*** When ol’ Wally Schirra named his Mercury capsule, he chose the name Sigma 7, sigma the Greek letter that… Read more Forty years ago: The sigma of STS-4

*** You’re Scott Carpenter, explorer, ready to unleash your curiosity.   They’ve loaded your Mercury Atlas (MA-7) flight with experiments… Read more 60 years ago: Aurora 7 & ‘double authority’

*** “Good morning, Apollo 16,” the capcom calls.  It’s April 27, 1972. Most of our mission, step by step, is… Read more 50 years ago: Apollo 16 makes a splash

*** There he goes, floating out the open hatch of the cone-shaped Command Module, Caspar.  It’s T.K. “Ken” Mattingly’s moment… Read more Apollo 16: Reaching for the ring

*** It’s another day, April 23, 1972, out last one on the surface, and our third and final moonwalk.  Of… Read more Apollo 16: At ‘House Rock’

*** “OK, Houston.  We’re underway.”  It’s shortly after noon, Eastern time on Earth, April 22, 1972, and after 52 min.… Read more Apollo 16: A ride up Stone Mountain

*** Charlie, it was going so well, right on the timeline.  We’re coming up on two-and-a-half hours into our first… Read more Apollo 16’s first moonwalk: “Something’s happened here.”

*** Coming around the edge of the moon at the start of our 13th revolution, We’re John Young and Charlie… Read more Apollo 16: The wave off

*** Hey, Charlie, T. K., get up, time to shine — 7:49 a.m.  It’s April 16, 1972, and today we’re… Read more 50 years ago: Apollo 16 lifts off for the highlands

*** In the first months of the third year of the 1970s, eleven years since the flight of Yuri Gagarin,… Read more 50 years ago: A lull in space exploration?