Happy 61st anniversary to Gemini 5

It was 61 years ago today, Aug 21, that Gordon Cooper Jr and Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr blasted-off into space on the Gemini V mission. The main objective of the mission was to test a new type of fuel cell that would later be used on the Apollo Moon missions. As part of that testing they also would set a record as they spent almost 8 full days in space (approximately how long a round trip to the Moon would take) and made 120 orbits of the Earth.

It was 1:58 pm UTC (9:58 am ET) when the crowd gathered at Cape Kennedy, Florida cheered when they heard the roar of the engines. Then the hold claps released as they all watched the rocket lift-off from the launch-pad at control center 19. They looked up as the rocket kept rising while it carried the two astronauts into space.

About 4 and a half hours into the mission it looked as though they might need to return to Earth before carrying out their objective. One of the two fuel cells dropped from 850 psi (pounds per square inch) of pressure to 65 psi. Mr. Cooper turned off the malfunctioning fuel cell and that left the capsule short of the power it would require to complete it mission. With fate of the mission in doubt the ground crew back at NASA worked on a solution to the problem. The only solution seemed to be turning the fuel cell back on and testing it. When the crew of Gemini turned it back on the fuel cell tested out as stable enough to carry out the rest of the mission.

On the 120^th orbit the crew of the Gemini V fired their retros over the Hawaiian Islands. The capsule then descended into the Atlantic Ocean where the craft would be recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain.

Previous to the Gemini V mission Mr. Cooper flew the Mercury 9 mission. The Gemini mission would turn out to be his last mission when he retired after being bumped from the Apollo 13 mission.

Gemini V was the first mission for Mr. Conrad. He later severed as part of the Gemini XI, Apollo 12, and Skylab 2 missions. He retired in 1973 and later awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter.

After the mission Gordon Cooper would call the mission “8 days in a garbage can” in reference to the cramped seating area in the capsule.  

SpaceX successfully launches satellite

On Aug 15, 2016 the skies above Florida were lit up as the privately owned Hawthorn, California-based company SpaceX successfully carried off a pre-dawn launch of a Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket blasted-off at 1:26 am ET (5:26 am UTC) to carry off its two-fold mission of deploying the JCSAT-16 communication satellite and land the first stage of the rocket on a drone barge.

When the engines of the rocket rocket roared to life there was a large roar from the launch center. Within a few seconds the rocket accelerated and cleared the launch towers on its way to space.After a couple of minutes the rocket broke into space where the first and second stage separated.

The control center then took over control of the first stage to attempt bringing it back in for a landing on the drone barge "of course I still love you". As the control center brought the first stage in for a handing everyone watching held their breath in anticipation. For those of us watching the live feed it was extra suspenseful as the feed froze just as the first stage approached the drone barge. Soon there was a cheer and the feed resumed showing that the first stage did indeed land. This was the 4th time that SpaceX has made such a landing since the first one took place in December of 2015. They also made 2 landings on solid ground earlier this year to bring the total to 6 landings overall.

After the separation, and landing of the first stage, the second stage of the Falcon 9 traveled on to finish the primary part of the mission and deploy the JCSAT-16 satellite into orbit 36,000 miles above the Earth. Once in a geostationary transfer orbit the satellite will become part of an array of satellites that provide a vast array of types of communications to Russia, the Middle East, Asia, North America, and other areas.

Review: The Vilcabamba Prophecy

The Vilcabamba Prophecy by Robert Rapoza is a thrill packed action/adventure/fantasy that will keep the reader rivoted from beginning to end. The thrill-ride starts in the first few pages rigt after we meet Dr. Nick Randall when he becomes missing on an archeology expedition in Peru. His darghter, Dr. Samantha Rndall, is soon called in to locate him snd she finds herself in the same type of danger as her missing father. Now, both doctors and their expedition parties find themselves running form their persuers. Over the next few chapters they find themselves invoved in kidnappings and gun battles as they try to find each other and the acient city of Vilcamba. Even when you think they are out of danger do not blink because it is not over.

The main characters in the book are well devolped and very believable. There is Dr. Nick Randall, the adventurous archeologist and academic with some contraversial theories; his daughter Dr. Samantha Randall; Frances Dumond, the head of the alliance; Colenel Ackers, leader of the mercinary forces; and several others. The interaction of all of the characters mesh together very well throughout the book.

The dialog between the characters has been well thought out and fits in very well with the characters and situations they find themselves in at the time. One of the best examples of this is when father and daughter are reunited and Samantha says, “I thought you were dead, Is it really you?”.

Some of the things the author does well in the book are maintaining the suspense and use of details. Mr. Rapoza keeps the suspense going in two ways. First, he use ciff-hangers at the end of chapters but does not make us wait too long before finding out what happens next. The second way is that just when we think the main characters are in the clear he puts them in danger once again. With the description he gives us plenty of detail to picture the characters, structures, and action without falling into the trap of going too far in detail.

I would recommend this book to any that loves the Indain Jones series, Allan Quartermain movies, or shows like Anceint Aliens and Expedition Unknown. I think has elements of all of these that blended along with elements drawn from the authors own imagination that will keep the focus of all readers. I give it 4 out of 4 stars.