Lofty Ambitions at YouTube March 4, 2013
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Aviation, Science, Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: A Launch to Remember, Apollo, Last Chance to See, Museums & Archives, Radioactivity, Space Shuttle
2 comments
We have a Lofty Ambitions YouTube channel where you can find an an array of videos we’ve posted over more than two years. Those videos include space shuttle launches and chats with astronauts. Here are five among our favorites:
The Last Launch of a Space Shuttle (July 2011)
Dee O’Hara: First Nurse to the Astronauts
Michael Barratt: STS-133 Astronaut & Physician Studying Radiation
Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Last Takeoff from Kennedy Space Center
Fireworks Over Space Shuttle Atlantis: The End of the Shuttle Program
Interview: Norm Thagard November 19, 2012
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: Mars, Space Shuttle, The End of the End
add a comment
While we were in Florida for the last journey of space shuttle Atlantis, we met up with some astronauts. This experience reminded us of our happenstance interviews of two years earlier, which you can find at “A Year of Lofty Interviews.” Two weeks ago, we posted our follow-up interview with Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke. Today, we share our conversation with shuttle astronaut Norm Thagard.
Thagard flew on four shuttle missions between 1983 and 1995 and spent 115 days on Mir in 1995, for which he crammed to know enough Russian to do his job. According to NASA, Thagard reflected on his Mir experience by saying, “If anyone in 1969 had ever told me that I would wind up having a Lieutenant Colonel in the Russian force as a commander, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy.’” A transcript of his oral history, done by NASA after his retirement, can be found HERE. But first watch our video interview with Thagard to hear whether he thinks we stopped flying the shuttle too soon and whether he thinks we should go to Mars.
The End of the End (Part 5: VIDEO INTERVIEW) November 5, 2012
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: Apollo, Space Shuttle, The End of the End
add a comment
On Saturday, we met several astronauts, some of whom agreed to talk with us on camera. We have a yearlong series of video interviews about the U.S. space program that ran ever other Monday from May 23, 2011 through May 7, 2012. We’re excited to build our list of interviews further with Dr. Ken Phillips, a curator at the California Science Center, posted on October 30 and now with Charlie Duke, the tenth man to walk on the Moon.
Anna’s Apollo Skirt Signed by Charlie Duke
We interviewed Charlie Duke before, and you can find that post HERE. Today, we post an interview in which we ask him about his career, the end of the shuttle program, and the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. And yes, this Apollo astronaut signed Anna’s Apollo skirt, right between the flag and the astronaut.
Without further ado, here is Charlie Duke.
The California Story (Part 1: Video Interview) October 30, 2012
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: I Remember California, Museums & Archives, Space Shuttle
add a comment
It’s Tuesday, October 30, 2012. That’s a very important day for Southern California. Today, the California Science Center opens the doors of its exciting new exhibit to the public. That’s right, the space shuttle Endeavour is a now museum artifact. The orbiter’s ongoing mission is education.
Dr. Ken Phillips is the curator of this exhibit, and we interviewed him a couple of weeks ago when we were all waiting for the orbiter to roll down the street and into its permanent home.
From 3R’s to STEAM (Discovery Departure, Part 11) July 25, 2012
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Aviation, Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: Art & Science, Discovery Departure, Museums & Archives, Space Shuttle
add a comment
Although it seems ages ago at this point, a little over two months ago, we were in Washington, DC, watching two space shuttles, Discovery and Enterprise, move to their permanent homes. Discovery took up residence in the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center, in a very deft and public move into the gallery that Enterprise formerly occupied. Enterprise headed for a new midtown address in the City that Never Sleeps, taking up residence at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
In our ten-hour day at Udvar-Hazy, we not only got to see Enterprise meet Discover;, the two shuttles had never been in the same place before. As members of the press, we had the opportunity to interview several of the speakers from that morning’s ceremony. We’ve already written about our interviews with astronaut and Senator John Glenn, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, and the first woman to command a space shuttle, Eileen Collins. Two of our other conversations from that day were with people directly connected to Discovery’s new home: Dr. Wayne Clough, the twelfth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and General John R. Dailey, Director of the National Air and Space Museum, which is part of the Smithsonian system. Both men were enthusiastic about what has come to be known as STEAM.
