UPDATED: Blue Origin, Wally Funk, and More Interviews

In my last post, I wrote about the Apollo anniversary, Virgin Space, and the Moon Interviews my friend is conducting.

Since then, Jeff Bezos joined the space race accomplishments when his Blue Origin launched soon after the previous post. This Amazon shuttle launch could have easily been overshadowed by the previous forays to space from Tesla and Virgin. However, it had one claim on my excitement that the previous launches had not. Wally Funk was aboard. 

For those who don't understand the significance of Blue Origin sending Wally Funk to space: she was one of the original Mercury 13 (April 1959), a group of women in an experimental, privately-funded program who underwent the same physiological training as male NASA astronauts, to see if they could handle it (spoiler, they could). These women were not NASA astronauts, and none of them ever flew.

Funk scored higher than John Glenn on many of the tests. Glenn even said women shouldn't go to space and once said "The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order." But now, Funk fulfilled her lifelong dream. She flew to space, and she stole the record of becoming the oldest person in space right out from under John Glenn's feet.

I love that her dream finally came true. This is further proof that we are never too old to dream, or to accomplish our goals.

For those of you asking for more information about joining in on the interviews, or watching the ones I mentioned last time: http://www.countdowntothemoon.org/

Please take some time to watch at least a few. There are interviews here with those who are excited about the modern day the space race, some who are ambivalent, and some who still do not believe any of it is real - very interesting variety of views available in 10 - 90 minute increments. You can also see my husband and I talking with him on the 52nd anniversary of the first man on the moon at: https://www.countdowntothemoon.org/2021/07/21/1258-bill-and-sylvia/

All of this was very exciting to me and put me in the mood to read some Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Andy Weir. 

How about you? Are you interested in participating in an interview? What has surprised you most about reaching for the stars? What are you most looking forward to in the future?

Apollo 11 Anniversary and the Lunar Library

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the first man on the moon. 

What was once an interesting federally funded space race followed by a couple of decades of amazing explorations and discoveries seemed to lag over the last generation. Federal funding minimized and American astronauts have been forced seek a ride with China or Russia to get into space. 

While NASA has never ceased its missions entirely, its focus has been with an eye towards the exploration of Mars. The Orion projects have been slated for crews in the 2020's. 

Privately funded missions to orbit our planet have become more frequent in this century. Great strides have been made both by scientists and businessmen to learn more about what lies beyond our orbit.

In February, Elon Musk launched a Tesla Roadster with a dummy payload for the Falcon Heavy test flight and became an artificial satellite of the sun. 

More recently, this spring a black hole was discovered at the center of Galaxy M87. Scientists and students worldwide are still reeling from the newest images and seeking to understand the resulting implications.

Yet, with all of these new discoveries, man has not forgotten the first steps to the moon. In fact, new missions to the moon are being planned. 

Perhaps even as a precursor to manned missions to mars, and as a guide for any possible visitors from elsewhere, SpaceIL  Beresheet Lander carried an "Arch Lunar Library". This is the first in a planned series of lunar archives prepared and maintained by the Arch Mission Foundation, a non-profit organization that tasks itself with maintaining a billion-year history of Planet Earth.

The records include millions of images of pages of books. For more details, read the overview of the Lunar Library. The article is a bit long, but it’s an interesting read.

In the meantime, you might consider visiting several areas this week in celebration of the 50th anniversary: a NASA location, a Smithsonian, or other history/science museum.

So, if you were going to include a book for the Lunar Library what would it be? Anything that you feel should NOT be included? Are you doing anything to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission?