Picture  | 
                    Object 
                        name  #NORAD  | 
                    Description  | 
                    Launch  
                        Date  | 
                    Weight  | 
                
                
                      
                          
                         
  | 
                    Sputnik 
                        1  Sputnik I  #00002   1957-001B  1957 
                        Alpha 2  | 
                      This 
                        first man made satellite in space was launched by USSR 
                        into an elliptical orbit with an inclination of 65 degrees, 
                        a perigee of 238 km and an apogee of 947 km. Sputnik 
                        1 needed 96,2 minutes to circulate the Earth.  The 
                        spherical satellite had a diameter of 58cm and carried 
                        2 radio beacons transmitting on 20.005 MHz and 40.010 
                        MHz. The batteries powering the transmitters had a lifetime 
                        of 21 days. Sputnik 1 reentered the Earth's atmosphere 
                        after 92 days and decayed on January 4th 
                        1958. Recording kindly provided by Alois DL3PD (SK).
  | 
                    Oct 
                        4th 1957  | 
                    83,6 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                      On October 
                         6th 
                        1957 around 20:00 UTC Sputnik 1 was received on 20 MHz 
                        by Bayrische Volkssternwarte in Munich. The recording 
                        was kindly provided by Tobias Lindemann and Josef Huber.
  | 
                
                
                      This 
                        audio file was recorded by Roy  W0SL 
                        in Dallas, Texas on October 7th, 
                        1957 at 0457UTC using a military surplus AN/FRR3A HF 
                        RTTY receiver tuned to 20.007 MHz. Thanks Roy for providing 
                        this recording.
  | 
                
                
                      This 
                        recording is from an unknown German ham-radio amateur. 
                        It was filtered and provided by Don P. Mitchell.
  | 
                
                
                      An unknown 
                        British SWL is commenting the reception of Sputnik 1 
                        on October 11th 1957 at 10:58pm. 
                        The original source of this recording is unknown. The 
                        recording was kindly provided by Bill KA8VIT. (Please 
                        note that this recording is 5MB large).
  | 
                
                
                     Enclosed 
                        recording of Sputnik 1 is from a radio station in Milwaukee. 
                        The recording is from vinyl no. 1 which was included 
                        in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The 
                        man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized 
                        and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.
  | 
                
                
                     This Audio 
                        file was published by NASA and provides various analysis 
                        of the Sputnik 1 radio emissions conducted by Caltech. 
                        Recording courtesy of NASA.
  | 
                
                
                      This 
                        Audio file is based on a recording 
                        which was made by a group of young engineering students 
                        at the Fernmeldetechnik Department of TH Darmstadt. 
                        The exact date of the recording on a 80.5 x 3.5 cm paper 
                        strip is unknown. The paper tape was scanned and digitized 
                        and converted into audio using Photoshop for scanning 
                        and Audacity for sound processing. The image shows the 
                        paper strip. Recording kindly provided by Luis Maria 
                        Benitez.
  | 
                
                
                      
                          
                         
  | 
                    Sputnik 
                        2  Sputnik II  Physical lab  PS 2  #00003  
                        1957-002A  1957 Beta 1  | 
                      Sputnik 
                        2 was the first spaceship which brought an animal in 
                        space. The elliptical orbit had an apogee of 1770 km 
                        and an apogee of 320 km. Sputnik II circulated the Earth 
                        in 103,7 minutes.  Sputnik 2 was a three-part conical 
                        satellite with a hight of 1.2m and was comprised of 
                        the following sections:  - a cylindrical container 
                        for scientific equipment  - a spherical container 
                        for batteries, 2 transmitters and radiotelemetry systems  
                        - a sealed cabin for the a dog named Laika   Laika 
                        lived for one week and part of the downlink telemetry 
                        was her heartbeat. She died on November 10th 
                        1957 when oxygen in her capsule was exhausted.   
                        Sputnik II transmitted for 7 days on the frequencies 
                        20.005 MHz and 40.010 MHz.   Sputnik 2 decayed on 
                        April 14th 1958. This recording 
                        was provided by Alois DL3PD (SK).
  | 
                    Nov 
                        3rd 1957  | 
                    508 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                     Enclosed 
                        is the recording of the heartbeat of the dog Laika aboard 
                        Sputnik 2. The recording is from vinyl no. 2 which was 
                        included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio 
                        (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. 
                        Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.
  | 
                
