Category Archives: Space Exploration

In an effort to strengthen the United States through manufacturing, the government established the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, better known as Manufacturing USA, in 2014. As several of these Manufacturing USA institutes are linked to 3D printing, we follow them rather closely, and now NASA is launching a similar initiative albeit much smaller in scale dedicated to space exploration and research.

The Space Technology Research Institutes (STRI) will be composed of multiple universities forming two institutes: one dedicated to researching biological engineering in space, and one dedicated to the development of next-generational materials. Most recently, Florida State Universitys High-Performance Materials Institute(HPMI) and theFlorida A&M UniversityFlorida State University College of Engineeringhave joined the initiative.

This is a wonderful opportunity for our faculty researchers and students to participate in a project that pushes the boundaries of science and will have a major impact on space travel and exploration, said Gary K. Ostrander, Vice President for Research at HPMI. FSUs High-Performance Materials Institute was designed to explore the possibilities and uses of next-generation materials, and this project will allow them to apply their expertise in an exciting way.

HPMI is a multidisciplinary research institute staffed mostly by faculty from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, and will receive funding for research towards advanced materials and manufacturing techniques, such as 3D printing. In particular, the institute will work on the development of carbon nanotube-based structural materials that can be used to create vehicles, power systems and even habitats for use in missions to the moon and Mars, for example.

The money will help to fund several graduate students as well as one postdoctoral researcher.

The High-Performance Materials Institute is a leader in developing advanced nanocomposites and additive manufacturing that will be critical for mans extended presence in deep space, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Dean J. Murray Gibson said. Because of this grant, our students will have unique opportunities to participate in an exciting future major space program.

The Space Technology Research Institutes project will invest $15 million in each institute over a period of five years. The funding will be distributed among the partner universities comprising the institutes, which so far include:

In addition, industrial partners include Nanocomp Technologies and Solvay, as well as the US Air Force Research Lab.

HPMI has been designated as an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center by the National Science Foundation and as a Center of Excellence by the Florida Board of Governors. The institute, as its name suggests, is dedicated to the development of advanced materials for multiple industries and technologies, but for the next few years at least, it looks like theres going to be a heavy focus on outer space and likely on 3D printing. Its rare to encounter a discussion of traveling to the moon or Mars without 3D printing talk as well, whether its in relation to rocket engines or medical tools or even lunar housing.

Its exciting to know that I could have a student who could get experience here on this project and then potentially work on the mission to Mars in the future, said Tarik Dickens, an assistant professor at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering who is also working on the project.

Six faculty members from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering will work with the STRI, which will be led by Professor Gregory Odegard at Michigan Technological University. HPMI Director and FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Professor Richard Liang will act as an area leader and principal investigator for the college. Discuss in the Florida State forum at 3DPB.com.

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3D Printing in Space: Florida Institutes to Research Advanced Materials and Manufacturing for Space Exploration - 3DPrint.com

The Boring Company is making some progress. Time

File photo taken in April 2017 shows tech entrepreneur Elon Musk (R) discussing a vision of cars being lowered into tunnels to travel efficiently and eliminate traffic congestion with curator Chris Anderson (L) at a TED Conference in Vancouver, Canada.(Photo: GLENN CHAPMAN, AFP/Getty Images)

Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has envisionedthe future of traveland it's getting close and fast.

Motoring from Los Angeles to New York City in a fully autonomouscar?

By the end of 2017,he said during a TED Talkinterview in Vancouver on Friday.

November or December of this year, we should be able to go from a parking lot in California to a parking lot in New York, no controls touched at any point during the entire journey, Musk predicted, according to aTED Blog summary.

Humans riding rockets to Mars?

"I really think there's a fundamental difference,if you sort of look into the future,between a humanity that is a space-faring civilization,that's out there exploring the stars, on multiple planets ...compared with one where we are forever confined to Earthuntil some eventual extinction event," the founder of the SpaceX privateaerospace company told a previous TED Talk audience in 2013.

