National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

K E NNE D Y

SPACE

CENTERS

m a g a z i n e

December 2015 Vol. 2 No. 12

Aeronautics
Research

Mars

Technology

Earth
Right
Now

ISS

NASAS
LAUNCH
SCHEDULE

Solar
System &
Beyond

KENNEDY SPACE CENTERS

SPACEPORT MAGAZINE

CONTENTS
6
8
14
18
21
22
24
26
30
35
39

Astronaut candidates wanted for future space missions

Researchers explore question of deep-space food crops
Kennedy workers earn Science Innovation Fund awards
Crew Access Tower construction progresses
Cygnus sealed inside fairing
Crew Dragon propulsion system completes testing
Coating technology earns Create the Future Design award
Kennedy counts down to Santas annual toy delivery mission
Commercial travel opens unlimited opportunities
Aviation pioneers used unprecedented methods
Dual Gemini flights achieve crucial spaceflight milestones

To get the latest Kennedy Space Center updates,

follow us on our Blog, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter.
KSC
BLOG

THE SPACEPORT MAGAZINE TEAM

Editorial

Writers Group

Managing Editor............ Amanda Griffin

Anna Heiney

Bob Granath

Richard Beard

Amy Lombardo

Editor............................. Frank Ochoa-Gonzales

Kay Grinter

Linda Herridge

Lynda Brammer

Matthew Young

Assistant Editor.............. Linda Herridge

Frank Ochoa-Gonzales

Steven Siceloff

Greg Lee

Copy Editor.................... Kay Grinter

Creative Group

Targeted Date: Dec. 3,

5:55 p.m. EST
Mission: Fourth Orbital ATK
Commercial Resupply Services
Flight to ISS
Description: The mission will
be the first flight of the enhanced
variant of Orbital ATKs Cygnus
advanced maneuvering spacecraft,
capable of delivering more than
7,700 pounds of essential crew
supplies, equipment and scientific
experiments to the International
Space Station. The Atlas V will
launch from Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station in Florida during
a 30-minute window.
http://go.nasa.gov/J37GNY
Date: Dec. 15
Mission: Expedition 46 Launch
to the ISS
Description: NASA astronaut
Tim Kopra, ESA astronaut Tim
Peake and Yuri Malenchenko of
Roscosmos will launch to the ISS
aboard a Soyuz spacecraft from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
http://go.nasa.gov/1Itsxly
Date: March 2016
Mission: InSight (Interior
Exploration Using Seismic
Investigations, Geodesy and Heat
Transport)
Description: The mission will study
the deep interior of Mars to advance
understanding of the early history
of all rocky planets, including Earth.
http://go.nasa.gov/1ItsDcR
Date: September 2016
Mission: OSIRIS-REx
Description: The mission will study
Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid thats
about one-third of a mile across.
http://go.nasa.gov/1ItsRkl

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

JACKIE QUINN
I have degrees in environmental and civil engineering, and
during the past 25 years, I have had the privilege of working a
variety of jobs with many super-smart and talented folks at the
Kennedy Space Center.
I claim time well spent on the Environmental Controls and
Life Support System for the Space Shuttle. I look back and
see engineering skills I deployed as a civil engineer when I
designed and supervised the construction of the Black Point
wildlife road repaving job in the early 1990s. Its fun seeing the
design choices I made two decades ago hold up! I reminisce
about the impacts of the environmental cleanup projects
I enjoyed working on as part of Kennedys Environmental
Management Office. And then I glance back at my more recent
technology development career, and I am humbled by the
opportunities this agency has offered me.
I attended graduate school in 1995 as a Hugh Dryden
Memorial Science Fellowship recipient. This propelled me
into the applied research and technology development sector,
and gave me the opportunity that led to the development
of Emulsified Zero Valent Iron, or EZVI, an environmental
groundwater cleanup technology that would win NASAs 2005
Government and Commercial Invention of the Year awards.
Although I continue to dabble in the environmental
technology development area, I spend most of my time as
the Project Manager for the RESOLVE, or Regolith and
Environment Science and Oxygen Lunar Volatiles Extraction,
payload, which will be the primary payload onboard the 2020
Resource Prospector mission. I am surrounded by engineers
and scientists from multiple centers that truly embody the
excellence that NASA represents, and am humbled by this
opportunity. The people who work in the space program are
some of the most motivated and driven
individuals I have ever met, and I am so
fortunate to be a part of this team.

www.nasa.gov

SPACEPORT Magazine

Solar
System &
Beyond

is your forc
Awakening

Astronaut candidates wanted

for future space missions

n anticipation of returning human spaceflight launches to

American soil, and in preparation for the agencys journey to Mars,
NASA announced it will soon begin accepting applications for the
next class of astronaut candidates. With more human spacecraft
in development in the United States today than at any other time
in history, future astronauts will launch once again from the Space
Coast of Florida on American-made commercial spacecraft, and
carry out deep-space exploration missions that will advance a future
human mission to Mars.
The agency will accept applications from Dec. 14 through
mid-February and expects to announce candidates selected in mid2017. Applications for consideration as a NASA Astronaut will be
accepted at: http://www.usajobs.gov.
The next class of astronauts may fly on any of four different
U.S. vessels during their careers: the International Space Station,
two commercial crew spacecraft currently in development by U.S.
companies, and NASAs Orion deep-space exploration vehicle.
From pilots and engineers, to scientists and medical doctors,
NASA selects qualified astronaut candidates from a diverse pool of
U.S. citizens with a wide variety of backgrounds.
This next group of American space explorers will inspire the
Mars generation to reach for new heights, and help us realize
the goal of putting boot prints on the Red Planet, said NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden. Those selected for this service will
fly on U.S. made spacecraft from American soil, advance critical
science and research aboard the International Space Station, and
help push the boundaries of technology in the proving ground of
deep space.
The space agency is guiding an unprecedented transition to
commercial spacecraft for crew and cargo transport to the space
station. Flights in Boeings CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew
Dragon will facilitate adding a seventh crew member to each station
mission, effectively doubling the amount of time astronauts will be
able to devote to research in space.
Future station crew members will continue the vital work
advanced during the last 15 years of continuous human habitation

SPACEPORT Magazine

See if you have what it takes: https://youtu.be/QjECZVitU00

aboard the orbiting laboratory, expanding scientific knowledge and

demonstrating new technologies. This work will include building
on the regular six-month missions and this years one-year mission,
currently underway aboard the station, which is striving for research
breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration
human and robotic exploration into deep space.
In addition, NASAs Space Launch System rocket and Orion
spacecraft, now in development, will launch astronauts on missions
to the proving ground of lunar orbit where NASA will learn to
conduct complex operations in a deep space environment before
moving on to longer duration missions on its journey to Mars.
This is an exciting time to be a part of Americas human space

flight program, said Brian Kelly, director of Flight Operations

at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA has taken
the next step in the evolution of our nations human spaceflight
program and our U.S. astronauts will be at the forefront of
these new and challenging space flight missions. We encourage
all qualified applicants to learn more about the opportunities for
astronauts at NASA and apply to join our flight operations team.
To date, NASA has selected more than 300 astronauts to fly on
its increasingly challenging missions to explore space and benefit
life on Earth. There are 47 astronauts in the active astronaut corps,
and more will be needed to crew future missions to the space
station and destinations in deep space.

Applications for consideration as

a NASA astronaut will be accepted
at: http://www.usajobs.gov.

Astronaut candidates must have earned a bachelors degree from

an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical
science or mathematics. An advanced degree is desirable. Candidates
also must have at least three years of related, progressively
responsible professional experience, or at least 1,000 hours of pilotin-command time in jet aircraft. Astronaut candidates must pass the
NASA long-duration spaceflight physical.

For more information about a career as a

NASA astronaut, and application requirements, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts.

SPACEPORT Magazine

Mars

SPUDS IN SPACE
NASA plant researchers explore
question of deep-space food crops
BY LINDA HERRIDGE

ASA plant physiologist Dr. Ray Wheeler and fictional

astronaut Mark Watney from the movie The Martian have
something in common they are both botanists. But thats where
the similarities end. While Watney is a movie character who gets
stranded on Mars, Wheeler is the lead for Advanced Life Support
Research activities in the Exploration Research and Technology
Program at Kennedy Space Center, working on real plant research.
The Martian movie and book conveyed a lot of issues
regarding growing food and surviving on a planet far from the
Earth, Wheeler said. Its brought plants back into the equation.
As NASA prepares the Space Launch System rocket and Orion
spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1, its also turning
its attention to exploring the possibilities of
food crops grown in controlled environments
for long-duration missions to deep-space
destinations such as Mars.
Wheeler and his colleagues, including
plant scientists, have been studying

ways to grow safe, fresh food crops efficiently off the Earth. Most
recently, astronauts on the International Space Station harvested and
ate a variety of red romaine lettuce that they activated and grew in a
plant growth system called Veggie.
Wheeler, who has worked at Kennedy since 1988, was among
the plant scientists and collaborators who helped get the Veggie unit
tested and certified for use on the space station. The plant chamber,
developed by Orbitec through a NASA Small Business Innovative
Research Program, passed safety reviews and met low power usage
and low mass requirements for use on the space station.
Aside from the chamber, the essentials needed for growing
food crops, whether on the Earth or another planet, such as Mars,
are water, light and soil, along with some kind of nutrients to help
them grow.
POTATO CROP STUDIES
What kind of crops could be grown in space or on
another planet? Potatoes, sweet potatoes, wheat
and soybeans would all be good according
to Wheeler because they provide a lot of
carbohydrates, and soybeans are a good
source of protein.
Also, potatoes are tubers, which
means they store their
edible biomass

