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This Month in Space History | January 2023

January 4, 2023

Buckle up, space fans. January has historically been a roller coaster of success and heartache. Over the years, the month of January has seen ground breaking progress in space exploration. Unfortunately, two of the greatest tragedies of space travel also occurred during this month.

Mark Your Calendars

Commemorate these space dates and remember the heroes who lost their lives in the name of science and exploration.

January 4, 1959

Luna 1, also known as Mechta, became the first artificial satellite to reach the Moon vicinity and first artificial satellite in heliocentric orbit. Launched as part of the Soviet Luna program, Luna 1 missed the Moon due to an incorrectly timed upper stage burn during its launch. As a result, it became the first spacecraft to leave geocentric orbit.

January 27, 1967

In one of the most tragic incidents in space exploration, a flash fire swept through the Apollo I command module, engulfing it in flames during a ground test at Kennedy Space Center. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee were killed in the launchpad fire. They were the first U.S. astronauts to die in a spacecraft.

January 28, 1986

The world watched as the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after its launch from Cape Canaveral. Commander Francis R. Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Mission Specialist Ronald McNair, Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist Judith Resnik, Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis and Teacher and Payload Specialist Christa McAuliffe were all killed in the explosion.

This was the tenth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. The Rogers Commission, a special commission appointed by President Ronald Reagan to investigate the accident, found NASA’s organizational culture and decision-making processes had been key contributing factors.

January 31, 1961

Ham, a chimpanzee, became the first Hominidae to be launched into space. Ham, an acronym for Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, began his training in July 1959. Ham’s flight was only 16 minutes and 39 seconds long but his performance in space was only a fraction of a second slower than on Earth, demonstrating that tasks could be performed in space.

Visit SpaceWasteSolutions.com for updates and information on the growing space waste problem.

This Month in Space History | December 2022

December 1, 2022

As I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come (but we believe not too long into the future), I’d like to just say what I believe history will record: That America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind.” – Astronaut Eugene “Gene” Cernan

Mark Your Calendars

From man’s first Earthrise to his final steps on the moon, December brings monumental moments in space history.

December 2, 1971

The unmanned space probe, Mars 3, launched on May 28, 1971, just nine days after its twin spacecraft, Mars 2. The identical robotic spacecraft both headed to Mars. On December 2, Mars 3 achieved the first soft Mars landing and, soon after, sent the first signals from Mars.

The Mars 3 lander carried a small (under 10 pounds) rover, which was intended to move across the planets surface while tethered to the lander. Unfortunately, the Mars 3 failed shortly after landing and the rover was not deployed.

Mars 3, part of the Soviet Mars program, was an unmanned space probe. The program spanned 13 years from 1960 to 1973.

December 7-19, 1972

Apollo 17, the final Apollo mission, marks the last time man visited the moon. The Saturn V rocket launched on December 7, 1972, carrying Commander Eugene “Gene” Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt.

After 74 hours and 59 minutes, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt left the Moon. Since then, no one has set foot on the surface of the moon. Apollo 17 set multiple records including the longest moon landing, longest total moonwalks, largest lunar sample and longest time in lunar orbit.

December 21, 1968

Launched on December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 was the second manned spaceflight mission in the United States Apollo space program and the first to orbit the Moon and return safely.

Aboard the Apollo 8, Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders came within 70 miles of the lunar surface. On their fourth pass, the crew witnessed Earthrise for the first time in human history.

Apollo 8 returned to Earth on December 27, 1968 and was recovered by the USS Yorktown in the North Pacific Ocean.

What about the Space Waste? Find out what happens to materials left in space.

Photo Credit: NASA

This Month in Space History | November 2022

November 2, 2022

It’s an international space station. We have crew members from both the U.S. and Russia and now the United Kingdom with Tim Peake from the U.K… It’s great to see that, on this space station, that we can work across cultures in a very cooperative way.” – Scott Kelly

Since the launch of Zarya on November 20, 1998, five space agencies, Russia(FKA) USA (NASA) Europe (ESA) Japan (JAXA) Canada (CSA), have worked together to build the orbiting science lab.