Underground car travel via a network of new tunnels excavated by a Musk startup dubbed The Boring Company?

Cars carrying passengers at 124 miles per hour atop skate-like platforms that whisk through the tubes, according to a concept videoMusk's digging firm issued on Friday.

And how about the semi-truck Tesla is expected to unveil this fall?

A teaser image released Friday showed a shadowy big rigwith headlights like those on Tesla's Model X and Model S autos and a continuous design across the truck's front cabin, TechCrunch reported.

With the Tesla Semi, we want to show that an electric truck actually can out-torque any diesel semi," Musk said Friday, according to the TED Blog summary. "If you had a tug of war competition, the Tesla Semi will tug the diesel semi uphill.

The South Africa-born businessman said during his 2013TED Talk appearance that he started thinking about travel breakthroughs while studying at Queen's University in Canada and then the University of Pennsylvania.

"I thought about, what are the problems that are most likelyto affect the future of the world or the future of humanity?" said Musk. "I think it's extremely important that we have sustainable transportand sustainable energy production.That sort of overall sustainable energy problemis the biggest problem that we have to solve this century,independent of environmental concerns."

From that start, Musk has gone on to found and work at multiple firms, including an online financial payment company that ultimately led to the creation of PayPal, according to Biography.com.

SpaceX explosion destroys Facebook satellite

Musk has faced some unforeseen problems along the way, including the September 2016 explosionof a SpaceX Falcon rocket while it was being testedatFlorida's Cape Canaveral.

Nonetheless, Musk's company learned from the setback.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches, lands in historic first

In March, SpaceX successfully relaunched a used Falcon 9 rocket, successfully demonstrating the reliability of new technology that Musk said would lower the cost of space exploration and travel.

Are other breakthroughs near?

Asked if he could picturea futurein which Americans get most of their power from solar sources, Musk offered an optimistic answer during his 2013 TED Talk appearance.

"I'm extremely confident that solar will be at least a plurality of power,and most likely a majority,and I predict it will be a plurality in less than 20 years," said Musk, who defined plurality as "more from solar than any other source."

Follow USA TODAY reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @kmccoynyc

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Elon Musk eyes redefining travel on earth and in outer space - USA TODAY

Credit: LEGO, LEGO Ideas Blog, NASA Apollo Saturn V Rocket

And Heres Johnny Depp Doing Something Crazy Again by Sarah Boatright

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Delays a Win for the Nintendo Switch, If Not for Us by Rebekah Valentine

Never underestimate the power of a LEGO Ideas project. The LEGO Ideas project is a wonderful place where your wildest dreams of LEGOing can come to life. Come up with a concept, get 10,000 supporters, and the LEGO review board will decide if they want to turn your idea into a real life LEGO set. Thats the process two spaceflight enthusiasts went through to make theNASA Apollo Saturn V LEGO project a reality.

Announced on the LEGO Ideas blog a few days ago, the NASA Apollo Saturn V is an enormous LEGO projectfarlarger than what youd find at your local Walmart or Target in the toys section. Its the tallest LEGO Ideas set yet, standing at a meter high, and with 1969 pieces, giving it the most elements out of any LEGO Ideas set as well. It costs $119.99 USD, so its not cheap, but as you can see, theres a darned good reason for that.

The NASA Apollo Saturn V comes with a stand to display the rocket horizontally, three brand new astronaut figures, and a booklet with information about the manned Apollo missions.

Notably, it was created by only two people who have never met one another in person: Felix Stiessen and Valrie Roche. According to the blog, the two helped motivate the other and continued the project even when one had to step away for a few weeks. The official LEGO design team had to make some alterations once the project was approved to ensure it would work as a design under LEGOs quality standards, resulting in the final product you see above.

