Robert H. Goddard

Many consider Goddard to be the father of modern rocketry, and his love of space came at an early age. At the age of 16, Goddard read H.G. Wells War of the Worlds, and his pursuit of space began. At the time, science was not fond of ideas concerning space travel, so Goddard worked largely in private. Goddard's first writings about rocketry occurred during his undergraduate career in the spring of 1908 and were jotted down in his journal. He stated that liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen could be used as a fuel. By 1913, he had calculated the mathematics of a rocket launch, and, one year later, Goddard applied for and received two patents. The first described a multi-stage rocket, and the second described a rocket fueled by gasoline and liquid nitrous oxide. In 1915, he showed that a rocket could work in a vacuum and actually proved that a rocket's performance actually decreases under atmospheric pressure. However, his most influential work was still to come.

In 1919, Goddard published his most influential work, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. In this, he discussed his previous research, theories of rocket flight, and future space travel. Before the end of the decade, he would discuss an ablative heat shield as well as photographing the moon, contacting distant civilizations using inscribed metal plates, solar energy use in space, and high energy ion propulsion. Goddard finally launched his first liquid fueled rocket on March 16, 1926 in Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket only flew 41 feet into the air, but it showed that liquid propelled rockets were possible. Goddard continued rocket experiments until 1945. He moved to Roswell, New Mexico where 31 rockets were launched between 1930 and 1945. The highest altitude that he ever achieved was 9km on March 26th, 1937. Planes and other rockets could exceed this altitude, but his work is still influential as well as pivotal. It is no surprise that he is considered one of the fathers of rocketry.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

The first academic paper concerning rocketry was written by this man, and he added conceptually to space travel. Tsiolkovsky was a Russian scientist fascinated by space, but he was also a loner. As a hermit by choice most of his life, his work was largely ignored until after 1920. In 1903, he published The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices which calculated a horizontal escape velocity of 18,000 miles per hour to sustain a minimal orbit around the Earth. He also proposed a way to accomplish this. His idea was a multistage rocket fueled by the reaction of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Tsiolkovsky also proposed steering boosters, multi-stage boosters, space stations, and airlocks to exit spacecraft. He also proposed the very first idea for a space elevator. While almost no one would know who he is, his work has been invaluable to space travel. He is the first father of rocketry.

Aliens and My Short Story

For many years, I watched science fiction movies and didn't question the look of humanoid aliens. Then, I read a book by Carl Sagan, and it became clear that our idea of life was incredibly bias. It wasn't that hard to realize why television and movies depicted aliens like this. They were played by people, and it was a matter of being practical. However, Sagan's tale about aliens got me thinking, and, as an aspiring author, this influenced my first short story. A short tale of aliens visiting Earth in a search for intelligent life (no, it's not a satire, but that might be another idea).

Sagan's opinion about the destruction of mankind also influenced this tale about aliens visiting Earth. The aliens are far from humanoid and are, in fact, spheres who communicate by changing color and humming. It could be that this tale was also influenced by an episode of Futurama where Earth wars against balls (hehe).

While Sagan's tale of alien contact, titled simply "Contact" is ingenius, I wanted to show it from the alien perspective simply because I thought it would be cool. While the nature of the short story is bleak, "Alien Contact" is a meager ten pages of reading. I know that it can never compare to the work of Sagan, but I also can't ignore his impression on it.

Recommended reading and gratuitous self promotion below:

From the Earth to the Moon

My first real exposure to man's exploration of space started with "From the Earth to the Moon", a documentary produced by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks made for HBO. In ten parts, it documents man's effort to reach the moon in a ten year time frame. Throughout the mini-series, NASA experiences joy, anxiety, tradegy, and, eventually, triumph.

The mini-series begins with Kennedy's proclaimation that this country (the United States) will land a man on the moon before this decade is out. This speech was made in April of 1961 because a man had even flown into space. Then, the mini-series catalogues the Apollo 1 disaster, creation of the lunar module, the first landing on the moon and the last. It is a great documentary that is worth checking out.

This documentary was based on the book "A Man on the Moon" by Andrew Chaikin.

Apollo 9

Read about Apollo 8

Apollo 9 would play a pivotal role in the first manned moon landing because the crew would test many of the critical components to the Apollo 11 mission. The crew was headed by Gemini veteran Jim McDivitt. His Command Module Pilot was another Gemini veteran from the third group of astronauts, David Scott. Filling the final position of Lunar Module Pilot was young looking Rusty Schweickart whose first and only flight would occur on Apollo 9. The Lunar Module (LM or lem) would truly be tested in this mission, for the first time. However, there were many other mission parameters which will be discussed shortly.

First the crew separated from the craft containing the lem and used the command module to dock with it and unload it. After this was performed, the crew was connected to the lem and actually transferred from one to the other without using spacesuits.

Schweickart was supposed to perform an EVA, but he became ill with space sickness during the first day and his tests were scrapped for his safety. However, Schweickart recovered and performed some of the tests. However, he was able to prove that the new Apollo spacesuit could perform without an umbilical lifeline to the ship. To do this, Schweickart carried a backpack which functioned as life support for this suit. It would be used again for every Apollo mission.

Following this, there was one craft that had to be tested before Apollo could move forward. The LM would have to function in space, and its engines would have to work. McDivitt and Schweickart would take out the LM for this maiden voyage. The craft worked as it was supposed to, and the mission was a complete success. After this mission, the only member of the crew who would fly again would be David Scott.

Read about Apollo 10

The Lunar Module

Hey everyone,

For man to land on the moon, they would need a vehicle capable of landing on the surface and taking off again. However, at first, there was some discussion on what to send to the moon. Some suggested taking a large craft to the moon weighing a significant amount more than the final product would. This was a direct ascent approach or an Earth rendezvous approach. However, both of these methods would require landing the entire spacecraft on the moon. By using a lunar orbit rendezvous, only a small craft would land on the moon while another stay in orbit. Once finished on the surface, the two would reconnect in lunar orbit. After this plan was accepted, the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) would be constructed mainly by the Grumann Aircraft Engineering with Tom Kelly as the chief designer. During this process, weight was a constant concern. To save weight, windows were made small, seats were even removed and replaced by velco so the astronauts could stand and see out the windows, and even shielding was removed and replaced by a thin sheet. However, the LEM would never fail and prove all the critics wrong. The final change before it would see space was from the Lunar Excursion Module to the Lunar Module, but it was still known as the LEM.

P.S. I'm not seeing a return from some of my clicks. If anyone is clicking to help me out, I would like you to stop. My adsense account can be revoked and all the money I've earned can be lost. If it is genuine, let me know so I can report a problem. Thanks.

A shameless plug

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to encourage everyone to click on my ads. Just to entice you a little more, here's a shameless plug. Do you have a galactic empire threatening the very livelihood of your rebel band, but you don't know how to notify them of attack? Are Death Stars seemingly hiding behind every moon (that's no moon, it's a space station)? Has the prolonged war with the empire turned your rebel base into more of a senior living community without proper emergency systems? Your lightsaber isn't as hard as it once was (if you can light it up at all)? Well then, try out the emergency systems listed alongside this blog. Promised to save your life in the case of a Death Star attack or a sudden AT-AT Walker attack on various ice planets. There's no need to fear with _____________(fill in blank).

P.S. Not actual promise. There is no known defense against a blast from a Death Star and emergency alert is unlikely to destroy an AT-AT Walker.

P.P.S. There is no proof that these emergency systems will give you an erection unless you're into that kind of thing.