Mark Your Calendars

From a helium-filled high altitude balloon all the way to the International Space Station, November brings back memories of some great achievements in space history.

November 2, 2000

After launching on October 31, 2000 aboard a Soyuz space craft, an American and Russian crew arrived at the International Space Station. Commander William M. “Bill” Shepherd (NASA) and cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko of Roscosmos began living aboard the ISS, the the longest running manned space station ever.

November 11, 1935

The Explorer II, a high altitude balloon, launched from a canyon in the Black Hills of South Dakota on November 11, 1935 taking a two-man crew to an altitude of 72,395 ft (22,066 meters). The crew, U.S. Army Air Corps Captains Albert W. Stevens and Orvil A. Anderson, rode inside a sealed, spherical cabin, collecting information about the stratosphere. They also observed and photographed the curvature of the Earth.

Explorer II touched down safely on the same day at 4:13 pm. Albert William Stevens and Orvil Arson Anderson were acclaimed as national heroes.

November 17, 1970

Lunokhod 1 launched on November 10, 1970. After traveling for a week, the spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon in the Sea of Rains on November 17, making it the first lunar rover. Lunokhod 1 was the first remote-controlled robot to move freely across the surface of an astronomical object beyond the Earth.

The last communication session with Lunokhod 1 ended on September 14, 1971. Its final location was unknown until March 17, 2010, when Albert Abdrakhimov found both the lander and the rover.

November 20, 1998

Zarya, the first module of International Space Station, launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81 in Kazakhstan on November 20, 1998. Zarya, a Functional Cargo Block, was originally used to provide electricity, storage, propulsion and guidance during the early stages of construction.

On December 6, 1998, the U.S.-built Unity node was attached to the Russian-built Zarya module by the crew of space shuttle mission STS-88. Today, Zarya is used mostly for storage.

The International Space Station is considered to be one of the most complex scientific and technological endeavors ever undertaken. It is also the largest man-made object built in space.

What happens when the ISS is no longer in service?

At 239 feet long, 356 feet wide and 66 feet high, the International Space Station weighs just under one million pounds. What do you do with one million pounds of space waste?

Photo Source: NASA

This Month in Space History | October 2022

October 5, 2022

“The most important thing we can do is inspire young minds and to advance the kind of science, math and technology education that will help youngsters take us to the next phase of space travel.” – John Glenn

Mark Your Calendars

October brings the first artificial satellite and John Glenn’s return to space 37 years after he first orbited Earth.

Here are three historic space dates for October:

October 4, 1957

Launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit on October 4, 1957, Sputnik I became the first artificial satellite to be launched into space. The satellite transmitted until its batteries died, 21 days after launch. Sputnik I reentered Earth’s atmosphere on January 4, 1958 and burned up on reentry.

The Soviet Union’s successful launch of Sputnik I is credited for triggering the Space Race. It also set the stage for a slew of political, military, technological and scientific developments.

October 11, 1968

The launch of Apollo 7 marked the first space flight mission since the tragic Apollo 1 fire that killed astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee in January 1967. After being grounded and investigated for 21 months, NASA returned to the space race.

Apollo 7 was an Earth-orbit test of the command and service modules. Apollo 7 also brought the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft. Walter M. Schirra commanded Apollo 7 and is the only astronaut to fly Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions.

October 29, 1998

At the age of 77, John Glenn returned to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a payload specialist. The mission lasted nine days and was part of a study on health problems associated with aging. By participating in the missions, John Glenn became the oldest person ever to fly in space.

After his historic flight in 1962, John Glenn came to be viewed as a national hero. Because of his status, he was viewed at too valuable of an asset to risk losing. As a result, John Glenn was essential grounded until his triumphant return to space in 1998.