                
                      In June 
                        2010 I received from Dick W4PUJ (SK)  (ex WA4DGU) 
                        together with a number of other unique audio recordings 
                        enclosed recording of Sputnik II. Thanks Dick for providing 
                        this recording. Dick became silent key on February 14th 
                        2012.
  | 
                
                
                      
                          
                         
  | 
                    Explorer 
                        1  Explorer I  1958 Alpha 1  #00004  
                        1958-001A  | 
                    Explorer 1 was America's 
                        first orbiting satellite. It was launched from Cape 
                        Canaveral, Florida by an Army Jupiter C four stage rocket 
                        into an elliptical orbit with an inclination of 33,3 
                        degrees, a perigee of 320 km  and an apogee of 
                        2735 km. Explorer 1 circulated the Earth in 114,7 minutes. 
                          The cylindrical satellite was 1.5m long and had 
                        a diameter of 15cm. Explorer 1 featured 2 transmitters. 
                        The transmitter on 108,03 MHz had a transmit power of 
                        60 mW and operated 14 days, the transmitter on 108,0 
                        MHz had a transmit power of 10 mW and transmitted until 
                        May 23rd 1958. The transmissions 
                        included information about the satellites temperature, 
                        cosmic rays and micro-meteorites. In the second picture 
                        to the left you can see a mesh of wires around the upper 
                        part of the satellite. This was used to detect micro-meteorites. 
                        Explorer 1 discovered the Van Allen radiation belt.  
                        The batteries lasted about 3 months.  Explorer 
                        1 decayed on March 31st 1970.  | 
                    Jan 
                        31st 
                        1958  | 
                    13,5 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                      This 
                        recording of the countdown and launch of Explorer 1 
                        is from vinyl no. 2 which was included in the Italian 
                        Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) 
                        issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly 
                        provided by Federico Manzini.
  | 
                
                
                     This recording 
                        was made by Roy W0SL in Dallas, Texas on February 11th, 
                        1958 at 01:00 UTC using a home-made VHF converter in 
                        front of a National NC-300 receiver. This recording 
                        was kindly provided by Roy W0SL.
  | 
                
                
                     Another 
                        recording of Explorer I was kindly provided by Dick 
                        W4PUJ (SK).
  | 
                
                
                      This 
                        recording of Explorer 1 is from vinyl no. 4 which was 
                        included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio 
                        (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. 
                        Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.
  | 
                
                
                      
                          
                          
                         
  | 
                    Vanguard 
                        1  TV-4  1958 Beta 2  #00005  
                        1958-002B  | 
                      This 
                        is the oldest man-made satellite which is still in orbit. 
                        It is expected to last about another 190 years before 
                        it finally decays. This spherical Navy test satellite 
                        has a diameter of 16cm and was launched by a Vanguard 
                        3-stage rocket into an elliptical orbit with an inclination 
                        of 34,4 degrees, a perigee of 640 km and an apogee of 
                        4020 km. The satellite had 2 power sources: the first 
                        transmitter operated from a mercury cell supply and 
                        had a life time of 3 weeks. Thanks to the fact that 
                        this satellite was the first using solar cells the second 
                        transmitter operated 6 years and 3 months. On February 
                        21st 1965 it was declared to 
                        be no more recognizable as the signal strength had declined 
                        almost to zero. The output power of the transmitters 
                        was 100mW (on 108.0 MHz) and 50mW (on 108.3 MHz) respectively. 
                        The antenna system was comprised of 6 whip elements 
                        each 30cm long. They made one turnstile antenna and 
                        a dipole. The telemetry transmitted was the package 
                        temperature indicated by the difference between the 
                        two transmitter frequencies. Therefore, the recordings 
                        were made with the receiver Beat Frequency Oscillator 
                        (BFO) turned on in order to produce an audible tone 
                        heard in the recordings. Thanks for the audio-file to 
                        Roy W0SL.
  | 
                    Mar 
                        17th 
                        1958  | 
                    1.5 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                      This 
                        recording of the countdown and launch of Vanguard 1 
                        is from vinyl no. 2 which was included in the Italian 
                        Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) 
                        issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly 
                        provided by Federico Manzini.
  | 
                
