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NASA certifies SpaceX for regular manned flights into space

NASA has certified the space capsule Crew Dragon from SpaqceX for regular manned flights into space, as the first privately manufactured spacecraft ever. The last time such a certification was granted was 40 years ago , at that time for the space shuttle, the US space agency now explains.

For Elon Musk and the company, the step is an important one Milestone. NASA is no longer dependent on ordering flights to the ISS for its astronauts in Russian space capsules and SpaceX is thus temporarily the only commercial NASA contract partner for manned flights into space.

No longer dependent on Russia With the certification, NASA can now implement its Commercial Crew Program after years of preparation. 2014 had commissioned the space agency SpaceX and Boeing to develop and test space capsules for manned flights in Earth orbit. This was preceded by the end of the space shuttle program, which is why the USA had no more opportunity since 2011 to fly astronauts into space themselves. Actually, the space capsules developed by the two companies should already 2017 be ready, but that had been delayed again and again. Rocket launch with heise online (First Kerbal, then SpaceX)

In May the first take-off was successful and the first regular flight with SpaceX technology is imminent. The bookings in Russia cost NASA around 71 million US dollars per Seat, at SpaceX it should be around 55 million dollars, writes CNBC.

At SpaceX, certification for regular flights is now seen as the culmination of years of development, testing and training. The engines have been tested over 700 times, the docking system over 500 Times. Eight million hours had flowed into HiL tests (Hardware in the Loop) and the parachutes were almost 100 Tried times. Manned flights into space are the core mission of SpaceX and it is honored to be able to help NASA usher in a new era of exploration of space. “I am very proud that we are returning to regular manned space launches from American soil with American rockets and spacecraft,” added NASA chief Jim Bridenstine.

First regular flight is pending The first regular flight of a SpaceX capsule to the ISS (Crew-1) is scheduled to start on Saturday and NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and her Japanese colleague Soichi Noguchi. They should then stay on the International Space Station for six months. Thanks to the space capsule from SpaceX, NASA can now increase the number of its astronauts on the ISS from three to four, which means that seven space travelers can now inhabit the outpost of humanity at the same time. In December, Boeing plans to start another unmanned test flight to the ISS so that it can also fly astronauts there next year.

SpaceX Crew-1 (9 pictures)
The Crew Dragon before the start

(Image: NASA / Joel Kowsky) (mho)

Independent testing: NASA and ESA can bring soil samples from Mars to Earth

NASA and ESA are now able to bring soil samples from Mars to Earth in order to have them examined more closely. That is the conclusion of an independent commission of inquiry on the “Mars Sample Return” mission, which, among other things, recommends continuing the preparation.

At the same time, the auditors have made a lot of suggestions to address potential problems preventively. The US space agency feels just as confirmed by the report as it is with its European counterpart. ESA is a partner of the ambitious mission and welcomes the result of the review.

A complicated, multi-stage undertaking The Mars Sample Return mission is based on several spacecraft, NASA explains once more. With the Mars rover Perseverance, the first of these is already on the way to the Red Planet. After the beginning of his landing 2021 he is supposed to take soil and rock samples with a drill and pack them up in small containers the surface. With two more rocket launches 2026 their transport should be initiated. For this purpose, ESA will deliver the “Sample Fetch Rover”, which collects the samples and uses them to equip NASA’s “Mars Ascent Vehicle”. It should then be the first spacecraft to leave Mars and bring the samples to ESA’s “Earth Return Orbiter”, which will wait in orbit and bring the samples to Earth.

The review of the extremely ambitious project that has now been presented took place earlier in the course of development than in any such mission before, explains NASA. Normally such checks would not be carried out until much later. Among other things, one wants to guarantee a success of the mission, which is one of the most important of the US space agency and should not only help to answer important questions about the history of Mars, but also to prepare manned missions to the red planet. The main recommendations of the report now mainly concern differences in management and organization between NASA and ESA, which must not cause problems.

