Endeavour lands safely
Endeavour lands safely, for the last time.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Endeavour lands safely, for the last time.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
From my blog:
Coming Home
I watched the landing of space shuttle Endeavor last night, although it was probably past the bedtime of folks on the East Coast. The broadcast started with the ground track representation, and when it passed over the Florida coast I was reminded of a time I was awakened by the double sonic boom of the spacecraft passing overhead. It’s louder than you might think.
When the shuttle passed through about 40,000 feet the view switched to a camera looking through the pilots HUD. This was pretty neat, except it was night and all you could see was the HUD and a lot of black, but you could read the various displays, and get an idea of just how fast the craft falls. When the commander called the runway, all that was visible was a litttle point of light in the distance. After a period of time the approach lights appeared very quickly. They were suddenly Right There, with the shuttle lined up dead on the centerline. The view then switched to a runway IR camera. You could see that the underside, and especially the nose cap, were still very warm from re-entry. When the landing gear deployed the tires were dark and cold, but got bright very quickly after touchdown as they heated up.
I was most surprised by what looked like a fire coming out of the fuselage just forward of the vertical fin right after the ‘chute was deployed. NASA didn’t seem concerned about it. The announcer got around to mentioning that it was the APU exhaust, but I wasn’t too sure. The view was still in IR, and this wasn’t some thermal plume; this was flames spurting out of an opening on the hull, making a noise usually associated with a Roman candle. Well, it didn’t blow up.
She’s been a good ship. Welcome home.