A variety of red potatoes called Norland were grown in the Biomass

Production Chamber inside Hangar L at Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station in Florida during a research study in 1992. Photo credit: NASA

in underground structures. Wheeler said potatoes could produce

twice the amount of food as some seed crops when given
equivalent light. After salad crops that are now being studied, they
are the next category of minimally processed food crops and could
be consumed raw.
You could begin to grow potatoes, wheat and soybeans, things
like that, and along with the salad crops, you could provide more of
a complete diet, Wheeler said.
Wheeler has spent a lot of time studying different ways to
grow potatoes. Most of his studies took place during the late 1980s
through the early 2000s inside Hangar L at Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station in Florida. The lab was relocated to the Space Life
Sciences Laboratory in 2003. A major portion of the labs were
then relocated to the Space Station Processing Facility in 2014 to
become part of the Exploration Research and Technology Programs
Directorate at Kennedy.
Many of the early potato crop studies were done at the
University of Wisconsin, where Wheeler worked prior to coming
to Kennedy. Plant scientists at Kennedy used these fundamental
findings as a starting point for their studies, and in particular, a
variety called Norland red potatoes, using a large plant chamber
called the Biomass Plant Production Chamber.
The Biomass Production Chamber originally was a hypobaric
test chamber used during the Mercury Project. Including its
pedestal, the chamber is 28 feet tall. It was later modified to
grow plants in the mid-1980s. Air circulation ducts and fans,
high pressure sodium lamps, cooling and heating systems, and
hydroponic trays and solution tanks were added. The chamber
provided a tightly closed atmosphere for plant growth, which
simulated what might be encountered in space.
Providing food is a complex issue, Wheeler said. We have
to think about nutritional issues, whats acceptable and what tastes

good. If nobody wants to eat it, that wont work.

WATER A PRECIOUS RESOURCE
In the movie, the character chooses to use the regolith, or
Martian soil, to grow the plants. In reality, the soil on Mars is
essentially broken rock material, and lacks most of the nutrients
needed to sustain plant growth.
Much of what Wheeler did in his potato studies involved
growing the plants in shallow, tilted trays using a hydroponic
recirculating system.
With potatoes, it was a little bit more interesting in the sense
that you cant use systems that require a lot of standing or deep
waterpotatoes dont like to be submerged, Wheeler said, and we
kept the nutrient water film very thin.
They did very well, as do many crops grown this way, according
to Wheeler. But traveling in a spacecraft to another planet will
put constraints on the quantity and weight of commodities that
could be brought along. You cant pack everything you need for a
long-duration spaceflight. Some resources will need to be recycled,
acquired or made at the destination, a process called in-situ resource
utilization.
The recent discovery of water on Mars is a positive
development, said Rob Mueller, senior technologist for Advanced
Projects Development in the Exploration Research and Technology
Program at Kennedy. It can be used for making propellant,
sustaining human life and growing crops.
But, Mueller noted, the water will not be pure and will have a
brine composition. Perchlorates and other impurities are known to
exist in the regolith on Mars, so these must be accounted for and
mitigated before the water can be used.
Wheeler said one scenario could be that provisions such
as water pumps and fertilizer salts are brought along on deep-

SPACEPORT Magazine

An artist concept depicts a

greenhouse on the surface
of Mars. Plants are growing
with the help of red, blue
and green LED light bars
and a hydroponic cultivation
approach. Image credit: SAIC

space trips, and the plants are grown

hydroponically inside a protected
environment. Martian soils might be used
later as the growing systems expand.
Growing plants on Mars is not a trivial
matter, Mueller said.
PLANTS NEED LIGHT TO GROW
In open fields on Earth, light is
plentiful. But out in space, use of direct
sunlight for plant growth could be
challenging. Yet having sufficient light will
be required for growing plants quickly in
space.
In 2007, a graduate student at the
University of Colorado mapped the light
intensity at the surface of Mars over two
Martian years. Results showed that the
Red Planet gets 43 percent of the sunlight
that Earth receives due to its distance from
the Sun, but has numerous areas at low
latitudes that receive adequate light to
grow plants.
Mars gets significant dust storms,
which could block a lot of sunlight, and that
must be considered, Wheeler said. Thats
an issue, even if were using a photovoltaic
system.

10

SPACEPORT Magazine

Thats the reason why planetary

problems and spacecraft that travel farther
away from the sun, like Cassini, Galileo
and New Horizons, didnt use photovoltaic
type systems. Just like in the movie, they use
radioactive thermal generators, also called
RTGs, as power generators. Its a form of
radioactive decay that generates heat, which
is converted to electrical power.
An alternate approach to sunlight
would be to use electric light sources. High
intensities of efficient LED lights could be
used to help push the plants hard, Wheeler
said. This is an area where NASA has been
really right up on the edge of research and
development.
The Veggie plant growth system,
currently on the space station, uses blue
and red LED lights. Wheeler said using
LED lights to grow plants was an idea that
originated from a NASA-funded effort at
the University of Wisconsin in the 1980s.
The technology was patented with NASAsupported funds.
Kennedys plant scientists also were one
of the first groups to demonstrate vertical
farming -- layers of plant trays with a water
source and LED lighting. This type of

farming is now being used in Japan, Korea,

and China, and several facilities in North
America.
PROTECTION FROM RADIATION
As if finding the right soil, water and
lighting wasnt enough of a challenge, food
crops also would need to be protected
from ultraviolet radiation and kept inside
a pressurized environment with adequate
nutrients and appropriate lighting. The
shelter would have to be able to withstand
radiation and the extreme temperatures of a
Martian environment.
Thats a big challenge for materials for
a greenhouse-like structure. The thermal
issues could be alleviated by having either a
cover or clamshell that would go over it at
night and open in the daytime, Wheeler
suggested.
When nuclear power was emerging
in the 1970s, there was a lot of interest
in understanding the potential effects of
radiation on living organisms, including
plants. There are limits to what plants can
take, and Wheeler said more research needs
to be done on the tolerance of food crops to
radiation.

Dr. Ray Wheeler, lead for Advanced Life Support Research

activities at Kennedy Space Center, holds a red and blue
LED light fixture inside a laboratory at the Space Station
Processing Facility. The LED lights recently were used to
study the effects of different ratios of red and blue light on
plant growth and development. Photo credit:
NASA/Jim Grossmann

THE EYES HAVE IT

How do you regenerate your food
source? If you consume everything over a
period of time, you will eventually run out.
But theres something special about
potato tubers. Potatoes have eyes or buds.
If given enough time, the eyes sprout.
Sections of potatoes containing at least one
eye could be replanted so they can sprout
and produce new plants. This process was
illustrated in The Martian, and actually is
used by seed potato growers in field settings
on Earth who then take their crops and sell
them to production companies.
During the 1990s, NASAs potato
studies with hydroponics got the attention
of the Frito-Lay Company in Wisconsin.
Wheeler consulted with the company on
ways to produce clean, disease-free seed
potato stock.
A SOURCE OF RECYCLING
Growing crops in space or on another
planet could provide other benefits besides

food. Plants could serve to provide oxygen

and remove carbon dioxide from air sources.
While plants grow, they generate
oxygen through photosynthesis, and they
would scrub carbon dioxide out of the air
inside a cabin environment. Wheeler said
if you co-utilize them in the right manner,
they could help process wastewater.
And as odd as it sounds, using
wastewater, or even urine, as a source of
nutrients for plant growth could be an
option. Aboard the space station, U.S.
astronauts use the Environmental Control
and Life Support System a system that
collects and recycles used water, wastewater
and urine.
While the recent movie made it seem
like growing potatoes on Mars was a nobrainer, a lot of research has gone into
making that a real possibility. With humans
expected to plant boots on Mars in the next
couple of decades, solving the challenges of
growing plants in space today is critical to
our journey to the Red Planet.

BY LINDA HERRIDGE

lowers could be blooming on the International Space Station

after the New Year.
On Nov. 16, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren activated the
Veggie plant growth system and its rooting pillows containing
Zinnia seeds on the space station.
It is the first time that a flowering crop experiment will be grown
on the orbiting laboratory. Growing Zinnias in orbit will help
provide precursory information about other flowering plants that
could be grown in space.
Growing a flowering crop is more challenging than growing
a vegetative crop such as lettuce, said Gioia Massa, a Kennedy
Space Center payload scientist for Veggie. Lighting and other
environmental parameters are more critical.
Lindgren turned on the red, blue and green LED lights,
activated the water and nutrient system to Veggie, and will monitor
the plant growth. The Zinnias will grow for 60 days, which is twice
as long as the first and second crop of Outredgeous red romaine

lettuce that grew on the space station.

