NASA Releases Incredible Historical Pictures

The images come from NASA Commons, a joint effort by NASA, Flickr, and Internet Archive to round up 50 years of photographic history of the venerable agency. The collection comprises three sections: Building NASA, Launch/Takeoff, and NASA Center Namesakes, which include pictures of experimental crafts, a variety of launches, and the people who had the Right Stuff to made it all happen.

Here's a taste:

Gossamer Penguin, an experimental solar-powered aircraft cruising above a dry lakebed at NASA Dryden's Flight Research Center in July 1979.

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John Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14 to become the first American to orbit the Earth. In this image, Glenn enters his Friendship 7 capsule with assistance from technicians to begin his historic flight.

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The Langley Aerodrome, brainchild of a group led by Samuel Langley. Shortly after this photo was taken, the December 8, 1903, manned tests of the Aerodrome ended abruptly in failure, as it fell into the Potomac River.

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And here's the pictures that are released on flickr, I think you will find this to be interesting.

Historical NASA Pictures on the Commons' Photostream

[edit on 2/9/10 by Droogie]

[edit on 2/9/10 by Droogie]

reply to post by Droogie


Droogie.....

That looks very interesting!

I shall have a good look at that.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

Originally posted by Maybe...maybe not
reply to post by Droogie

 

Droogie.....

That looks very interesting!

I shall have a good look at that.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

Your avatar rules.

"There's more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good-looking...and I plan on finding out what that is."

Thanks for posting droogie.

However, am i the only one who is annoyed they wasted so much time and money on rediculous projects like this?

those same engineers, scientists, money. could have been used in much better ways. specifically human space travel, i am hugly dissapointed we still dont have a base on the moon. or that we even visit it anymore.

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not


Yeah, it's very interesting! Especially the langley aerodome which maybe could have beaten the Wright brothers by just a few days.

According to wikipedia:

The full-scale Aerodrome, financed by the United States War Department and piloted by Langley's chief assistant Charles M. Manly, was launched the same way on October 7 and December 8, 1903. On both attempts the Aerodrome failed to fly and crashed into the Potomac River seconds after launch. Manley was pulled unhurt from the water each time. Nine days after the December 8 failure, the Wright Brothers flew into history with their four successful flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The Aerodrome's internal combustion engine generated 53 horsepower, about four times that of the Wright brothers' gasoline engine of 1903. However, Langley had not properly appreciated the problems of calculating stress on an airframe or controlling an aircraft, and the Aerodrome broke up on launch.

Wikipedia: Langley Aerodome

It's quite amusing to get to see NASAs own picture of this unsuccessful contraption, if it can be called that.

reply to post by MR BOB


As long as it's in the name of discovery, I'm happy with it. Are there any projects you are particularly bothered with?