. Also on hand to help welcome the capsules exhibit was NASA Langley Research Center Director Steve Jurczyk. “The shuttle was a great and incredible machine that did incredible missions, and now we’re moving ever closer to the human exploration of deep space beyond lower Earth orbit and the moon with Orion,” said Jurczyk. Project Mercury is America’s original man-in-space program in which NASA sought to learn if humans could survive in space. The original Mercury 7 astronauts reported for duty and began training at Langley. “Throughout it all, the people of Langley were able to move innovative ideas through research development and testing to solutions that address the incredibly difficult challenges associated with space flight, positively impacting every single one of these spacecraft, something that all of us in this area should be incredibly proud of,” added Jurczyk. In the 1960s, Gemini progressed from Mercury by developing a two-person capsule with an extended capability to stay in space from hours to days. Another key feature developed were techniques of rendezvous and docking with two orbiting spacecraft. The Apollo capsules were larger and more complex then the Mercury and Gemini. The capsules were designed to carry three astronauts and land humans on the moon and bring them home safely to Earth. “This is a fabulous opportunity for the children of Hampton Roads to get a glimpse inside the marvelous advances that the U.S. has made in science and technology,” said Emily McGrath, a resident from Yorktown, Virginia. The newest generation of human spacecraft, Orion, is capable of carrying four astronauts.nasa.gov/larc/all-four-space-capsules-united-in-new-exhibit/#.VG-_N_mG8R4
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 22:41:34 +0000
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