A Flight of Fancy

Filed Under (Vickers VC-10) by Admin on 27-06-2009

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BBC Space Race episode 1 (1): Opening

Filed Under (Space Flight) by Admin on 06-06-2008

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rseferino asked:


Space Race is a BBC docu-drama series first shown in Britain on BBC2 between September/October 2005, chronicling the major events and characters in the American/Soviet space race. It focusses on Sergei Korolev, the Soviets’ chief rocket designer, and Wernher von Braun, his American counterpart. The series was a joint effort between British, German, American and Russian production teams.

Episode 1, Race For Rockets, spans 1944-1949. We see Wernher von Braun’s work on the V-2 for the Nazis during the last years of the Second World War, his surrender to American troops and his move to the USA. We see Sergei Korolev’s release from the Gulag, and how he is set to work on Soviet rockets, first attempting to copy the V-2, then building a more efficient rocket of his own.

Episode 2, Race For Satellites, spans 1953-1958. As the Cold War intensifies, Korolev is asked to build a rocket capable of carrying a five-ton warhead to America - he designs and constructs the R-7 Semyorka, and is later allowed to use it to launch the first satellite, Sputnik 1. Meanwhile, von Braun struggles to persuade the US government to allow him to launch his own satellite - after Sputnik’s launch and the failure of the US Navy to launch a Vanguard satellite, he is finally allowed to launch the first American satellite, Explorer 1.

Episode 3, Race For Survival, spans 1959-1961. Both the Americans and Soviets are planning manned space flight, and we see both sides preparing to do so with the development of the Vostok programme (Russia) and Project Mercury (USA). After difficulties and failures on both sides, the Soviets succeed in putting Yuri Gagarin into space first, with the Americans putting Alan Shepard up shortly afterwards.

Episode 4, Race To The Moon, spans 1964-1969. Both sides now plan to put a man on the Moon - while the Soviets struggle, the Americans pull ahead in the space race with Project Gemini, but then suffer a disaster with the Apollo 1 fire. The Soviet space programme suffers its own blows: Sergei Korolev dies when his heart fails during an operation, Soyuz 1 crashes and kills cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, and their planned moon rocket, the N-1 rocket, fails to successfully launch. In America, von Braun has difficulties with the Saturn V, but they are overcome, and the rocket successfully launches the first manned lunar mission, Apollo 8, and the first manned lunar landing, Apollo 11.

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NASA: THEMIS Mission

Filed Under (Space Flight) by Admin on 25-03-2008

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NASAexplorer asked:


For more information:
http://www.nasa.gov/themis

NASA’s THEMIS mission consists of five identical probes that will track the violent, colorful eruptions of aurora near the North Pole.
The satellite is scheduled to liftoff on February 15, 2007 aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17-B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

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BBC Space Race episode 3 (5) Vostok 1

Filed Under (Space Flight) by Admin on 28-02-2008

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rseferino asked:


“Space Race” is a BBC docu-drama series between September/October 2005, chronicling the major events and characters in the American/Soviet space race. It focusses on Sergei Korolev, the Soviets’ chief rocket designer, and Wernher von Braun, his American counterpart.

Here see Vostok 1 Flying, from the launch to landing.

First manned spaceflight, one orbit of the earth. Three press releases were prepared, one for success, two for failures. It was only known ten minutes after burnout, 25 minutes after launch, if a stable orbit had been achieved. The payload included life-support equipment and radio and television to relay information on the condition of the pilot. The flight was automated; Gagarin’s controls were locked to prevent him from taking control of the ship. The combination to unlock the controls was available in a sealed envelope in case it became necessary to take control in an emergency. After retrofire, the service module remained attached to the Sharik reentry sphere by a wire bundle. The joined craft went through wild gyrations at the beginning of re-entry, before the wires burned through. The Sharik, as it was designed to do, then naturally reached aerodynamic equilibrium with the heat shield positioned correctly. Gagarin ejected after re-entry and descended under his own parachute, as was planned. However for many years the Soviet Union denied this, because the flight would not have been recognized for various FAI world records unless the pilot had accompanied his craft to a landing. Recovered April 12, 1961 8:05 GMT. Landed Southwest of Engels Smelovka, Saratov.

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Harmony: STS-120 - An Orbiter Film

Filed Under (Space Flight) by Admin on 12-06-2007

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TexFilms asked:


Re-creating the October launch of STS-120 carring the new ‘Harmony’ module to the International Space Station. Filmed with 2006 Orbiter Space Flight Simulator.

http://www.tex-films.com/space/harmony.html

Visit: http://www.orbitersim.com to download Orbiter Space Flight Simulator.

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