Aviation/Space Exploration

About Goddard Space Flight Center

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/welcome/history/history.htm

Author:

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Excerpt:

The father of modern rocket propulsion is the American, Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard. Along with Konstantin Eduordovich Tsiolkovsky of Russia and Hermann Oberth of Germany, Goddard envisioned the exploration of space. A physicist of great insight, Goddard also had an unique genius for invention.
By 1926, Goddard had constructed and tested successfully the first rocket using liquid fuel. Indeed, the flight of Goddard's rocket on March 16,1926, at Auburn, Massachusetts, was a feat as epochal in history as that of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. Yet, it was one of Goddard's "firsts" in the now booming significance of rocket propulsion in the fields of military missilery and the scientific exploration of space.

Annotation:

This site from NASA contains a brief biography and photograph of the physicist and "father of modern rocket propulsion," Robert Hutchings Goddard. Among the many firsts by Goddard listed, is the first liquid fuel rocket (1926), which led to the development of military missiles and the possibility of space exploration. A link on the liquid fueled rocket leads to several photographs and engineering sketches and an account of its inaugural flight. Statistics (size, employees, locations, funding, milestones) about the NASA center which is named after Goddard are also available.

von Braun Dreams

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.geocities.com/duppim/vbdreams.html

Excerpt:

What if Hitler had been able to get what he wanted in Munich, so appeasement had actually worked? What if Goddard, von Braun, Oberth, Sanger, Korolev, Tsiolovsky, and other rocket scientists had been taken more seriously and had been properly funded? Would Germany have put the first man into space? Could Goddard, had he lived, have put a man on the moon without von Braun? Come and join the discussion, click either picture above.

Jet Genesis

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.soton.ac.uk/~genesis/Index.htm

Author:

University of Southampton

Annotation:

This site provides a history of jet engines with an emphasis on warplanes and the development of jets during the Second World War. The site includes a "Main Story" which is a nine-part essay on the history of the development of jet engines. The site also includes numerous pages on early jet aircraft, a bibliography, short biographies of key scientists and engineers including Willy Messerschmitt and Sir Geoffrey De Haviland, images, sound and video files and a glossary explaining technical terms. Navigation is awkward, however, the site also includes an index referencing all the subjects covered here.

Canadians in Space

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

Aviation/Space Exploration

URL:

http://resources.yesican-science.ca/trek/csa/sts-97_old.html

Author:

York University

Annotation:

Part of the Yes I Can! Science website, Canadians in Space offered resources for teachers, including lesson plans and assessment tools. Unfortunately, these are no longer available, and now the site only provides a brief overview the International Space Stations 2000 missions, especially with regards to Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau.

Chuck Yeager Gallery

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/x1/yeagphoto.html

Excerpt:

Chuck Yeager and the X-1 research plane that broke the sound barrier. It can be seen today at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washinton, DC.

Annotation:

This is a gallery of photos of Chuck Yeager. The images may be interesting, but there is no supplemental information on the site.

Apollo Lunar Surface Journal

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/

Author:

Eric M. Jones

Excerpt:

Sending humans to the Moon was arguably the most difficult technological undertaking in all of history. For sure, the best of America's scientists and engineers were taxed to the limit in order to accomplish nine manned flights to the Moon, six of which involved landing on the crater-filled lunar surface. The scientific results of the Apollo program were staggering. Much that was learned during Apollo required scientists to revise their basic understanding and theories about the Moon's formation and history. And the samples and data collected during Apollo will keep those scientists busy for decades to come.

Annotation:

This site documents the NASA Apollo missions to the moon from 1969-1972. The site includes mission summaries, crew bios, flight plans, communication transcripts, and more. Special features of the site are video and audio files, and supplemental commentary by most of the Apollo astronauts. Technical descriptions of the tools and equipment help readers understand the astronauts' work. This site offers a large collection of materials concerning the nuts and bolts of the Apollo flights with some supplemental historical background added for context. The site navigation is a little cluttered but the available information gives an important window into the workings of NASA and the Apollo missions.