Visit SolutionsForSpaceWaste.com to find out what what has been left in orbit since beginning of the Space Age.

Image Credit: NASA

This Month in Space History | September 2022

September 6, 2022

“It’s not good enough for us to have generations of kids that… look forward to a better version of a cell phone with a video in it. They need to look forward to exploration” – Burt Rutan

Mark Your Calendars

From the announcement of a new Manned Spacecraft Center to first successful unmanned trip around the moon to the first privately-funded space flight. Here are four major space dates for September.

September 18, 1968

Zond 5 was launched on September 14, 1968 as part of the Soviet space program. Zond 5 orbited the moon on September 18. When it returned to Earth on September 21, it became the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon and return. At the time, it demonstrated how close the ‘Space Race’ had become – the Americans had yet to launch Apollo 8, which would make the same trip but with people on board. The Apollo 8 mission took place in December 1968.

September 19, 1961

NASA announced Houston would become the home to a new spaceflight center. The Manned Spacecraft Center would be the site where manned missions would be managed and supervised. The space center brought 751 NASA employees to Houston and hired an additional 689 new employees.

Houston’s Mission Control Center officially opened in September 1963 and would oversee the upcoming Apollo Missions, including the first manned mission to the moon. On February 19, 1973, the Manned Spacecraft Center was renamed the Johnson Space Center in honor of the late President Lyndon B. Johnson.

September 26, 1996

Shortly after 8 am, Space Shuttle Atlantis landed safely at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Aboard was NASA Astronaut Shannon Lucid who was returning to Earth after 188-day days in space on the Russian Space Station Mir. Shannon Lucid set a new U.S. space endurance record and a world record for women. She is also the only American woman to serve aboard Mir.

September 29, 2004

SpaceShipOne completed its first flight on May 20, 2003 and achieved supersonic flight on December 17, 2003, the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ historic flight. Finally, on September 29, 2004, SpaceShipOne completed the first privately funded human spaceflight and became the first privately built ship to reach outer space.

SpaceShipOne was an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability. It was funded by Paul Allen, designed by Burt Rutan and manufactured by Scaled Composites.

Check SpaceWasteSolutions.com to see what is being done about to address space waste these missions leave behind.

August 31, 2022

In June 2022, astronauts aboard the International Space Station found themselves in peril. A squall of space debris was hurtling toward them at blinding speeds of 17,000 to 32,000 miles per hour. The crew was able to maneuver to successfully evade the assault. However, it would only be a matter of time before it continued its erratic orbit around the Earth and came around again.

For many, the void of space brings to mind the idea that objects left in space will make their way to the furthest reaches of the solar system– following the trajectory of the Voyager 2 spacecraft, heading to unknown parts of the Universe. But, in reality, the area 220 to 1200 miles above Earth is where thousands of tons of debris from discarded launch rockets, obsolete satellites, and objects unintentionally discarded during space activity find themselves trapped by Earth’s gravitational pull, endlessly spinning in orbit around the planet. The problem is so significant that all space-faring nations track space debris to avoid disastrous collisions.

This space junk has accumulated from the very start of our modern space program, when the Soviets launched the first object in orbit, Sputnik 1, in 1957. Sputnik’s upper stage booster was intentionally discarded into low Earth orbit and remained there until its trajectory dropped, resulting in its burning in the atmosphere. During these last six and a half decades, mankind has launched thousands of crewed and unmanned space flights, an international space station, and over 13,000 satellites into space. Each new mission compounds the problem. Currently, there are over 36,000 objects large enough to track in orbit around the Earth. This space junk, at least four inches in diameter, could easily wipe out a spaceship or satellite. This figure also includes over 1,300 articles larger than a car. But in addition to this, there are approximately a million pieces between .40 inches and four inches, and innumerable smaller fragments. And although these may seem inconsequential, they are not. Debris the size of an aspirin tablet carries the explosive impact of a hand grenade. Even particles the size of rice can act like bullets in space. Although it is difficult to catalog all the estimated 10,000 tons of space debris currently in orbit, some have garnered special attention.

