What caused the disaster?
April 23, 2003: The independent investigation team has all be arrived
at a firm conclusion. A seal on the
left wing was struck by foam
during liftoff and fell off the next day, they believe, creating a
gap that let hot gas
enter the ship during re-entry. Story
A sort of "black box" recently recovered on the ground reveals that
hot gas penetrated the left wing earlier
than previously known. The
newfound data, thought scant, suggests Columbia probably had a
problem before it began re-entry
into Earth's atmosphere and that the
problem was likely on or near the leading edge of the left wing,
A Florida Today investigation recently showed that NASA fueled and
launched Columbia in weather ripe for
producing ice on the external
fuel tank, potentially setting up a situation in which insulation
foam, possibly heavy
and laden with ice, might have damaged the craft shortly after liftoff.
Separately, officials have said a mystery object that floated away
from Columbia during its second day in
orbit may have had something
to do with the disaster. Some experts speculate the object, which
fell into the atmosphere
a couple days later, could have been a heat
protection tile or some other piece of the shuttle, reports
Leonard David. A data processing issue meant the U.S. Air Force did not recognize the object for what it was and NASA was
not informed of it until after the disaster.
The investigation board, meanwhile, said on March 18 that super-
heated air rushing inside the space plane's
left wing was now the
leading candidate to explain Columbia's demise.
Meanwhile, lab tests are underway to help determine what might have
caused the breakup. But so far there
are no firm results and several
possibilities remain on the table. Even some new scenarios were being
Investigators have not ruled out pilot error, though there are no
indications that this was the cause. They
are also studying
additional stress load experienced on the left side of the shuttle 62
seconds after liftoff. The space
plane's age is also being looked
into as a possible factor. [Story on these aspects]
Officials now say that during liftoff, three distinct pieces of
material came off the external fuel tank
and may have hit parts of
the left wing (on Feb. 21, they had said at least two pieces, and
possibly three, were involved).
Though long said to be insulation
foam, this stuff might also have been ice, a combination of ice and
foam, or possibly
material applied under the foam, investigators now
Columbia as it broke apart.
Meanwhile, preliminary lab experiments have surprised researchers,
showing that high-speed foam hitting the
shuttle wing and its thermal
protection tiles might harm the aluminum structure underneath,
without leaving visible
damage at the surface. SPACE.com reported
March 13 that tests are planned for early April to shoot external
at shuttle wing material.
On March 4, officials announced that melted aluminum was found on
recovered thermal tiles and inside the
leading edge of the left wing.
The shuttles' skins are aluminum, protected by the heat-resistant
tiles. Officials said
this finding supports the possibility that the
shuttle was destroyed by hot gas that penetrated a damaged spot on
wing. They have not yet determined, however, how that gas was
On March 11, investigators explained that when aluminum is vaporized,
as it might have been from hot gas
inside the wing or wheel well, its
particles become volatile. Rapid burning of those particles could
behave like a bomb,
and might explain one or more of the bright
flashes observed from the ground as the shuttle broke apart.
In late February and early March (2003), NASA detailed how engineers, flight planners and outside contractors
debated disaster scenarios that, in retrospect, contained hauntingly accurate aspects. Officials first acknowledged Wednesday,
Feb. 26 that engineers had exchanged e-mails during the mission discussing whether damage that might have occurred during
liftoff would cause problems during re-entry or landing.
Otherwise, the list of possible answers has grown along with a list
of questions. Even space weather experts
are looking over data for
signs that something abnormal might have occurred on Feb. 1 where
solar energy interacts with
Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field.
The idea that hot gas entered the shuttle through a breach in the
left wing or wheel well goes back to Feb.
13. Many experts suspected
then that a reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panel on the forward edge
of Columbia's left wing
was the first major piece to break loose
during re-entry as the shuttle approached the California coast. In a
account published Wednesday, Feb. 19, SPACE.com's Jim Banke explains how this might have happened and how a missing panel
could have led to the disastrous cascade of events that brought
The hot gas was likely not "plasma," as had been first reported,
officials said. Hot gas surrounding the
shuttle during re-entry had
not yet reached the plasma stage, which would occur lower in the
The independent investigation board acknowledged late Tuesday, Feb.
18, that the shuttle's problems began
when it was over the Pacific
Ocean, well before it broke apart above Texas. Investigators are
gathering data from ground-based
"microbarometers," sensors all
across the west that might have detected minute anomalies in
Columbia's movement as the
problems developed. The sensors detect
minor changes in air pressure that propagate through the atmosphere.
One of these sensors, in Texas, recorded an explosion equal to a few
pounds of TNT. "Our guess is that it
could have been caused by a
rapid decompression, which is what would have happened if you
ruptured the crew compartment,''
said Eugene Herrin, a geophysicist
at Southern Methodist University.
Outside experts said the shuttle's aluminum skin and overall
construction is not designed to handle an infusion
of hot gas, which
can reach temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees and is very expansive.
A 1997 independent report by
the National Security Council warned
that a bit of manmade space debris or a natural meteorite could cause
a hole in
the vulnerable leading edge of a shuttle wing upon re-
entry, and that the result would be a "blowtorch" effect, leading
the demise of the craft.
NASA cast some doubt on whether the hot gas -- not yet plasma -- that likely breached Columbia would have had
this blowtorch effect.
Shuttles, like all spacecraft, are routinely peppered by meteoroids
the size of sand grains, paint chips,
and other debris. The shuttle
is designed, in theory, to handle minor impacts. Heat tiles
sustaining minor damage, typically
small divots, are routinely
replaced after flights.
Columbia was the oldest shuttle in the fleet. In the last major
overhaul, done in 2001 by the Boeing Co,
the entire shuttle was
inspected for damaged tiles and stress to its aluminum frame and
modifications were made. The
independent investigation team is
looking into the details of the overhaul as part of the inquiry but
they are not yet aware of any link to the problems on
the ship's final flight. Columbia flew one successful mission after
Other scenarios for breaching the shuttle that have not been elimated:
a strike by a meteoroid or space junk,
accidentally triggered onboard explosive devices the possibility that
Columbia's waste expulsion system might havedeveloped a chunk of
ice during the flight that could have damaged the wing. The waste vent
is in front of the left wing. It expels urine and excess water created by the
power system. In a 1984 flight, a basketball-sized chunk of ice developed
on Discovery. The crew broke it off prior to re-entry using the shuttle's
robot arm. Columbia did not need the arm for its science mission and so
it was not available.
Earlier in the investigation, it was learned that a military radar
detected some object, which might have
been ice, near the shuttle
early in the mission.
On March 12, Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) chairman,
retired Admiral Hal Gehman, said as many
as 5,000 people were still
conducting daily searches for debris, though the findings lately have
been mostly small pieces.
In all, more than 28,000 bits of debris,
small and large, had been collected as of March 10. Gehman expects
to turn up when weather improves, when snow melts, and
farmers begin plowing fields.
On Feb. 19, NASA asked for public help in finding debris in Arizona,
Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Search
teams have had little luck
finding Columbia debris significantly west of Fort Worth, Texas.
Experts in tracking the
breakups and paths of space rocks through
Earth's atmosphere have been called in to help determine where debris
have fallen. The effort is intended to locate possible debris
in the mountains of California that might be among the first
pieces to have separated from the shuttle.
Much of the investigation centers on increased heat detected by
sensors in and around the left wing and left
wheel well moments
before all contact was lost with Columbia.
After analyzing the data, officials say the first problems were noted
at 8:52 a.m. ET on Feb. 1 in a brake
line behind the left wheel well
and a failing sensor on the aircraft's skin, near the rear of the
left wing on the underneath
side. A tire in the left wheel well then
showed signs of problems before a pressure gauge failed. By 8:59,
temperatures had been noted in at least four other sensors,
including two on the fuselage, and a handful had gone offline.
Shuttles are not equipped with the "black boxes" that airliners
carrry to store onboard data and communications.
It is not yet known
how much data might have been sensed in the final seconds, before the shuttle came apart, but not transmitted
A portion of Columbia's left wing was recovered. It was further west
than most of the other debris, and it
could be a "significant" find,
officials said. NASA planned to test a mockup of the wing in high-
speed wind tunnels,
looking at possible patterns of damage,
investigation team member Scott Hubbard said Feb. 11.
A photo of Columbia taken from the Starfire Optical Range shows what
might be a jagged leading edge of the
left wing and a plume behind
it. Contrary to early reports, the photo was not taken with any sort
of advance military
A military facility in the Southwest captured pictures of Columbia,
taken during the re-entry phase. One
image shows what might be
jaggedness on the leading edge of the left wing near the fuselage and
a plume of something
trailing the left wing. But officials were not
confident enough in the resolution of the image to draw any
The eerie, dark silhouette of Columbia was photographed at the
Starfire Optical Range (SOR) at Kirtland Air
Force Base outside
Albuquerque. Contrary to initial reports, however, it was not taken
with the facility's high-tech
equipment. Instead, it was taken by
engineers who had connected a commercial 3 1/2-inch telescope to an 11-year-old Macintosh
The investigation team, meanwhile, asked the Air Force Space Command to review data from spy satellites that
might contain useful
Earlier stages of the investigation
NASA has been warning since the day of the disaster that no one
should jump to conclusions. Yet the agency's
early and frequent
release of information -- sketchy as much of it was -- had been
compelling and led to near-conclusions
in many minds. The open policy
was remarkable compared to how things were handled after the 1986
Once incredibly tight-lipped, NASA was thinking
out loud in the initial days of the Columbia investigation. That
however, when the independent investigation board took over.