During the growth cycle, the LED lights will be on for 10 hours
and off for 14 hours in order to stimulate the plants to flower.
Growing the Zinnia plants will help advance our knowledge
of how plants flower in the Veggie growth system, and will enable
fruiting plants like tomatoes to be grown and eaten in space using
Veggie as the in-orbit garden, said Trent Smith, Veggie program
manager at Kennedy.
Researchers also hope to gather good data regarding longduration seed stow and germination, whether pollen could be an
issue, and the impacts on crew morale. Growing tomato plants on
the space station is planned for 2017.
The Veggie system was developed by Orbital Technologies Corp.,
or ORBITEC, in Madison, Wisconsin, and tested at Kennedy
before flight. Veggie, along with two sets of pillows containing
romaine seeds and one set of zinnias, was delivered to the station by
SpaceX on the third cargo resupply mission in April 2014.

SPACEPORT Magazine

11

Space Tro

KSC Scenes

BY ANNA HEINEY

ASAs Protective Services organization is tasked

with protecting one-of-a-kind facilities and
a world-class workforce at Kennedy Space Center.
Ensuring the safety and security of this 144,000-acre,
multi-user spaceport allows agency programs to stay
focused on mission success.
Its a 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year job that
demands constant training for any number of reallife scenarios. In mid-November, eight members
of Kennedy Space Centers Emergency Response
Team took part in the 33rd annual SWAT Round-up
International alongside 60 other teams from across the
country and around the world.
The entire week is very physically demanding
and challenging. The teams competing in these
events are all very good and some dedicate much of
their training time specifically for this competition,
explained Emergency Response Team Commander
Bill Young of Chenega Security and Support
Solutions.
Although the Kennedy team does train specifically
for the competition in the weeks leading up to the
five-day event, it spends the vast majority of the year
focusing on protecting the spaceport.
Our training time is spent on site preparing for
responses to potential critical incidents that might
occur here, Young said, pointing out that the greatest
benefit to participating in the annual Round-up is the
chance to meet and work with other teams.
With the threats and challenges that exist for
law enforcement today, its short sighted to think any
SWAT team can handle it all alone, Young said.
The ability for our officers to effectively
communicate and even integrate with other teams
during a crisis is a force multiplier for our Protective
Services, which benefits our center and the entire
community.

opers

Members of Kennedy Space Centers Emergency Response Team take off running during a challenge
at the 33rd annual SWAT Round-up International in Orlando, Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Prevailing Proposals
Trio earns Kennedys first ever
Science Innovation Fund awards

Technology

BY FRANK OCHOA-GONZALES

etting to Mars is the goal. Figuring out how to get there

requires innovative scientific research. Finding ways to fund
this research often can prove difficult.
That is one reason why NASA Headquarters Office of the Chief
Scientist invests in the Science Innovation Fund, or SIF. The fund
capitalizes on innovative, exploratory, high-risk/high-return research
undertakings aligned with NASA strategic objectives.
And with 116 proposals received from across the agency and
sufficient funding for about one-third of those, many excellent
proposals are unable to be funded.
This is the first time Kennedy Space Center employees submitted
proposals and three selections made the cut. Those proposals were
from Chemical Engineer Annie Meier, Dr. Paul Hintze and Dr.
Mike Hogue.
Meiers proposal is An In-Depth Study of Photocatalytic
Charge Transport and Material Development Through Synthesis,
Characterization and Computational Modeling for In Situ
Resource Utilization and Fuel Production on Mars.

Meier says if the technology is successful, it will benefit human

exploration of Mars by increasing the solar efficiency of carbon
dioxide conversion via the Martian solar spectrum to produce fuel.
This is a direct investment into in situ resource utilization, or ISRU,
technology that will be required for the success of human spaceflight
missions, cost reduction and long-duration space travel. Meiers
team includes Dr. Mary Coan and Dr. Kathy Lofton.
We have an opportunity to investigate and synthesize
atomically thin materials that could potentially convert carbon
dioxide into methane, using the solar spectrum and water vapor,
Meier said. That in itself is truly amazing.
The project could help convert Martian atmosphere, which is 95
percent carbon dioxide, into methane that could be used for fuel.
Hogues proposal is Dynamic Gas Flow Effects on the ESD of
Aerospace Vehicle Surfaces.
This technology would develop a modified version of Paschens
law so that it will take into account the flow of gas between
electrically charged electrode plates. This work would be applicable
to aerospace vehicles traveling through
the atmosphere where they are
subjected to triboelectrically induced
electrostatic charge build-up due to
dust and ice crystal impingement and
possible electrostatic discharge, or
ESD. Triboelectrification is defined
as triboelectric charging observed to
put aircraft and space vehicles into
corona when they fly through clouds
containing ice or precipitation in
either phase.
The theoretical model will
be validated by wind tunnel

Dr. Mary Coan, Dr. Kathy Lofton and Chemical

Engineer Annie Meiers project could help convert
the Martian atmosphere, which is 95 percent
carbon dioxide, into methane which could be used
for fuel. Photo credit: NASA/Dan Casper

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SPACEPORT Magazine

Dr. Mike Hogue hopes his proposal

will relax the launch criteria for
triboelectric charging due to
atmospheric dust or ice crystal
impingement of spacecraft
surfaces. That would save
considerable money on launch
costs if an abort could be avoided.
Photo credit: NASA/Dan Casper

experimentation at sub-sonic and super-sonic gas velocities to model

aircraft and spacecraft moving through the atmosphere and has the
potential to relax the launch criteria for triboelectric charging due to
atmospheric dust or ice crystal impingement of spacecraft surfaces.
This would save considerable money on launch costs if an abort
could be avoided. The project would save millions of dollars that
could be used to facilitate and utilize capabilities to deliver cargo
and crew to space, and ultimately, Mars.
Hintzes proposal is Instrument for Solvent Extraction and
Analysis of Extraterrestrial Bodies, or ISEE, using in situ resources.
ISEE is a proposed novel,
miniature system that enables solvent
extraction and characterization of
organic materials at extraterrestrial
locations during robotic or human
missions by using supercritical fluid
extraction and chromatography.
The goal of ISEE is to perform the
chemical analysis with a solvent
that was either captured in situ or
recycled.
This is a project I really believe
in and I cant wait to get started,
Hintze said. Ultimately it will lead

to an instrument that can go on other

planets and detect organic material.
This project may enable scientists
to analyze Martian samples for a
variety of components including
amino acids, which could provide
information about potential life forms.
I am very proud of Annie Meier, Dr. Paul Hintze, and Dr.
Mike Hogue for selection of their innovative proposals, said
Karen Thompson, Kennedys chief technologist. While a lot of
work lies ahead, they should be lauded for their innovative ideas
that were selected from a large group of proposals from many of
NASAs best and brightest innovators.
NASA aims to promote breakthroughs in science that highlight
innovation in the current state of the art; strategic planning;
collaborations across disciplines; flexibility to foster new talent;
building R&D capability needed to fulfill NASAs mission; and
creativity across NASAs workforce.

Dr. Paul Hintze and Dr. Kathy Lofton hope

their project will enable scientists to analyze
Martian samples for a variety of components
including amino acids which could provide
information about potential life forms. Photo
credit: NASA/Dan Casper

SPACEPORT Magazine

15

Engineers work with the

SAGE III instrument inside
the Space Station Processing
Facility at Kennedy Space
Center to begin processing
for its launch next year to the
International Space Station.
Once at the station, NASAs
Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas
Experiment III instrument will
take long-term measurements
of ozone, aerosols and other
trace gasses to help scientists
better understand how to
monitor and protect the
Earths atmosphere. SAGE III
will fly to the station next year
aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9
rocket.
Photo credit: NASA/Charles Babir

For more, go to
http://go.nasa.gov/1XCaUH2

Crew Access Tower construction

progresses at Cape Canaveral
ISS

An artists concept of Space Launch

Complex 41 on launch day showing the
Crew Access Tower in place beside a
Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and
United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
Image credit: Boeing

18

SPACEPORT Magazine

BY STEVEN SICELOFF

t took only 35 days to build the main

column of a new fixture to the skyline
along the Florida Space Coast. The
200-foot-tall Crew Access Tower at Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida will
meet the unique needs of astronauts and
ground crews at Space Launch Complex 41,
or SLC-41. This is where Boeing will launch
its CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on Atlas V
rockets operated by United Launch Alliance,
also known as ULA.
We spent a lot of time with conceptual
designs and with the human elements,
which is very important for a project of
this nature, said Howard Biegler, ULAs
Launch Operations lead for Human Launch
Services. Building a structure is one thing,
but building it so that its useful, that it
provides a safe environment for the people
who are going to be called to use this system
is the hard part.
The structure features wider, more open
areas than NASAs previous crew access
towers, providing more room and comfort
for astronauts who will walk around the
area in pressure suits and possibly wearing
helmets, and in emergency cases, walk
through walls of water from fire suppression
sprinklers. An escape system for the ground
support teams and flight crews will be added
to quickly move people from the top of the
tower to the safety of an evacuation vehicle
in less than a minute.
The tower location is unique, as well.
Since 1968, all astronauts launched from
the United States have flown exclusively
from Launch Pads 39A and B at Kennedy
Space Center.