The ability of LEGO to cross so many different genres and reach so many peoples love of creating and building is wondrous. Ive played with tiny, science fiction spaceships in LEGO form, but I cant even fathom the amount of work, dedication,study, and love of space science and engineering it must have taken to come up with this design. Thanks to Stiessen and Roche for giving us this wonderful new way to learn about the world beyond Earths orbit!

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Lego Makes Our Space Exploration Dreams Even Bigger With Enormous Saturn V - Culturess

What GAO Found

With less than 2 years until the planned November 2018 launch date for its first exploration mission (EM-1), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) three human exploration programsOrion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion), Space Launch System (SLS), and Exploration Ground Systems (EGS)are making progress on their respective systems, but the EM-1 launch date is likely unachievable as technical challenges continue to cause schedule delays. All three programs face unique challenges in completing development, and each has little to no schedule reserve remaining between now and the EM-1 date, meaning they will have to complete all remaining work with little margin for error for unexpected challenges that may arise. The table below lists the remaining schedule reserve for each of the programs.

Schedule Reserve to Exploration Mission 1 for Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Space Launch System, and Exploration Ground Systems Programs

Program

Schedule reserve to Exploration Mission-1 (in days)

Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

0

Space Launch System

80

Exploration Ground Systems

28

Source: GAO Analysis of NASA data | GAO-17-414

The programs all face challenges that may impact their remaining schedule reserve. For instance

Low cost reserves further intensify the schedule pressure. Senior NASA officials said they are analyzing the launch schedule and expect that the EM-1 date will have to slip, but they have yet to make a decision on the feasibility of the current date or report on their findings. With budget discussions currently ongoing for fiscal year 2018, the last year prior to launch, Congress does not yet have insight into the feasibility of the EM-1 launch date, or the repercussions that any cost increase or delays could have in terms of cost and schedule impacts for NASA's entire portfolio. Unless NASA provides Congress with up-to-date information on whether the current EM-1 date is still achievable, as of the time the agency submits its 2018 budget request, both NASA and Congress will continue to be at risk of making decisions based on less than the entire picture and on likely unachievable schedules.

NASA is undertaking a trio of closely related programs to continue human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit: the SLS vehicle; the Orion capsule, which will launch atop the SLS and carry astronauts; and EGS, the supporting ground systems. NASA's current exploration efforts are estimated to cost almost $24 billionto include two Orion flights and one each for SLS and EGSand constitute more than half of NASA's current portfolio development cost baseline. All three programs are necessary for EM-1 and are working toward a launch readiness date of November 2018. In a large body of work on this issue, including two separate July 2016 reports, GAO has found that these programs have a history of working to aggressive schedules.

The House Committee on Appropriations report accompanying H.R. 2578 included a provision for GAO to assess the acquisition progress of the Orion, SLS, and EGS, programs. This report assesses the extent to which these programs have risks that affect their progress toward meeting their commitments for EM-1. To do this work, GAO assessed documentation on schedule and program risks and interviewed program and NASA officials.

NASA should confirm whether the current EM-1 date is still achievable no later than as part of its fiscal year 2018 budget submission, and propose a new, realistic EM-1 launch readiness date, if warranted, and report its findings to Congress. NASA concurred with both recommendations and agreed that EM-1 will be delayed.

For more information, contact Cristina Chaplain at (202) 512-4841 or chaplainc@gao.gov.

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Delay Likely for First Exploration Mission - Government Accountability Office

NASA has a spacesuit problem. A NASA study assessing whether it can add a crew earlier than planned aboard its newOrion deep-space capsule, which would be lofted during the debut flight of the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, is still pending, but the astronauts attire could end up being a showstopper. A government audit releasedon Wednesdayfound that a next-generation flight suit known as the Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) wont be delivered until March 2021, just five months before NASAs internal target launch date for the first crewed test flight of SLS and Orion. The OCSS is one of three spacesuits NASA has worked on to replace shuttle-era equipment still in use aboard the International Space Station. The Inspector Generals audit found that despite spending nearly $200 million over the past 10 years, NASA is at risk of running out of time to test any of the new spacesuits aboard the station before its planned retirement in 2024. At the behest of the White House, in February NASA undertook a study to consider adding crew to an earlier mission, known as Exploration Mission-1 or EM-1, which is currently an unmanned mission around the moon scheduled to launch at the end of 2018.