WHAT’S OUT THERE

Spacecraft account for at least 30% of space debris. Today we have over 6,200 operating satellites in orbit and 2,600 non-functional ones. Many of these are still in active orbit as space junk, including dozens of nuclear-powered satellites launched by the U.S. and Soviets in the 1960s and 70s. The oldest defunct satellite still in orbit is the U.S. Vanguard 1, launched in 1958, five months after the Sputnik 1. It sent its last signal in May 1964 but is expected to remain circling the globe for another 170 years. These craft represent a serious threat, in 1996, the space shuttle Endeavor had to fire up its steering thrusters to conduct an emergency maneuver to avoid a 350-pound abandoned air force satellite designed to track ballistic missiles. And in February 2009, the decommissioned Russian satellite the Cosmos 2251 and the operational U.S. satellite the Iridium 33 collided in space. The speed of the impact pulverized both satellites, resulting in a massive cloud of debris.

Since the start of the space program, there have been over 6,200 rocket launches. Rocket boosters account for up to 17% of space junk. Spent rocket stages are among the most dangerous pieces of space debris. Many still have propellant on board and continue to circle the Earth like ticking time bombs. In 1986, a European Ariane booster, which was used to launch a French satellite into space just nine months earlier, exploded, throwing hundreds of fragments into orbit. In the 1970s and early 1980s, seven U.S. Delta booster rockets suddenly blew up in space.

Other mission-related objects such as ejected covers and shields, hardware, electric circuitry, solidified liquids including fuel and sewage, and other devices accompanying payloads comprise about 13% of the debris. In 2009, the crew of the International Space Station had to take shelter in an escape vehicle after a near collision with an old motor that was once part of the ISS. Other known items that may still be hurtling through space include a camera lost by astronaut Sunita Williams during a space walk in 2006, a screwdriver dropped by a cosmonaut working on the Mir Space Station, and the thermal glove that floated out of Gemini 4 in 1965.

The principal source of space debris is the breakup of rocket boosters and satellites in space, which account for 40% of orbital trash. There have been over 500 known breakups. The debris cloud that the International Space Station recently dodged came from a Russian anti-satellite weapon test conducted in November 2021. This targeted blast of a defunct 80s-era Russian Cosmos 1408 intelligence satellite resulted in the formation of two distinct clouds with an estimated 1,500 trackable fragments. These clouds created havoc for the ISS and also hundreds of Starlink satellites, which had to maneuver out of its path.

There have been multiple detonations of defunct space hardware by Russian anti-satellite weapons. Additionally, hundreds of trackable debris fragments resulted from the Star Wars weapon testing conducted in the 1980s. However, the largest deliberately created debris field was from an anti-satellite weapon test conducted by China in 2007. The incident is estimated to have created 23,000 golf-ball size pieces of debris as well as millions of smaller fragments.

Many collisions in space have been due to these untracked fragments. In 1983, on its seventh mission to the ISS, the space shuttle Challenger returned to Earth with a 3 mm chip on the window. Later chemical analysis revealed it to be caused by a speck of white paint approximately 2/10th of a millimeter in diameter. And in 2021, a fragment a few millimeters in size, knocked a hole into the thermal envelope of a robotic arm on the ISS.

There are also various miscellaneous items flying through space, including metal space needles put into orbit by the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s. A payload of over 1.2 billion needles were launched into space by the military to see if radar signals could be bounced off them and return to Earth. The experiment was unsuccessful and swarms of these needles were later suspected in the 1975 breakup of the PAGEOS balloon satellite built to provide a tracking target for geodetic purposes.