Until Feb. 4, the case had seemed relatively strong that missing heat
tiles were to blame, related to a root
cause of a launch problem. A
bit of insulation foam from the external fuel tank used to boost the
shuttle into space
came off just after liftoff and hit the left wing.
It might have ripped off tiles that protect the shuttle from the heat
re-entry. More likely, officials said, it would have only damaged
the tiles. In fact, during the mission they concluded
that there was
no significant damage, which explains why no extraordinary efforts
were mounted to look into the matter
further prior to reentry.
Yet once Columbia came apart, the foam seemed a likely culprit.
Thinking on this has see-sawed ever since.
The state of normal matter depends on temperature, which regulates
how fast molecules move and therefore
how far apart they are. Plasma, a superhot gas, is an entirely different animal, being electrically charged and very expansive.
PLASMA: What is it?
[IMPORTANT NOTE: Officials now say that the hot gas that surrounded Columbia and appeared to breach the craft
had probably not yet reached the plasma state.]
Plasma is sometimes called a fourth state of matter (in addition to
solid, liquid, gas). It's created when
gas is superheated and
electrons are stripped out, leaving electrically charged particles.
Plasma occurs naturally in interstellar space and in the atmospheres
of our Sun and other stars. Scientists
also create plasma in labs in
order to study emissions from the violent regions around black holes.
A fluorescent lamp
is an example of a highly contained plasma.
Plasma reaching as much as 3,000 degrees surrounds the shuttle during re-entry as the craft plows through Earth's
atmosphere. Plasma can also be created by impacts from meteoroids or space debris. NASA has not said how Columbia's problem-causing
plasma was allowed under the craft's skin, though they know there must have been some sort of hole or gash.
How plasma can damage a satellite. NASA says hot gas, but probably
not plasma, breached Columbia.
Satellite operators worry about impact-generated plasma. Even a
relatively small meteoroid would vaporize
upon impact, generating a
cloud of plasma. (IMPORTANT: Small meteoroids hit shuttles frequently
without causing problems
other than minor pits in heat tiles.)
On a satellite, however, electrical parts are exposed. Because the
plasma is electrically charged, short
circuits can result. An
electrical current flows from one electrical part of the satellite to
another location, through
the cloud, and damages an instrument. It is
similar to the damage a lightning strike might cause.
In 1993, during the August Perseid meteor shower, a meteor hit an
Olympus communications satellite. The impact
formed a plasma cloud,
and the craft's attitude control system was zapped. By the time
operators could stabilize it,
they had depleted all of its attitude-
control propellant and the satellite was lost.
Did Columbia have a "black box" like airliners?
Not exactly. But it did carry a data recorder, found intact in Texas
on March 19, that holds 9,400 feet of
magnetic tape containing clues
that have proven helpful in the investigation. Otherwise, the
system is designed to constantly download
information to ground control. It is not clear how much data might
lost in the final moment of the shuttle flight that might
possibly have been retrieved had there been a black box aboard.
In an interview with Computerworld, Steve Schwartz, CTO and founder of UniTrends Software Corp., a backup and
crash-recovery company in Myrtle Beach, S.C., explained the technical aspects of the shuttle downloading: "There's a network
that uses a protocol named SCPS (Space Communications Protocol Standard), an improvement over TCP (Transmission Control Protocol).
The network is IP-based and runs under a virtual LAN; astronauts are able to send/receive e-mail."
Last-minute data that might have gone into a black box might not have been transmitted to the ground, though
what actually happened has not been laid out by NASA. Schwartz, however, said the download system is sometime busy acknowledging
transmissions and retransmitting previous blocks of data that were not properly received. So sometimes current data sits in
a buffer, awaiting its trip to Earth.
NASA did say early on in the investigation that the final 32 seconds
of data transmitted by the shuttle was
ragged and not readily
readable. Officials planned to work with the data to try and make
sense of it.
What is the Starfire Optical Range?
The Starfire Optical Range (SOR) is at Kirtland Air Force Base
outside Albuquerque. The facility routinely
tracks shuttles. The SOR
houses a 11.5-foot (3.5-meter) telescope designed for satellite
tracking. It also has a 5-foot
(1.5 meter) telescope. Both use an
advanced system of adaptive optics (AO), which counteract the
blurring effects of
The Starfire Optical Range uses a laser to create a fake star in the
sky. The telescope then uses known
parameters of the reflected fake
star to compensate for blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere while
making an image
of a real object. The facility, below.
Constantly changing turbulent air makes stars and other objects
twinkle, and it also makes them hard to image.
The more powerful a
telescope, the more impact the problem has. So instead of one single
mirror, AO uses several, and
they are adjusted on the fly during
observations. Adaptive optics is all the rage in astronomy right now.
mission SOR is to develop new optical and imaging
technologies to support Air Force aerospace missions. SOR's larger
using AO, could spot a basketball 1,000 miles away.
In May 1991, the Department of Defense declassified much of its
research and development of adaptive optics.
Laser beacon adaptive
optics technology, developed at the 1.5-meter telescope, has the
potential to revolutionize ground-based
The facility also has some clever engineers who took a now-infamous
photo of Columbia during re-entry with
a commercial 3 1/2-inch
telescope hooked up to an 11-year-old Macintosh computer.
-- SPACE.COM's Leonard David contributed to this answer
Re-entry: What were the astronauts doing, and
were they aware of the problem?
Columbia's communications with the ground were normal, and then they stopped, so little is known about what
went on inside the craft
thereafter. A tape of the final communications were released Feb. 12.
The astronauts would have had on their orange pressure suits,
equipped with parachutes that would be of no
use at the altitude of
the disaster. They were strapped in tight.
As the shuttle moved into denser atmosphere over California, the
outside of the craft heated up, as always.
The craft began to slow,
much like the water in a pool gently slows a diver.
Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, says the process of re-
entry takes about an hour but seems
like it flies by.
"When you look out the windows, all you see is orange and pink glow,
seemingly surrounding the shuttle --
almost looks like flames licking
the shuttle," Ride said.
Columbia was more than 200,000 feet up (roughly 38 miles or 60
kilometers) moving at about 12,500 mph (20,120
communications were lost.
A final 32 seconds of data was beamed down after voice communications ceased with Columbia. That data has been
hard to decipher, however. Todd Curtis, former airline safety analyst with Boeing Co., said: "West of Fort Worth they lost
communications but had signals transmitting data. That says to me the voice communication system was off-line but parts of
the data communication system were broadcasting. This implies the antennas for broadcasting this data were still intact,''
said Curtis. "You could conclude certain systems, such as power sources, were still running."
That analysis must be considered speculative at this point.
Many people have asked what might have then transpired, and how much time the astronauts might have had to contemplate
their fate. This is not really known, and it seems appropriate to not speculate.
Could Columbia have been damaged by a meteor or space junk?
NASA has not ruled this out. A 1997 report by the National Research
Council warned NASA of the threat to
shuttles from both natural and
man-made stuff in space [Story].
Small rocks in space pose a threat to all spacecraft, particularly
small satellites. Meteors have caused
minor damage on shuttles in the
past, and the phenomenon is well-studied (The Hubble Space Telescope, in space for more
than a decade now, is loaded with pits).
The shuttles are designed, in theory, to handle impacts of marble-
does the shuttle carry small pyrotechnic devices?
A space shuttle contains many small explosives used for deploying
certain gear during a mission and for emergencies.
If a shuttle's
landing chute ever deployed early, pyrotechnic devices could also be
employed to detach it, for example.
The shuttle's landing gear compartment contains small explosives
designed to deploy the gear if the normal
system fails. An accidental
triggering, possibly by heat, could be catastrophic. NASA is now
looking into this possibility
as a cause of the Columbia disaster.
But the measured rise of 30 to 40 degrees in the wheel well is not,
for now, seen
as a likely trigger.
In some cases, the explosives are integrated into a nut-and-bolt
setup, and are designed to destroy it. A
small hole is drilled into a
nut, and something akin to a small firecracker is inserted. A
detonates the charge, which splits the
metal. Referring to the nuts and bolts as "explosive" is a bit
say. It implies that the firing is uncontrolled
and random. Computers handle the split-second timing of the
Foam: What is the foam insulation and why does it fall off?
Foam insulation is sprayed onto the the external fuel tanks in a
gooey form and then becomes hard as
a brick but light, like
Styrofoam. It keeps the liquid hydrogen and the liquid oxygen fuel
super cold. Shuttles ride
these 15-story tanks during liftoff, then
the tanks separate.
NASA video showed that 81 seconds into the flight, a 20-inch, 2 1/2-
pound piece of the foam fell off and
struck Columbia's left wing. The
shuttle Columbia was moving more than at twice the speed of sound.
The impact is thought
to have involved a relative speed of no more
than 500 mph.
The foam is fragile enough to have been damaged once in a hailstorm,
forcing a previous shuttle mission to
be delayed while the insulation
was repaired. Chunks have come off in flight before, too. They can be
them heavy projectiles. Columbia sustained damage in this way in 1992 and 1997, and foam struck a booster rocket of Atlantis
"The thing of this is, almost since Day One, the insulation has been
a pain," said Seymour Himmel, a retired
NASA executive who served two decades on an aerospace safety panel and looked into the potential dangers of the foam. "Pieces
break off,'' Himmel said.
Tiles: What are they made of and what do they do?
