In the first few years, it was at least plausible to come in in the morning and read all the Usenet traffic that had come in, and 15 minutes later be off doing something useful. Henry Spencer minutemorningplausible Change image and share on social
One of the headaches of high-tech test programmes is having to debug the test arrangements before you can start debugging the things you're trying to test. Henry Spencer arrangementdebugheadach Change image and share on social
Reusable rockets promise much easier testing because you should usually get them back, and you can debug as you go rather than having to get everything perfect the first time. Henry Spencer backdebugeasy Change image and share on social
Speaking of photography, while the Apollo 8 crew shot hundreds of photos, there was one that got everybody's attention: a blue-and-white Earth rising over a gray moonscape. Henry Spencer apolloattentionblue Change image and share on social
In 1960-61, a small group of female pilots went through many of the same medical tests as the Mercury astronauts and scored very well on them - in fact, better than some of the astronauts did. Henry Spencer astronautfactfemale Change image and share on social
SpaceX does seem to have had a run of bad luck, with its first three launches all failing. Henry Spencer badfaillaunch Change image and share on social
Supplying fuel for a Mars expedition from the lunar surface is often suggested, but it's hard to make it pay off - Moon bases are expensive, and just buying more rockets to launch fuel from Earth is relatively cheap. Henry Spencer basisbuycheap share on social
On the technical side, Apollo 8 was mainly a test flight for the Saturn V and the Apollo spacecraft. The main spacecraft system that needed testing on a real lunar flight was the onboard navigation system. Henry Spencer apolloflightlunar share on social
Sometimes people wonder why aeroplanes are so cheap and rockets are so expensive. Even the most superficial comparison shows one obvious difference: aeroplane engines use outside air to burn their fuel, while rockets have to carry their own oxidisers along. Henry Spencer aeroplaneairburn share on social
Testing a parachute drop of a heavy object is not simple. Henry Spencer dropheavyobject Change image and share on social