CLEANING UP THE MESS As we enter a new age of privatized space ventures, numerous companies have filed plans to launch a combined 14,000 satellites in the coming years. The conversation has veered from the danger associated with the launch into orbit, to the peril of space debris. In 1978, leading NASA scientist Donald Kessler already saw the writing on the wall. He theorized that as space junk in orbit accumulated, a sufficiently large collision of objects in space could lead to a cascading effect of fragments colliding, creating more debris, thus leading to further collisions. This would inevitably create an impenetrable layer of debris that would make terrestrial space launches impossible.

The threat of the Kessler Syndrome NASA fears led to changes in the U.S. Space Program, including modifications to the upper stage rockets to reduce the chance of an explosion in space. Other space-faring nations followed suit, and space debris guidelines, including diverting inoperable satellites to a “graveyard orbit” or de-orbiting and allowing them to burn in the atmosphere, were set in 1993 and adopted by the UN. However, space companies do not always follow the recommendations.

Many scientists believe we are on the verge of meeting the fate proposed by Kessler, unless immediate action is taken to remove material from orbit. Concepts currently in the works range from laser beams to pulverize debris, a space tow truck, a fleet of giant vacuum cleaners, a massive net to envelope and drag debris to a lower orbit, an omni-magnet to capture space debris, and even giant aerogel blobs to absorb fragments. Someday soon, we may see an entire industry built around the removal of the space junk piling up in Earth’s backyard.

The AlienCon Newsletter Team is made up of researchers, authors, and experts in their fields. Join us twice a month as we bring you the latest news, discoveries, and information on all things otherworldly.

Source Credit: https://www.thealiencon.com/newsletter-archives/the-intergalactic-world-of-space-junk/?cmpid=email-aliencon-newsletter-2022-0830-08302022&om_rid=

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This Month in Space History | August 2022

August 2, 2022

“Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars. Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars — or if the planet can sustain life in the future.” – Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator

Mark Your Calendars

Science is always moving forward. From blurry images and dogs in space to fresh produce and Mars Rover selfies, August highlights some of these great progressions of science in the age of space exploration.

August 6, 2012

The Mars Rover Landing is considered to be the biggest space mission in the social media era. The mission launched on November 26, 2011. After surviving “Seven Minutes of Terror” as it descended through the atmosphere, Curiosity landed successfully in the Gale Crater on August 6, 2012.

As of today, the Curiosity rover is still operational. You can find updates on the Curiosity Rover on the Mars Science Laboratory website.

August 7, 1959

Launched by NASA on August 7, 1959, was a small satellite designed to study trapped radiation in the upper atmosphere. Explorer 6 was equipped with a scanning device that was designed to photograph cloud cover on Earth. This device captured the first images of Earth from orbit.

The photograph was taken on August 14 from about 17,000 miles above Earth’s surface. While the image isn’t much to look at by today’s standards, it was an exciting development in space exploration.

August 10, 2015

Red lettuce was the first food to be grown and harvested in space. The lettuce grew for 15 months with the help of a system called Veg-01. Veg-01 uses red, blue, and green LED lights to grow plants.

Crew members Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren (NASA) and Kimiya Yui (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA) of Expedition 44 harvested and sampled the lettuce. Half of the harvest was packed, frozen, and returned to Earth for scientific analysis.

August 19, 1960

Launched by the USSR, Korabl-Sputnik 2 (also know as Sputnik 5) was the third test flight of the Vostok spacecraft and the first to carry and safely return animals from orbit. This mission paved the way for Vostok 1 and man’s first orbital flight.

Korabl-Sputnik 2 carried 2 dogs, 40 mice, 2 rats and an assortment of plants. During orbit, Korabl-Sputnik 2 passed by the US Echo satellite. An onboard radio system captured the two dogs, Belka and Strelka, barking as they passed the foil covered, nitrogen-filled balloon.

One year later, Strelka had a litter of puppies. One of those puppies, Pushinka, was sent to First Lady Jacqueline “Jackie” Kennedy as a goodwill present after she had asked Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev about Strelka’s puppies at a state dinner in Vienna.

Love space facts?

Visit SolutionsForSpaceWaste.com for more great space facts and to learn how those space facts related to the space waste problem.