“Great news” The result is great news for the campaign, says David Parker, ESA Director for Robotic and Astronautical Exploration: “It reinforces our shared vision of bringing scientists to pristine pieces of the Red Planet That they can study with laboratory equipment and techniques that we could never take to Mars. ” NASA chief Jim Bridenstine says the mission must be carried out by his space agency as a leading member of the global community. You know about the challenges and therefore look particularly closely at this architecture: “And that is the reason why we ultimately achieve great things.”

NASA rover Curiosity on Mars (25 images) Curiositys View of your own tracks in the Martian sand

(Fig : NASA / JPL-Caltech) (mho)

K2-141b: An exoplanet with a surface, ocean and atmosphere made of rocks

Researchers have found an exoplanet with a particularly extreme composition: the surface, the ocean and an atmosphere on K2 – 141 b are all exposed Rock together. They have simulated details of the extreme conditions on the exoplanet on the basis of known data, for example about density, with the help of computer models, explain the researchers at McGill University in Canada. Accordingly, there winds whipping at more than 5000 kilometers per hour over a 100 kilometers deep lava ocean . What is the water cycle on earth is analogous to the exoplanet, only with the basic substances sodium, silicon monoxide and silicon dioxide.

Like the terrestrial water cycle, only different K2 – 141 b was discovered with the NASA Kepler space telescope and orbits its star, which is more than 200 light-years away from us, in just 0, 00716 AE (Astronomical Unit) distance. That is less than one percent of the distance of the earth from the sun and more than 40 times closer than Mercury to the sun. Because K2 – 141 b is so close to its star, it rotates bound. On the side that is always facing the star, temperatures of approximately 3000 degrees Celsius prevail, on the opposite side less than – 200 Centigrade. According to the researchers, who present their work in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, their predictions about the conditions should be confirmed with NASA’s James Webb Telescope.

The temperatures are so high that the rock that makes up the exoplanet not only melts, but evaporates, creating the thin atmosphere that could be observed with telescopes. The gaseous rock is therefore blown by the extreme winds to the night side, where it condenses and from there flows back into the ocean. Unlike on Earth, however, this cycle cannot last forever because the composition of the rock changes over time. The surface and the atmosphere of K2 – 141 b change slowly. With fresh data from NASA’s Spitzer space telescope, they now want to check their predictions, and the James Webb telescope could then determine whether the atmosphere actually behaves like this.

(mho)

NASA: Voyager 2 successfully radioed again after months of radio silence

NASA, which is almost 19 billions of kilometers from Earth -Sonde Voyager 2 received signals from Earth, carried out commands and returned an acknowledgment for the first time in months. This has now been announced by the US space agency, which is currently repairing the only antenna in its deep space networks that can still communicate with the probe. With the exception of its sister probe, it is further away from us than any other human object. The repairs to the antenna should be completed in February and will enable future communication not only with the 1977 started probe.

Voyager 2 was before 43 Years started, a few days before Voyager 1 and thus only 20 Years after the first artificial satellite ever: Sputnik. Both made use of favorable constellations of the planets in the outer solar system on their routes and passed Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 1 then turned north, Voyager 2 visited Uranus and Neptune before heading south. After decades they have passed the limit of the heliosphere and are on their way to the stars. They will survive us on earth, because the probability that they will stumble upon anything on their lonely path is almost zero.

The maintains for communication with their interplanetary probes NASA has three radio antennas 43 meters in diameter in California, Spain and Australia. The locations are chosen so that each probe should be able to contact at least one antenna at any time, regardless of its position in the solar system. Only these antennas are powerful enough to reach the Voyager probes, signals there require more than 13 (Voyager 2) or 21 hours (Voyager 1). Voyager 2 is now so far south of the orbital plane of the planets that it can no longer see the locations in the northern hemisphere of the earth and can only be radioed from Canberra, explains NASA.