Construction at the pad began in

September when the first of seven steel
tiers was trucked from four miles away
where it was built and then placed atop a
strengthened concrete foundation at
SLC-41.
Built with many of the features already
in place such as stairways, cable trays and
blast shielding, each tier was designed
to fit atop the other perfectly to reduce
construction time at the pad. Thats because
ULA kept the pad operational so it could
continue to launch Atlas V missions in
between stages of tower construction.
We have certainly changed the
landscape out here, Biegler said. The day
the first tier physically made contact with
the concrete and was bolted up brought a
new level of reality to the project.
More work is ahead to complete the
tower, but the main column stands in
place as a herald for the next generation of
human spaceflight in America. Steel sections
branching off the main column will be in
place by mid-January, then the tower will
be fitted with elevators, data lines and other
elements. The towers steel frame will weigh
about 966,000 pounds when its completed
in fall 2016.
In late October, the structures crew
access arm was connected to the White
Room, which will serve as the final corridor
astronauts will pass through as they enter
the Starliner spacecraft standing atop the
Atlas V. The two components will be tested
together extensively off-site before they are
trucked to the launch complex and installed
next summer.

Boeing anticipates launching the first

flight test of its Starliner spacecraft
carrying astronauts in 2017, but will use
the tower before that time in the
preparation for an earlier flight test
without a crew aboard.
It takes a lot of people working
hard together to get any spacecraft into
orbit successfully, and thats doubly
true for a new spacecraft being built for
humans, said Mike Burghardt, director of
Launch Segment Integration for Boeings
Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner
will feature modern, high reliability
components to significantly increase crew
safety and we back that up with robust
launch system, including this Crew Access
Tower.
All the work is adding to the feeling
that a new dawn of spaceflight is nearing
as NASAs Commercial Crew Program
and its partners Boeing and SpaceX
continue development on systems that
will carry up to four astronauts at a time
to the International Space Station. With
commercial spacecraft transportation,
NASA plans to add an additional crew
member to the station, effectively doubling
the crew time dedicated to research on the
orbiting laboratory.
While Boeing and SpaceX focus on
transportation opportunities in low-Earth
orbit, NASA is moving ahead with its Space
Launch System and Orion spacecraft that
will take off from Kennedys Launch Pad
39B to carry out deep-space exploration
missions that will advance the agencys
journey to Mars.

Watch the time-lapse video as workers stack the elements for the main column of the Crew Access Tower at Space Launch
Complex 41. The tower will serve flight crews and support teams for missions by Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr1XTLC9uqw
SPACEPORT Magazine

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ISS

Cygnus sealed
inside fairing
BY STEVEN SICELOFF

he enhanced Cygnus spacecraft and more than 7,300

pounds of cargo have been enclosed inside a payload fairing
at Kennedy Space Center as processing moves ahead on schedule
for a Dec. 3 launch. The Orbital ATK Cygnus will be moved
to Space Launch Complex 41 and lifted to the top of a waiting
United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
The spacecraft, which will carry no people, is to lift off
aboard the Atlas V to take equipment, experiments and supplies
to the International Space Station for use by the residents there
including yearlong-crew member astronaut Scott Kelly.
Speaking to the news media in November, Orbital ATKs
Dan Tani a former astronaut who served as a station resident
said anew round of cargo always brings excitement: Its
a real morale boost. Its like coming home from the store and
unpacking the trunk full of the things you bought. A lot of stuff
you didnt know you needed along with a lot of things like notes
from home and other items that are really meaningful.
The enhanced Cygnus can carry about 25 percent more
mass than its predecessor and features upgraded Ultraflex solar
arrays that unfurl like a fan into a circle and are lighter than the
previous models. For NASA, the increased capacity brings the
obvious benefit of taking more to the station at once, ranging
from daily supplies of food and clothing for the station residents
to new experiments so astronauts can continue to use the
space-based laboratory to the benefit of all on the Earth. For the
astronauts, the new round of cargo brings excitement.

Photo credit: NASA/Demetrius Gerondidakis

SPACEPORT Magazine

21

ISS

Crew Dragon propulsion system

completes development testing
BY STEVEN SICELOFF

he propulsion system SpaceX would use to power its Crew Dragon out of danger
has been test-fired 27 times as the company refines the design for the demands of
operational missions carrying astronauts to the International Space Station for NASAs
Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX evaluated the system utilizing various thrust
cycles on a test stand at its McGregor, Texas, rocket development facility.
Named SuperDracos, the engines are arranged in four pairs SpaceX calls them
jetpacks integrated around the outside of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Firing all
at once, the eight engines produce 120,000 pounds of thrust enough power to
accelerate a Crew Dragon from zero to 100 mph in 1.2 seconds. In the unlikely event
of an emergency, that power means the ability to lift the crew a safe distance off the
launch pad or far away from a booster failing on the way to orbit. That capability
was demonstrated earlier this year in a pad abort test that confirmed the SuperDraco
design in a flight-like condition.
A normal launch of the Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket would not offer the
SuperDracos anything to do during the mission since their only responsibility is to
fire in an emergency to rescue the crew onboard. Eventually, SpaceX plans to use the
SuperDracos in the place of a parachute during landing.
They use hypergolic propellants common in spacecraft thruster systems because the
propellants ignite as soon as they contact each other. The engines are noteworthy for a
number of reasons, including that they are built using 3-D printing methods instead
of machining them from larger pieces.
After the development cycle, the propulsion system and SuperDracos will continue
evaluations at the companys test stand to qualify them for use on operational
missions.
SpaceX and Boeing are developing a new generation of American-made, humanrated transportation systems capable of taking astronauts to the space station in
partnership with NASA. The Crew Dragon and Boeings CST-100 Starliner will carry
up to four NASA astronauts at a time, which ultimately adds another crew member to
the space station and will allow twice as much time for astronauts to conduct research
aboard the one-of-a-kind laboratory.

View the test at http://go.nasa.gov/1XCEH2o

Photos courtesy of SpaceX

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SPACEPORT Magazine

Hidden Benefits
Technology

Smart coating technology earns Create the Future Design award

BY LINDA HERRIDGE

orrosion is a real concern at Kennedy Space Center. Exposure

to humidity, salt, ultraviolet light and exhaust from rocket
launches can start the condition in facilities and metal structures. Of
special concern are the launch pad and ground support equipment
currently being prepared for the agencys Space Launch System and
Orion spacecraft.
Scientists at Kennedy, including Dr. Luz M. Calle technical
lead for the centers Corrosion Technology Laboratory in the
Research and Technology Programs Directorate, have developed an
environmentally friendly smart coating that could be used in the

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SPACEPORT Magazine

future to detect and stop corrosion in metal.

This innovative technology, called Smart Coating for
Corrosion Detection and Protection, was recognized by NASA
Tech Briefs magazines Create the Future Design contest with the
top award in the automotive and transportation category.
Calle accepted the award on behalf of the team during a
ceremony Nov. 6 in New York City.
We are known for launching rockets, but we are not thought
of as a place where interesting technologies like smart coatings are
being developed, Calle said. Its good to be recognized by people

outside of Kennedy Space Center

in a worldwide contest.
Corrosion of metals is a
very serious and costly problem
worldwide, Calle said. But,
here at Kennedy Space Center,
we have one of the most corrosive
environments in the world,
certainly the most corrosive in
North America.
The natural environment at
Kennedy is extremely corrosive
due to the combination of ocean
salt spray, heat, humidity and
sunlight. With the introduction
of the space shuttle in 1981,
the already highly corrosive
conditions at the launch pads
became even more severe with the
acidic exhaust from the shuttles
solid rocket boosters, Calle said.
Calle explained that one way to
protect metals from corrosion is
by applying a coating to them.
This creates a barrier between the
metal and the environment. But
when the coating is damaged, its
ability to protect against corrosion
stops.
Another way to prevent
Dr. Luz M. Calle, the
corrosion is to add corrosion
technical lead for Kennedy
inhibitors to the coating. But,
Space Centers Corrosion
Technology Laboratory,
Calle said, there are several
checks out sample tiles at
problems with current inhibitors.
the Beachside Corrosion Test
Though very effective, many of
Facility. Photo credit: NASA
them are harmful to humans and
the environment. Top on that list is hexavalent chromium, widely
used in the aerospace industry for protection of aluminum.
Calle said finding environmentally friendly corrosion
inhibitors that dont interact with the coating is challenging.
The coating doesnt adhere as well or destroys the inhibitor, and
sometimes problems can arise if a lot of inhibitor has been added to
the coating.
Calle said the idea for smart coating technology was born in
2004 and work to develop it has continued throughout the years.
Corrosion inhibitors can be packaged inside tiny micro capsules
or micro containers, developed in the Corrosion Technology
Laboratory at the Operations and Checkout Building. The
containers are porous and less than one-tenth the size of the
diameter of a human hair.
The micro capsules are added to the coating, and they remain
dormant until corrosion begins underneath the coating. Thats

where the smart portion of the technology kicks in. The shell
of the micro capsules are designed to break open and deploy the
corrosion inhibitor.
We call them feedback active micro containers, because they
respond to what is happening around them, Calle said. Theyre
not passive. They just know what to do. Basically, the shells
break down and deliver the corrosion inhibitor, and then they
disintegrate.
Another type of delivery system being developed is a micro
container that is porous. The corrosion inhibitor is trapped in
the pores, similar to water being trapped in a sponge. When the
corrosion starts, the inhibitor is released to do its work.
An issue at launch pad sites has been the problem of
corrosion to large bolts. On the surface they look good, but the
corrosion is taking place inside the bolt. Calles team is working on
encapsulating color-changing corrosion indicators in coatings.
If we have a coating with micro capsules that contain a
corrosion indicator that changes color when corrosion is present on
the inside, then it will be evident from the outside that there is a
problem, Calle said.
Smart coating samples are being tested at the Beachside
Corrosion Test Facility, which is near the launch pads.
We are working with several industry partners in the coatings
and automotive industries because we are interested in transferring
this technology so it can be available to everyone, Calle said.
The Create the Future design contest was launched in
2002 by the publishers of NASA Tech Briefs magazine to help
stimulate and reward engineering innovation. The annual event has
attracted more than 10,000 product design ideas from engineers,
entrepreneurs and students worldwide. This years competition
attracted 1,150 entries in seven different categories from more than
60 countries.

