NASA to offer history lesson on NASA TV to commemorate 50 years in space

NASA, in a press release on Friday, said it will air a 50 year retrospective of space craft, space travel and the space agency starting tomorrow on NASA TV. The show airs just ahead of the 50th anniversary of Sputnik the first craft put into orbit, by the Russians on October 4th, 1957. The Americans followed with the launch of their first satelite, Explorer I, on January 31, 1958 and NASA was born October 1, 1958.

The release says "NASA TV news feeds and a special interactive web presentation on www.nasa.gov will feature interview excerpts with former astronauts, engineers, scientists, flight directors and other NASA employees who offer historical perspectives on the Sputnik launch. Also provided will be file footage of Explorer I, the first satellite launched by the United States on Jan. 31, 1958, 3-D spacecraft models, and the subsequent announcement by NASA's first administrator T. Keith Glennan on the establishment of the agency on Oct. 1, 1958."

In keeping with the space theme... more on Endeavor

I'm finding NASA TV to be very interesting and time consuming. The dialog that happens between the folks on the ground and the shuttle crew is, as you would expect, technical but you can really hear the personalities shine through. They are busy, and every step is carefully planned out to the smallest of detail.

Today is a big day, the shuttle crew will be using the Canadarm 2 to maneuver a boom equipped with laser sensors to the underbelly. The sensors will allow NASA to determine the extent of the damage sustained during liftoff and will provide them with the necessary information to decide whether a repair is warranted. Since the shuttle disaster of 2003, every mission now carries a repair kit for these circumstances. The chairman of the mission management team, John Shannon is reported to have said "In the past, we didn't even know we had damage and we flew back home. So what I would tell you is we're going to do all the work required to understand it. ... I would not even venture to guess what the probability is that we would have to go repair this." CNN Story here.