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This website is in imminent danger of being shut down. It has been online since 1995, but the personal circumstances of the owner, Malcolm Farnsworth, are such that economies have to be made. Server costs and suchlike have become prohibitive. At the urging of people online, I have agreed to see if Patreon provides a solution. More information is available at the Patreon website. If you are able to contribute even $1.00/month to keep the site running, please click the Patreon button below.
It is 45 years ago today since Apollo 11 landed on the moon.
The Lunar Module landed on the moon’s surface at 20:18 UTC. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface six hours later at 02:56 UTC on July 21.
Richard Nixon was six months into his first term as President of the United States. It was three days after Mary Jo Kopechne died on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, in a car driven by Senator Edward Kennedy. [Read more…]
President George W. Bush has set out an ambitious program of space exploration over the next 20 years that will see manned missions to the moon by 2015-20 with a view to using to using the Moon as a launching pad for further exploration of Mars.
Bush announced his Vision for Space Exploration during a visit to the NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He said the Sapce Shuttle would be retired once the International Space Station was completed.
The new exploration program will be known as Constellation. [Read more…]
This is the text of the Message of Condolence sent by the Prime Minister, John Howard, to the United States.
MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE FOR THE LOSS OF THE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA
On behalf of all Australians, I wish to extend to the American people my deepest condolences for the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew over the skies of Texas on 1 February. Our thoughts today are with the families and loved ones of those who perished.
This is a tragedy that affects us all. Space exploration is a universal endeavour which the United States has taken forward on behalf of all mankind. In this spirit, Columbia provided a platform for vigorous international scientific collaboration on a number of important projects. Columbia was also carrying an experiment designed by Melbourne schoolchildren, the latest chapter in a long Australian involvement in the shuttle programme.
Over the past two years the United States has faced unexpected adversity with a steady determination not to be cowed but to overcome. I have no doubt that America’s commitment to the exploration of space and its possibilities for all humanity will not be undone by this setback.
John Howard
Prime Minister
The space shuttle Columbia broke up as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere this morning, Australian time, just minutes before it was to land at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
President Bush, addressing the nation on television, said “Columbia is lost. There are no survivors.”
The shuttle, the oldest in the US fleet, was carrying 7 people, including Israel’s first astronaut. They were: William McCool, Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon, pictured above on January 20. [Read more…]