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Richard H. Truly
Richard Harrison Truly (November 12, 1937 – February 27, 2024) was an American fighter pilot, engineer and astronaut who served as a vice admiral in the United States Navy and as the eighth administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1989 to 1992. He was the first former astronaut to head the space agency. After his departure from NASA, he led the Georgia Tech Research Institute from 1992 to 1997, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory from 1997 to 2005. Early life and education Born November 12, 1937, in Fayette, Mississippi, Truly attended segregated schools in Fayette and Meridian, Mississippi. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1959. He was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America, achieving its highest rank of Eagle Scout. Being a member of the Navy ROTC at Georgia Tech, Truly entered the U.S. Navy, where he was o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration
The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national List of space agencies, space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to the agency's vision and serving as a source of internal leadership within NASA. The office holder also has an important place within Space policy of the United States, United States space policy, and is assisted by Deputy Administrator of NASA, a deputy administrator. The administrator is appointed by the president of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, and thereafter serves at the president's pleasure. Janet Petro has served as the acting administrator since January 20, 2025. Entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman has been the nominee for NASA administrator from December 4, 2024 to May 31, 2025. Duties and responsibilities The administrator serves as NASA's ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Approach And Landing Tests
The Approach and Landing Tests were a series of sixteen taxiing, taxi and flight trials of the prototype Space Shuttle Orbiter, Space Shuttle ''Space Shuttle Enterprise, Enterprise'' that took place between February and October 1977 to test the vehicle's flight characteristics. Of the sixteen taxi-tests and flights, eleven saw ''Enterprise'' remain mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), while the final five had the shuttle jettisoned from the SCA, with the on-board crew flying and landing the spacecraft. Background The Space Shuttle program originated in the late 1960s as an attempt to reduce the cost of spaceflight by introducing a reusable spacecraft. The final agreed design would feature a reusable spaceplane, a disposable Space Shuttle external tank, external tank and reusable solid rocket booster, solid-fuel rocket boosters. The contract to build the spaceplane, which eventually came to be known as the "orbiter", was awarded to North American Rockwell (later Rockwel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, Lauderdale County and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. Along major highways, the city is east of Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson; southwest of Birmingham, Alabama; northeast of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana; and southeast of Memphis, Tennessee. Established in 1860, at the junction of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway of Mississippi, Meridian built an economy based on the railways and goods transported on them, and it became a strategic trading center. During the American Civil War, Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman burned much of the city to the ground in the Battle of Meridian (February 1864). Rebuilt after the war, the city entered a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Department of Energy and operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, a joint venture between MRIGlobal and Battelle. Located in Golden, Colorado, NREL is home to the National Center for Photovoltaics, the National Bioenergy Center, and the National Wind Technology Center. History Establishment During the 1973 oil crisis, soaring energy prices caused gasoline shortages and contributed significantly to inflation. US President Gerald Ford openly recognized the need for greater energy independence at the September 1974 World Energy Conference in Detroit. A month later, the Solar Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 1974 was signed. Section 10 of the bill explicitly outlined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georgia Tech Research Institute
The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. GTRI employs around 3,000 people, and was involved in nearly $1 billion in research in 2023 for more than 200 clients in industry and government. Initially known as the Engineering Experiment Station, (EES) the organization was proposed in 1929 by W. Harry Vaughan as an analog to the agricultural experiment stations; the Georgia General Assembly passed a law that year creating the organization on paper but did not allocate funds to start it. To boost the state's struggling economy in the midst of the Great Depression, funds were found, and the station was finally established with United States dollar, US$5,000 (equivalent to $ in ) in April 1934. GTRI's research spans a variety of disciplines, including national Defense (military), defense, homeland security, public health, education, mobil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States's civil list of government space agencies, space program, aeronautics research and outer space, space research. National Aeronautics and Space Act, Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program and oversees the development of the Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft and the Sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA Administrator
The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national List of space agencies, space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to the agency's vision and serving as a source of internal leadership within NASA. The office holder also has an important place within Space policy of the United States, United States space policy, and is assisted by Deputy Administrator of NASA, a deputy administrator. The administrator is appointed by the president of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, and thereafter serves at the president's pleasure. Janet Petro has served as the acting administrator since January 20, 2025. Entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman has been the nominee for NASA administrator from December 4, 2024 to May 31, 2025. Duties and responsibilities The administrator serves as NASA's ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with List of aircraft carriers in service, eleven in service, one undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of 18 July 2023. The U.S. Navy is one of six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of eight uniformed services of the United States. The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spacecraft. Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and space tourists. "Astronaut" technically applies to all human space travelers regardless of nationality. However, astronauts fielded by Russia or the Soviet Union are typically known instead as cosmonauts (from the Russian "kosmos" (космос), meaning "space", also borrowed from Greek ). Comparatively recent developments in crewed spaceflight made by China have led to the rise of the term taikonaut (from the Standard Chinese, Mandarin "tàikōng" (), meaning "space"), although its use is somewhat informal and its origin is unclear. In China, the People' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fighter Pilot
A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting (close range aerial combat). A fighter pilot with at least five air-to-air kills becomes known as an flying ace, ace. Recruitment Fighter pilots are one of the most highly regarded and desirable positions of any air force. Selection processes only accept the elite out of all the potential candidates. An individual who possesses an exceptional academic record, physical fitness, healthy well-being, and a strong mental drive will have a higher chance of being selected for pilot training. Candidates are also expected to exhibit strong leadership and teamwork abilities. In nearly all air forces, fighter pilots are Officer (armed forces), commis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
STS-8 Patch
STS-8 was the eighth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the third flight of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. It launched on August 30, 1983, and landed on September 5, 1983, conducting the first night launch and night landing of the Space Shuttle program. It also carried the first African-American astronaut, Guion Bluford. The mission successfully achieved all of its planned research objectives, but was marred by the subsequent discovery that a solid-fuel rocket booster had almost malfunctioned catastrophically during the launch. The mission's primary payload was INSAT-1B, an Indian communications and weather observation satellite, which was released by the orbiter and boosted into a geostationary orbit. The secondary payload, replacing a delayed NASA communications satellite, was a four-metric-ton dummy payload, intended to test the use of the shuttle's Canadarm (remote manipulator system). Scientific experiments carried on board ''Challenger'' included the environmental testi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