Sponsors of the NASA Tech Briefs magazines Create the Future Design contest are
with Dr. Luz M. Calle, top winner in the automotive and transportation category for the
innovative technology Smart Coating for Corrosion Detection and Protection. From left,
are Sumit Awasthi, Global E-Commerce Channel manager; Calle; Dr. H.C. Svante Littmarck,
COMSOL Group chief executive officer; and Marilyn Cooper, Mouser Electronics corporate
supplier manager. Photo credit: Courtesy of Ellen Dubin Photography

SPACEPORT Magazine

25

Santa
Support
Kennedy counts down to Santas
annual toy delivery mission
BY BOB GRANATH

ennedy Space Center is counting down to support Santa Claus

during his annual mission to deliver toys and other presents to
children around the world. As always, the jolly old fellow will have
the opportunity to take advantage of the agencys latest advances in
technology.
Claus will have access to the most recent findings on the
amounts of moisture and frost in the Earths surface. NASAs Soil
Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, satellite, is providing the latest
measurements of the Earths soil moisture distribution and freeze/
thaw rates. This global data could be valuable in helping Claus
determine the best places to land his sleigh.
Additionally, Claus and his reindeer will be given the
opportunity to use Kennedys Shuttle Landing Facility if a rest
stop is needed during their long Christmas Eve trip. During the
past year, NASA signed a 30-year property agreement with Space
Florida for the operations and management of the facility. Now
that Kennedy is a 21st century multi-user spaceport, a variety of
commercial and government partners may use the 3-mile long
runway.
If he does choose to touch down at the Shuttle Landing Facility,
Claus reindeer will feel right at home at the Merritt Island National
Wildlife Refuge. Alongside the many high-tech facilities at the
Florida spaceport, Kennedy employees work in an animal sanctuary
that is home to hundreds of wildlife species. The diverse, 140,000acre landscape provides a habitat for many varieties of animals,
including alligators, manatees and deer.
Claus has one extraterrestrial destination this year the
International Space Station. The crew recently celebrated the 15th
anniversary of permanent occupancy of the orbiting laboratory.
The first expedition crew docked with the station Nov. 2, 2000,

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SPACEPORT Magazine

and began activation of the station and scientific research that has
continued nonstop.
In addition to St. Nicks Christmas Eve delivery, crews aboard
the ISS received supplies in April when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on its sixth
commercial resupply services mission. The SpaceX Dragon capsule
brought up 4,300 pounds of scientific experiments, technology
demonstrations and supplies.
On Dec. 3, an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled
to lift off with more than 7,000 pounds of additional research
equipment to support science investigations by the station crew.
Soon, astronauts can join Claus by flying from U.S. soil to the
space station aboard new spacecraft as part of NASAs Commercial
Crew Program. The effort is a partnership that will include Boeings
CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon taking astronauts to
the orbiting laboratory.
Should Claus wish to visit future pioneers living and working
on Mars, recent findings should aid St. Nick when he visits
the Red Planet. Earlier this year, NASAs Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter provided the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows
intermittently on present-day Mars. Dark streaks appear to ebb and
flow in numerous locations when temperatures rise above 10 degrees
below zero Fahrenheit and disappear at colder times.
As future explorers reach farther into the solar system, Claus
may want to pay them a visit. Launched from the Cape on Jan. 19,
2006, NASAs New Horizons spacecraft provided the first closeup observations of Pluto on July 14 of this year. While human
exploration may be years away, it gives the jolly old fellow time to
map out his gift-giving strategy no matter where astronauts venture
into the cosmos.

for the 60th Year

BY AMANDA GRIFFIN

or the past 60 years, children around the world have

been able to follow Santa Claus as he treks across the
globe every Christmas Eve, courtesy of NORAD the
North American Aerospace Defense Command. And it all
started with a misprinted telephone number in a Colorado
newspaper.
On Dec. 24, 1955, a Sears department store placed an
advertisement in a Colorado Springs newspaper that included
a telephone number children could call in order to speak with
Santa Claus. But, the number was printed incorrectly.
The published telephone number actually was that of the
U.S. Air Force command center of NORADs predecessor,
the Continental Air Defense Command based in Colorado
Springs. Specifically, it was a red phone on the desk of Col.
Harry Shoup, commander of the Combat Alert Center.
Ordinarily, only a general at the Pentagon would be calling.
Additionally, this was the 1950s, and it was in the midst
of the Cold War. When the phone rang, Shoup answered
expecting a national or even a global crisis. Instead, the voice
was that of a small child asking, Is this Santa Claus?
He could have just hung up, but Shoup
continued to speak with the little one asking,
Have you been good this year?
After talking to that first young caller, Shoup
spoke with his mother who told him about the
ad in the local newspaper. He checked and, sure
enough, the number printed was off by one digit and
was that of the red phone on his desk.
Throughout that memorable Christmas Eve, Shoup
and airmen on his staff fielded many more calls from
children. Each time a young caller reached them, Shoups
team checked the radar and reported the current location
of St. Nick.
A Christmas Eve tradition was born.
In 1958, NORAD was formed, and aside from their
important task of aerospace warning and control, along with

maritime warning in the defense of North America, they

also took on tracking the magical journey Santa Claus makes
every Christmas Eve.
Today, NORAD relies on volunteers to make the program
possible. Now known as the NORAD Tracks Santa
program, the organization tracks Claus as he leaves the North
Pole and delivers presents to children around the world.
Through satellite systems, high-powered radar, jet fighters
and special Santa Cameras, NORAD can accurately
pinpoint the jolly old fellow at any given moment on Dec.
24 even when he is stopping by the International Space
Station to drop off a few gifts for the deserving astronauts and
cosmonauts.
Starting Dec. 1, 2015, anyone may access the NORAD
website for a countdown calendar, games and other fun
activities for kids at www.noradsanta.org.

U.S. Air Force Col. Harry Shoup came to be

known as NORADs Santa Colonel.
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force/NORAD

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27

www.nasa.gov

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

a Century of

Flight

Commercial travel opens unlimited opportunities

BY BOB GRANATH

n a brisk day more than a century ago, what started

as a venture between two brothers changed the
world forever. On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur
Wright opened the world of air travel with their first
flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 10 short years,
commercial aviation became a reality. Fast forward another
50 years and humans not only were flying in the air, but
also in space. After another half-century of spaceflight,
NASA and its industry partners now are on the verge of
inaugurating the Commercial Crew Program, ferrying
astronauts to the International Space Station, once again
launching humans from American soil.
Individual inventors such as the Wright Brothers
were the original investors in the early development of
aviation. They were successful because of their willingness
to challenge a belief held by many that human flight was
impossible.
If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted
as true really is true, then there would be little hope for
advance, said Orville Wright.
Various government agencies, such as the military, soon
showed interest. Once it became cost-effective to carry paying
customers, commercial aviation also took off just as
commercial space is today.
First Commercial Flight
The first paying fixed-wing passenger checked his bag on Jan. 1,
1914. Pilot Tony Jannus flew his customer, Abram Pheil, from
St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida. The trip across the 21 miles of
Tampa Bay took 23 minutes.
Jannus auctioned off the privilege of traveling on this inaugural
flight with prospective passengers bidding large amounts of money