                
                      This 
                        recording of Vanguard 1 while it was in its 7th 
                        orbit. It is from vinyl no. 3 which was included in 
                        the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man 
                        and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized 
                        and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.
  | 
                
                
                     This recording 
                        of Vanguard I was done while it was battery powered 
                        and kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ (SK).
  | 
                
                
                     This recording 
                        of Vanguard I was done while it was solar powered and 
                        kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ (SK).
  | 
                
                
                     This recording 
                        of Vanguard I was done after it was already 3 months 
                        in operation and kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ (SK).
  | 
                
                
                     Vanguard 
                        1 transmitted until February 21st 
                        1965. This recording of Vanguard I was done after it 
                        was already 1 year in operation and kindly provided 
                        by Dick W4PUJ (SK).
  | 
                
                
                     
  | 
                    Lunik 
                        I  Luna 1  Mechta  #00112  1959-012A  | 
                    Luna 1 was the first 
                        of a series of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations 
                        successfully launched in the direction of the Moon. 
                        It actually landed on the Moon. 
   | 
                    Jan 
                        2nd 1959  | 
                    361 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                     This recording 
                        of a Lunik probe was kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ (SK). 
                        It is possibly from Lunik I but we are not sure. It 
                        could be also based on transmissions of Lunik II or 
                        Lunik III.
  | 
                
                
                     
  | 
                    Vostok-3 No.1  Sputnik 
                        9  Korabl Sputnik 4  #00091  
                        1961-008A  | 
                      This 
                        Space Ship Vostok-3 No.1 carried a dog named Chernuska 
                        in space. Besides Chernuska also onboard was a dummy 
                        cosmonaut, mice and a guinea pig. The flight lasted 
                        for a single orbit, and a successful recovery was made. 
                        Recording provided by Alois DL3PD (SK).
  | 
                    Mar 9th 
                        1961  | 
                    4700 kg  | 
                
                
                      
                          
                         
  | 
                    Russian  
                        Spaceship  Vostok 1  #00103  1961-012A  
                           (crew: Jurij Gagarin)  | 
                      The first 
                        man in space: Jurij Gagarin. He circulated the Earth 
                        in his Russian Spaceship Vostok 1 during his flight 
                        which had a duration of 108 minutes. Recording provided 
                        by Alois DL3PD (SK).
  | 
                    Apr 
                        12th 
                        1961  | 
                    4725 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                      Vinyl 
                        single made in USSR  "12-IV 1961 CCCP Gagarin" 
                        side 1 with Russian comments. Recording provided by 
                        Maik Hermenau.
  | 
                
                
                      Vinyl 
                        single made in USSR  "12-IV 1961 CCCP Gagarin" 
                        side 2 with German comments. Recording provided by Maik 
                        Hermenau.
  | 
                
                
                      Colorvox 
                        "Schallbildkarte"  "Reportage über 
                        den Weltraumflug Juri Gagarins". Recording provided 
                        by Maik Hermenau.
  | 
                
                
                      Report 
                        in German language about the phase between the first 
                        artificial satellite Sputnik 1 and the first man in 
                        space Juri Gagarin. From a Schallfolie "Der Weg 
                        in den Kosmos" which was provided in the 60s by 
                        a Eastern German magazine called "Frösi". 
                        Recording provided by Maik Hermenau.
  | 
                
                
                      
                         
  | 
                    US 
                        Spaceship  Freedom 7  MR-3  MERCR3    
                        (crew: Alan B. Shepard Jr.)  | 
                     Alan B. 
                        Shepard Jr. (1924-1998) was the first American in space. 
                        His flight in a Mercury capsule on top of a Redstone-MRLV 
                        rocket had a duration of 15 minutes and 28 seconds. 
                        As this was a ballistic suborbital flight reaching an 
                        altitude of 187 km it did not get a International nor 
                        a NORAD designator. His recovery at sea was viewed on 
                        live TV. 10 years later Al Shepard was the commander 
                        of Apollo 14 and landed on the Moon.
  | 
                    May 
                        5th 1961  | 
                    955 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                      These 
                        recording are from vinyls no. 24 and no. 25 which were 
                        included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio 
                        (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. 
                        They include sequences of the launch campaign as well 
                        as Shepard's voice while he was in orbit ("What 
                        a beautiful view ..."). Digitized and kindly provided 
                        by Federico Manzini.
  | 
                
                
                     
  | 
                    Liberty 
                        Bell 7  MR-4  MERCR4    (crew: Virgil Ivan 
                        "Gus" Grissom)  | 
                    Virgil Ivan "Gus" 
                        Grissom (1926-1967) was the second American in space. 
                        His flight in a Mercury Redstone 4 (MR-4) had a duration 
                        of 15 minutes and 37 seconds. The main configuration 
                        differences from the MR-3 spacecraft was the addition 
                        of a large viewing window and an explosively actuated 
                        side hatch (which actually failed during landing). As 
                        this was a ballistic suborbital flight reaching an altitude 
                        of 187 km it did not get a International nor a NORAD 
                        designator.  | 
                    July 
                        21st 1961  | 
                    955 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                     This recording 
                        is from vinyl no. 27 which was included in the Italian 
                        Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) 
                        issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. They include sequences 
                        of the launch campaign as well as Shepard's voice while 
                        he was in orbit ("What a beautiful view ..."). 
                        Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.
  | 
                
                
                     
  | 
                    Russian  
                        Spaceship  Vostok 2  Sputnik 12  #00168  
                        1961-019A    (crew: Gherman S. Titov)  | 
                     Russian 
                        Spaceship Vostok 2 (3KA-4) with cosmonaut Gherman S. 
                        Titov was launched by a Vostok rocket from Baikonur 
                        (U.S.S.R.) into an 166x232 km orbit with 65° inclination. 
                        The flight lasted 1 day and 1 hour during with G.S. 
                        Titov circulated the earth 17 times.
  | 
                    Aug 
                        6th 1961  | 
                    4731 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                     This recording 
                        is from vinyl no. 28 which was included in the Italian 
                        Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) 
                        issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. It includes multiple 
                        recordings of Titov's voice while he was in orbit. Digitized 
                        and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.
  | 
                
                
                     
  | 
                    US 
                        Spaceship  Friendship 7  Mercury Atlas 6  #00240  
                        1962-003A    (crew: John Glenn)  | 
                      Report 
                        in German language about the first US astronaut John 
                        Glenn circulating the Earth. During his flight in MA 
                        6 (Mercury Atlas 6) he circulated the Earth 3 times. 
                        Heftbeilage der Hauszeitschrift "Die Brücke" 
                        Nr.2 vom Oktober 1962 der Pharmazeutischen Medizinischen 
                        Abteilung der Farbwerke Hoechst AG. Recording provided 
                        by Maik Hermenau. 
  | 
                    Feb 
                        20th 
                        1962  | 
                    1900 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                      The voice 
                        of John Glenn "Roger, zero G and I feel fine, capsule 
                        is turning around". Recording courtesy of NASA.
  | 
                
                
                      The voice 
                        of John Glenn "We got speed - John Glenn". 
                        Recording courtesy of NASA.
  | 
                
                
                      