Voyager 2 ( images ) NASA has created several posters to celebrate the missions.

(Image: NASA) (mho)

Virgin Galactic: VMS Eve and SpaceShipTwo tests continue

Virgin Galactic announced second flight for the VMS Eve aircraft and the upcoming SpaceShipTwo tests which, in addition to improving the spaceplane project, will also bring some experiments provided by NASA.

by Mattia Speroni published 04 November 2020 , at 04: 51 in the Science and Technology channel

NASA Virgin Galactic

When it comes to Space and private companies, the first thought certainly goes to SpaceX. But this is not the only one who looks to the sky for the possibility of earning. There is also Virgin Galactic which however has a different strategy from that of Elon Musk as regards technologies

VMS Eve took off for the second time

One of the latest news concerns VMS Eve , the great plane that Virgin Galactic will use SpaceShipTwo for the launch of the spacecraft. This involves adopting a different solution than that of a rocket as a launcher. Given its particular structure, the tests of VMS Eve are followed with particular interest also given its wingspan of 43 meters.

VMS Eve takes to the skies for its second flight of the day as we continue preparations for our first spaceflight from New Mexico which is due to take place this Fall. Pilots for this flight are Kelly Latimer and Mark Stucky. They are joined by Flight Test Engineer, Colin Bennett pic.twitter.com/1A0054 jUqd

– Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) November 3, 2020

Dave Mackay (chief pilot) stated “VMS Eve has the ability to test pilot competence by simulating the planing and approach phase for SpaceShipTwo pilots. The cockpit structure of Eve is almost identical to that of Unity: same pilot seats and windows, as well as controls and instruments This, coupled with the fact that with Eve’s landing gear down and a set of aerodynamic brakes, descends at the same angle of trajectory as the SpaceShipTwo, means that the crew can practice with the same approach and pattern of landing when they fly to Unity – with most of the same information and the same view outside d at the window. This makes Eve a very valuable flight simulator for the final approach and landing phases of the spacecraft “.

SpaceShipTwo flight tests continue

The company has released a video showing the plane taking off from Spaceport America, the spaceport of New Mexico (in the United States United States). Mike Moses (President of Space Missions and Security) said testing is continuing as planned, thanks to pilot CJ Sturckow. In particular, the focus is on meeting all safety objectives in order to finally be able to welcome tourists who want to travel with Virgin Galactic .

Moses added “CJ will be alongside our chief pilot, Dave Mackay, in the cockpit Today, as we are testing a number of key points to take us to the next stage of our flight test program. While we are planning for CJ and Dave to reach Space, if the test conditions of the day suggest a shorter flight, it will be fine anyway and we will be back to flying soon. The space flight system is designed for a quick commercial turnaround, so it’s much better to stay on the side of caution and go back to base to understand the data and prepare for another test flight “.

In the tests of SpaceShipTwo this time there will also be three payloads provided by NASA . This will change the flight path of the spacecraft which will not stop in the inverted pitch position to show the Earth as the aircraft is tilted by 270 °. Choosing to host payloads will serve to generate revenue for Virgin Galactic as well as helping scientific research.

NASA contacts Voyager 2 with updated Deep Space Network antenna

NASA used the antenna of the Deep Space Network which is located in Canberra (Australia) to contact the Voyager 2 probe which is beyond 18 billions of kilometers. Good news given the ongoing work on the communication system.

by Mattia Speroni published 03 November 2020 , at 19: 11 in the Science and Technology channel

NASA

Such as “dialogue” with a space probe that is millions of kilometers from Earth? Obviously using the antennas of the Deep Space Network (DSN) of the NASA ! But these components also need maintenance and updates and so contacting Voyager 2 has become a bit more complicated in recent months.

Voyager 2 and the fundamental antenna of Canberra

The pandemic has complicated maintenance and replacement of the various components of the antenna by ben 70 meters located in Canberra (Australia). Now, according to NASA , we should be close to their conclusion.

