Major Aerospace Events
December
Apollo 8 - 40th Anniversary
On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida and three days later, Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders became the first humans to enter lunar orbit.
Source: NASA
Amateur Rocket Regulations
The FAA has released new rules governing amateur rocket flights, and the agency responded directly to AOPA's concerns about temporary flight restrictions (TFRs). In comments filed with the FAA last year, AOPA had asked the agency to clarify language in a proposed update of the rules to ensure that TFRs would not be used to segregate amateur rockets from the national airspace system. In its final rule the FAA specifically noted that the only change is in the timeline for providing information to air traffic control, and not to notam requirements or TFR procedures
November
Civil Air Patrol Senior Member takes the controls of the Space Shuttle!
CAP Sr. Mbr. and Air Force Col. Eric A. Boe takes the controls of the Space Shuttle Endeavour during the STS-126 Mission.
A Georgia Wing Spaatz cadet who first soloed as a cadet, Boe's flight highlights a sterling career that has included fighter and test pilot experience in the Air Force.
Lear more about Col. Boe here.
Mission STS-126
Orbiter:Endeavour
Mission:STS-126
Primary Payload: Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
Target Launch Date: Nov. 14
Launch Time: 7:55 p.m. EST
Launch Pad:39A
Mission Duration: 15 days
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center
Inclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
Chandrayaan-1 Lunar Arrival
After two weeks of journey India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 entered the lunar orbit on Saturday (Nov. 08, 2008) evening. It started at 16:50 hrs IST and within 14 minutes, it the entered lunar orbit. It is now 504 km from Moon. ISRO says the most critical operation is successful. With this development, India's moon mission has been declared successful
October
Floor 234,456 please?
Maybe, NASA is working in a project that could built a "space elevator". According to NASA:
"A space elevator is essentially a long cable extending from our planet's surface into space with its center of mass at geostationary Earth orbit (GEO), 35,786 km in altitude. Electromagnetic vehicles traveling along the cable could serve as a mass transportation system for moving people, payloads, and power between Earth and space."
An audacious, yet outrageous idea indeed. Learn more by selecting the picture below.
Source: NASA headlines
Happy Birthday NASA!
The 78th East Iowa Cadet Squadron congratulates NASA for the first 50 years of space and aeronautic leadership and progress!! CAP will continue to plant the seed of curiosity, talent and leadership in our cadets as the future generations that will reach the stars.
"The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join it or not, and it is one of the greatest adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space…
We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for all people…
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because the goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills..."
President John F. Kennedy
Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort
September 12, 1962
Source: NASA
Visit the NASA 50th anniversary website here
September 2008
SpaceX Falcon 1
On September 28th, the Falcon 1 made history as the first privately developed liquid fueled launch vehicle to achieve earth orbit.
Source: SpaceX
China first space walk
On September 27th, astronaut (taikonaut) and mission commander Zhai Zhigang became the first Chinese astronaut to perform a sapece walk for just under 15 minutes from the Shenzhou VII spacecraft according to the live TV transmission.
There is talk about China going to the moon in the next decade.
Source: Spacedaily.com
Space rescue mission?
This month, two space shuttles will be ready to enter in action. The Atlantis will be launched on October 10 to repair the Hubble telescope. This mission is risky so the shuttle Endeavor was moved also to the space launch for a trip NASA hopes will never make: A RESCUE MISSION! After the Atlantis mission, the Endeavor will be launched on November on a mission to the ISS. The Hubble repair mission was postponed for later.
Photo NASA: The Endevor and Atlantis in the launch positions
August, 2008
BACK TO THE MOON: Ares V and I are the new generation of rockets that will take us back to the moon
Commercial Space Flight: White KnightTwo
White KnightTwo will be the first stage carrying the SpaceShipTwo in the first commercial sub-orbital flight.
Meet the White Knigthtwo
July 2008
Air Force Association Grant!!!
The Air Force Association announced the 78th East Iowa Cadet Squadron as one of the twenty grants promoting aerospace education to hundreds of youth throughout the Civil Air Patrol squadrons. Congratulations!!!!
Read the Complete AFA Press Release
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008
Oshkosh is the most important aviation event of the year. The event is organized by the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA) and brings 2,500 different show aircraft. Watch the video to know more about this aviation celebration!
OSHKOSH VIDEO
KEPLER Mission
Do you think that there are planets earth-like in other parts of our galaxy? Join the 78th. in the search with the Kepler project!! Kepler will be the first NASA mission capable to find earth-size and smaller planets. Prepare for launch in February, 2009.
Apollo 11, first on the moon.
July 20th, 2008 is the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. The Apollo program used the Saturn V rocket. The Saturn V Chief Architect was Dr. Wernher von Braun.
June 2008
Model Rocketry
We have been working with the Civil Air Patrol Model Rocketry Guide. We will continue in the following weeks. You can access the materials in the Model Rocketry Guide Picture.
The 78th is going to the moon!!!
How? The project is known as Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). "Two satellites will be launched together aboard an ATLAS V rocket by November 23th. The mission is to find safe landing sites for the next moon landings, life sustaining elements, developing new technologies and understand the impact of radiation in humans that will someday inhabitat the moon" (Source: Nasa).
The 78th. will be there!!... at least in name for now, are you up to the space missions to come?
Tunguska Event
June 30 is the centenary of the Tunguska Event. Do you know what is it?
Is the most powerful natural explosion known in recent history, several times greater than the nuclear bomb dropped in Hiroshima, and occurred in 1908 in Central Siberia. This incredible event is attributed to a "large space rock" WOW!!. The exact cause is still unknown... what do you think happened? Could this event happen again in a city?
Find out more about this extraordinary event! | 