This Month in Space History | July 2022

July 1, 2022

“There are great ideas undiscovered, breakthroughs available to those who can remove one of truth’s protective layers. There are places to go beyond belief.” – Neil Armstrong

Arguably the greatest milestone in space history. Over fifty years ago, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon. It was a moment that captured our hearts and provided a positive end to a turbulent decade.

Mark Your Calendars

From man’s first footprints on the moon to the end of an era, July reminds us of some big moments in space exploration. July also brings a huge milestone in unmanned space exploration.

July 4, 1997

Launched on December 4, 1996, the Mars Pathfinder landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, becoming the first operational rover outside the Earth–Moon system. The Mars Pathfinder carried instruments to analyze the atmosphere, climate and geology, including the composition of its rocks and soil.

The Mars Pathfinder was the second project from NASA’s Discovery Program and a “proof-of-concept” for airbag-mediated touchdown and automated obstacle avoidance. It was also extremely low cost in comparison to other robotic space missions to Mars.

July 17-19, 1975

On July 15, two flights launched within seven and a half hours or each other. Two days later, on July 17, the Soyuz 19 and the unnumbered Apollo Command/Service Module docked together for the first multinational manned mission. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project ceremoniously marked the end of the Space Race that had begun in 1957 with the Sputnik launch.

U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts docked together in space for two days. This was also the last time an Apollo vehicle would fly to space.

July 20, 1969

On July 16, 1969, Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. boarded Apollo 11 and prepared for launch. Four days later on July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module separated from the Command Module and descended to the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first moonwalk fulfilled President Kennedy’s mandate to land a man on the Moon and marked “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent over 21 hours on the moon, two and a half of which were outside the capsule. In a show of mutual respect for space race rivals, the Apollo 11 mission left medals dedicated to Yuri Gagarin and cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov on the surface of the moon.

In a press conference, Neil Armstrong reflected on the motivation for landing on the moon. He said “I think we’re going to the moon because it’s in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It’s by the nature of his deep inner soul…we’re required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.”

July 21, 2011

At 5:57 a.m. EDT, space shuttle Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The touchdown marked the end of the 33rd voyage for Atlantis as well as the end of the space shuttle era. At its retirement, the space shuttle had completed 4,848 times orbits around Earth, traveling nearly 126,000,000 miles.

Atlantis had launched on July 8 for a 13 day trip to the International Space Station. Atlantis is currently displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

Visit SolutionsForSpaceWaste.com for more Space History and facts about Space Waste.

This Month in Space History | June 2022

June 1, 2022

Very few people have experienced the thrill and anticipation of being launched into space. In an interview in 1998, Sally Ride described this experience.

“When you’re getting ready to launch into space, you’re sitting on a big explosion waiting to happen. So most astronauts getting ready to lift off are excited and very anxious and worried about that explosion.”

She went on to explain if something goes wrong in that moment, there is little you can do about it. While the fear of riding a rocket into space seems very real and reasonable, it failed to stop these pioneers in space exploration.

Mark You Calendars

June brought women to space and welcomed a new era of Russian-American cooperation. Here are four of our greatest hits for June.

June 16, 1963

After completing 48 orbits aboard Vostok 6, Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova returns to Earth, marking the first time a woman went to space. Live video of the mission was broadcast by Soviet state television. During the mission, data was collected to analyze the female body’s reaction to spaceflight.

Valentina Tereshkova is recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union and the Vostok 6 capsule is now on display at the RKK Energia Museum in Korolyov.

June 18, 1983

Almost exactly 20 years after Russians launched Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. She is also the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space. On her flight aboard the Challenger, Sally Ride, along with four other crew members, conducted pharmaceutical experiments and deployed two communications satellites.

Despite the significance of her mission and status as the first American woman in space, Sally Ride insisted she only saw herself one way, and that was as an astronaut.

June 20, 1944

V-2 Rocket was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. It’s launch marked the first spaceflight in history. Produced and launched by Nazi Germany, the V-2 Rocket became the first man-made object to cross what would later be defined as the Kármán line.

June 29, 1995

Millions watch on live television as the Space Shuttle Atlantis and its seven crew members launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 27. When Atlantis docked with the Russian space station Mir, it marked the first shuttle-station hookup. Cosmonauts welcomed the shuttle crew by broadcasting Russian folk songs.

It took two hours to dock. Astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson had to maintain speeds under one foot every 10 seconds as he maneuvered the 100-ton shuttle to within 3 inches of Mir. The docking lasted for five days and the mission was regarded as the beginning of “a new era of friendship and cooperation.”

Check back at SolutionsForSpaceWaste.com to find out what these missions to space left behind.

Brent David Willis Named CEO of Vaya Space

May 3, 2022

(COCOA, FL, May 4, 2022) – Vaya Space, Inc. the privately-held hybrid rocket company and leader in sustainable space access, today announced that well-known multinational business leader Brent David Willis has joined their company as Chief Executive Officer, replacing CEO Grant Begley, who will continue with the firm as a member of the Board of Directors.

NASA’s first US born Hispanic Astronaut and Shuttle Commander, and current Vaya Space Chairman, Sid Gutierrez commented, “We are so excited to have Brent join our leadership team. Brent is a mission-oriented and values-centric leader that fits in perfectly with our culture. We are confident that his experience in developing transformative strategies in major multinational companies will translate to Vaya Space becoming the leader in the Space Industry.”

Vaya Space has been at the forefront of developing safer technologies to access space. Their breakthrough and patented 3D printed hybrid engines deliver greater than 25% lower cost and are fueled with recycled plastics, utilizing more than 2 million plastic bottles per launch. Vaya demonstrated their efficacy against the multi-billion-dollar small satellite launch sector with their successful launch earlier this year and are taking orders now for future planned launches.

“Getting back to my Aerospace roots where I started my career is incredibly exciting and joining a purpose-driven company like Vaya is humbling,” said Brent David Willis. “Vaya has competitive-advantaged technology that will not only disrupt the market with safe and sustainable access to space, but will also help humankind. We have the right technology, the right team, the right motivation, and are at the right time and place in history to lead in this very attractive industry.”

Selected as CEO Innovator of the Year in 2021 by the Golden Bridge Business Awards, one of the preeminent global business programs, Brent has had a career of developing breakthrough strategy and leading industry transformations. In addition to serving in the US Military, he has had a long track record of success as a senior executive in many multibillion-dollar multinational companies including leading the development of the of the strategy that created the world’s largest beer company Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Navy Captain, Top Gun pilot, and former CEO of Vaya Space, Grant Begley commented, “It has been one of my life’s great privileges over the past few years to have led Vaya Space, and I am very pleased and confident to be handing over the reins to Brent. I am proud of all we have done at Vaya including receiving our most recent patent for Vaya’s Star-3D printed rocket fuel, and am equally proud of the impact that I know the new discoveries at Vaya Space will have on the world.

About Vaya Space

Private hybrid rocket company based on the Space Coast of Florida with subsidiary operations in Brazil, Vaya Space has developed breakthrough and patented technologies that transform access to space. Vaya Space was selected as a GrowFL company to watch for growth and innovation in 2022. Following its successful launch and most recent patent awarded in early 2022, Vaya Space is positioned to lead the burgeoning small satellite launch market within the broader $385 billion-dollar space industry. Vaya is a sustainability focused and environmentally conscious enterprise, that produces hybrid rocket engines using recycled plastics as fuel. Vaya Space’s unique Star-3D printed engines generate >800 kN of thrust, capable of placing more than 1,000 kg of payloads into low earth orbit. Vaya delivers safer launches at a greater than 25% lower cost, utilizing more than 2 million recycled plastic bottles per launch. The Company is currently taking orders for upcoming additional planned launches.