Columbia's aluminum skin was covered with more than 20,000 heat-
resistant tiles. They protect the craft
against temperatures that can
reach 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit on the leading edge of a wing during
Several have been damaged in past shuttle flights and later replaced.
Some of the tiles are made of silica
fibers, derived from sand in a
process similar to making glass.
Much of the Columbia investigation centers around critical reinforced
carbon-carbon (RCC) panels on the forward
edge of Columbia's left
wing. The gray, U-shaped RCC panels are bolted in four places to a
flat area on the front of
the wing structure. Reinforced carbon-
carbon is a manmade composite material that binds carbon-based
other carbon-based material in a molecular structure
designed to withstand re-entry's hottest temperatures, which can
3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The shuttle's nose cap and a "chin panel" forward of the nose landing gear are made of the RCC material.
Some news reports have called these RCC panels brittle. Composites in
general can be considered brittle,
but not in the same sense as
uncooked noodles or grandma's bones. You couldn't go up to an RCC
panel and snap it in
two. They are built to be tough -- but they have
had minor surface defects from time to time that have required some
-- SPACE.com's Jim Banke contributed to this answer
If NASA knew something might have been wrong, why did they try the re-entry?
People wonder why the astronauts did not do a spacewalk to fix the
problem before trying to return to Earth.
NASA engineers scrutinized
launch video and determined there was nothing to be overly concerned about. They did not know
if heat tiles were missing but made the decision that the craft was safe. Subsequent decisions (including not requesting special
photographs) were made with this in mind.
At any rate, in this situation, a useful spacewalk would have been
particularly dangerous. There is nothing
to hold onto underneath the
wing, where the possible damage was, and the astronauts did not have jetpacks aboard. In any
case, no spare tiles are carried aboard
Could the damage have been investigated with satellites? Perhaps, but
that was tried during a 1998 mission
and the pictures were of little
Could the Columbia astronauts have gone to the orbiting International
Space Station? No. Because Columbia
was in a lower orbit than the
ISS -- one designed for the shuttle's science mission -- it didn't
have enough fuel to
boost itself up to the ISS.
Could another shuttle have been sent up? Shuttle Atlantis might have
been rushed into service, and if
normal testing were skipped, it
might have been in space in a week or so. The Columbia crew had
enough supplies to last
through Wednesday, Feb. 5 and might have been able to stretch those supplies a few more days.
What about the robotic arm? Columbia was not equipped with its 50-
foot robot arm because it was not
needed for this science-based
Will human spaceflight continue?
Almost certainly. In fact, an eventual human mission to Mars is
strongly indicated in the newly announced
NASA budget for 2004 and in a NASA statement made Feb. 5, just four days after the disaster.
Shuttle flights could resume this fall. On March 12, William Readdy,
NASA associate administrator for space
flight, signed a memorandum
establishing a formal "Return to Flight" team. NASA Administrator
Sean O'Keefe indicated
that while the cause of the Columbia disaster
needs to be determined for flights start again, the agency needs to
preparing for the next launch, which could come this fall. The
Return to Flight team will look at possible ways to improve
based on several scenarios now being considered as possible causes of the disaster. Clearly, some measures might
prove warranted, while
others would perhaps become moot depending on the outcome of the
Amid their grief, space officials inside and outside NASA who have
spoken about the disaster have expressed
the need to press ahead.
This is not the first space accident, and unfortunately it probably
will not be the last, but
spaceflight is an important component in
advancing modern science and technology, they say.
Further, there is a strong underlying sentiment among people
connected with the space program which holds
that the collective
human spirit needs to continue pushing the boundaries of exploration
with an ultimate goal of loosening
our ties to this planet. Teachers
will continue to participate in NASA space flights, too, officials
said in the days
following the disaster. Even the grieving families
of the astronauts said "the bold exploration of space must go on."
But it will not be easy to start up again. The next shuttle mission
to the space station had been slated
for March 1 but is now on hold.
Japan, one of several international partners on the space station,
echoed NASA in saying
its astronauts will not fly until the shuttle
fleet is determined safe.
Will shuttles be upgraded or scuttled?
It seems unlikely the existing shuttles will be scuttled. NASA began
preparing, in fact, for the next flight
(as of March 12) while
awaiting a green light and, probably, a determination of the cause of
the Columbia disaster.
Coincidentally, on Feb. 3, two days after the
disaster, NASA unveiled its budget request for 2004, an announcement
had been planned for weeks. The budget request was mapped out with White House assistance. It calls for increased spending
shuttle upgrades with an eye toward keeping them operational until
Some space experts have called for a new generation of space planes
to be designed and built to replace the
aged shuttle fleet. No one
knows if the budget request will stand in the wake of the Columbia
disaster, so all of this
is very up in the air for the moment.
What was Columbia's Mission?
Unlike most shuttle missions during the past three years that have
been devoted to building and supplying
the International Space
Station, STS-107 was purely dedicated to science and did not travel
to the space station. More
than six dozen experiments were being
conducted. Some were a complete loss. The data from many, however, were beamed to
Earth. Scientists said the results will lead to
improved human health and save lives.
What is the status of the International Space Station (ISS) and its
(And doesn't the station need periodic boosts?)
The crew is safe. But eventually astronauts Ken Bowersox and Don
Pettit and cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin must
be retrieved, and the best
way to do that is with a shuttle. On Sunday, Feb. 2, a previously
planned launch of an unmanned
Russian supply ship, called Progress,
went off as scheduled. It docked with the station two day later and
crew unloaded one ton of food, fuel and other supplies.
They crew now has enough supplies to last through late June. The
earliest they would likely come home is
early May after a fresh Soyuz
spacecraft is launched with a new crew. But the crew says they are
prepared to stay a
year if needed. A shuttle launch had been
scheduled for March 1 to swap ISS crews, but that is on hold. NASA
decide if and when it is safe to launch another shuttle.
Aboard the ISS are.
If need by, the station crew could return in a Russian Soyuz,
a "lifeboat" capsule that is always affixed
to the orbiting outpost.
NASA space station official Michael Kostelnik said that a fresh Soyuz
would be sent to the
station in April as planned. If needed, the
Soyuz ships could swap crews until NASA's shuttle fleet is certified
Doesn't the station need periodic boosts? Yes, sometimes by a dozen
miles or so. Otherwise it would eventually
fall to Earth. You might
recall that Skylab burned up in the atmosphere on July 11, 1979 after
its orbit deteriorated
for 5 years. The Compton telescope and the
Russian Mir space station met similar fates. The Hubble Space
no onboard boosters and is lifted back into higher
orbit during shuttle servicing missions. The ISS boosts can be
by shuttles and the Russian Progress supply ships. The
station was boosted Feb. 11 or 12. The next boost would come probably
in or around June. Progress supply ships always bring fuel and do the reboosts. Shuttle can too. -- SPACE.com's Jim Banke
contributed to this answer.
Meanwhile, NASA said on Feb. 12 that science experiment aboard the
station continue. Basic and applied research
is being conducted in
biology, physics, chemistry, ecology, medicine, materials science,
manufacturing and the long-term
effects of space flight on humans.
And on Feb. 14, a report said the United States and Russia would
cooperate to keep
the station going. Russian officials said they
would build extra $22 million supply ships as long as othr partners
the 16-nation space station project would pay for them.
What should I do if I find Columbia debris?
Debris presumed to be from the shuttle Columbia landed in the
driveway of Susie and Art Patterson's home
in Nacogdoches, Texas. It
is about a foot long.
NASA and the indpenedent investigation board are both interested in
obtaining pictures and videos of the
event. The Gehman Board has a
Web site, http://www.caib.us/, for information about the board's
activities and to learn how to contact the board directly if you have
reports to make, or theories to offer.
You can also report debris or images to NASA at this phone number:
281-483-3388 or (936) 699-1032. Text reports
and images should be e-mailed to: email@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.org.
Do not touch any debris you find. NASA officials have warned
repeatedly that the debris "may be dangerously
toxic substances and cause serious injury if handled. Individuals who
think they may have come in
contact with shuttle debris should take a
shower with soap and water and then seek medical attention.
NASA: "Individuals are advised to avoid all additional contact with
the suspected shuttle material. Clothing
that may have come in
contact with the suspected debris should be removed with care to
avoid skin contact with cloth
that may have been contaminated. Place
the clothing in a plastic bag for later analysis. If your physician
has any questions,
please have him or her contact the NASA Emergency Action Center at 281-483-3388."
Also dangerous are pyrotechnic devices that the shuttle carries and
which may remain unexploded.
NASA wishes all debris be reported to them, so that the pieces can be
used to help determine what caused
the disaster. The space agency
also warns that the debris is government property, and local law
have been asked to aid in recovering it.
In fact, two Texans were arrested on federal charges they stole
pieces of the debris and a Texas law enforcement
official was charged
in a separate case.
What is being done for the astronauts' families? And how can I send
A fund is being set up. The Space Shuttle Children's Trust Fund was
established with the support of NASA
after the 1986 Challenger
disaster. The fund, which raised $1 million, will now work to raise
money for Columbia families.
NASA held a private memorial for the astronauts Feb. 4 at the Johnson
Space Center. President Bush and the
first lady Laura Bush were
accompanied on Air Force One by Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut
to walk on the moon.
Former senator and astronaut John Glenn and his
wife, Annie, also attended, as did NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.