The new antenna systems include two new radio transmitters (one of those present has been in business for over 47 years). Changes and updates were then made to the air conditioning systems, power supply sections and other accessory systems.

As written by the space agency “the only radio antenna capable of controlling the spacecraft that it has 43 years has been offline since March as it has received new hardware, but the work is on track to finish in February “.

Although the works are still in progress, however, we wanted to send commands to Voyager 2 after the last ones were sent in mid-March 2020. Both the sending and receiving of the response by the probe were successful allowing it to take a step forward to establish stable connectivity again. In particular, the receipt of messages by the probe was still possible using other systems (three antennas from 34 meters that are always found in Canberra), but not their dispatch.

DSS updates 43 will be needed also for other missions

The Canberra antenna is classified as Deep Space Station 43 and its role is fundamental for such distant missions. As written above, in the case of Voyager 2 it is also the only one capable of sending messages in his direction and with the right power.

After all, dialogue with Voyager 2 is not easy considering that it is well 18, 8 billion kilometers from Earth. Due to the initial trajectory, the probe is then directed south with respect to our planet and therefore it is not possible to contact it with the antennas of Madrid and Goldstone (California). For upload, communications take place in the S band while the download takes place in the X band.

The system of the DSS 43 started operating in 1972 and has undergone a number of updates throughout its history. For example, the dish of the antenna initially was 43 meters but then it was extended up to 70 current meters.

The strategic importance of the site has forced updates to allow it to continue to operate, not only for Voyager 2 . In fact DSS 43 may be useful for the Martian rover Perseverance but also for Artemis missions. For the future, it is therefore essential that this system can operate correctly for some time.

Sentinel-6 satellite is supposed to measure sea levels with millimeter precision

Coastal cities could be regularly under water, hurricanes and storm surges could increase their destructive power and island paradises sink into the sea: The rise in sea level is one of the greatest threats that climate change brings with it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assumes that with unchecked climate change it could be more than a meter by the end of the century. This is likely to be a problem not only for the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, whose highest point is just over two meters. The coasts of Europe are also in danger.

In order to measure and map the rise in sea level, scientists want to use a new earth observation satellite from the Looking at the oceans in space – more precisely than ever before. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich scans within ten days 90 percent of the global ocean surface – from a height of more than 1300 Kilometers with an accuracy of less than one millimeter.

Measurement of the sea level with millimeter accuracy Earth observation satellites have been around for decades. “But Sentinel 6 has a new radar on board, with a higher precision, which will be able to measure a rise in sea level even more precisely,” says the director for earth observation programs at the European space agency ESA, Josef Aschbacher. As part of the European Earth observation program Copernicus, the satellite will be controlled from Darmstadt by a new, ultra-modern control center of the European meteorological satellite agency, Eumetsat, says the head of the program at the Darmstadt satellite specialists, Manfred Lugert.

Many experts had to pull together to make the spacecraft a reality. The mission is a cooperation between ESA, the US space agency NASA, Eumetsats and the US weather and oceanography agency NOAA. The satellite is the first of two identical satellites to be launched into space. It is named after the recently deceased Michael H. Freilich, the former director of NASA’s Earth Observation Department.

The satellite should initially be on 10. Launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on November 11th. Now the start is delayed a little because the engines of the launcher have to be checked again. A new date was not initially set. The second, identical satellite is to follow in five and a half years. According to Aschbacher, the entire project cost those involved in the USA and Europe around 400 million euros.

The Radar pulses from the satellite are transmitted, reflected by the sea surface and received again. “Nobody can do anything with the data at first. That has to be converted into high-precision distance measurement,” says Lugert. “The exact determination of the location in orbit is the great challenge of the mission.” Wave heights would have to be resolved and atmospheric influences would have to be factored out in distance measurements. There are two independent navigation systems on board for determining the location, and the satellite orbit is regularly measured with a laser. According to Aschbacher, in conjunction with other satellites, conclusions can be drawn about the density and thickness of the ice. This is important, for example the melting of the Greenland ice has tripled since the 90 years.