AirCraft: Jet as Art at NASM
We had heard of STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—before and make that the topic of one question we usually asked astronauts we meet. What, then, was STEAM? Dailey made it clear that art is now part of thinking when it comes to educating future generations and informing the public who wander their ways through the National Air & Space Museum’s two facilities. Art is crucial in the educational configuration of subjects because it embodies creativity, imagination, and innovation. The approach of the artist is necessary for big leaps in the STEM disciplines and important for cultural development more generally.
We had, in fact, viewed an art exhibit at the facility on The Mall the day before the Discovery installation and meeting these two men. The National Air and Space Museum has a 4500-object art collection, of which they have space to display very little. Dailey’s hope is for increased visibility of that collection in its current buildings and, importantly, a new art facility that will contain exhibits and long-term storage. Having seen images from the Hubble Telescope exhibited at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and, earlier, another exhibit at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, we can understand the importance and value of making such artwork available more widely. We can imagine the hundreds of paintings of aircraft that are currently in crates and out of view and how bringing those to light would generate a conversation about the relationships between form and function, aesthetics and technological innovation.
In addition to the physical objects, the National Air and Space Museum has committed to digitizing as much of its holdings as feasible, eventually making every artifact in its collection accessible online. Dailey stated that, when an artifact is added to the collection now, it is photographed in 144 views so that it can be rendered digitally in three dimensions. This commitment fits the museum’s mission and allows millions of teachers and students to study the museum’s collection.
Clough concurred, saying that he grew up in a small country town and was unaware that such things as these artifacts existed. “That’s a shame,” he stated, clearly wanting to ensure that future generations have more access to the artifacts of the century of flight and the objects of the Space Age than he did.
The National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts are on board with STEAM, each having new grant programs to encourage connections and collaborations between the arts and sciences. Though we hadn’t heard the term STEAM before talking with these two gentlemen, Lofty Ambitions has been engaged in this combination. We are, after all, a poet and a scientist. In addition, check out the following guest posts for some other great examples of STEAM in action:
Joe Bonomo
Dethe and Daniela Elza
Lylie Fisher
Brian Foster
Claudine Jaenichen
Leslie Adrienne Miller
Debora Rindge
Peter and Kirsten Stoltz
Discovery Departure (Part 9: Video Interview) May 7, 2012
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: Discovery Departure, Museums & Archives, Space Shuttle
add a comment
Last Monday, we posted the first part of our video interview with Charlie Bolden, the current head of NASA and a former shuttle astronaut. You can see that video by clicking HERE and the write-up of interviews with John Glenn, Bolden, and Eileen Collins by clicking HERE.
We couldn’t resist asking our favorite question of Bolden: Discovery, great shuttle or the greatest shuttle? And Margaret Lazarus Dean, Lofty Ambitions guest blogger and author of the novel The Time It Takes to Fall, captured Bolden’s answer on video. Note the expression of the security detail over Bolden’s shoulder, indicating that this was his favorite question that day.
Discovery Departure (Part 8: Video Interview) April 30, 2012
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: Discovery Departure, Museums & Archives, Space Shuttle
add a comment
Lofty Ambitions traveled to Florida, then to the Washington, DC, area to see the space shuttle Discovery transferred to the Udvar-Hazy Center for permanent display. While there, we spoke with Charlie Bolden, the head of NASA and a former shuttle astronaut. We wrote about that HERE, and now we share the video that fellow writer, Lofty Ambitions guest blogger, and space nerd Margaret Lazarus Dean shot of Bolden answering a question or two.
A Year of Lofty Video Interviews April 9, 2012
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: Apollo, Museums & Archives, Space Shuttle
1 comment so far
Over the past year, we’ve been posting VIDEO INTERVIEWS we conducted with a variety of individuals directly involved with the nation’s space program. We’ve talked with Apollo astronauts Walt Cunningham and Charlie Duke as well as current Director of Johnson Space Center and shuttle astronaut Mike Coats. We even interviewed Dee O’Hara, the first nurse to the astronauts, and Daniel Lockney, who puts the spin on NASA spinoff technology that has reshaped our everyday lives.
Here, we recap the complete Table of Contents. CLICK ON THE DATE/NAME to see an individual video interview.
