Before the Moon Blog
Exploring the past, present, and future of space.
Tag: NASA history
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In the early 1950s, inside a restricted Cold War research facility in Warminster, Pennsylvania, a young biophysicist began work that would quietly reshape aviation safety and aerospace medicine. Her name was Alice Stoll. She did not arrive as a test subject, a novelty, or a symbol. She arrived as a scientist, recruited for her expertise…
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Few figures in NASA’s history embody the courage, discipline, and leadership of America’s space age like Gene Kranz—the legendary Apollo Flight Director whose white vest became a symbol of cool resolve under pressure. From the Mercury missions to Apollo 13, Kranz didn’t just manage flights; he built the culture that made them possible. When I…
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From Typist to Trailblazer: Estella Gillette and the Women Behind NASA’s Early Missions In 1964, Estella Gillette was just out of high school, newly naturalized as a U.S. citizen, and walking through the doors of NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston — the beating heart of the Gemini program. What she found was a workplace…
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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…