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Earth observation satellite is being refueled.

(Source: ESA ) Precise picture of the situation “We now get a global dimension every ten days, so a picture like that Location is, “says Aschbacher. “The satellite provides data that has not been available so precisely before.” As a state-of-the-art and high-precision component, it will complement the monitoring of the planet from space. “There are certainly some 100 satellites that are currently in orbit and monitoring the earth,” says Aschbacher. The Europeans are in the lead here because the system covers everything – from science to weather forecasts to civil protection.

“But there is still a lot to be done,” Aschbacher is certain. There are still parameters that need to be measured more precisely. “One of the greatest challenges is the more accurate measurement of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.” It is still not precise and comprehensive enough. For the future, he would like to see a satellite system that measures all of these parameters. The data could then be linked and coupled with artificial intelligence. This makes it possible to make real predictions and simulations around the system earth, for example how high the sea level rise will be in different temperature scenarios.

( olb)

Watch as NASA celebrates 20 years of humans living on the International Space Station

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the first long-term mission to the International Space Station, known as Expedition 1. Ever since then, there have always been a handful of humans living and working in orbit on the ISS — a continuous presence of people in space.

Prior to that mission, most of NASA’s human spaceflight program revolved around launching relatively quick, weeks-long trips to orbit on the agency’s Space Shuttle. But in the mid-1990s, NASA began sending its astronauts to space for much longer trips to live on Russia’s old Mir space station. Once the US, Russia, and their international partners started piecing together the International Space Station, NASA started sending some of its astronauts to stay for months at a time beginning in 2000 — and there have been people on board ever since.

As part of Expedition 1, a crew of three astronauts launched to the space station on October 31st, 2000, on board a Russian Soyuz rocket. The flight carried two Russian cosmonauts — Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev — and NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd, who docked with the ISS two days later on November 2nd. The trio would stay for four and a half months until March, leaving after a new crew of three came to the station aboard Space Shuttle Discovery for the start of their more than five-month stay. Their mission was aptly named Expedition 2.

NASA has been celebrating this big moment with press events from astronauts currently on board the ISS — part of Expedition 64 — as well as a virtual round table with the original members of Expedition 1. Today, the space agency will air a series of specials about the construction of the International Space Station, highlighting the research that’s been done on board the lab over the last 20 years. Tune in at 1PM ET to get a history lesson about how we’ve kept people 250 miles above Earth continuously since 2000.

SpaceX Crew-1 will depart on November 14 due to an engine change

The SpaceX Crew-1 mission is scheduled time for 14 November 2020 after the replacement of two Merlin engines of the first stage of the Falcon 9 for safety reasons related to the production phases (discovered with another mission).

by Mattia Speroni published 02 November 2020 , at 08: 41 in the Science and Technology channel

SpaceX NASA

Already in mid-October there was a announcement of the postponement of the launch of the mission SpaceX Crew-1 (the first with the new Crew Dragon that was not a test as for Demo-2). The new date has been set for 14 November 2020 and now you have more information on the reason for the program change by NASA and SpaceX .

An engine problem causing the postponement of SpaceX Crew-1

The reason for the change of date lies in the need to change the engines of the Falcon 9 which were supposed to take SpaceX Crew-1 in the direction of the ISS. The first hint that something was not going as planned, however, came with an unmanned mission.

It was the mission for the launch of the GPS satellite on behalf of the Space Force set for 2 October 2020. The launch was canceled (automatically) a few seconds after take-off due to some anomalous values reported.

Analyzing the data and the rocket it was understood that a lot of the engines used on the Falcon 9 rockets could have a construction flaw. Obviously, considering that safety comes first, there has been a review of all rockets engaged in upcoming launches, including that of Crew-1 and that of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich.