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SPACEPORT Magazine

Tony Jannus, right, pilots a flying boat in a flight across Tampa Bay on Jan. 1, 1914. The
paying passenger, Abram Pheil, left, flew from St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida, in 23 minutes.
Photo credit: Courtesy of State Archives of Florida

for the one seat. Pheil, a former mayor of St. Petersburg, was the
winner paying $400 ($5,000 in todays currency) for the privilege.
On that New Years Day in 1914, one person flew one
commercial flight. A century later, the International Air
Transportation Association estimates 8 million passengers fly
world-wide on almost 100,000 flights each day. That equates to
nearly 3 billion air travelers every year.
One of the first commercial uses of aviation was delivering
mail. The first experimental American airmail delivery was made

on Sept. 23, 1911, under the authority of the U.S. Post Office
Department. The service was intermittent until domestic U.S. Air
Mail was formally established by the Post Office Department on
May 15, 1918. At that time the first special Air Mail stamps were
issued.
The U.S. government began to take a serious role in the
development of the aviation age with the formation of the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or the NACA,
on March 3, 1915. The NACA was established to undertake,
promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research.
Part of the U.S. governments early interest in aviation
centered on possible military applications. In fact, aviation proved
to be a viable industry with the onset of World War I.
In 1914, the U.S. Census Bureau listed only 16 aircraft
companies. Their collective output was 49 aircraft.
By the end of the World War I, 175,000 people were
employed at 300 airplane manufacturing plants in the United
States. By the time of the armistice on Nov. 11, 1918, the new
industry produced 13,844 aircraft.
Airports Begin Dotting America
Along with a flourish of commercial airlines, airfields were
springing up across America. In 1923, Atlanta alderman William
Hartsfield was assigned to find a place for a new airport. The goal
was to convince the U.S. Post Office Department to give the
Georgia capital one of the contracts for a lucrative air mail route.
Candler Field in the Atlanta suburb of Hapeville, Georgia,
was originally an auto racetrack similar to the one at Indianapolis,
Indiana. Through Hartsfields efforts, barnstormers and former
World War I aviators began flying in and out of Atlanta in the
early 1920s. On Sept. 15, 1926, Atlanta aviation history was
made when the first air mail flight took off from the city.
Hartsfield went on to serve as Atlantas mayor and the airport
is now named for him and Mayor Maynard Jackson. During
the late 1970s, Jackson helped lead the effort to build a modern
airport terminal, which opened in 1980. According to the
Airports Council Internationals World Airport Traffic Report,
the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the busiest
in the world with more than 96 million people passing through
the hub each year.
First Modern Passenger Airliners
The Boeing 247 is considered the first modern passenger
airliner. Introduced in 1933, the aircraft was similar to a lowwing, twin-engine military bomber with retractable landing gear.
Put into service by United Air Lines, it could accommodate 10
passengers and travel at 155 mph.
At about the same time, the Douglas Aircraft Co. DC-3
became a popular airliner due to its cruising speed of 207 mph
and a range of 1,500 miles, revolutionizing air transport. When
converted to the military version, designated the C-47, it was
widely used in World War II.

One of the first commercial uses of

aviation was delivery of mail. The first
experimental American airmail delivery
was made on Sept. 23, 1911. The service
was formally established by the Post
Office Department on May 15, 1918. As
a new class of postal delivery, the first of
Air Mail stamps were issued. The 24 cent
stamp depicted a Curtis Jenny Biplane
frequently used for transporting air mail.
Photo credit: Courtesy of U.S. Post Office
Department

The DC-3 is often viewed as the aircraft that revolutionized passenger air transport.
The military version was designated the C-47, affectionately known as the Gooney Bird.
It was used during World War II to drop paratroopers into France on D-Day and flying
supplies over the hump, better known as the Himalayas.
Photo credit: Courtesy of U.S. Army Air Force

Prior to 1940, passenger aircraft only flew as high as 10,000 feet, due to the reduced
levels of oxygen at higher altitudes. The breakthrough allowing people to fly in
pressurized comfort came with the Boeing 307 Stratoliner which began service July
8, 1940. The 33-seat aircraft flew as high as 20,000 feet and could travel at 200 mph.
Photo credit: Courtesy of State Library and Archives of Florida

SPACEPORT Magazine

31

Toward the end of World War II, jets ushered in a new age in aviation. At the
Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, Moffett Field, California, NACA test pilot Lawrence
Clousing climbs into his Lockheed P-80 aircraft for a test flight. Clousing set a
speed record of 658 mph aboard a P-80 in 1948. Photo credit: NACA

Derived from the passenger jet, the Boeing 707, the E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning
and control system aircraft that provides all-weather surveillance, command, control
and communications needed by commanders of U.S. and NATO air defense forces.
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force photo

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft transports the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space
Center to the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center on April 17, 2012. For more than 30 years, the modified 747 was used to
transport space shuttles between landing sites in California and Florida.
Photo credit: NASA/Lorne Mathre

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During the 1930s and 1940s, passenger aviation made

important strides, but there was a significant drawback. The 247
and the DC-3 could only fly as high as 10,000 feet, due to the
reduced levels of oxygen at higher altitudes. Flying higher would
allow airliners to rise above air turbulence and storms prevalent at
lower levels.
The breakthrough came with the Boeing 307 Stratoliner,
which began service in 1940 with TWA Trans World
Airlines. Derived from the B-17 bomber, it was the first aircraft
with a pressurized cabin. The 33-seat Stratoliner flew as high as
20,000 feet and could travel at 200 mph.
During the Second World War, the NACA also made
numerous crucial contributions sometimes referred to as the
force behind our air supremacy. Most notably, the agency played
key roles in producing innovative superchargers, providing
more efficient engines for high altitude bombers and improved
technology for wings.
Following the war, commercial aviation grew at a rapid pace
with airlines regularly transporting passengers and cargo. This
expansion was aided by wartime technology development such as
that of heavy B-29 bomber airframes. The aviation industry also
began transitioning from propeller aircraft to jets.
The first commercial jet airliner to fly was the British de
Havilland Comet first flown in 1949. During the late 1950s,
Boeings 707 and the Douglas DC-8 offered comfort and safety
leading to extensive commercial jet air travel in the United States.
Dawn of the Space Age
At about that same time, the space age began on Oct. 4, 1957,
with the launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union.
An American satellite, Explorer 1, soon followed, with plans for
sending humans into space in the near future.
In the midst of these advances, President Dwight Eisenhower
directed the NACA to be reorganized on Oct. 1, 1958, forming
NASA the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(There are) many aspects of space and space technology,
he said, which can be helpful to all people as the United
States proceeds with its peaceful program in space science and
exploration.
As was the case with early aviation, American industry
partnered with the government to advance spaceflight technology.
Many of the same aerospace corporations that took the nation
to the skies began supporting the new space agencys efforts
to explore beyond the atmosphere. Contractors developed the
launch vehicles and satellites to study the Earth, probes to explore
beyond low-Earth orbit and spacecraft to take the first humans
into the new frontier.
Airlines Double Down
During 1969, the year astronauts first walked on the moon,
Americas aerospace industry debuted wide-body passenger
airliners such as the Boeing 747.

Pan American Airways was the first to purchase and fly the
747 jumbo jet. It had two aisles and an upper deck over the
front section of the fuselage. With a capacity of 450 passengers,
it doubled the size of other Boeing jets and was 80 percent larger
than any other jetliner up to that time.
McDonnell Douglas soon answered with their DC-10 in
1970, and Lockheed entered the wide-body market with the
L-1011. Both had three engines, one under each wing and one on
the tail, and each had a seating capacity of about 250.
In addition to flying more passengers in enhanced comfort,
in the late 1960s airlines began to focus on increased speed. The
NACA played a key role proving that it was possible to fly faster
than the speed of sound about 768 mph. In 1947, the Bell X-1
had broken the sound barrier, but there still were obstacles for a
commercial supersonic transport.
The Soviet Union successfully developed and tested the
supersonic Tupolev 144 in late 1968. A consortium of West
European aerospace firms flew the Concorde in early 1969
and eventually produced a number of those fast airlines for
commercial use. American efforts to produce supersonic
transports stalled in 1971. The primary concern was the sonic
boom produced by these aircraft.
A sonic boom occurs when an object travels through the
atmosphere faster than the speed of sound. It creates shock waves
generating enormous energy sounding like an explosion.
Developments of commercial aviation have had a worldwide financial impact. According to the website of the travel
publication Jet Set Times, the global aviation industry annually
supports 57 million jobs and $2.2 trillion in economic activity.
In a 12 month period, 50 million tons of cargo are flown by air
transport aircraft, accounting for $6 trillion in goods equating to
35 percent of all products traded internationally.
Rise of Commercial Spaceflight
Early developments in aviation were dominated by individuals
working privately. This later was followed by governments and
industry. However, in the first eras of space exploration, costs and
risks were borne solely by government agencies, both military and
civilian.
But now that NASA and other agencies have greased the
skids, oopportunities for space tourism also are on the verge of
becoming a reality for recreational or business purposes.
In the late 1990s, MirCorp was responsible for operation of
the Russian space station Mir, and began seeking tourists willing
to pay for a trip into space. American businessman Dennis Tito,
a former scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California,
entered into an agreement with MirCorp and U.S.-based Space
Adventures Ltd.
Tito was the first fee-paying space tourist visiting the
International Space Station in April 2001, staying for seven days.
Established in May 1996, the Ansari X Prize was a
competition offering $10 million to the first non-government

On March 3, 2013, Expedition 34 crew members aboard the International Space Station
use a robotic arm to capture a SpaceX Dragon capsule delivering supplies. NASAs
commercial space program has fostered a successful partnership with American
companies to resupply the station through the Commercial Resupply Services program.
In the near future, a similar Dragon spacecraft will launch astronauts to low-Earth orbit
as part of the Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA

Professor Mark Drela, center, chief engineer of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology

aircraft design team, helps undergraduate students Nina Siu, left, and Mike Lieu
position a model of the D8 double bubble in a wind tunnel at MIT. The team, which
includes Aurora Flight Sciences and Pratt & Whitney, designed the concept. The D8
series aircraft would be used for domestic flights and is designed to fly at Mach 0.74
carrying 180 passengers 3,000 nautical miles in a coach cabin roomier than that of a
Boeing 737-800. Photo credit: NASA/MIT

An artist concept of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner depicts it in low-Earth orbit above
Florida. The spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop United
Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets as part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program.
Image credit: Boeing

SPACEPORT Magazine

33

The 100th Anniversary NACA/NASA logo. Image credit: NASA

organization to launch a reusable, piloted vehicle into space twice

within two weeks. Designed to encourage development of lowcost spaceflight, the concept was modeled after early 20th-century
aviation prizes.
On June 21, 2004, SpaceShipOne made the first privately
funded human spaceflight. The spacecraft was developed by
Mojave Aerospace Ventures, a joint enterprise between Scaled
Composites, an aviation company founded by test pilot Burt Rutan
and Microsoft founder Paul Allen. The second flight was Sept.
29, 2004. Five days later, SpaceShipOnes developers won the X
Prize by reaching 62 miles in altitude twice in a two-week period.
The 62-mile mark is recognized by the Fdration Aronautique
Internationale (International Aeronautical Federation) as the
threshold of space.
The success of SpaceShipOne led to Virgin Galactic forming
a company designed to provide suborbital spaceflights aboard
SpaceShipTwo to launch space tourists, suborbital flights for space
science missions and orbital launches of small satellites.
NASAs commercial space program has fostered a successful
partnership between the agency and two American companies to
resupply the International Space Station. Following the end of the
Space Shuttle Program, SpaceX and Orbital ATK began providing
resupply spacecraft launching cargo and supplies to the space station
through the Commercial Resupply Services Program.
In the near future, commercial spaceflight not only will include
supplies, but also humans.
American companies are developing the new systems in which
astronauts soon will travel from the United States to low-Earth
orbit, said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden during remarks at
Kennedy on Feb. 2, 2015.

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SPACEPORT Magazine

In September 2014, the agency announced the selection of

Boeing and SpaceX to transport U.S. crews to and from the
International Space Station using their CST-100 Starliner and Crew
Dragon spacecraft, respectively.
The goal is for U.S. missions to the station to end the nations
sole reliance on Russia in 2017, and allow the stations current
crew of six to grow, enabling more research aboard the unique
microgravity laboratory.
By allowing industry to provide taxi services to the space
station, NASA now can concentrate on exploration to distant
destinations such as a near-Earth asteroid and Mars.
At the same time, the agency also is teaming with industry and
academia in developing future aircraft that conserve fuel, lower
emissions and reduce noise.
Since the sound barrier first was broken in 1947, aviation
experts have sought ways to limit the jarring effects of the sonic
booms. One of NASAs primary aeronautical goals is to work with
the aerospace industry to develop aircraft that achieve a low or quiet
enough boom that a current federal ruling prohibiting supersonic
flight over land might be lifted.
Over the past century, pioneering inventors and entrepreneurs
in aerospace have been driven by inspiration and supported by those
who backed their efforts to go faster, higher and farther.
We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where
there was always much encouragement to children to pursue
intellectual interests, said Orville Wright. We investigated
whatever aroused curiosity.
Today, NASA is trying to instill these same values with the
vision to reach new heights, reveal the unknown, while benefiting
all humankind.

Sweet Ideas

Pioneers used unprecedented methods

to early commercial aviation
BY BOB GRANATH

In front of the first hangar at Candler Field, which would

become the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport,
Doug Davis fleet of Waco-9 bi-planes make up the Baby Ruth
Flying Circus. Photo credit: Courtesy of National Waco Club

To assist in dropping Baby

Ruth candy bar samples,
Doug Davis enlisted
11-year-old Buster Granath.
An aviation enthusiast,
Granath frequently
dropped by the Candler
Field airport to talk to
the pilots. He is pictured
here in 1931 wearing
a sailor suit. Granath
would go on to serve
in the U.S. Navy during
World War II. Photo
credit: Courtesy of A.
E. Granath Jr. family

Some of the pioneering entrepreneurs of aviation found

novel approaches to making use of the new technology.
In the 1920s, Atlanta opened an airport seeking to secure
a lucrative contract for one of the new air mail routes. One of
the first to open for business at the new air field was Georgia
native Doug Davis. The World War I aviator and barnstormer
started the Douglas Davis Flying Service with the first airport
hangar at what then was called Candler Field. Today it is the
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
In 1924, Davis was selected by the Curtis Candy Co.
to form the Baby Ruth Flying Circus to advertise the new
chocolate bar. The plan was to fly over large crowds during
outdoor events and drop hundreds of samples attached to tiny
parachutes. However, this approach required an assistant to
pitch the candy bars overboard while Davis flew the airplane.
One of those Davis enlisted was an 11-year-old boy who
loved aviation and frequently dropped by the new Atlanta
airport to talk to some of the pilots who worked there.
That youngster was my father, Buster Granath.
After getting permission from Granaths parents, Davis
strapped the wide-eyed aviation enthusiast on a cushion in
the back seat of a bi-plane. Granath didnt recall what event
brought together the crowd that would be the target for the
candy drop.
At that age, it was the most exciting thing Id had the
chance to do, Granath said. It was great just having the
chance to fly.
During the next eight years, Davis repeated the process in
40 states, usually with the assistance of young aviation buffs
such as Granath.

Pictured here in 2002, Granath built numerous model

airplanes over the years including complex radiocontrolled aircraft such as the one shown.
Photo credit: Courtesy of A. E. Granath Jr. family

SPACEPORT Magazine

35

N A S A i s w i t h y o u w h e n y o u f l y.

#FlyNASA

What are we looking for?

Droids? Hyper-drive?
Star Wars has shaped the lives and careers of scientists and
researchers at NASA. Five years ago, NASA went to Star Wars
Celebration V. We wondered what makes the film and space travel
so appealing to its creators, stars and fans. So we asked . . .
https://youtu.be/fPJ1WL5ZThc

www.nasa.gov
SP-2015-11-438-KSC

C E NT ER

& OPER
A
ENT
T
IO
PM
N
S
LO
VE
Chad Brown
Lead Flight Integration Engineer
Liason for the Space Launch System Vehicle

S PA C E

K EN N E D Y

E
S OF
C
A
F
G
S
UND SYS
O
R
D
G
TE
M
O
S
D

Exploration Begins Here

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

PART 4

The Gemini VII spacecraft as seen from Gemini VI during

their rendezvous mission Dec. 15, 1965. At this point, the
two are about 43 feet apart. Photo credit: NASA

Dual Gemini flights achieve crucial spaceflight milestones

BY BOB GRANATH

he flights of two piloted spacecraft

during December 1965 were major
strides forward in advancing NASAs
capabilities in human spaceflight. They also
marked the point in which the United States
clearly pulled ahead in the space race with
the Soviet Union.
While Gemini VII orbited the Earth
for two weeks, Gemini VI was launched,
completing the first-ever rendezvous
between two spacecraft in orbit. It was a
transformative capability that was not only
necessary for the Apollo moon landing
missions, but crucial in building and
operating the International Space Station.
The rendezvous marked the first time a
human spaceflight milestone was achieved
by the United States first.
Although the Soviet Union twice
had launched simultaneous pairs of
Vostok spacecraft in 1962 and 1963, the
cosmonauts only established radio contact,
coming no closer than several miles of each
other.
The original plan for Gemini VI was
to launch an unpiloted Agena upper stage
atop an Atlas rocket on Oct. 25, 1965. As
the target vehicle completed its first orbit, a
Titan II launch vehicle was to lift off with
astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford
aboard. Gemini VI then would rendezvous
and dock with the Agena.
After the Atlas rocket lifted off, the
Agenas secondary engines fired to separate
it from the launch vehicle. However,
immediately after the Agenas primary
engine fired, telemetry was lost and the
target vehicle failed to reach orbit. The
launch of Gemini VI was postponed.
Schirra was a member of the original
seven astronauts having flown Mercury 8
for six orbits on Oct. 3, 1962. He would
go on to command the first piloted Apollo
mission in October 1968, becoming the
only astronaut to fly in Mercury, Gemini
and Apollo.
Stafford, one of nine pilots selected in
NASAs second group of astronauts, would

Gemini VII pilot Jim Lovell, in front, and command pilot Frank Borman leave the suit up trailer at Cape Kennedys Launch
Complex 16 during prelaunch countdown on Dec. 4, 1965. They are wearing lightweight pressure suits designed to be
removable during their marathon 14-day mission. Photo credit: NASA

serve as commander for Gemini IX in 1966,

and Apollo 10, the lunar landing rehearsal
mission, in 1969. He also commanded the
crew of the American spacecraft that linked
up with two Soviet cosmonauts as part of
the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975.