RELATED:Trump Signs Law Making Crewed Mission to Mars a NASA Priority NASA has not yet revealed whether adding crew to the mission is feasible, but all astronauts flying on Orion will be required to wear an OCSS. The spacesuit, which is to be worn during launch and landing, is designed to protect astronauts from fire, smoke, and toxic chemicals. It would also provide a redundant pressurized atmosphere in case of a problem with the capsule. A preliminary design review of the Orion spacesuit, which is being developed in-house by NASA engineers, is slated for June, with a final review targeted for next summer. NASA spent about $12 million between 2010 and 2016 on the project, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin wrote in a report releasedon Wednesday. In addition to OCSS, NASA has worked on two pressurized spacesuits that astronauts can wear during spacewalks, referred to as extravehicular activity (EVA) in NASA parlance. The first is the Constellation Space Suit System, which originally was developed as part of the Bush-era, moon-bound Constellation exploration program that was canceled in 2010.

NASA, however, continued paying Constellation suit contractor Oceaneering International to develop some technologies for five more years, the watchdog agency said. Rather than terminate the contract, NASA paid the contractor $80.8 million between 2011 and 2016 for spacesuit technology development, despite parallel development activities being conducted within NASAs Advanced Exploration Systems Division, Martin wrote. The audit found that NASA has spent $135.6 million on the Constellation spacesuit and another $51.6 million on a follow-on program known as the Advanced Space Suit Project. Despite this investment, the agency remains years away from having a flight-ready spacesuit that could replace the current equipment, the report said.

RELATED:Hibernation for Deep-Space Exploration Could Happen Sooner Than You Imagined The spacesuits are effectively miniature, one-person spaceships that keep an astronaut alive in the vacuum and temperature extremes of space, while having enough flexibility and durability so that spacewalking crew can fix equipment, dig, and perform other mission-critical activities. The agencys efforts have been complicated because it does not yet have a firm plan in place for where spacewalking astronauts will be needed and when they would arrive. NASAs next-generation spacewalk suit is being developed in three stages. The first iteration is designed for use on the space station; the second for missions around the moon, a region known as cislunar; and the third for use on Mars. Without specific mission criteria, engineers must make assumptions about system requirements for future missions, the report noted. For example, spacesuit requirements vary for EVAs in cislunar space, on Mars, or on the Martian moon Phobos, as each destination has different temperatures, radiation levels, pressures, mobility requirements, and exposure to dust and debris. The Inspector General urged NASA to develop and implement a formal plan for designing, producing, and testing next-generation spacesuits, and called for it to conduct a study to determine if maintaining the current EVA spacesuit is less expensive than developing and testing a new one. In a written response to Martin, NASA called the audit a fair assessment, though the agency took issue with the contention that it should have canceled the Oceaneering contract. NASA associate administrator William Gerstenmaier said that he accepts the auditors recommendations. He pledged to issue a report about improving the agencys spacesuit development initiatives bySeptember 30.

WATCH:How Do Spacesuits Keep Astronauts Safe From the Vacuum of Space?

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NASA's $200M Spacesuit Problem Threatens Its Deep-Space Exploration Plans - Seeker

China has always understood that only innovation can drive the country along the trajectory to becoming a space power. In the past year, scientists and engineers have made major breakthroughs in the technology needed for space exploration. Tianzhou-1,China's first cargo spacecraft, was launched into space and docked with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab last week.

A retrievable scientific research satellite, SJ-10, went into space in April 2016 and completed experiments in microgravity and space life science. Long March-7 Y2, the medium-sized carrier rocket that was used to lift Tianzhou-1, made its maiden flight in June 2016. Four months later, the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft was launched and docked with Tiangong-2 where the two astronauts lived for 33 days.

