Keep Moving Forward

lightthiscandle:

spacewatching:

Taking advantage of a brief period of microgravity afforded aboard a KC-135 flying a parabolic curve, the flight crew of the first space shuttle orbital flight test (STS-1) goes through a spacesuit-donning exercise.

Astronaut John W. Young has just entered the hard-material torso of the shuttle spacesuit by approaching it from below. He is assisted by astronaut Robert L. Crippen. The torso is held in place by a special stand here, simulating the function provided by the airlock wall aboard the actual shuttle craft. The life support system is mated to the torso on Earth and remains attached to the torso during the flight.

STS-1!

STS-1 in micro-g!

(via asonlynasacan)

epcotexplorer:

Humanistic Horizons

On the land, under the sea, and even out in space… Horizons was the one pavilion that took the topical elements of Future World and blended them into one grand ride that served as the capstone or thesis statement for EPCOT’s forward thinking part of the park. 

Even with this in mind, the reasons behind Horizons’ large fanbase, even today, 13 years after it was demolished, are quite simple. Horizons was warm and relatable. The pavilion dwelled in the serious subjects of Future World but presented them in an organic way: through the eyes and actions of a family. Nameless re-occuring characters, warm narrators, amusing situations and gags populated the fantastical and scientific settings that we had seen earlier, but under industrial pretenses. Now, the ride and the settings were personal, and felt closer to home. Much in the way that the Carousel of Progress addressed the audience, the narrators did the same in Horizons. You were being talked to, given a tour, and welcomed into the home of the family that was living in this fantastical, futuristic environment. For this reason, the Carousel of Progress and Horizons were considered to be in a symbiotic relationship and Horizons to be Carousel’s sequel. 

Further, the aesthetics of the environments supported the warm connotation that Horizons had. The treatments that each scene and environment were given were highly similar, even if not geographically (or spatially!) related. Each vehicle was of a concurrent shape and design to another in a scene. In fact, the design of the Solo Subs in Sea Castle were much of the same body type as the Space Shuttles in Brava Centauri. With this in mind, the familiarity of each aesthetic, of each environment you were being shown played a subtle trick on the guest’s brains. You’d expect to see certain things, and the relatable feeling to the pavilion was created and fostered by the simple memory of the scene before it. 

Horizons’ warmth was not accidental. The pavilion was the humanistic manifestation of all of the subject matter and challenge that was put on display in Future World. But in the fact that the basis for the experience was rooted in family, and in relationships, the pavilion’s intent was one that anyone could enjoy, relate to, and feel at home in. 

EPCOT Center is missing this today. We all cry and clamor for EPCOT to attack the broad and sweeping subjects now missing from it, but if EPCOT Center truly wants to return, it must be based in warmth and feeling like a relatable future that you can easily imagine yourself in. 

I feel like I have no right to comment on anything related to Horizons because I never rode it…

thef-ingnewguys:

Happy 61st Birthday to Sally Ride!

*In addition to becoming the first American woman (and youngest U.S. citizen) in space aboard STS-7 in 1983, Dr. Ride was also a nationally-ranked tennis player on the junior circuit as a teenager, and briefly considered a professional career in the sport.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Ride!

lightthiscandle:

spacewatching:

Taking advantage of a brief period of microgravity afforded aboard a KC-135 flying a parabolic curve, the flight crew of the first space shuttle orbital flight test (STS-1) goes through a spacesuit-donning exercise.

Astronaut John W. Young has just entered the hard-material torso of the shuttle spacesuit by approaching it from below. He is assisted by astronaut Robert L. Crippen. The torso is held in place by a special stand here, simulating the function provided by the airlock wall aboard the actual shuttle craft. The life support system is mated to the torso on Earth and remains attached to the torso during the flight.

STS-1!

In micro-g!

(via asonlynasacan)

epcotexplorer:

Colonies In Space (Taken with instagram)

:-)

lightthiscandle:

From Collectspace, a 1983 photo of the first four shuttle crews.

This picture is flawless.

Awesome!

temporallydisplacedrocketman:

spaceandstuffidk:

Retro Space Images: “Space Shuttle Enterprise is shown at Pad 39A in 1979. Photo courtesy of the Usciak Collection.”

awwww yeaaahhh Enterprise yeaaahhh

I’ve never seen this fit check from this angle before. Me gustaaaa.

Enterprise! I will come and see you when I get home in August! But while I am in DC for eight weeks now, I will go and see Discovery where you used to live and ask her if she likes it there.

(via asonlynasacan)

ponsi-patootie:

what an absolutely stunning woman, honestly. Judy Resnik could have been a movie star with that face tbh.

A hero of mine, and of Teresa’s.

temporallydisplacedrocketman:

spaceandstuffidk:

Retro Space Images: “Space Shuttle Enterprise is shown at Pad 39A in 1979. Photo courtesy of the Usciak Collection.”

awwww yeaaahhh Enterprise yeaaahhh

I’ve never seen this fit check from this angle before. Me gustaaaa.

Enterprise!

I will visit you when I get home in August and hopefully Erin will be there, too.

(via asonlynasacan)