Scobee Fulgham, whose father died on the space shuttle
Challenger, was to speak to the children of the Columbia astronauts
A memorial ceremony for Columbia's astronauts was held Feb. 7 at the
Kennedy Space Center. Florida Governor
Jeb Bush, Administrator
O'Keefe and former astronaut Robert Crippen, Columbia's first pilot
on its maiden flight, STS-1,
on April 12, 1981, attended.
Could Columbia have been hit by an electrical discharge?
This should be considered highly speculative. A report last week in
The San Francisco Chronicle says federal
investigators (not the NASA
team) are looking into this possibility. Data are being reviewed for
evidence any high-altitude
jets or sprites, which commonly occur
above thunderstorms and are known to shoot nearly into outer
space. "We're working
hard on the data set," said Alfred Bedard, a
scientist at the federal Environmental Technology Laboratory in
Colo. The lab is providing data to NASA, according to the
The Chron says NASA administrators confirmed that a photograph
showing an odd streak of light, taken by a
San Francisco amateur
astronomer, is being evaluated by Columbia crash investigators.
Shuttle investigators are not
certain if the oddity is real or an
How did so much debris survive re-entry heat and make it to the
Meteors often burn up before they reach the ground. But many survive.
What happens depends on many factors:
Meteors are not typically in orbit around the planet. They come from
elsewhere in the solar system and crash
into our atmosphere at
incredible velocities. The shuttle was traveling at about 12,500 mph.
A meteor can reach speeds
of 160,000 mph (72 kilometers per second)
relative to Earth (many move at about half that speed).
The heating that can
lead to vaporization of a meteor begins around
60 miles up. The shuttle was already down to around 40 miles altitude
Meteors larger than baseballs frequently survive. Columbia's wreckage
involved a lot of good-sized pieces.
Finally, natural meteors are hunks of stone and metal, often very
loose agglomerations with surface roughness
that enhances the
tendency to vaporize. Columbia's parts were designed for strength and
stability and were often smooth.
Could the Hubble Space Telescope have taken pictures of the shuttle?
No. Hubble is not equipped for the task
of imaging a moving target.
And it is so powerful that to image the entire Moon would require 130
[See what I mean in this Moon photo gallery]
Could the flight have been aborted before the shuttle entered outer
In theory, yes. The shuttle can abort and land before it reaches
orbit. But NASA did not suspect there was
a problem until after the
craft was in orbit and the launch video was reviewed (and then
officials determined there
was no problem). Once in orbit, returning
earlier would likely have yielded the same result, assuming the
in fact been done during launch, though it has not been
determined for whether the damage, in part or total, occured during
in flight, or at re-entry.
Does the shuttle come back to Earth on the same path each time?
No. This mission involved a relatively low orbit. Missions to the
International Space Station go higher,
and due to the different
orbit, those shuttles typically come back to Earth over Mexico and
the open waters of the Gulf.
Were puffs of smoke in the contrail signs of an explosion or a result
of the structure falling apart?
The puffs are almost surely telltale of something. But NASA has not
yet determined what sorts of debris caused
the earliest puffs seen in
video, nor what specific process led to things falling apart. An
amateur video shows what
may be some of the earliest signs of
problems over Reno, Nevada.
Was Columbia landing at the time that was scheduled at the outset of
Yes. Everything was going according to plan, and officials have said
this seemed like one of the smoothest
missions ever, up to the point
of the disaster. Everyone in the space community was surprised to
lose a shuttle upon
re-entry; launch is considered the more dangerous
event by far.
Can the external fuel tank be recovered and studied?
No. The external fuel tank (called ET by NASA) stays with the shuttle
until about 9 minutes after launch.
It then separates, falls back,
and burns up as it comes through the atmosphere. This has confused
some people because
another part of the launch system is retrieved.
Solid rocket boosters (SRBs), which provide most of the thrust for
detach about 28 miles (45 kilometers) up while the shuttle's
main engines continue firing. The SRBs fall into the ocean
Canaveral and are picked up, refurbished and re-used.


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If you could study a subject that you have never had the opportunity to study, what would you choose? Explain your choice, using specific reasons and details.
If I would have the opportunity to study a subject I do not know yet I would choose to study the outer space. I have a Bachelor degree in Management and I like to have the possibilities to work in this field. However, I was always interested in the space exploration.
I think, it is a very interesting and challenging job to work on a space ship, gathering different kinds of information, probes and specimens. Many people think that these kinds of experiments are a waste of money and time. Nevertheless, I believe that humankind is making steps forward by domesticating space. We need to know what is beyond our solar system. We need to know what is beyond our universe.
Another important aspect of studding the space is that scientists are always about to make new discoveries there and they do them. I think it is a great feeling to give people new knowledge, opportunities and experience. Scientists often find and study new constellations, they launch satellites and monitor them from land.
When I was a child I collected stamps and cards with a space subject and I dreamed that someday I would be able to make a flight into an outer space. However, my plans changed but my dream has not vanished. I believe that in a few years people will be able to visit the space just like they go to a museum now.
To sum up, I think that studding a space would give me self-realization, more opportunities to grow and more goals to achieve.
Харкова і Слобідського краю. Таким чином, наявність в назві організації слова «музей», дає їй ряд переваг, ставлячи в один ряд з...
Тест Личные и притяжательные местоимения Choose the correct variant к каждому вопросу даны несколько вариантов ответа. Выберите тот,...


This actually really blew me away. I’m not that much for stunts. But think of it. If humans can actually dive into the earth from space and not die and not burn up it would radically change our notion of what the planet is, and our relationship with it. It would also change the notion of space safety, as you could just ‘jump’ if you got into problems in space without having to burn up. Yes, it is space fiction, but things like this do have an impact on how we see ourselves.


How Do Drones Fly?
Drones are wonderful little machines, but have you ever wondered what keeps these little marvels in the air? Well now you can find out with our handy guide.
If you fancy getting a Mavic for yourself have a look HERE.
Have you ever wondered how a quadcopter drone flies?
Well, that was a short video then wasn’t it?
I’m going to assume that either you have wondered, and for some inexplicable reason don’t want to admit it; or that the knowledge if you had it wouldn’t do you any harm.
To start with I’m going to quickly cover the basic principles of flight; because anything that uses a wing, or a rotor blade, or a propeller, is governed by the same set of principles.
Let’s start with a wing, which is essentially what rotor blades are.
A wing creates lift in two ways-
Firstly, due to their shape, as a wing moves through the air, the air travelling over the top of the wing moves faster than the air travelling below it.
The difference in speed reduces the air pressure above the wing resulting in a certain amount of lift.
This lift is added to by the angle of attack, or tilt, of the wing.
The wing pushes the air below it down forcing the aircraft up.
Balance the speed of the aircraft, the angle of attack of the wing, and the drag of the air, and the aircraft will fly at a constant height.
The rotor on a quadcopter or helicopter works in the same way as the wing on the plane. But rather than being pushed or pulled through the air in a straight line like an aeroplane a rotor is made up of blades. Essentially wings that are spun from their ends around a central point.
The same principles apply.
The air pressure above the blade is reduced and the angle of attack pushes down the air below and creates thrust which produces lift.
With a helicopter you can change the angle of attack of the blades to increase or decrease the lift created.
You can also tilt the rotor to achieve directional flight forwards, backwards, left and right. The rotor blades on a quadcopter are fixed; and any difference in lift has to be achieved through changing the speed of rotation.
A quadcopter like this one has four sets of rotors, each powered by an electric motor.
If you want the drone to go up you apply more power to the rotors and if you want it to come down you apply less.
Want to go forward, simply apply more power to the two rear motors.
The drone will tip forward and fly forward because the thrust is now being pointed backwards as well as downwards. This forward and backward tilting movement is called pitch.
Feel the urge to go left?
Apply more power to the right-hand rotors.
The right-hand side of the drone lifts pointing the thrust out to the right and the drone moves to the left.
The opposite is also true if you want to go right.
This side-to-side tilting movement is called roll.
The rotors come in diagonally opposite pairs.
One pair rotates in one direction, and the other pair rotates in the other direction.
If they weren’t set up like this all the torque, or the force of rotation, would be pushing in the same direction and the drone would simply spin.
With the opposing configuration the torque from one pair of rotors pushes in the opposite direction to the other, which cancels out, and the drone doesn’t spin.
A useful side effect of this means that by increasing the power to one set of rotors and reducing the power to the other you can turn the drone.
This turning movement is called your Yaw.
Now all of this is of course really clever and theoretically quite simple, but without a bit of computer jiggery-pokery it would be very hard to control your drone.
By allowing a computer to make all the necessary adjustments, at a speed far faster than we can cope with, and feeding in a host of data from inputs like
GPS, a compass, a barometer, ultrasonic sensors, and cameras, a drone can practically fly itself, and that’s just about what it does. It’s doing the flying, and you are making suggestions about where it should go.
Now I hope that all this makes sense.
I have tried to be concise and not get bogged down in the minutia.
And now, for your viewing pleasure, a bit of drone footage.
Feel free to like, subscribe, share, and comment, and we’ll be back with another video tomorrow.


The FAA’s no-fly zone barred indigenous drone pilots from documenting the NoDAPL struggle, but private security aircraft continued surveillance.
At the height of the movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline’s construction last fall, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a rare “temporary flight restriction,” also known as a no-fly zone, covering nearly 154 square miles of airspace above the pipeline resistance. The no-fly zone — a response to the activities of indigenous drone pilots, whose aerial videos documenting the struggle at Standing Rock drew large social media followings — was approved from October 25 to November 4 in 2016 and renewed twice to cover a smaller area, remaining in effect until December 13.
