North Pole

[pcdweller]

Which astronaut (s) orbited the north pole and when? Are there any pics of the arctic circle?

 

[nacnud]

No manned craft has been put into a polar orbit.

 

[henryhallam]

I think one of the Apollo missions got a pretty good view of Antarctica though (from a long way out).

 

[pcdweller]

Thank you for your imediate reply. I do remember in my youger years listening on the radio about an astronaut approaching the edge of the actic circle and he became overcome from emotion and his audio was cut of from the public for about 9 minutes. I just wondered who he was and what was so astounding that it took them 9 minutes to settle him down. I didn't dream it, I remember it distrinctly. Perhaps I should have asked which astronaut had his audio shut off for 9 minutes.

 

[nacnud]

<font color="yellow">I think one of the Apollo missions got a pretty good view of Antarctica though (from a long way out).<br /><br /><font color="white">OK <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /></font></font>

 

[pcdweller]

OK. thanks for your help. Perhaps there is someone out there who was stationed at Tuley, Greenland and could write me privately about some infor on the circle. I believe there may be some facts that are being withheld for national security reasons. I am curious as to how much information is actually available to the public. It has all seemed to be clouded insecrecy since the flight of admiral Byrd. If it is ok I would like to post my e-mail address. Thanks again<br />pcdweller@mwsi.net<br />James

 

[dobbins]

I can only think of one report from an Astronaut that concerns anything about the North Pole, Wally Schirra's report near the end of the Gemini VI-A mission in December of 1965.<br /><br />"We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit.... Looks like he might be going to re-enter soon.... You just might let me pick up that thing...."<br /><br />Which really got mission control's attention because a Soviet ICBM would be on that flight path, Schirra continued...<br /><br />" I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit."<br /><br />This was followed by a rendition of "Jingle Bells" on a harmonica and some mini-sleigh bells that Schirra and Stafford had carried aboard to pull this joke on the controllers.<br /><br />

 

[CalliArcale]

This month's Smithsonian has a lovely article about it. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> (The harmonica and jingle bells used as accompaniment are in the National Air & Space Museum.) Gemini 6 did not, of course, orbit polar, but it may be what the user is remembering.<br /><br />You can get orbital details on every manned spaceflight ever at Encyclopedia Astronautica. I can't spend the time to look up every single one right now, but I do know there has indeed never been a polar-orbit manned flight.<br /><br />There were plans for polar-orbiting (or at least high-inclination) Shuttle launches in the 70s and early 80s. Shuttle can't get to that high inclination from KSC, so they were building a launch complex in California -- modifying SLC-6 at Vandenburg AFB. But the plans were cancelled before a Shuttle ever flew. (They got as far as fit checks.) The Challenger accident was pretty much the last straw.<br /><br />Similarly, Russia has had on-again off-again plans for launching manned Soyuz spacecraft from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, in the far north. This would definitely be capable of polar orbits. As an added bonus, it would give Russia a domestic launch site for manned launches -- Baikonur Cosmodrome is in Kazakhstan, which was not a problem back in Soviet days but is an ongoing political issue today. However, Soyuz launched from Plesetsk could never reach the ISS. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[najab]

><i>Shuttle can't get to that high inclination from KSC...</i><p>Not entirely true - you could get a Shuttle into a polar orbit from KSC, but:<br />(a) The payload capacity would be (almost) non existant;<br />(b) The most efficient flight path would take the vehicle over populated land;<br />(c) The ET sep and the begining of its reentry would occur over Russia - how they would react to a large object appearing on their early-warning radar screens is yet to be determined.</p>

 

[CalliArcale]

I meant within the allowed launch angles from KSC. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> They don't let rockets overfly land if they can help it. (Similarly, although the Israeli Shavit launch vehicle can technically launch prograde, politically it can't, since Israel's eastern neighbors would likely take a dim view of that.) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[nacnud]

I thought it could fly a dog leg around the land, hence the vastly reduced payload.

 

[jamie_young]

Vandenberg, yes!<br /><br />There was an article just yesterday on Polar Orbit and the Shuttle that was, but never did due to Challenger, going to go there from Vandenberg.<br /><br />STS-62A: The Polar Express.<br />http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?id=4151<br /><br />And on the forum thread that goes with the story there are historical images, stories and links, like this one.<br /><br />http://www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_US/shuttle/vandenberg/SLC6%201979.htm

 

[jamie_young]

Wow, such a shame it didn't happen <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" />