Programmable keyboards with free and open firmware are not just geek toys but accessibility tools.
I was just able to create a new layer in Vial that moves the arrow keys to the left side of the keyboard and maps them to s/z/x/c to make them easier to use in some keyboard shortcuts after breaking my right hand.
@aral
Way back when the world was young I programmed a keyboard overlay for my Apple II simple qwerty keybord to add the arrow keys, cut/paste, & custom functions for a finite-element model editing program I wrote. I used that sucker to build the f-e model for the railcar that carried the Space Shuttle solid rocket components from Huntsville to Cape Kennedy. I made design changes to the car, got it certified by AAR for interchange service. #ThrowawaySoftware #NASA #SpaceShuttle#Space #Apple
Concept art from the early space shuttle design process. If you look closely at the roots of the wings you can see that they're the "drawbridge" style proposed by McDonnell Douglas, which puts this right around 1970.
A question in my mind is the significance of the Red Cross emblems so prominently displayed. The two astronauts on EVA do seem to be going to a satellite notably lacking in crew that could be in distress.
#OTD on Sept. 17, 1976, NASA rolled out its first space shuttle, named the Enterprise, from its manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California.
The ceremony was attended by 600 invited guests and 185 media representatives.
As Enterprise emerged from the hangar, the Air Force Band of the Golden West from March Air Force Base in Riverside County, CA, played Alexander Courage’s Star Trek musical score.
The first shuttle was planned to be named the Constitution, but thanks to a massive write-in campaign by Star Trek fans, President Ford relented and advised NASA to change the name to Enterprise.
Star Trek creator Roddenberry and many of the show’s cast members attended the Shuttle rollout ceremony, hosted by NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, on Sept. 17, 1976.
On July 26, 1972, NASA awarded the Space Shuttle contract to the Space Division of the North American Rockwell Corporation. Manufacture of the first components of Orbital Vehicle-101 (OV-101) began on June 4, 1974, at Rockwell’s Downey plant. Construction continued over the next two years, with final assembly of the orbiter taking place at the Rockwell plant in Palmdale, CA.
They sure built space vehicles much faster in those days.
Enterprise lacked many of the subsystems required to fly in space such as propulsion system, thermal tiles and guidance equipment. It was used for ground and landing testing.
The landing gear was operated using explosive bolts and gravity. There were no hydraulic mechanisms or manual back-up systems.
Imagine landing that heavy unpowered shuttle during its first test flight on Aug 12, 1977 (video below).
@dfeldman
Yes. It took guts, skill and the right stuff.
Although, there was an escape system in the Enterprise.
From https://web.archive.org/web/20110107024654/http://spaceline.org/rocketsum/enterprise.html - "One important feature incorporated into Enterprise was an escape system for its occupants. A Lockheed zero-zero ejection seat escape mechanism was installed in the flight deck. In the event of an emergency, two blow-out aluminum panels located above the pilots could allow them to escape via the ejection seats."
Subsequently, Enterprise underwent 4 more free flight tests in 1977.
On March 13, 1978, Enterprise was transported to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama for the Mated Vertical Ground Vibration Testing (MGVT).
On April 10, 1979, Enterprise was flown to KSC, where it was mated to an External Tank and inert Solid Rocket Boosters, to conduct fit checks and to validate launch pad procedures.
In 1983, Enterprise went on a goodwill tour to Europe.
Enterprise was "retired" and flown on Nov. 18, 1985 to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, DC, its ownership transferred to the Smithsonian Institution.
On Dec, 12, 2011, ownership of Enterprise was transferred to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. On April 27, 2012, Enterprise made its final glorious flight to its new home in NYC. Video below.
The first orbital test flight, STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1), was conducted using Space Shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981.
Mission duration: 54.5 hours
Crew: mission commander John W. Young and pilot Robert L. Crippen.
Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Landing site: Edwards Air Force Base, CA
There were no uncrewed powered test flights in the shuttle program.
The wakeup call on Mon Mar 7, 2011 during STS-133, for astronauts onboard Space Shuttle Discovery, was narrated by William Shatner -
"Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before."
On this day in 1992, Dr. Mae Jemison became the first Black woman to travel into space.
In a U.S./Japan collaborative mission, she spent eight days in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on the STS-47 mission. They were testing treatments for motion sickness, anxiety and stress-related disorders.
Newest addition to the collection is #SpaceShuttle by #Activision for the #Commodore#C64.
Been on the hunt for this for a long time.
The box has some flight instructions and the manual is just off the charts cool with tons of information.😍 #RetroGaming#RetroComputing
This weekend we celebrated our 24th Birthday! Since our launch on the Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999 (Eileen Collins commanding) we have been exploring the cosmos and bringing the high energy Universe into focus. Here's to 24 more years!
Columbia was heavier than the rest of the space shuttles. It was the first spacegoing one, and by the time the rest were built, they had found lighter materials to build them from. It weighed as much, we are told, as 13 African Elephants.
10 things you might not know about space shuttles:
'You know, there is nothing we can do about #damage to the TPS. If it has been damaged it’s probably better not to know. I think the crew would rather not know. Don’t you think it would be better for them to have a happy successful flight and die unexpectedly during entry than to stay on #orbit, knowing that there was nothing to be done, until the air ran out ?'” https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150130-what-caused-the-columbia-disaster