Aerospace innovation has direct benefits in people's everyday lives, with over 2,000 aerospace inventions used in various sectors to promote social and economic development. For example, turbine pump technology developed for the aerospace industry has been used in a fire pump to spray water as high as 400 meters.

China plans to launch six to eight BeiDou-3 satellites later this year, part of a plan for 35 of the country's home-grown BeiDou satellites to provide worldwide navigation services by 2020.

China's second Space Day falls on Monday. It was designated to stimulate enthusiasm for innovation and mark the anniversary of the country's first satellite launch Dongfanghong-1 in 1970.

More than four decades later, China plans to launch the Chang'e-5 lunar probe at the end of November this year. Experts predict that China could realize the dream of putting astronauts on the moon within ten years.

China's contribution to the space industry has met with widespread approval. Making peaceful use of outer space, China has signed cooperation agreements with over 30 countries and organizations including Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, France, the European Space Agency and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

China has helped over 20 countries and regions with 50 launches, and exported satellites to nine countries.

Furthermore, China will become the only country with a permanent space station when the International Space Station retires in 2024.

China will continue to promote innovation in space science, space technology and space applications, contributing more to both national development and the well-being of mankind.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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Commentary: Innovation drives China's space exploration - Space Daily

Theres a jump ball underway in space, and itll be on full display Wednesday at a Senate hearing chaired by Sen. Ted CruzTed CruzOvernight Defense: Senators go to White House for North Korea briefing | Admiral takes 'hit' for aircraft carrier mixup | Lawmakers urged to beef up US missile defense Senators get North Korea briefing in unusual WH visit Overnight Tech: FCC chief unveils plan for net neutrality rollback | Tech on Trump's sweeping tax plan | Cruz looks to boost space industry MORE (R-Texas). Will the administration and Congress be pro-innovation or pro the old way of doing business? And will the team in the White House really look for opportunities to run government more like a business? Theres no better bellwether for answering these questions than the space debate going on right now.

While folks like to talk about the moon or Mars or asteroids, the debate is not so much about destination. Its about how we go anywhere, and it means dealing with the details that is, what contract or procurement approach spurs the most competition and innovation while giving taxpayers the best bang for their buck.

On Monday, President Trump called the International Space Station to congratulate U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson on becoming our nations most traveled spacefarer. But in the course of that call, the conversation pivoted to Mars. He wants NASA to go in his first term, maybe his second. Will NASA be going in partnership with the commercial space companies you read about, like SpaceX and Blue Origin? Or will the old way of doing business win out? Thats the real question that insiders are watching and the coalitions that support both sides.

President #Trump makes space call to record-breaking #NASA astronaut #PeggyWhitson https://t.co/WGZLOrAQYF

If non-defense spending is going to be cut, per Trumps budget request, humans to Mars in less than a decade is not just impossible, its laughable, especially with an outdated approach.

But heres where the opportunity lies. If we make smart choices, we can do more with what we already have. We can expand what we can achieve even in an era of tight budgets by being smarter about how we partner and the technologies we invest in.

While some say space isnt commercial, tell that to the worlds largest satellite TV provider, AT&Ts DirecTV, which has over a dozen operational satellites in orbit above the earth, earning the company over $33 billion in 2014 revenue. Or tell that to the Satellite Industry Association, which syas that the global space industry market size was $335 billion, the vast majority of which is made up of commercial companies serving commercial customers.

Were living in such an exciting time in space, with new discoveries nearly every day, rockets landing and taking off again, and tourist hops up and back to space within grasp. This renaissance is not due solely to government programs and taxpayer dollars its the unleashing of capitalism in a new frontier. Its the revival of space development, of getting the public excited about these new ventures that is the major source of this space resurgence.

Unfortunately, much of this exciting progress is at risk.

