'See the Sunrise?': 20 Years Since STS-84, Mission of the Six Nations (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on May 14th, 2017

The pressurized modules and solar arrays of Mir, as viewed through the windows of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-84. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Two decades ago, tonight, the Florida sky and much of the eastern seaboard of the United States, was lit up and shaken awake by the rousing launch of […]

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'We Just Lit Up the Sky': 20 Years Since STS-84, Mission of the Six Nations (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on May 13th, 2017

Atlantis roars into the night on 15 May 1997, kicking off her sixth visit to Russia’s Mir space station. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Twenty years ago, this week, Space Shuttle Atlantis roared into the night, creating a new dawn across the marshy landscape of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). “We just […]

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'A Clockwork Not of Earthly Pace': Celebrating the New Year in Space (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on December 31st, 2016

Tonight, six spacefarers from three sovereign nations will observe the transition from 2016 into 2017 from the International Space Station (ISS). Photo Credit: NASA/Scott Kelly/Twitter

With a naval officer in command of the International Space Station (ISS), it might have seemed obvious that New Year’s Day 2001 would carry a corresponding nautical tradition. […]

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Five Decades of Celebrating Christmas in Space (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on December 26th, 2015

Truly the voyage of Apollo 8 over the Christmas period in 1968 carried with it the most profound message of the Greatest Story Ever Told: a message of peace, goodwill and harmony to the inhabitants of Planet Earth. Photo Credit: NASA

For the first time, an American citizen recorded as many as three […]

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'As Long As It's Not a Hurricane': 20 Years Since the Record-Setting Mission of Norm Thagard (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on March 15th, 2015

Norm Thagard and Bonnie Dunbar participate in Soyuz-TM training in October 1994. Photo Credit: NASA

Twenty years ago, this week, the first U.S. astronaut in history was launched in a non-U.S. spacecraft, from a non-U.S. nation, with a crew entirely composed of non-U.S. comrades. Four-time shuttle veteran Norm Thagard had spent more than […]

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'Next Time, We Will Shake Your Hand': 20 Years Since STS-63 (Part 2)

By Ben Evans, on February 1st, 2015

The Mir space station, as viewed by the crew of STS-63. Photo Credit: NASA

Twenty years ago, next week, in February 1995, U.S. astronauts Jim Wetherbee, Eileen Collins, Bernard Harris, Mike Foale, and Janice Voss, together with veteran Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Titov, launched aboard Shuttle Discovery on one of the most ambitious missions […]

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'Not By a Single Centimeter': 20 Years Since STS-63 (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on January 31st, 2015

Valeri Polyakov, pictured at Mir’s windows during the STS-63 shuttle rendezvous mission in February 1995, is the incumbent record-holder for the longest single spaceflight. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Twenty years ago, next week, in February 1995, the crew of Shuttle Discovery roared into the night on a mission which featured the […]

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'Fifteen Midnights': Celebrating the New Year in Space (Part 1)

By Ben Evans, on December 27th, 2014

Bill Shepherd (center) and his Expedition 1 crewmates, Yuri Gidzenko (left) and Sergei Krikalev, juggle oranges during their time aboard the International Space Station. They celebrated both Christmas and the dawn of 2001 in orbit. Photo Credit: NASA

With a naval officer in command of the International Space Station, it might have seemed […]

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