Documents obtained via open records requests, as well as material from court cases, reveal new details about how the FAA and state agencies helped police and private security companies wrest control of the airspace above the NoDAPL resistance from indigenous water protectors.
Following the flight ban, the media was no longer permitted to use aircraft to cover the events without undergoing a review process. According to the FAA’s no-fly order, “Only relief aircraft ops under direction of North Dakota Tactical Operations Center [were] authorized in the airspace.” Meanwhile, aircraft operated by Dakota Access Pipeline security officials continued to fly over the area to conduct surveillance. The FAA confirmed to The Intercept that the flights would have been legal only if the private security aircraft were participating in a law enforcement action. Prosecutors have used footage from those flights as evidence in felony cases brought against pipeline opponents, displaying an unusual and troubling partnership between the private security operatives and law enforcement.
The Intercept – Alleen Brown, Will Parrish, Alice Speri – 09.29.2017
Posted by: Nelson Bailey


Seattle is airplane country. Boeing’s headquarters is here, which means any time you look up at the sky, you’re likely to see a brand new jet on its test flight. You’re also likely to see hundreds of general aviation aircraft zipping through the skies, as well as the seaplanes that make up Kenmore Air‘s fleet. I remember a time, before the threat of terrorism became too serious, that my dad and I would head out to the airport to watch the planes. Back then, we could get up closer that you can now. Planespotting was something my dad and I could always bond over.
Now, when I have the urge to be around airplanes, but don’t have a ticket to go anywhere, I can head over to the Museum of Flight. The museum provides visitors with excellent exhibitions on the origins of flight, as well as an exhibit centered around space exploration. Retired aircraft hang from the ceiling for everyone to enjoy. They’ve just completed their Aviation Pavilion, where visitors can get up close and personal with some amazing aircraft. I just came from the Members’ Preview, and they have done am AMAZING job putting this all together. The Aviation Pavilion opens to the public on June 25th. Boeing’s first 747-100 is on display, which visitors can enter. It isn’t set up like a passenger jet, as it only made test flights. The same goes for the Boeing 787-8 on display. Visitors can also step inside a retired British Airways Concorde, which was the fastest passenger jet ever in service. Docents are always on hand to answer questions about the various aircraft on display.
I’ve been to the museum several times, and still haven’t seen everything yet. Every time I go, I see something new and interesting. If you live in the Seattle area, or visit several times a year, I suggest purchasing a membership. It ends up paying for itself, if you are an aviation geek like me and would like to go back a couple of times. I have the lowest tier of membership, and I can always bring a guest for free. Members also get 15% off at the gift shop, and I never leave empty-handed. If you haven’t been to Seattle yet, definitely put this on the top of your list of places to visit.


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Home Documents Images Message Board
Robert E. Scovill, Jr.
June 5, 2000
Mr. Jim Hall, Chairman
National Transportation Safety Board
490 L'Enfant Plaza East SW
Washington, DC 20594-0003
Subject: Safety Recommendation
Dear Mr. Hall:
This letter and its attachments contain important information that indicates a design flaw in the integral wing tank (also called a wet wing) manufactured by Cessna Aircraft Company; Wichita, Kansas. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is reviewing the same information that I have provided to you as attachments. You may contact Craig Roberts, Airworthiness Inspector, FAA Flight Standards Office (FSDO); Nashville, Tennessee [(615) 781-5430] as needed. He is familiar with the problem, and he can provide you with other FAA contacts.
Within the NTSB, you are not the first person with whom I have communicated. I first contacted the NTSB on October 26,1999 by phone, which lead to e-mail communications. Back then I provided the same information to the NTSB that you have received with this letter. Recently, Gene Doub, a staff member at the U.S. Department of Transportation's Transportation Safety Institute in Oklahoma City, recommended that I submit my safety recommendations directly to you by certified mail.
The Cessna wet wing design has been in production since 1979. It is installed on several Cessna aircraft models. My estimate is that the indicated flaw affects thousands of general aviation aircraft. The flaw may cause fuel contaminated with water to not be detected in a proper preflight check. Consequently, engine failure due to water may occur, which can lead to life threatening situations for souls on board and people over whom these aircraft fly. The problem affects immediate flight safety.
I have reviewed National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) aircraft accident reports over the years 1983 to present. There is a clear indication that NTSB reports on accidents involving Cessna wet wing equipped aircraft that experienced in-flight engine failure are not being investigated in a way that will discover the indicated flaw. Clearly, accident investigators are assuming that Cessna's FAA certified wet wing's fuel-drainage system works properly. This assumption leads investigators to report probable causes such as the following.
Conditions conducive to carburetor ice.
Pilot Performed insufficient preflight check.
I have not found a NTSB accident report that challenges the proper functioning of Cessna's wet wing fuel drainage system, which if done, will reveal the indicated flaw that has gone undetected for over twenty years. (A clear indication that too much confidence is placed in the FAA's certification process for general aviation aircraft.)
Both FAA and NTSB investigators should be informed of the information contained in the attachments. Given this knowledge, they should then be instructed to approach future investigations of aircraft accidents involving an engine failure or a rough running engine of aircraft equipped with Cessna's wet wing with the assumption that the fuel drainage system does not drain properly. This assumption should lead investigators to test the fuel drainage system.
In the mean time, the NTSB should work jointly with the FAA to investigate the results of the tests that are already available, which are attached to this letter. NTSB should give this matter high priority and submit a safety recommendation to the FAA as soon as possible.
The above actions taken by the FAA and the NTSB should lead to an Airworthiness Directive (AD) that reveals the design flaw and requires an engineering solution.
When an AD is issued both the FAA and the NTSB should be tasked with reviewing existing NTSB reports for the purpose of identifying accidents that have been reported with probable causes as stated further above in the description of the problem. As these reports are identified, they should be reviewed in-light of the new evidence, and where appropriate, change the probable cause to the following or something similar:
Probable Cause: Manufacture's design flaw in fuel drainage system, which prevented the pilot from detecting fuel contamination during his or her properly, performed preflight check.
Additionally, the FAA and the NTSB should use their database of pilot and aircraft owner contact information to inform these people of the indicated design flaw. Likewise, among these people who have NTSB accidents reports with probable causes that are subject to change as indicated above, these people should be informed when their accident's probable cause is changed.
Explanation of Attachments
Attached letter to FAA, FSDO; Nashville, Tennessee dated April 19, 1999
The attached letter from Robert E. Scovill, Jr. addressed to FSDO; Nashville, Tennessee dated April 19, 1999 is my notification to the FAA alerting them of a problem that affects immediate flight safety and may lead to life threatening situations. This attachment contains a chronological history of how I came to conjecture the problem. This history also includes facts from events that demonstrate weaknesses in how general aviation accidents and incidents are reported. In this attachment, I do not comment on these weaknesses, but the history does provide factual evidence for future comments.
Attached Report by Bill Allen, Facilities Manager for MTSU dated June 2, 1999
After submitting the above letter in April, the FAA performed inspections on May 19, 1999 and May 21, 1999. The June 2, 1999 report, written by Bill Allen, Facilities Manager for Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Aerospace, explains how the inspections were performed, list data that were recorded, and comments on observations that were made.
Attached Report by Matt Taylor, Director of Maintenancefor MTSU dated October 10, 1999
Matt Taylor, Director of Maintenance, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), Flight Operations Maintenance, uses the FAA's test methods discussed in the above June 2, 1999 report to inspect MTSU's Cessna 172RG that is equipped with integral wing tanks. His report reveals similar results as those stated in Bill Allen's report
Attached Report by Robert E. Scovill, Jr. dated February 1, 2000.
Robert E. Scovill, Jr. reports the results of a drainage system test with the aircraft leveled relative to the ground.
Attached three 5 x 7 and three 8 x 10 color photos
These photos show an interior view of Cessna's integral wing tank taken during tests mentioned in the above-attached reports.
The above attachments (including more images), this letter, and more information are available on the Sump This web site. Its URL is http://www.sumpthis.com/. You may refer people to this site as needed.
Please contact me if you have questions or comments regarding my recommendations.
Thank you for your considerations. I look forward to your actions that will address this matter with the urgency that is needed. I have studied the RAND report that was generated at your request. Statements in that report indicate that my recommendations offer you an opportunity to act upon RAND's suggestions. In the future, you may expect more people from the public to seek a future opportunity to communicate with you and Congress on general aviation investigation laws and procedures. I look forward to working with NTSB on this topic.
Robert E. Scovill, Jr.
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DJI Air 3 Drone Fly More Combo (RC 2)
The DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (RC 2) is the next-gen drone, upgraded with dual 48MP cameras for 4K/60fps HDR video, 46 minute flights and additional batteries, a charging hub and more for aerial content creators.
- Comprehensively updates drone with 48% longer flight times, dual cameras and customisable flights with Waypoint
- Combo includes the new RC 2 remote controller with a built-in 5.5-inch touchscreen, extra batteries, shoulder bag and more
- Capture epic wide field of view scenes with a 48MP wide camera and close-up shots with the 48MP medium tele camera
- Supports advanced RTH and omnidirectional obstacle sensing to safely return to its home location
- Ideal for newer drone creators and more advanced pilots who want to capture, edit and share aerial content more easily
DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (RC 2) Summary
This kit combines the next generation drone from DJI with essential accessories and a new remote controller for content creators who want a powerful all-in-one solution for aerial content. The DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (RC 2) includes three Air 3 Intelligent Flight Batteries, with up to 46 minute flight times per battery. There’s also an Air 3 Battery Charging Hub included, with intelligent features to maximise your flight experience, such as the ability to draw remaining power from multiple batteries to the battery with the highest power.
