Before the Moon Blog
Exploring the past, present, and future of space.
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It Started With Corn. It Ended With the Moon. In the early 20th century, the land that would later host America’s most advanced aerospace research wasn’t full of jets, rockets, or spinning centrifuges. It was full of corn. Rows and rows of it. But beneath those furrows of farmland was a spark—a quiet legacy of…
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On July 16, 1969, a rocket unlike any the world had seen thundered off the pad at Cape Kennedy. Four days later, two astronauts stepped into history. Fifty-six years ago this week, Apollo 11 launched humanity beyond Earth’s cradle, and nothing has been the same since. That moment—when Neil Armstrong’s boot hit the lunar dust—was…
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They Weren’t on the Rocket—But They Saved the Mission When Apollo 13 suffered a catastrophic explosion en route to the Moon, the world held its breath. Oxygen was leaking. Power was draining. And carbon dioxide—the astronauts’ own breath—was building up inside the Lunar Module. If NASA couldn’t scrub the CO₂ fast enough, the astronauts would…
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There’s something profoundly grounding about stepping into a room full of artifacts, photographs, and paper records most people have never seen. Yesterday, I had the chance to do just that during a visit to the Newtown Historic Association in Bucks County. Dave Callahan was nice enough to give me a tour of his well organized…
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Would You Strap Yourself Into a Machine That Simulates Death? Imagine climbing into a steel gondola, being locked into a seat, and flung in a giant circle at 175 miles per hour—until your vision tunnels, your breath seizes, and the world darkens to black. Now imagine doing it… on purpose. This wasn’t a thrill ride.…
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What If I Told You the Space Race Started on a River? One summer afternoon in 1787, as America’s founders debated the Constitution in Philadelphia, a ragged inventor stood on the banks of the Delaware River, staring at a contraption unlike anything the world had seen. It hissed, clanked, and belched steam. Then—it moved. John…