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"ISS" is an acronym for International Space Station.
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"Aerodynamics" comes from two Greek words: aerios (concerning the air) and dynamis (powerful). Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through the air.
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Did you know that the first African-American woman in space was Dr. Mae Jemison? She was selected for the astronaut program in June 1987 and served as the science mission specialist on STS-47 Spacelab-J (September 12-20, 1992).
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Apollo 10's command module was called "Charlie Brown" and the lunar module was called "Snoopy."
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The third human to walk on the surface of the Moon was Charles P. "Pete" Conrad -- during the Apollo 12 Mission.
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Did you know that the Apollo 16 spacecraft were named after stars? The command module was "Caspar," and the lunar module was "Orion." Among the items taken to the moon on this mission were 25 U.S. flags and one state flag for each of the 50 U.S. States. The flags were 4 inches x 6 inches.
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Apollo 7, the first piloted Apollo mission, took place October 11-12, 1968, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham.
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Six Apollo missions landed on the moon: Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17.
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Have you ever heard of "Armalcolite"? Armalcolite is a mineral that was discovered at Tranquility Base by the Apollo 11 crew. It was named for ARMstrong, ALdrin and COLlins, the three Apollo 11 astronauts
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There is no set number of people in an astronaut candidate class; NASA selects candidates on an as-needed basis.
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Each Space Shuttle astronaut is allotted 3.8 pounds of food per day (including the one pound of packaging). Foods are individually packaged and stowed for easy handling in the zero gravity of space. All food is precooked or processed so it requires no refrigeration and is either ready to eat or can be prepared simply by adding water or by heating. The only exceptions are the fresh fruit and vegetables stowed in the fresh food locker. Without refrigeration, carrots and celery must be eaten within the first two days of the flight or they will spoil.
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Did you know that to apply to be an astronaut a pilot must have completed 1000 hours of flying time in a jet aircraft?
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During Apollo 11, the astronauts ate two meals. Meal A was bacon squares, peaches, sugar cookie cubes, coffee, and pineapple-grapefruit drink. Meal B included beef stew, cream of chicken soup, date fruitcake, grape punch, and orange drink.
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Snoopy, the Peanuts Comic Strip character is the astronauts' personal safety mascot.
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Columbia was the first Space Shuttle that traveled to Earth orbit.
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It takes about six hours for a Space Shuttle, aboard a crawler-transporter, to make the trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad preceding a mission.
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Explorer 1, the first U.S. Earth-orbiting satellite, was launched January 31, 1958 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch vehicle was an Army Jupiter-C rocket. Explorer 1 orbited the Earth every 115 minutes. Its orbit carried it from a low of about 220 miles to a high of nearly 1,600 miles.
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Bessie Coleman, known as "Queen Bess, Daredevil Aviator," was the first African-American woman aviator. She received her pilot's certificate in 1921 in France and learned stunt-flying there. Bessie died in a flying accident in 1926 before she was able to achieve her goal of opening her own flight school. She was honored in 1995 by the U.S. Postal Service with a Black Heritage commemorative stamp.
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Eileen M. Collins was the first female commander of the space shuttle. She and her crew launched aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on the STS-93 mission in July 1999.
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On October 11, 1984 Katherine Sullivan was the first U.S. woman to walk in space. During STS-41G, she and Commander Dave Leestma successfully conducted a 3-1/2 hour Extravehicular Activity (EVA) to demonstrate the feasibility of actual satellite refueling.
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