A paint problem

The problem with the Merlin engines is related to the paint used to cover some parts before anodizing to avoid corrosion. Residues not correctly removed by the manufacturer have come off, blocking the 1.6 mm holes to vent the Merlin valves.

The problem, as highlighted below, was not however only on the first stage of the Space Force mission but also on two engines of the SpaceX Crew-1 . The inspections to find the engines affected by the problem and their replacement resulted in the postponement of the various launches.

A senior executive of SpaceX (Koenigsmann) said he was satisfied with how things turned out. In fact it was a way to confirm that the safety systems of the Falcon 9 rockets are working properly.

Steve Stich (Head of the Commercial Crew Program) said “We worked jointly with SpaceX to resolve this engine anomaly. We still have some work to do, but the path to launch seems quite good”.

Water on the moon is more accessible than expected

According to NASA, there are up to 231 million tons of water ice on the moon that could help supply lunar colonists. The water could even become an affordable form of rocket fuel if you split it into oxygen and hydrogen and liquefy the gases.

For a long time it was unclear how much water there is on the moon, where exactly these reserves are stored and how we can access them. There is not yet an answer to all of these questions. But two new studies that have appeared in the journal “Nature Astronomy” at least suggest that water on the moon is not quite as hidden as expected.

So far, researchers have assumed that water in regions of the moon that are permanently covered by shadow and protected from solar radiation, such as large Craters has the best chance of remaining stable. But now scientists from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) of NASA and the German Aerospace Center are reporting on the detection of water molecules that are near the 231 Kilometers of Clavius Crater were exposed to sunlight.

“This is the first time that we can say with certainty that there are water molecules on the lunar surface,” says Casey Honniball from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and lead author of the SOFIA study. The SOFIA observations suggest that the water molecules are built into the structure of glass beads and thus withstand solar radiation. “We would expect the amount of water to increase as we approach the poles,” says Honniball. “But at SOFIA we observed the opposite.” The pearls were found at a latitude closer to the equator, although that is probably not a nationwide phenomenon.

The SOFIA aerial observatory was modified from a modified one Boeing 747 that flies through the atmosphere at high altitudes. In this way, the view of her 9-foot telescope, with which she observes objects in space, is only minimally disturbed by the earth’s atmosphere, which contains water.

The glassy water features on the moon have already been shown in a 1969 discovered lunar mineralogy investigation carried out by balloon observatory. However, they were neither reported nor published. “Maybe they didn’t realize what a great discovery they actually made,” says Honniball. It is true that the amount of water contained in the glass beads is too small to be useful for humans. But it is possible that the concentration is higher in other regions. More importantly, the results show the possibility of a “moon water cycle” that could replenish the water reserves on the moon.

The smallest shadows The second study could be even more relevant to NASA’s immediate lunar exploration plans. Their results suggest that the water ice reserves of the earth’s satellite are maintained in so-called micro-cold traps with a diameter of up to one centimeter. New 3D models created using thermal infrared and optical images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show that temperatures in these micro-traps are low enough to keep the water ice intact. They possibly contain ten to 20 percent of the water stored in all permanently shadow-covered lunar regions over a total area of approximately 40. square kilometers, mainly in the polar regions.

“Instead of just a handful of large cold traps in ‘craters by name’, there is a whole galaxy of tiny cold traps spread across the entire polar region,” says Paul Hayne of the University of Colorado in Boulder. “Micro cold traps are much more accessible than larger, permanently shaded regions. Instead of designing missions that venture deep into the shadows, astronauts and rovers could stay in the sunlight while they extract water from micro-cold traps, ”says the planetary scientist and lead author of the study. There could be hundreds of millions or even billions of these places scattered across the lunar surface.

More data raises more puzzles There is still no clear explanation of how this water-bearing glass was formed. According to Honniball, they likely came from meteorites that either created or supplied the water on impact. They could also be the result of ancient volcanic activity.

The SOFIA study also cannot explain why the distribution of glass depends on latitude or how it could change over a full lunar cycle, says the planetary geologist Clive Neal from Notre Dame University, who was not involved in either study. We may not have to wait long for these data, however.

In the run-up to the Artemis missions, which will also bring astronauts back to the surface of the moon, NASA’s robotic missions will also examine the water ice content on the moon. For example, the Viper rover, whose launch is planned for 2022, should keep an eye out for underground water ice. Given the new evidence, NASA might decide to change Viper’s goal a bit to also examine surface water, glass structures under the sun, and how well the microcold traps are preserving the water ice. Neal also suggests that a lunar exosphere monitoring system would be very useful to unravel the history of water on the moon and how a possible lunar water cycle leads to stable or unstable water on the surface.

(vsz)

“The forgotten third astronaut”: Lunar Landing driver Michael Collins turns 90

Michael Collins has been asked the same question over and over for decades. Hadn’t he been terribly lonely when he landed on the moon? Because Collins turned on 20. July 1963 in the command capsule “Columbia” loops around the moon and was in the dead zone on the back of the celestial body when his colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down with the lander “Eagle” on the surface of the satellite. Around half a billion viewers on earth cheered the moon landing in front of their televisions. Collins, who on Saturday (31. October) 90 years old, was right in the middle – and but all alone.

At the 16. July 1963 started Apollo 10 on a Saturn V rocket – and on 20. July, the lunar module Eagle landed on the moon with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. At the 21. In July, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon. In the coming days, a focus on heise online will pay tribute to this milestone in space travel under various aspects.

Nixon forgot to mention him He was not lonely anyway, stresses Collins again and again when he is asked the question again. “I felt part of what was going on on the moon. I know I would be a liar or a fool if I said I had the best of the three seats on Apollo 11 but I can honestly say that I am happy with that that I had. The venture was designed for three men and I see myself as just as necessary as the other two. ” In addition, he had the “Columbia” only to himself for a while. “I was the emperor, the captain and it was pretty comfortable. I even had warm coffee.”

Michael Collins in his NASA -Work gap.

(Image: NASA)

The then US President Richard Nixon forgot to mention Collins when he switched from the White House to the Moon – and so Collins went down in history as “the forgotten astronaut”. He had three years before the Apollo 11 – Mission already participated in another important space enterprise – and not only as a chauffeur. Collins was the pilot of the Gemini 10 – Mission, the first in which the spaceship docked onto two satellites one after the other. He also became the first person to move from one missile to another in space, and never before had humans been further away from Earth.

Later active in politics and business Collins 1930 was born in Italy as the son of a US Military attachés. His high school graduation in the USA was followed by admission to the West Point military academy and cadre forge, where he trained as a fighter pilot and test pilot. 1930 Collins made it into NASA’s astronaut selection.

Only one year after his flight to the moon, however, he left the space agency again and became Ministerial Director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1969 he took over the post of director of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. 1980 he went into business and later started his own company. In addition, Collins, who spent more than eleven days in space, wrote numerous books about his travels in space. The father of three has received numerous awards, including a moon crater and a dwarf planet named after him.

Apollo moon landing 11 (11 Photos) Apollo 11. Image: Project Apollo Archive / Nasa

Heroes: “Astronauts don’t belong” In old age, Collins retired. He had become “intolerable”, he once said in one of his now rare interviews. He spends his time “running, biking, swimming, fishing, painting, cooking, reading, worrying about market values and finding a good bottle of Cabernet for less than ten dollars.” He never saw himself as a hero. “There are heroes who should be celebrated, but astronauts are not one of them. We work hard and did our job almost perfectly, but that’s what we were hired for.” But he was lucky in life – and was happy too. “Write« Happy »on my tombstone.”

The moon was never the favorite celestial body of moon chauffeur Collins, but Mars. He hoped that one day people could land on it. “The moon is actually not a particularly interesting place for a celestial body, but Mars is.”

(tiw)