Under President Trump, NASA missions to the Moon, Europa and Mars may beckon. https://t.co/5sIr8KcHcX

At Cruzs hearing, the potential of this uniquely American industry will be discussed. Whats at stake is not whether there will continue to be a government space program or a commercial space industry, but whether the U.S. government and the Trump administration will seize the opportunity and embrace this new era, one that will help create whole new industries and thousands of American jobs in the process.

Some legislators, including folks elected as defenders of free enterprise, would rather defend old ways of thinking than help NASA, the Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies take advantage of the commercial space age. They want to shut down or cut funding to some of the most innovative programs that are delivering for taxpayers, including Commercial Resupply Services, which funds cargo delivery to the International Space Station, and Commercial Crew, which is set to end Americas dependence upon Russia for astronaut transportation to space.

If Congress doesnt support these critical first steps, it risks stifling the even greater future possibilities of the commercial space revolution. Effective partnership between government space industries and commercial space providers offers the chance to achieve an overall American space program that is worthy of our great nation, without breaking the bank.

So who will the Trump administration give the ball to?

Phil Larson was previously in the Obama White House as senior adviser for space and innovation. Follow him@philliplarson

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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There's a new frontier in space exploration, but will Trump be on board? - The Hill (blog)

Stephen Sandford was 9 when he saw Neil Armstrong land on the moon and discovered his love for science, engineering, math and technology (STEM).

As a child, he said he always like math and science, which eventually led him to study physics in college. After getting his master's degree in engineering, Sandford got his chance to work at NASA, spending 28 years with the agency, including stints at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and NASA headquarters before becoming the director of space technology at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton.

Before retiring from the agency in 2014, Sandford began exploring the idea to write "The Gravity Well: America's Next, Greatest Mission," which details the benefits of a better funded space program.

"It occurred to me that our national leadership did not have a good, solid rationale for why we need a space program," Sandford said.

To write the book, he said he left the United States on sabbatical and went to the Netherlands for almost a year to research and work on the book. While there, he served as a visiting scientist at the University of Delft, a campus Sandford said reminds him a lot of NASA Langley Research Center.

When Sandford left NASA and began his current job as a system engineering director at Stiner, Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc., leading projects related to the challenges of exploring space, the book became his top priority. That is when co-author Jay Heinrichs, a rhetoric expert and author of the best-seller "Thank You for Arguing," along with three part-time researchers joined the project to help with research and explain the concepts in simpler terms.

The book explores the economics, and international and educational benefits of the space program. Sandford and Heinrichs make the case that the space program is not just about the future and space, but it also about improving Earth's current situation, using history, data and analogies.

After a year and a half working on the book, it published in October 2016, just before the presidential election. One of the key issues throughout the election was boosting the economy explained Sandford, which goes along with one of the book's main arguments for enhancing the space program.

"I try to show how powerful it is to solving some of these problems that we're dealing with. We're struggling with what the next economy is going to be with the United States and we're struggling with our standing in the world today," Sandford said.

According to Heinrichs, while both authors encourage everyone to read "The Gravity Well," the goal is for leaders and highly educated, influential people to read it.

"Once they understand that space really is a top priority for the country, other people will see that too. I did a lot of research on public opinion and realize everybody's for space. Very few people are anti-space. On the other hand, very few people see the space program as a top priority," Heinrichs said.

Sandford said he is trying to get the book in the hands of the current White House administration through friends and members of the Trump administration that advise the president on space issues.

Barnes & Noble celebrates Ella

Peninsula Town Center's Barnes and Noble (5100 Kilgore Avenue, Hampton) celebrates Newport News native Ella Fitzgerald at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The free event includes Fitzgerald-inspired music programming that includes First Baptist Church Hampton Celestial School of Arts vocal instructor Leonora Wesley-Wood, the Spratley Gifted Center's Seahawk Band, the Benjamin Syms Middle School Band and singer Crystal Simmons.