                          
                         
  | 
                    Voskhod-2  
                        1965-022A  #01274  
                          (crew: Pawel Iwanowitsch Beljajew, Alexej Archipowitsch 
                        Leonow )  | 
                    Voskhod 
                        2, which carried two men into space, was equipped with 
                        an extendable air lock that permitted Leonov's exit 
                        into space without having to evacuate the main cabin 
                        air. It was the first flight with an extra vehicular 
                        activity (EVA) and cosmonaut Alexej Archipowitsch Leonow 
                        was the first man who left a spacecraft and operated 
                        in free space. The other crew member was commander Pawel 
                        Iwanowitsch Beljajew. The flight of Voskhod 2 lasted 
                        for 26 hours and 16 orbits were completed. A manually 
                        controlled reentry was performed because of a malfunction 
                        of the automatic orientation devices for the retrofire. 
                        The spacecraft landed in a pine forest far north of 
                        the target area. After locating the spacecraft, one 
                        day was required to cut through the forest and bring 
                        the crew out on skis.  Overall 
                        the mission was a success. After Leonow retired he started 
                        to create paintings of his experience in space. Enclosed 
                        is a painting of his EVA.  
                        Voskhod-2 
                        transmitted voice on 143.625 MHz, 18.035 MHz and 17.365 
                        MHz and had a beacon transmitter on 19.996 MHz. The 
                        143.625 MHz FM transmissions were used for line-of-sight 
                        communications with ground stations while the short-wave 
                        frequencies were used to communicate with the spacecraft 
                        when it was far from Soviet territory.  | 
                    March 18th 1965  | 
                    5682 kg  | 
                
                
                     Enclosed 
                        audio file is from a report about the Voskhod-2 focusing 
                        on the EVA of Alexej Leonow. Supposedly the radio traffic 
                        in the report was recorded during Leonows EVA.
  | 
                
                
                      
                         
  | 
                    Apollo 8    first 
                        manned mission to fly and orbit the Moon    (crew: 
                        William Anders, James Lovell, Frank Borman)    
                        CSM-103  #03626  
                        1968-118A  | 
                      Originally Apollo 
                        8 wasn't going to the Moon but was supposed to have 
                        a low-earth orbit to test the Lunar Module and Command 
                        Module. However, since the Lunar Module wasn't ready, 
                        NASA decided to change the mission objectives and send 
                        Apollo 8 to orbit the Moon 10 times. The crew William 
                        Anders, James Lovell and Frank Borman was retrained 
                        in record time for a completely new mission. They were 
                        the first three humans to see the dark side of the Moon 
                        and their voyage was the first ever to escape Earth's 
                        gravitational force and visit another celestial body. 
                         On Christmas Eve 1968, when approaching lunar 
                        sunrise, the 3 crew members sent a famous broadcast 
                        message back to Earth when taking turns reading the 
                        first 10 verses from the book of Genesis. Audio courtesy 
                        of NASA (3MB).
  | 
                    Dec 21st 
                        1968  | 
                    28817 kg  | 
                
                
                      
                          
                          
                         
  | 
                    Apollo 
                        11    first manned mission to land on the moon  
                        (crew: Neil. A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Michael 
                        Collins)    Command & Service Module  CSM-107  
                        #04039  
                        1969-059A    Lunar Module  LM/EASEP  #04041  
                        1969-059C  | 
                    Apollo 11 was the first 
                        manned mission to land on the moon. The LM (landing 
                        module) spacecraft transmitted at S-band with a carrier 
                        frequency of 2282.5 MHz both live television (FM modulated) 
                        as well as telemetry (on PM modulated sub-carriers). 
                        This communication system was collectively referred 
                        to as the Unified S-Band Communication System.  Alan 
                        Bean, who travelled to the moon aboard Apollo 12 and 
                        was the 4th man on the moon, 
                        painted pictures of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. 
                        Reprints are still available. You can find a picture 
                        if you click on the icon to the right.  | 
                    Jul 
                        16th 
                        1969  | 
                    28801 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                      The audio 
                        file enclosed documents the successful launch sequence. 
                        Recorded on July 16th 1969.
  | 
                