Additional Low-Noise Propellers, a new generation remote controller with built-in screen and a Shoulder Bag top off the drone accessories, which make up the Air 3 Fly More Combo (RC 2) from industry-leading DJI.
This next generation aircraft features a dual-camera system with 1 /1.3-inch sensors for incredible imaging quality and versatility to capture unique aerial photos and videos. In addition to the 24mm f/1.7 wide angle camera, a 70mm f/2.8 medium tele camera has been added, both of which support 48MP photos and 4K/60fps video, with 10-bit D-Log M colour mode.
Air 3 also features an omnidirectional vision system and a three-dimensional infrared sensing system, is capable of hovering and flying indoors and outside, and can automatically Return to Home (RTH) while sensing and bypassing obstacles in all directions. The included remote controller RC-N2, charges your mobile while connected and has a 6 hour operating time when it’s not charging a device, as well as offering O4 video transmission support.
Long-range transmission 04 technology (OCUSYNC 4.0) provides a maximum transmission range of 20 km and video quality up to 1080p 60fps with the free OJI Fly app. Thanks to Advanced Pilot Assistance System 5.0 (APAS 5.0), the aircraft can more easily sense and bypass obstacles in all directions for safer flights and smoother footage.
Newer pilots and more advanced users gain access to a host of Intelligent Flight Modes, such as FocusTrack, MasterShots, QuickShots, Hyperlapse and Waypoint Flight for effortless cinematic videos and easy editing options.
Key DJI Air 3 Features
- RC 2 Combo has x3 batteries, a charging hub, x3 extra pairs of props and a DJI shoulder bag
- Up to 46 minutes flight time per fully-charged battery
- Two powerful cameras – a wide and a medium telephoto (3x zoom)
- 1/1.3-inch-CMOS wide angle camera and 1/1.3-inch-CMOS 3x medium tele camera
- Dual-camera 48MP photos
- 4K/60fps HDR Video
- 10-bit D-Log M and 10-bit HLG colour modes
- Omnidirectional obstacle sensing with APAS 5.0
- O4 Video Transmission with 1080p/60fps max live feed to 20km
- Advanced RTH
- Intelligent Features for pro content including FocusTrack, Spotlight 2.0, ActiveTrack 5.0, Point of Interest 3.0 and QuickShots
- Supports vertical shooting
- MasterShots automated clips
- Night Mode, Hyperlapse, Slow Motion, SmartPhoto 3.0, QuickTransfer
- DJI LightCut app with simple one-tap editing
Key DJI RC 2 Features
- Built-in 5.5” touchscreen (1920x1080)
- Supports 04 video transmission with Air 3
- Transmits up to 1080p 60fps HD live view
- 12.4 miles max. transmission range
- Up to 3 hour operating time (approx. 1 hour charging time)
- DJI Fly App pre-installed
- Detachable control sticks
DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (RC 2) in More Detail
New DJI RC 2 controller
The next generation DJI RC 2 remote controller included in this Combo offers 04 video transmission when used with DJI Air 3, and works at 2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz, and 5.1 GHz frequency bands. It is capable of automatically selecting the best transmission channel and can transmit 1080p 60fps HD live view from the aircraft to the remote controller, at a distance of up to 12.4 miles (20 km).
The remote controller is equipped with a 1920x1080 pixel resolution 5.5-inch touchscreen and a range of controls and customisable buttons. DJI RC 2 enables users to easily control the aircraft and remotely change the aircraft settings with a clear view. It also includes many other functions such as built-in GNSS (GPS+Galileo+BeiDou), Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection for ease-of-use.
The remote controller has detachable control sticks, built-in speakers, a 32GB internal storage, and supports the use of a microSD card for additional storage needs. The 6200mAh 22.32Wh battery provides the remote controller a maximum operating time of three hours.
DJI Air 3 Dual Primary Cameras
Air 3 boasts the first dual primary camera system of DJI’s Air series, with a 1/1.3-inch-CMOS wide angle camera and a 1/1.3-inch-CMOS 3x medium tele camera, which are housed within a sleek compact body. The two cameras have different focal widths, but the same sensor size, delivering consistent image quality  and more dynamic creative opportunities.
3x Medium Tele Camera
2.4μm Pixel Size
2.4μm Pixel Size
24mm Format Equivalent
70mm Format Equivalent
For sweeping landscapes and epic environmental scenes you can use the expansive wide angle camera and the medium telephoto achieves great compression and closer zooming with 3x optical lossless zoom for a unique perspective of your subject.
48 megapixel photos and 4K/60fps HDR Videos from both cameras
Capture true-to-life details that look amazing and seamlessly crop whenever needed with both cameras, which are capable of delivering 48MP photos.
With Air 3’s two 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensors you can capture footage from either camera with rich colours and natural transitions. This delivers breathtaking, highly accurate results, as they both support dual native ISO for direct output of 4K/60fps HDR video without cropping. Video colour modes include both 10-bit D-Log M and 10-bit HLG for wide dynamic range and post processing enhancement.
10-bit D-Log M mode helps retain more highlight and shadow detail for increased flexibility when editing, while 10-bit HLG mode offers a higher dynamic range, with excellent results without the need for any colour grading. This ensures you can come away with beautiful movies and epic shots, whatever your skill level with video editing.
Innovative charging and longer flight times
The DJI Air 3 offers up to 46 minutes of flight time,  an increase of 48%  compared to the previous generation drone, for additional of time to explore, adjust your compositions, You can get the shots you want during a single flight with Air 3’s long flight time.
DJI's newly designed Air 3 Battery Charging Hub (optional) supports an innovative power transfer function, which allows you to transfer remaining power from multiple batteries to the battery with the highest remaining power.  This gives you a more fully charged battery in situations where charging options are limited and you want to get flying as quickly as possible.
More safety with Omnidirectional Obstacle Sensing
Air 3 can detect obstacles in all directions  thanks to an omnidirectional sensing system, which enables comprehensive environmental awareness.
When obstacles are detected, Air 3 is able to use APAS 5.0 (Advanced Pilot Assistance System) to perform smoother avoidance movements  for an overall safer flight experience. This means that even complete beginners can fly with greater confidence and execute creative ideas with more safety.
Horizontal Omnidirectional Vision System
Upward Vision System
Downward Vision System
Downward ToF Sensor
Next generation O4 Video Transmission
O4 video transmission system empowers Air 3 with significantly enhanced transmission performance, and a maximum range of 20 km  with increased stability. A maximum 1080p/60fps live feed also ensures smooth viewing and operation of the aircraft, even at greater distances.
When activating Smart RTH (Return To Home), the DJI Air 3 drone will autonomously plot an optimised flight path for Advanced RTH,  while ensuring full omnidirectional obstacle sensing  to safely and swiftly return to its home location.
Create incredible content easily
DJI develops intelligent modes to help content creators capture masterful images and videos more easily than ever.
With FocusTrack, you can effortlessly keep yourself or a subject centred in the frame. The 3x medium tele camera allows for a distinctive sense of spatial compression, perfect for highlighting subjects. Enhanced tracking performance, coupled with omnidirectional obstacle sensing, ensures intelligent and well-planned shots, giving you the freedom to capture your vision anywhere and anytime.
Air 3 is equipped with QuickShots, offering an array of creative camera movement options such as Rocket, Dronie, Circle, Helix, Boomerang, and Asteroid.
2.7K Vertical Shooting
Air 3 allows 2.7K vertical shooting with both cameras, delivering dynamic footage for landscapes and subjects. The 4:3 CMOS sensor directly outputs optimised clips for smartphone viewing on social media without cropping in post.
With now legendary MasterShots, Air 3 automatically executes various camera movements, capturing multiple clips edited with music, cuts and effects for quick and simplified cinematic footage to impress your audience.
More creative features
With an advanced noise reduction algorithm, Air 3 can achieve noise-free footage at up to 4K/30fps even in low-light environments or during nighttime.
Choose from four versatile options, including Free, Circle, Course Lock, and Waypoint, to capture stunning timelapse footage at up to 4K horizontally or 2.7K vertically.
Select 4K/100fps  or 1080p/100fps  to directly record a 4x slow-motion video.
In single shot mode, Air 3 employs SmartPhoto 3.0 by default, allowing it to automatically choose the most suitable option among HDR, hyperlight, and scene recognition based on the shooting scenario for enhanced imaging results. Additionally, in HDR DNG format,  the camera captures images with a wider dynamic range and built-in contrast enhancement.
Effortlessly transfer photos and videos from the aircraft to your smartphone through a wireless connection, saving valuable time and streamlining the process.
Effortless editing with LightCut App
Connect to Air 3 wirelessly via the LightCut app on your smartphone for extended creative options such as One-Tap Edit. You don’t even need to download all the footage during the edit process, which helps save storage space on your mobile device.
One-Tap edit intelligently selects clips based on composition and flight path and automatically matches optimal template options and sound effects to generate a quick and effortlessly cinematic video.
For even more dramatic results use a tilt-shift effect with just one tap, by applying this feature to footage shot with the 3x medium tele camera.
DJI’s Waypoint feature is now available on the Air series for the first time. Waypoint enables you to plan flight routes and shooting actions for Air 3 in advance, in order to achieve difficult camera movements and stunning one-takes. You can also save your flight routes and repeat the same movement with precision at a later time or date, opening the door to long-duration timelapse shots that capture transitions like day to night or season to season.