Lone Star Flight Museum

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.lsfm.org/

Author:

Lone Star Flight Museum

Excerpt:

The mission of the Lone Star Flight Museum is to inform and educate the public of their aviation heritage and history by: acquiring, restoring to flying condition and preserving a collection of aircraft representing the evolution of aircraft design and operational capabilities; acquiring, preserving and displaying artifacts and memorabilia depicting the development of aviation; providing a facility for the proper display and preservation of the collection and a suitable setting for aviation memorials; establishing a membership to support the aviation heritage collection in the highest museum standards-

Annotation:

The Lone Star Flight Museum site is a basically a publicity page for the museum that gives directions, contact information and upcoming events. The most useful and interesting section for those who do not plan to visit the museum in person is the museum's Living History Group. This section contains a few records of World War II concerning veteran Henry Erwin and a link to email for other vets and family to offer their experiences. As other primary accounts are entered on the site, the usefulness of the site will improve.

Aerodrome: Aces and Aircraft of World War I

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.theaerodrome.com/

Author:

The Aerodrome

Excerpt:

Ordered to copy the Nieuport 17, the Albatros company developed the impressive D.I. Unlike other fighters at the time, its fuselage was covered with sheets of plywood rather than stretched fabric. This gave the D.I great strength and rigidity. Despite poor visibility to the front and above, Oswald Boelcke used this plane to achieve 11 victories in 16 days. The Albatros D.I reestablished German air superiority and made the British "pusher" designs obsolete.

Annotation:

The Areodrome site offers lists of World War I aces, their combat stats, and a chronology of kills and events. The site offers little historical background or narative text; however, the site is useful for short desciptions of many kinds of WWI aircraft, and short bios of specific aces, which include military honors, time, date, and location of their kills, and what aircraft they flew. The site is not searchable, but all of the records are indexed and linked to make the site very easy to navigate.

Time 100: The Most Important People of the 20th Century

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.time.com/time/time100/

Author:

Time Magazine

Excerpt:

One century, 100 remarkable people. TIME has profiled those individuals who - for better or worse - most influenced the last 100 years. They are considered in five fields of endeavor, culminating with Person of the Century: Albert Einstein.

Annotation:

Time proposes the following to be the most important figures in science and thinking during the twentieth century: Leo Baekeland; Tim Berners-Lee; Rachel Carson; Francis Crick; James Watson; Albert Einstein; Philo Farnsworth; Enrico Fermi; Alexander Fleming; Sigmund Freud; Robert Goddard; Kurt Gödel; Edwin Hubble; John Maynard Keynes; Louis, Mary and Richard Leakey; Jean Piaget; Jonas Salk; William Shockley; Alan Turing; Ludwig Wittgenstein; and Wilbur and Orville Wright. They additionally identify twenty individuals as the twentieth century's most important Leaders and Revolutionaries; Artists and Entertainers; Builders and Titans; and Heroes and Icons. Each entry contains a biography and assessment of the individual's accomplishments, as well as links to related stories from Time's archives.

Military Aircraft Database

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/gustin_military/

Author:

Emmanuel Gustin and Carl Pettypiece

Excerpt:

Here is the new and improved database of military aircraft types. For each type in the lists, a short description (5 to 10 lines) and some technical data are given. The lists are arranged by country, and sorted alphabetically. If you are uncertain about the correct name of an aircraft, you can refer to the description of aircraft designation systems below.

Annotation:

An extensive database of military aircraft from around the world. Brief accounts of each plane's performance and history accompanies technical specifications. The database is slightly difficult to manipulate, as it must be browsed by country and then alphabetically. However, the material is comprehensive and also includes essays and data table on topics such as Peace-Time Shoot-Downs, a WWII Fighter Performance Chart, German Secret Weapons of WWII, and Largest Aircraft by Year as well as a detailed bibliography.