Mercury Redstone 4: A close shave for America’s second man in space

Sixty years ago this week, America sent its second man into space. The mission had gone flawlessly, but nearly ended in tragedy when the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury space capsule sank into the sea, almost taking astronaut Virgil Grissom with it.Continue Rea… Continue reading Mercury Redstone 4: A close shave for America’s second man in space

Sixty years since Mercury Redstone 3, the first crewed US space mission

On May 5, 1961, about 45 million US television viewers watched a single-stage Redstone rocket lift off from Launch Complex 5 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on their black and white sets. Atop the rocket was a tiny capsule less than 7 ft (2 m) … Continue reading Sixty years since Mercury Redstone 3, the first crewed US space mission

Chris Kraft, the man who created NASA Mission Control, dies at age 95

Chris Kraft, who conceived NASA’s Mission Control, passed away on July 22, 2019 at the age of 95. The space agency’s first flight director, he oversaw manned space missions from Mercury to the early Space Shuttle launches and developed many o… Continue reading Chris Kraft, the man who created NASA Mission Control, dies at age 95