DJI fly App
The DJI Fly App is well established and packed with features for new and experienced pilots, using simple icons and navigation to Photo modes, MasterShots, Quickshots, Hyperlapse and Pano. Night video mode is also available with better noise reduction and up to ISO 12,800 and support for 4K/30fps.
View or share flight and shooting locations nearby, learn more about GEO Zones, and preview aerial photos of different locations taken by other users.
Tap the icon in the top right corner to enter Academy and view product tutorials, flight tips, flight safety notices, and manual documents.
Allows you to view photos and videos from the aircraft album or saved on the local device. Tap Create and select Templates or Pro. Templates provides an auto-edit feature for imported footage. Pro allows users to edit footage manually.
Enter SkyPixel to view videos and photos shared by other users.
View account information and flight records, visit the OJI forum and online store, access the Find My Drone feature, offline maps, and other settings such as firmware updates, camera view, cached data, account privacy, and language.
Wide range of new and existing accessories
Enhance your piloting experience and capture even better content with a wide selection of drone accessories, which are available for Air 3.
- DJI 65W Portable Charger (same as Mavic 3 Pro) – Can charge Batteries and RC simultaneously
- DJI 65W Car Charger (same as Mavic 3 Pro) – Portable car charger uses a universal port
- DJI Air 3 ND Filters Set 8/16/32/64 – Adjust shutter speed in varied lighting conditions
- DJI Air 3 Intelligent Flight Battery – Up to 46 minutes of flight time per battery (x3 included)
- DJI Air 3 Low-Noise Propellers Pair – Spare or replacement props (x6 included)
- DJI Air 3 Gimbal Protector – Spare or replacement protector, recommended when aircraft is stored
- DJI Air 3 Wide Angle Lens
Three models to choose from
You can purchase the DJI Air 3 in three different options:
- DJI Air 3 (RC-N2) Includes the new remote controller
- DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (RC-N2) Includes the new remote controller, spare batteries + more combo extras
- DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (RC 2) This model comes with the RC 2 remote controller, spare batteries + more combo extras
1. Measured by DJI Air 3 flying at a constant speed of 28.8 kph in a windless environment at sea level, with APAS off, AirSense off, camera parameters set to 1080p/24fps, video mode off, and from 100% battery level until 0%. Data is for reference only. Always pay attention to reminders in the app during flight.
2. DO NOT use the aircraft in severe weather conditions, including heavy wind exceeding 12 m/s, snow, rain, fog, hail, or lightning. DO NOT fly the aircraft 6000 m (19,685 ft.) or higher above sea level. DO NOT fly the aircraft in environments where the temperature is below -10° C (14° F) or above 40° C (104° F). DO NOT take off from moving objects such as cars or boats. DO NOT fly close to reflective surfaces such as water or snow. Otherwise, the vision system may not work correctly. When the GNSS signal is weak, fly the aircraft in environments with good lighting and visibility. Low ambient light may cause the vision system to function abnormally. DO NOT fly near areas with magnetic or radio interference. Familiar magnetic or radio interference sources include Wi-Fi hotspots, routers, Bluetooth devices, high-voltage lines, large-scale power transmission stations, radar stations, mobile base stations, and broadcasting towers. Avoid sand entering the aircraft when taking off in desert or beach areas. Fly the aircraft in open areas away from crowds. Buildings, mountains, and trees may block the GNSS signal and affect the onboard compass.
3. The wide angle camera and 3x medium tele camera have different apertures.
4. Recording frame rates. The corresponding video plays as slow-motion video.
5. Compared with DJI Air 2S.
6. DO NOT connect the charger, connect external devices, or insert/remove any batteries when using the power accumulation function.
7. The obstacle avoidance action should be set to Bypass in the app.
8. Measured in an outdoor, open environment, without interference, and with FCC compliance. The above data shows the farthest communication range for one-way, non-return flights. Pay attention to reminders in the app during your flight.
9. Only available when ambient light meets the working conditions of the vision systems. Always pay attention to the surroundings and app warnings. For specific usage conditions, please refer to the product user manual.
10. The 3x medium tele camera does not support the Asteroid QuickShot.
11. DJI Air 3 saves photos in HDR DNG format when the aircraft is stationary and the exposure parameters are automatically set in Auto or Pro mode.
What’s in the box
- DJI Air 3 x1
- DJI Air 3 Low-Noise Propellers (Pair) x6
- DJI Air 3 Gimbal Protector x1
- DJI RC-N2 RC Cable (Lightning Connector) x1
- DJI RC 2 x1
- DJI Air 3 Battery Charging Hub x1
- USB-C Cable x1
- DJI Air 3 Intelligent Flight Battery x3
- Documents (Quick Start Guide and Disclaimer) x1
- DJI Shoulder Bag x1
The DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (RC 2) is the next generation of compact drones, which is perfect for both beginner and experienced pilots. As a Combo this kit comes with additional batteries and an intelligent charging hub that benefits from time-saving features for location shoots, and each battery provides an incredible max. 46 minute flight times. This allows you to concentrate on getting the shot, rather than frequently worrying about how much power the drone has remaining. This generation drone also includes an omnidirectional vision system for safer flights, which works together with Advanced RTH to bring the aircraft back safely when needed.
The highlight is without a doubt the addition of a new dual-camera system, which offers unparalleled creative opportunities in a compact drone for capturing epic wide angle scenes, as well as tighter shots on the subject using the medium tele camera. Both feature the same sensor resolution, which is able to capture beautifully detailed 48 megapixel photos and 4K/60fps HDR video using the full sensor.
DJI’s updated remote controller included in this combo offers stable transmission with 04 Video technology and boasts a bright 5.5-inch touchscreen with 1080p 60fps HD live view. DJI’s apps deliver intuitive operation, automated intelligent content capture and you can refine your videos with ease using one-tap editing.
With comprehensive upgrades, new features and the latest aircraft technology this may be the holy grail for content creators who want an affordable, compact and powerful drone with all of the accessories you need in one Combo.
You could offset the cost of upgrading with our hassle-free trade-in service, which gives you cash for your unwanted camera equipment.
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Our used products are subject to wear and tear in comparison to brand new products. This also applies to accessories that are supplied with the camera including batteries which may have a lower optimum performance level/life expectancy.
- Like New – The equipment is in a condition as if you have just bought it from the manufacturer. The item is still considered to be ‘Like New’ even without the original packaging and accessories. The product has been fully tested and is in perfect working order. Lenses are optically clear. There may be light dust present that will not effect the imagery.
- Excellent – The equipment should be close to being ‘Like New’ but there may be some small cosmetic blemishes that lower its grade. The product has been fully tested and is in perfect excellent order.
- Cameras – Should have no marks on the LCD screen
- Lenses – Should have no marks on the elements and optically clear. There may be light dust present that will not effect the imagery.
- Very Good – The equipment may have some slight cosmetic wear to the paintwork and cosmetic blemishes with only light signs of use and the product has been fully tested and is in great working order.
- Cameras – The LCD screen may have small signs of wear that does not affect its display
- Lenses – The mount of the lens will start to show signs of wear
- Good – The equipment is showing more obvious signs of cosmetic wear and blemishes, but the product has been fully tested and is in great working order.
- Cameras – LCD screen may have scratches or wear that is starting to affect the display.
- Lenses – May have slight dust inside that does not affect images. The mount shows signs of use.
- Well Used – The equipment will show significant signs of wear. The paintwork will be coming away in large areas exposing the metal work, but the product has been fully tested and is in great working order.
- Cameras – LCD screen is heavily worn either by de-lamination or has scratches to it. Rubber grips are starting to come away from the body.
- Lenses – The lens has dust inside that may affect images. The rubber zoom/focus ring is coming away from the barrel of the lens.
*All of our used items are listed with the accesories that are included. If they are not listed then they will not be supplied at eh epoint of purchase.


HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO LEARN TO FLY?
Our club is a great place to start! If you’re not quite sure if flying is for you, we offer introductory flights which allow you to experience the feeling of flying and see what it's all about - but have no obligation to sign up. However, in order to continue taking lessons through the club, you will need to become a member of the club.
Once you have become a member, you can start training for your Private Pilots License (PPL) in our Piper Tomahawk (PA-38). You will certainly always remember your first solo, and the nerve wracking but exhilarating flight test when you gain your wings!
After you obtain your PPL, you can get a type rating onto some of our other aircraft and enjoy the privileges your license entails. There are many possibilities - cross country trips away for lunch with your friends & family, weekends away, competition flying and many more. You can also decide to undertake further flying training to obtain a Multi-Engine Rating, Command Instrument Rating (so you can fly in weather conditions that standard PPL holders are not allowed to fly in), Commercial Pilots License (CPL) and Instructor Rating.
If you would like to become a member of our club and you are a current service member (Military personnel or civilian NZDF personnel working on an RNZAF Base), a sworn member of the NZ Police, an Air Training Corp member, Air Scout Member or a past service member who served at least 20 years, click the 'Apply' tab above. Limited civilian membership may also become available periodically.
Once you've joined, you will have access to a range of resources available to our members which explain how our club operates and how to get up in the air. We also provide inductions to new members which help to explain various parts of the club to help you to book a flight and get flying.
If you have any questions or wish to organise an introductory flight, feel free to contact the club. Please note, our admin staff attend the office on Wednesdays so please allow some time for us to get back to you.


