NASA: The Programs and the Men who Flew Them

January 14, 2008

I can remember the first time I became completely enamoured with space, astronomy, and NASA. I was only 5 years old when I got my first glimpse of Hallie’s Comet. I can remember watching streak across the sky. Since then I never missed a meteor shower, lunar eclipse or solar eclipse. I have one major dream for myself. I want to see the curviature of our home planet Earth. In the past few years I have been researching NASA. I found that I have more of a love for space than I initially thought. What I found that I loved was learning about the initial space programs…Projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

This is just a basic introduction to what you will be reading about. I have my favorite missions from each program. I have several Astronauts who I admire and some that have passed away, I wish I could have been introduced to. These men literally proved that they could successfully accomplish the virtually impossible.

The first program was Project Mercury. Thousands of men applied for the opprotunity to become members of the original group of astronauts called The Mercury 7. These men were put through very intense battery of insane tests. I do believe the phrase “Only the strong survive” really describes the 7 men who were chosen for the Mercury Program.

The men of The Mercury Program are/were: Naval Rear Admiral Alan B. Shepard Jr., Air Force Leiutenant Colonel Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Navy Captain Walter M. “Wally” Schirra Jr., Marine Corps Colonel John H. Glenn Jr., Naval Test Pilot Malcolm Scott Carpenter, Air Force Major Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, and Air Force Colonel Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper. I once read there is a story and drama in every single space mission ever flown. You have no idea how true it is. It could something as major as a hatch malfunction or as goofy as Shepard peeing himself before liftoff. Yes. All of these are true stories. It is absolutely awesome getting to learn about these amazing people.

I will also post about upcoming celestial goings on such as Eclipses, meteor showers, planet alignment, shuttle launches, and if you are a space geek like myself…I will post books, magazines, other websites, movies, and documentaries. I am going to start with that right now.

Movie- The Right Stuff. It was released in 1983. Directed by Philip Kaufman. It has a pretty famous cast too which is awesome!

Alan B. Shepard-Scott Glenn, Gus Grissom-Fred Ward, Gordo Cooper- Dennis Quaid, Chuck Yeager-Sam Shepard, Glennis Yeager- Barbara Hershey, Bartender Fred- The Real Chuck Yeager, Recruiter 1- Jeff Goldblum, Recruiter 2- Harry Shearer just to name a few.

HBO Mini Series- From the Earth to the Moon–Released April 5, 1998.

Produced by Tom Hanks. It is an amazing series following the events that lead up to the landing on the Moon and up until the program was cancelled after Apollo 17. It is really cool and the famous faces are awesome. Mark Harmon, Bryan Cranston, Tony Goldwyn, Ted Levine, John Posey, and hundreds of others. This series tugged at my heart strings a bit here and there.

I hope you all enjoy what is to come in my posts. I absolutely love NASA and feel free to ask any questions. I will do my very best to answer them in a prompt manner.

Take Care!!!!

Leslie

Posted in NASA