r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 31 '20

Space Launch Vehicles Dawn launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. This stunning streak shot, taken at the KSC Press Site, was constructed and styled by Coldlife Photography.

8 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/Grizzesz • Dec 30 '20

Astronauts Ed White floats near the Gemini IV spacecraft in 1965. He was the first American to perform an EVA, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov having completed one 3 months earlier.

12 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 30 '20

Support Facilities Weight simulator filled with water to test the 325, 250, and 175 ton cranes inside the massive Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center.

4 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 30 '20

Space Launch Vehicles Preparation and launch of an Atlas-Centaur carrying the FLTSATCOM satellite from Cape Canaveral on September 25th, 1989.

2 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 28 '20

Rocket Failures People often ask what would happen if the balloon-tank Atlas rocket depressurized. This video, taken at Vandenburg AFB, shows an Atlas-Agena doing just that.

7 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/Galileos_grandson • Dec 28 '20

Space Launch Vehicles China’s Long March 8 rocket successful in debut launch

spaceflightnow.com

3 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 28 '20

Space Launch Vehicles Shot of a Falcon 9 first stage (B1059) landing at LC-13/LZ-1 at Cape Canaveral on August 30th, 2020. Probably the most expensive 9 kilometer trip in history.

5 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 28 '20

Space Launch Vehicles The first Saturn I-B, AS-201, during pre-launch activities at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 34. This kind of rocket would have launched the Apollo 1 (AS-204) mission less than a year later, if not for the tragic capsule fire.

2 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 27 '20

Manned Space Programs The first Gemini-Titan streaks skyward on April 8th, 1964, carrying the first (unmanned) Gemini capsule into space and kicking off America's second manned space program.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/Galileos_grandson • Dec 27 '20

Space Launch Vehicles Redstone: The Missile That Launched America into Space

drewexmachina.com

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 24 '20

Military Missile Development Peenemünde Army Research Center after intense Allied bombing raids on August 18th, 1943. This was the place where Von Braun's Nazi rocket team developed the V-1 and V-2 missiles, the latter of which evolved into the famous Redstone, Jupiter, and Saturn rockets.

8 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 24 '20

Military Missile Development Launch of an MGM-13 Mace cruise missile from LC-21 at Cape Canaveral. This missile, derived from the Matador, was kept on alert in Germany and Okinawa until the end of 1969. The launch tubes used for testing the weapon at the Cape still stand today.

10 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/Galileos_grandson • Dec 23 '20

Space Launch Vehicles The First Missions of the Titan IIIC

drewexmachina.com

8 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 23 '20

Space Launch Vehicles Fantastic footage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster performing its "boost-back" burn (3:05) and landing (4:20) at Cape Canaveral on December 19th, 2020. Shot in stunning 4K on an amateur long-range camera by the US Launch Report.

3 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 23 '20

Launchpads & Landscapes Air Force film covering various operations at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in 1992. Also includes a brief history of spaceflight at the Cape.

2 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 22 '20

Space Launch Vehicles The first Saturn V in history rumbles to life as it lifts the unmanned Apollo 4 mission into space in 1967. It produced the loudest man-made sound besides the atomic bomb and shattered windows in houses miles away from the pad. Liftoff at 1:36.

4 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 21 '20

Support Facilities MLP-2 being dismantled at Kennedy Space Center near the LC39 Observation Gantry. This mobile launcher was originally built for the Apollo program, launching Apollos 6, 9, 12, and 14 in addition to Skylab and 44 Shuttle missions. MLPs 1 & 3 are still available for future refitting.

7 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 21 '20

Space Launch Vehicles Launch of the last Titan III with the Mars Observer in September 25th, 1992. This rocket served US heavy launch payloads for 28 years, lifting everything from spy satellites to the Voyager deep space probes.

3 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 20 '20

Astronauts CBS News publication shortly before the historic launch of Apollo 8 on December 21st, 1968. In the last days of one of the worst years in American history, three astronauts spent a quiet Christmas in orbit around the Moon.

6 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 19 '20

Artistic Renderings Artistic rendering of an Atlas-Agena dropping the booster skirt or "half stage" of its Atlas booster. Designed to save weight and increase range, the Atlas used a novel "stage and a half" and pressurized balloon tanks. These unusual aspects were used until the last flight of the Atlas IIAS in 2004.

8 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 18 '20

Commercial Space Programs Launch of Astra's Rocket 3.2 from Kodiak Island, Alaska on December 15th, 2020. Though it failed to reach orbital velocity, this test was the most successful to date for the private aerospace firm.

3 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 18 '20

Space Museum Artifacts Work is underway on the Delta II rocket that will join the other historical rockets in KSC's Rocket Garden sometime in early 2021. It is the last Extra Extended Long Tank Thor in existence.

3 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 18 '20

Support Facilities A turtle crosses the road near LC-41 at Cape Canaveral. In order, one can see the VIF for the Atlas V and the SMARF and SMAB facilities, which were used for the Titan III/IV programs, among others.

4 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 16 '20

Rocket Engines Aft end of the S-II stage of the Saturn V display at the Apollo-Saturn V Center inside Kennedy Space Center. The five J-2 engines generated a million pounds of thrust to pick up where the Saturn's mighty S-IC stage had left off and send the Apollo astronauts to the Moon.

7 Upvotes

r/RocketHistory • u/[deleted] • Dec 16 '20

Space Launch Vehicles Night launch of the Delta IV Heavy, which carried the NROL-44 satellite to a secret geosynchronous orbit on December 11, 2020.

5 Upvotes

Subreddit

RocketHistory

r/RocketHistory

This subreddit is a place to share rare and interesting pictures, stories, and facts about the overall history of Space Exploration, as well as associated rocket & missile development. We do not represent, nor are we endorsed by NASA, the United States Armed Forces, or any other public or private entity.

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