05/23/11 Mike Coats: Three-time Shuttle Astronaut & Director of Johnson Space Center
06/13/11 Michael Barratt: One-time Shuttle Astronaut & International Space Station Resident
06/27/11 Rhea Seddon: Three-time Shuttle Astronaut
07/06/11 STS-135 Atlantis Crew: Last-Ever Shuttle Crew
07/11/11 Hoot Gibson: Five-time Shuttle Astronaut
07/13/11 Stephanie Stilson: NASA Director for Shuttle Transition and Retirement
07/25/11 Mike Massimino: Two-time Shuttle Astronaut
08/08/11 Fred Gregory: Three-time Shuttle Astronaut
08/22/11 Mike Good: Two-time Shuttle Astronaut
09/12/11 Shannon Walker: International Space Station Resident
09/26/11 Karol Bobko: Three-time Shuttle Astronaut & Skylab Ground Simulation Astronaut
10/11/11 Jeffrey Rudolph: Director of the California Science Center
10/24/11 Kathy Thornton: Four-time Shuttle Astronaut
11/14/11 Andrew Allen: Three-time Shuttle Astronaut
11/28/11 Daniel Lockney: Program Specialist in NASA’s Office of Innovative Partnerships
12/12/11 Dee O’Hara: First Nurse to the Astronauts
01/09/12 Hank Hartsfield: Three-time Shuttle Astronaut & MOL
02/13/12 Walt Cunningham: Apollo 7 Astronaut
03/12/12 Charlie Duke: Apollo 16 Astronaut & Apollo 11 CAPCOM
04/09/12 Recap & TOC: That’s this post!
Interview: Charlie Duke March 12, 2012
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: Apollo
add a comment
Charles Duke (NASA)
One of the coolest things we’ve ever done at Lofty Ambitions is to interview Apollo astronaut Charlie Duke. He’s smart and charming, the kind of person with whom you could happily while away an afternoon talking. Here, we share an excerpt of our conversation from November 2010 that conveys Duke’s enthusiasm for flying, space exploration, and education (he chairs the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation).
Charlie Duke was chosen as an astronaut by NASA in 1966. With his calm Southern voice, he served as CAPCOM for Apollo 11, the mission that put the first human footprint on the Moon’s surface in 1969. Just a few years later, Duke flew on Apollo 16 and planted his own two booted feet on the Moon and traipsed around on its surface with John Young for more than 20 hours (of the more than 71-hour stay), taking rock and soil samples (Apollo 16 picked up more than 200 pounds of such material) and surveying the landscape.
Catching Up with Endeavour March 5, 2012
Posted by Lofty Ambitions in Guest Blogs, Space Exploration, Video Interviews.Tags: Museums & Archives, Space Shuttle
add a comment
HERE IT IS! Discovery on Launch ad 39A!
Usually, we have a guest blogger on the first Monday of the month, but we just had a busy week at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference where we shared the nuclear-focused part of Lofty Ambitions. Today, we’re catching up with the space-focused part of what we’re up to. This morning, NASA posted an overview of their plans to get Discovery, Endeavour, and Atlantis to their permanent museum homes within the next year. Read that HERE.
NASA Flow Director for Orbiter T&R Stephanie Stilson explains that Discovery will leave Kennedy Space Center in mid-April, which makes us consider a quick trip to the East coast to follow the orbiter from Florida to Washington, D.C. We’d welcome the chance to talk with Stephanie Stilson and have her show us Endeavour once again, after its OMS pods are reinstalled. Endeavour is scheduled to traipse across the country to Los Angeles in the fall. Atlantis doesn’t have far to travel, just down the road to the KSC Visitor Complex, but it will be the last delivered, and there’s sure to be a big party on the Space Coast for that event. “‘I continue to be impressed by the dedication and devotion of the team working to ensure Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour and Enterprise are delivered to their new homes in the best possible condition,’ Stilson says.” You can see our previous interview with Stilson HERE.
Endeavour ready for last launch
We know that many of the people we met over the last eighteen months are following this story, too. Kim Guodace, who was the Orbiter Element Vehicle Engineer, is one of those people tracking the orbiters’ progress. She wants to see each remaining space shuttle in its new museum home. You can read her guest post HERE.
Now that we’re almost caught up after our two-week residency at Ragdale and our week at AWP, we’ll get back to our routine. Look for a new post on Wednesday.