Homeowner do not intend to significantly increase NASA's budgetThis could jeopardize the agency's plans to send astronauts back to the moon by 2024.
Today the House Appropriations Committee published its latest financial statement for the 2021 financial yearDetailed information on the budgets of all commercial, judicial and scientific agencies in the United States. The bill would give NASA a total budget of $ 22.63 billion for next year, the same amount the agency received for 2020. However, it's almost $ 3 billion less than the $ 25.2 billion that the Trump administration requested in the president's budget request – a hefty amount that is intended to fund an ambitious lunar return.
NASA was very vocal about its goal of sending the first woman and the next man to the moon as part of the agency's Artemis program. And NASA has a very tight deadline to do that. In early 2019, Vice President Mike Pence asked the agency to bring people back to the moon by 2024. Many experts were skeptical of NASA's ability to achieve the rapidly approaching goal given the enormous amount of technology development, testing, and funding required.
In the President's budget proposal released in February, the Trump administration presented its desired budget for the next five years to help fund the Artemis program. The proposal called for NASA's budget to be raised to around $ 26 or $ 27 billion a year, and possibly to $ 28.6 billion in 2023. Today's budget signals that Congress is unwilling to provide this full amount.
Perhaps the biggest challenge in funding is to develop a human lunar lander, a critical technology needed to transport astronauts to the surface of the moon. In April, NASA placed orders with three major companies – Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics – to further explore the concepts of lunar lander. The President's budget request asked for a whopping $ 3.4 billion to be devoted to the development of human lunar lands. Instead, the House Appropriations Committee only provided $ 1.56 billion for exploration research and development, including money for the human lunar landing system. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said that only $ 628.2 million would be made available to the countries – almost $ 3 billion less than the agency had hoped for.
Despite this large discrepancy, Bridenstine was optimistic about the calculation. "Funding the Human Landing System (HLS) of $ 628.2 million is an important first step in this year's appropriation process," said Bridenstine in a statement. "We have more to do and I look forward to working with the Senate to ensure that America has the resources to land the first woman and next man on the moon in 2024."
This year in particular, it would be difficult to give NASA such a big boost. after Casey Dreier, the chief lawyer and senior space policy advisor to the Planetary Society. The Congress’s spending ceilings have increased, but not significantly, he says. In addition, the funding that the homeowners provide to NASA is derived from a large amount of money that the home provides to science, judicial, and commercial agencies. And this year, the house has granted the Department of Justice a substantial increase – nearly $ 1 billion – to address police reform in response to the police murder of George Floyd.
"Congress has redistributed these funds among their priorities," says Dreier The edge. He says congressmen are responding to what's happening on the ground, including recent protests and "increasing awareness of racist injustice." He also speculates that the Trump administration's increasing acceptance of human images for space travel may not help the democratically run house to promote NASA's budget increase. Recently, the Trump campaign created a political ad using footage from NASA about the recent crew launch of the SpaceX crew to the International Space Station. After receiving the backlash, the ad was removed from the campaign.
"Aligning a party to such a gentle government ideological activity naturally leads to opposition from the opposing party and becomes a symbol," says Dreier.
As Bridenstine indicated in his statement, the house bill is not a closed deal. House legislators will review the bill, and eventually the Senate Committee on Funds will publish its own bill specifying NASA funding. If everything goes according to plan, Congress will reconcile the two bills and eventually submit the final budget for NASA for next year. That said, there is still a long way to go before NASA will figure out how much money it will receive for 2021.


A Space Odyssey. Runtime. 2hrs 29mins. Directed by. Stanley Kubrick “Watching a Kubrick film like is like gazing up at a mountaintop. You look up. A Space Odyssey is a science-fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick. The film was written at the same time as the novel by Arthur C. Clarke. This temporary exhibit was the centerpiece of the Museum's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the film A Space Odyssey. National Air and Space Museum.
A Space Odyssey shot at Shepperton Studios. Filming began in late and continued for two years allowing plenty of time for the movie's. A powerful exploration of space, artificial intelligence and the destiny of humanity, A Space Odyssey is a visionary work that has had an indelible impact.
Stanley Kubrick redefined the limits of filmmaking in his classic science fiction masterpiece, a contemplation on the nature of humanity, A Space. EVEN the M-G-M lion is stylized and abstracted in Stanley Kubrick's " A Space Odyssey," a film in which infinite care, intelligence, patience. Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL , the world's most advanced.
The Space Odyssey series is a series of science fiction novels by the writer Arthur C. Clarke. The first novel was developed concurrently with Stanley. An imposing black structure provides a connection between the past and the future in this enigmatic adaptation of a short story by revered sci-fi author. A Space Odyssey () Stanley Kubrick's grand vision of mankind's journey from its hominid beginnings to its star-child evolution is a towering.
Envisioning Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey was open from January to October The exhibition included original artifacts from international. Film Details. Also Known As. A Space Odyssey. MPAA Rating. Genre. Horror/Science-Fiction. Few movies are as polarizing as Stanley Kubrick's sui generis sci-fi opus, A Space Odyssey. A good number of film critics and movie buffs argue that. Stanley Kubrick's " A Space Odyssey" is not a cinematic landmark.


Amazon says the FAA is so slow, the delivery drone it approved is already obsolete
“While the FAA was considering our applications for testing, we innovated so rapidly that the [drone] approved last week by the FAA has become obsolete. We don’t test it anymore. We’ve moved on to more advanced designs that we already are testing abroad,” said Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president for Global Public Policy.
March 24, 2015 at 07:36PM
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The documentary In the Shadow of the Moon focuses on the achievements of the men involved in Apollo space missions between 1968 and 1972. In this time, nine Apollo space craft visited the moon and 12 men walked on its surface.
The film's story is told via the personal stories and reminiscences of the remaining Apollo astronauts. They include Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Eugene Cernan, Michael Collins, Jim Lovell, Edgar D Mitchell, Harrison Schmitt, Dave Scott and John Young. The documentary opens by discussing the space race between the Americans and the Russians. It notes that in the early stages of the Apollo program, failure was more common than success. For example, rockets blowing up on the launch pad was almost a daily occurrence. The film depicts how the various engineers and astronauts designed, developed and constructed the Apollo technology and training program.
The Apollo astronauts talk about their roles as test pilots and explorers. They also discuss how the experience became more exciting as it became higher, faster and more dangerous. The astronauts talk about the guilt they suffer in relation to the Apollo 1 disaster, in which fire killed the three-man crew. They reflect on the Vietnam War, and the guilt they felt when friends were shot down while they remained safe. They discuss their fears and concerns, their devotion to the program and their perseverance. The near disastrous mission of Apollo 13 is discussed and depicted. And the Apollo astronauts talk about what they gained and learned from their experiences. For example, they refect on how the Apollo missions changed their perspectives on life, humanity and the universe.
Risk taking; death; war; life-changing experiences
In the Shadow of the Moon contains some archival footage that depicts violence, talk about violence, and accidental harm. For example:
- Early rocket attempts explode in flames either on the launch pad or in flight.
- American warplanes drop bombs and bomb Vietnam fields and countryside with the fields exploding in balls of flames.
- A brief image of a man is shown holding his finger to his head as if shooting himself in the head.
- Images of the coffins of President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King being carried are shown. These images are accompanied by commentary on their assassinations.
- We hear about the Apollo 1 disaster, and how the three men were burnt alive because of bad wiring (the burnt-out remains of the Apollo 1 capsule are shown).
- There are images of Neil Armstrong ejecting from a flying machine used to simulate lunar landings. He parachutes to the ground seconds before the flying machine explodes into flames.
- We hear the astronauts talk about their fears and concern, and the real-life dangers they faced. One astronaut talks about how, 'If something happened to that motor, they were dead men'.
- We see brief images of soldiers holding and pointing rifles, and images of baton-wielding riot police clashing with the American public.
- We hear astronauts talking about the Vietnam war, their friends being shot down over Vietnam and their associated feelings of guilt.
- We hear about an explosion and the loss of oxygen reserves aboard Apollo 13 (we see the actual images of oxygen being vented) and how this jeopardised lives of the astronauts aboard Apollo 13.
Content that may disturb children
Some of the violent scenes listed above could disturb children in this age group.
Some children in this age group could also be disturbed by some of the content described above.
Children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There is some brief use of substances in this movie. For example:
- There are brief images of people handing out and smoking cigars
- One astronaut talks about giving up smoking his pipe and drinking alcohol.
- One astronaut mentions going out and getting roaring drunk.
Nudity and sexual activity
This movie contains infrequent mild coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
This documentary tells the story of the Apollo space missions from 1968 to 1972. The story is told through interviews with the actual Apollo astronauts and digitally remastered archival film. The documentary is a reminder of just how awe inspiring and life changing the achievements and experiences of the Apollo missions were.
The main messages from this movie are:
- Humanity is not a single unconnected entity, but part of a dynamic interconnected universe. There is a feeling of connection or oneness with the universe, and there is something out there that is much larger than us.
- We need to cherish and protect our environment.
- Things that seem impossible can be accomplished if people put their minds to it.
You could talk to your child about these messages and also about the values of perseverance through adversity, courage and the spirit of exploration presented in this movie. You could also discuss some of the following issues:
- The achievements and successes of the Apollo missions were viewed as an achievement by the whole of humanity rather than just America. Could this attitude assist humanity to overcome the effects of global warming?
- The Apollo missions were life changing. What was it about the experience that caused the astronauts to gain a greater perspective of life, earth and the universe?