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Jul 18, 2020 7 tweets 7 min read Read on X
On 7/18/74, @NASA bought a @Boeing 747-123 from @AmericanAir for ~$15.6 million. According to NASA, “At the time of purchase, the aircraft had logged about 9,000 flight hours.”

It’s pictured here shortly after conversion in this #NASA photo. #OnThisDay Image
The red, white, & blue paint stripes from the @AmericanAir livery was even left in place. The NASA Worm logo was added on the tail. More historical pictures can be seen here:
nasa.gov/content/sca-hi…
#TheWormisBack
@NASA notes the SCA had an airspeed limit of 250 knots or Mach 0.6. Its cruise altitude with an orbiter was 13,000-15,000 ft. While carrying the Shuttle, it had a 1,000 nautical mile range, plus margin for safety. The Shuttle #Atlantis is seen here 7/1/07. 📷 NASA/Carla Thomas Image
The Shuttle Carrier aircraft ferried the Shuttle fleet around the country. The first SCA was also used in the Approach and Landing tests, which validated the aerodynamics and handling of the Shuttle. #aviation #space #Boeing747 Image
@EmilyLCarney has a great piece on the tests & astronaut Fred Haise, one of the pilots of the Shuttle Enterprise. space.nss.org/approaches-and… #space #spaceshuttle #NASA Image
It’s sad to see airlines like @British_Airways retiring the #Boeing747 for smaller aircraft. This majestic bird will always have a place in the history books. Godspeed to the crews that have flown all of the 747s for NASA and commercial carriers. #AvGeek #aviation
Read more about the history of the program in this engineering record. nasa.gov/sites/default/… #aviation #aviationhistory

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More from @People_Of_Space

Jan 30, 2022
PEOPLE OF SPACE! I’m super excited to be hosting this week! We’ll be covering a bunch of topics that are near and dear to me including #space (obviously), astronomy, supernovae, radio astronomy, science communication, and MORE
🧵
#science #scicomm #spacetwitter #intro #Thread
But who is this random dude yelling at us about space?
Well the short version is that I’m a physicist who finished high school with every intention of becoming a lawyer - pictured is 19yo me not caring about science
#accidentalscientist #accidentalphysicist #throwback #SPACE 10 years ago before I had considered a career in science - I
For a slightly longer version you can check out this #thread I did on my @funfactscience account recently to reintroduce myself to #spacefam and any newcomers to my page
#introductions #spacetwitter #space
Read 7 tweets
Jul 26, 2021
The mission patch was based on a design from well known Italian fashion designer, Emilio Pucci. The design has three stylized birds flying over the Hadley-Appenine landing site with the crew names on the lower part of the outer border.
In an early version of an Easter egg, the crew snuck a Roman numeral XV into the crater shadows. According to a story I heard from one of Al Worden's @ExploreSpaceKSC presentations, NASA discouraged Roman numerals on the Apollo patches, thus the hidden nature.
Before his passing last year, @WordenAlfred was a regular astronaut host at @ExploreSpaceKSC giving presentations guiding tours and being an affable ambassador of the Apollo program to a new audience.
Read 4 tweets
Jul 26, 2021
On board were (left to right) Lunar Module Pilot Jim Irwin, Commander Dave Scott, and Command Module Pilot Al Worden
The landing site was Hadley-Appenine, on the edge of Mare Imbrium. It was bordered by Hadley Rille, a valley-like geological structure and the Montes Apenninus, or Appenine Mountains. The Palus Putredinus was a lava field that filled the area.
Read 7 tweets
Jul 16, 2021
Today I’ll be working on some research for the big Mars exhibition! As I said yesterday, I’m working on researching how people have been imaging the Red Planet throughout history.
Today we have orbiters circling Mars and rovers that take pictures of the surface. But the history of imaging Mars stretches back centuries, from depicting Mars in art to the canals people thought they saw on the planet.
What are some of your favourite images of Mars and why?
Read 9 tweets
Jul 15, 2021
Going to talk about designing a temporary display today!
In Science Museum lingo, there are 2 kinds of displays:
🚀Exhibitions (temporary displays) - these can last up to a year
🚀Galleries (permanent displays)
Even a temporary display might take several years to prepare for, with overviews and detailed proposals.
Read 5 tweets
May 15, 2021
🧬 Life as we don't know it 🧫

Exotic solvents & life's building blocks are among the more speculative
#astrobiology topics, but still important to study scientifically! Our own system contains places potentially able to host life unlike on Earth. Not just Titan!

#AstroThread
All Earth life is carbon-based and needs water to survive. 💦

'Mildly' exotic life might share these traits, but use e.g. other information molecule (or differently coded DNA, even with different/more 'letters') or opposite chirality (left/right-handedness) of some compounds. ImageImage
There are countless possibilities of different information molecules and their coding. Is Earth DNA and RNA a ', frozen accident', or does it have a phys/chem reason? And is all life chiral? In the same way, or is that another frozen accident? What about the amino acids we use? Image
Read 82 tweets

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