JessiandMatt.net

Many of you who know me well realize how much of an aerospace nut I am. So I decided to post a little information about how I keep track of what’s going on in our space shuttle program.

First of all, if you are at all interested in the history of the space shuttle or would like some fairly detailed information about how the crazy machine works, there are only two sources you should consider.

• The Space Shuttle Reference Manual. It was last updated in 1988, but has wonderful detailed information. It is maintained by NASA
• Dennis Jenkins’ wonderful book on the history of the space shuttle program. This book is THE history book that tracks the space shuttle program back to its early roots all the way through the first 100 space shuttle missions. A must-have for anyone serious about the space shuttle.

Now that you know where to get the good background information, there’s always three topics that seem to come up lately. They are the Challenger Accident, the Columbia Accident, and the Return to Flight mission of STS-114. Here’s a list of my sources for all three of these topics:

Challenger Accident

• The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident Final Report. This is also called the Rogers Report, and has great in-depth information about the accident. This on-line version is hosted by NASA and formatted for the web.
• NASA Info on Challenger Mission 51-L. This is a good collection of info from NASA.

Columbia Accident

• NASA’s Columbia page. This is home page to lots of information about STS-107. Of particular interest to me was the link that takes you to the records released under the Freedom of Information Act. They have even included lots of email information including exchanges between the crew and mission control.

• Johnson Space Center Freedom of Information Act Documents. This is a link to a list of documents released by the Johnson Space Center (Mission Control) regarding the Columbia accident.
• Kennedy Space Center Colubmia Information. The other major NASA center that deals with the space shuttle is the Kennedy Space Center, where the shuttles are launched. Here is their information page.
• The Columbia Accident Investigation Report. This is the report from the independent commission. NASA conveniently hosts it, but it is also available at the Columbia Accident Investigation Board web site.

Return to Flight

• NASA’s Return to Flight Page. As usual, the best source comes from NASA, and they have put together a page for the return to flight.
• Return to Flight Task Group. There is also a NASA independent group called the “Return to Flight Task Group” that is offering NASA advice and overseeing the return to flight activities. It is headed by former Apollo commander Tom Stafford and former Space Shuttle commander Dick Covey.
• NASA TV. NASA TV is a steaming video website that follows lots of the NASA events. I’ve already watched Discovery roll to the launch pad on NASA TV.