Since the next Agena target vehicle

would not be ready for several months, a
new plan began to take shape for Schirra
and Stafford.
According to On the Shoulders of
Titans: A History of Project Gemini,

SPACEPORT Magazine

39

Gemini VIs Titan first stage engines shut down 1.5 seconds after ignition on Dec. 12, 1965 due to a premature release of a liftoff umbilical plug. Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford
successfully launched to a rendezvous with Gemini VII three days later. Photo credit: NASA

Walter Burke, spacecraft chief at McDonnell

Aircraft Corp., and his deputy, John Yardley,
asked, Why couldnt we launch a Gemini
as a target instead of an Agena? McDonnell
was the contractor that built the Gemini
spacecraft.
NASA officials at the agencys
headquarters in Washington D.C., Cape
Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral) in Florida
and the Manned Spacecraft Center (now
Johnson Space Center) in Texas quickly
began drawing up a plan to orbit Gemini
VII on its planned two-week mission and, if
there was no serious damage to Launch Pad
19, send up Gemini VI to rendezvous.
At first glance, some were skeptical.
When I first heard of this plan to
rendezvous two spacecraft by launching the
second spacecraft from the same pad in nine
days I thought it was next to impossible,
said Andre Meyer Jr., senior assistant to the
Gemini Program manager: It normally
takes nine weeks or 63 days of actual work
to clean up the pad, erect the booster, mate
the spacecraft and check out the systems.

40

SPACEPORT Magazine

Wiley Williams, NASAs manager of

Gemini Operations at the Kennedy Space
Center, explained that, while challenging,
the quick turnaround was achievable.
Barring unforeseen problems, we feel
there is no reason why this schedule, tight
as it is, cannot be met, he said at the time.
Our most critical period will be after
Gemini VII is gone. We are planning for
only a few days turnaround time on the
pad.
According to Charles Berry, M.D.,
chief of Medical Programs at the Manned
Spacecraft Center, Gemini VII basically was
an effort to better understand how humans
adapt to microgravity.
Its the culmination of our efforts
to double mans exposure to the space
environment with a 14-day flight, he said.
The mission will show us that man, indeed,
can adapt. That his body does not show
changes that increase with his exposure to
that environment. The additional data will
allow us to medically commit man to a
lunar mission.

The Gemini VII crew, Frank Borman

and Jim Lovell, were both from the second
group of astronauts. While Lovell would
go on to be command pilot of Gemini
XII in late 1966, both would fly together
again, with Bill Anders, as part of Apollo
8, the first astronauts to orbit the moon in
December 1968. As commander of Apollo
13 in 1970, Lovell became the first person
to fly four times.
Were on our way, Frank, said Lovell as
Gemini VII launched Dec. 4, 1965.
As the rocket exhaust began to clear,
teams were standing by to begin preparing
for Gemini VI.
I was in the control center at Cape
Kennedy watching the launch of Gemini
VII and as the spacecraft was continuing
into orbit, I glanced at another TV monitor
and it showed the next launch vehicle
being wheeled out of the hanger, said
NASA Gemini Program Manager Charles
Matthews. Thats how fast the action was
taking place.
The longest previous spaceflight was the

eight-day mission of Gemini V. Borman

noted that he and Lovell hoped to take
advantage of the earlier experiences.
One of the things we got from Gemini
V was that flying in the heavier spacesuits
was very debilitating, he said. So we were
able to convince NASA that we should
have a lightweight pressure suit which was
developed in a very short period of time. It
was very convenient because we could get
out of it, and we did.
Borman and Lovells work was set up to
coincide with that of the prime shift team
in Mission Control Houston, with both
astronauts working and sleeping at the same
time. The Gemini VII crew conducted
20 experiments, the most of any Gemini
mission, including studies of nutrition in
space.
The next attempt to launch Schirra and
Stafford turned out to be one of the most
harrowing in the history of Americas still
young space program.
On Dec. 12, 1965, all had proceeded

well right up to ignition of the twin Titan

II first stage engines. Astronaut Alan Bean
was serving as capsule communicator, or
capcom.
3, 2, 1, ignition . . . shutdown Gemini
VI, he said.
After about 1.5 seconds of firing, the
engines abruptly shut down. There was no
liftoff.
My clock has started, Schirra said.
Since the clock had started in the
spacecraft, the instruments were telling
Schirra liftoff had taken place. Mission rules
dictated that he should immediately pull
a D-shaped ring above the center console
and activate the ejection seats, blasting the
astronauts safely away from the fully fueled
Titan II which would be falling back to the
launch pad. However, Schirras experience
from Mercury 8 paid off. He did not feel
the motion of liftoff.
I knew we hadnt gone anywhere, he
said later. This proves that man is better
programed than any computer.

One of the things we got

from Gemini V was that flying
in the heavier spacesuits was
very debilitating. So we were
able to convince NASA that
we should have a lightweight
pressure suit which was
developed in a very short
period of time. It was very
convenient because we could
get out of it, and we did.
Frank Borman
Former Astronaut

An evaluation determined that a tail

plug fell off prematurely causing the engine
shutdown and the erroneous liftoff signal.
Three days later, Schirra and Stafford
were finally on their way to catch up with
Borman and Lovell.
The radar on Gemini VI first made
contact with Gemini VII after 3 hours and
15 minutes when they were 270 miles away.
Soon thereafter, Schirra
established voice
contact with Borman.
Were looking for
you, the Gemini VI
command pilot said.
Hang on, well be up
there shortly.
About six hours
after liftoff, while
passing over the Hawaii
tracking station on
Gemini VIs fourth
orbit, Schirra reported
that he and Stafford
had caught up with
Borman and Lovell.
Were flying
in formation with
(Gemini) VII, Schirra
said. Everything is go
here.
Roger,
congratulations,
excellent, said
This view of the Gemini VI spacecraft includes a Beat Army sign in the window. The message from the on-board crew of Wally Schirra and Tom
astronaut Elliott See,
Stafford, who, along with Gemini VII pilot Jim Lovell, are all graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy. Gemini VII command pilot, Frank Borman, is an
the capcom.
alumnus of the U.S. Military Academy. That years matchup between the two service academies was played on Nov. 27, 1965, ending in a 7-7 tie.
Photo credit: NASA

SPACEPORT Magazine

41

Thank you, it was a lot of

fun, said Schirra.
During the next five and a
half hours of station keeping,
the crews moved as close as
one foot, taking pictures and
describing the appearance of
each spacecraft.
Looks like the flag and
the letters are seared as much
at launch as they are when you
come back at re-entry, Lovell
said, describing the side of
Gemini VI.
Later, Gemini VI fired its
thrusters and slowly drifted
out to 10 miles, preventing an
accidental collision during their
sleep period.
Before the end of the day,
and noting the upcoming
holiday, the Gemini VI crew had
a surprise for everyone.
Gemini VII, this is Gemini
VI, Schirra said. We have an
object, looks like a satellite going
from north to south, probably in
a polar orbit. Hes in a very low
trajectory. Looks like he might
be going to re-enter soon. Stand
Surrounded by NASA dignitaries and members of the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, Gemini VII astronauts Frank Borman and Jim
by one ...
Lovell arrive aboard the ship following their recovery Dec. 18, 1965. The astronauts were picked up from the Atlantic Ocean, following
At that point, the sound of
successful splashdown after two weeks in orbit. Photo credit: NASA
Jingle Bells was heard being
played by Schirra on a small
fitting climax to a successful year of Gemini
deck of the Wasp, television networks were
harmonica with Stafford ringing a handful
flights, said Matthews. Gemini IV
able to provide live coverage.
of small bells.
introduced us to spacewalking and was also
Gemini VII remained in space two days
Youre too much, VI, laughed See from
the start of our buildup of long duration
after Gemini VIs return, landing Dec. 18,
mission control.
missions and went four days. Gemini V,
1965. Borman and Lovell held the world
Gemini VI re-entered the next day,
in turn, went eight days. This effort on the
record for the longest human spaceflight
landing in the Atlantic Ocean within 10
(Gemini) 7/6 mission, is an example of the
until the 17-day Soyuz 9 mission in June
miles of the aircraft carrier, USS Wasp.
1970 and were U.S. record holders until the American spirit as it has existed throughout
The recovery of Schirra and Stafford
the years and is ample evidence that it
Skylab missions in 1973 and 1974.
also was the first to be televised. Through a
exists today.
The VII and VI missions were a very
transportable satellite Earth station on the

EDITORS NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of feature articles marking the 50th anniversary of Project Gemini. The program was designed as
a steppingstone toward landing on the moon. The investment also provided technology now used in NASAs work aboard the International Space
Station and planning for the Journey to Mars. In March, read about the first docking mission and responding to an emergency in space. For more
see On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini.

42

SPACEPORT Magazine

http://go.nasa.gov/1XCELPN
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/christmas_2016_coloring_sheet_508.pdf

Click on the link below to download additional copies of the Coloring sheet for your family and friends:

Commercial Crew astronauts Doug Hurley, center, and Sunita Suni Williams sit inside a Crew Dragon mockup during an
evaluation visit for the Crew Dragon spacecraft at SpaceXs Hawthorne, California, headquarters. Photo credit: SpaceX

For more on the astronauts evaluation of the Crew Dragon, go to http://go.nasa.gov/1XqCT1Q

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
www.nasa.gov
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