In honor of what would be Fitzgerald's 100th birthday on Tuesday, Saturday's event will also include cake.

Info: facebook@BNHamptonVA or 757-827-1118.

Barringer at Yorktown Library

Author Sheridan Barringer will give a presentation about his new book "Fighting for General Lee: Confederate General Rufus at the North Carolina Calvary Brigade" followed by a book signing at 10 a.m. Tuesday inside the Yorktown Library (88500 George Washington Highway, Yorktown).

Sponsored by the Yorktown Book Club, the Newport News author and Virginia Tech graduate will speak about his new biography, which he wrote using research from newspapers, letters and diaries from the Civil War.

Info: yorkcounty.gov/Home/Libraries.aspx

Joseph can be reached by phone at 757-374-3134.

Want it?

Info: thegravitywell.org. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBooks.

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Former NASA employee argues the benefits of space exploration in ... - Daily Press

Memorials to the scientists, engineers and pioneers who contributed to human understanding of outer space are scattered throughout the world.

One in particular stands out, and it belongs to an unlikely celebrity: a squirrel monkey named Miss Baker.

Miss Baker, weighing in at 11 ounces, was the first animal to travel into space and survive its long-term effects. On May 28, 1959, she was strapped into her shoebox-sized capsule aboard a Jupiter AM-18. With her as a travel companion was Able, a 7 pound female rhesus monkey.

Both rode in the rockets nose cone and reached the edge of space at an altitude of 360 miles, traveling 1,700 miles at a peak speed of 10,000 mph. The flight duration was only 16 minutes, and the two monkeys experienced weightlessness for more than half of the trip, about 9 minutes.

Able and Miss Baker were immediate celebrities. Both appeared on the cover of Life magazine, and The New York Times reported that correspondents jostled over chairs to get closer to the pair.

Both monkeys tolerated the journey and returned in good condition. Able, however, died four days later from anesthesia administered while undergoing surgery to remove an infected medical electrode. She is preserved and on display at the Smithsonian Institutions National Air and Space Museum.

Miss Baker would survive 25 more years, enjoying a long and celebrated life. She was 27 years old when she died on November 29, 1984. She is buried on the grounds of the United States Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. She regularly receives visitors, many leaving a banana at her grave site as a small token of affection and appreciation for her contribution to space exploration.

The monkeys mission was vitally important to the space program to determine a humans ability to survive space travel.

During the flight, scientists monitored the monkeys biological responses to flight. Their heartbeats, respiration, pulse, temperature, muscular responses, and other physical responses were recorded and relayed back to Earth.

While cultural icons, they were not the first Earth life form to travel into space. This distinction belongs to fruit flies sent into space on Feb. 20, 1947, aboard a U.S. V-2 rocket.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union sent mice, monkeys and dogs into space. The mortality rate was high among these missions, but valuable information was gained from each experiment and enabled advancements in space exploration.

By the time Able and Miss Baker took their voyage, the space race was in high gear. Both the United States and the Soviet Union were striving to be the first to successfully send a human into orbit. Doing so would demonstrate the successful nations superiority and advance efforts to achieve national security.

Two years after Able and Miss Bakers mission, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, became the first human to journey into space. His flight might not have been successful without knowledge gained from space travel by others in our animal world.

Terry P. Bolt, call sign Woodsy, lives in Richmond, Va. She is a helicopter pilot, space travel enthusiast and holds a masters of science degree in information systems from Virginia Commonwealth University. She and former Walla Wallan Craig Dreher write the Space Tourists columns for the Union-Bulletin.

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Monkeys help pave way for US space exploration - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

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Tackle Space Exploration with Potatoes in Spaceplan - AppAdvice AppAdvice "You're stranded on an alien planet with just potatoes, solar panels, and ingenuity. Surely you can make all of that help you find out where you are."] and more »

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Tackle Space Exploration with Potatoes in Spaceplan - AppAdvice - AppAdvice