                
                      The famous 
                        words of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, 
                        when he stepped on the moon. Recorded on July 20th 1969.
  | 
                
                
                    The second 
                        man to step on the moon was Edwin E. Aldrin.  This 
                        video shows him climbing down the ladder. This video 
                        was received by Parkes Observatory in Australia. Video 
                        courtesy of NASA.  | 
                
                
                    President 
                        Nixon  talks 
                        with the Astronauts and wished for ".. peace and 
                        tranquility on the Earth." This video was received 
                        by Parkes Observatory in Australia. Video courtesy of 
                        NASA.  | 
                
                
                      Vinyl 
                        single "First man on the moon" side 1 includes 
                        the speech of J.F.Kennedy announcing the plan to go 
                        to the moon. Record provided by Maik Hermenau.
  | 
                
                
                      Vinyl 
                        single "First man on the moon" side 2 includes 
                        the launch of Apollo 11 and landing of Eagle. Record 
                        provided by Maik Hermenau.
  | 
                
                
                      Part 
                        1 of a report in German language about the first manned 
                        mission to the moon, Vinyl LP "Original Dokumente 
                        vom Weg zum Mond" war 1970 eine Beilageder Zeitschrift 
                        "Bunte Illustrierte". Record provided by Maik 
                        Hermenau (11 minutes).
  | 
                
                
                      Part 
                        2 of a report in German language about the first manned 
                        mission to the moon, Vinyl LP "Original Dokumente 
                        vom Weg zum Mond" war 1970 eine Beilageder Zeitschrift 
                        "Bunte Illustrierte". Record provided by Maik 
                        Hermenau (15 minutes).
  | 
                
                
                      On July 
                        21th 1969 03:51 UTC Larry Bassinger, 
                        a ham radio amateur with the callsign W4EJA living in 
                        Louisville, Kentucky, USA made a remarkable accomplishment: 
                           He was able 
                        to receive the VHF radio transmission from astronauts 
                        Armstrong and Aldrin directly while they were walking 
                        on the moon. Larry used modified surplus radio equipment 
                        and a home-brew corner reflector antenna built with 
                        chicken wire. He received the 259.7 MHz AM transmitter 
                        in the backpack of Armstrong which he used to communicate 
                        with the Lunar Module. In enclosed recording one can 
                        hear the voice of Armstrong and also that of Aldrin 
                        because the backpack of Armstrong received also the 
                        voice of Aldrin on 279.0 MHz in FM and retransmitted 
                        it also to the LM. Recording kindly provided by Larry 
                        Baysinger.
  | 
                
                
                      
                          
                         
  | 
                    Apollo 
                        12    (crew: Charles "Pete" Conrad, 
                        Richard "Dick" F. Gordon, Alan L. "Al" 
                        Bean)    CSM-108  #04225  
                        1969-099A  | 
                     This was 
                        the 2nd mission of Apollo with 
                        a landing on the moon. The rocket was struck twice (36 
                        seconds and 52 seconds after launch) by a lightning. 
                        You can hear the launch campaign including the conversation 
                        about the lightning strikes in the first audio recording. 
                           The second 
                        audio files documents communication between LM (the 
                        lunar module with the nickname "Intrepid") 
                        and Houston ground control during the final descent 
                        phase (last 3 minutes) and the touch down on the moon 
                        (110 h, 32 min and 36 sec mission elapsed time).  
                        The crew returned safely on November 24th 
                        1969.  I extracted the recordings from the NASA audio 
                        collection.   Alan 
                        L. Bean was the 4th man on 
                        the moon. After he left NASA he became an artist and 
                        started painting beautiful scenes of the moon. Enclosed 
                        a picture of himself which he named "A New Frontier".
 
  | 
                    Nov 14th 1969  | 
                     28790 kg  | 
                
                
                      
                         
  | 
                    Apollo 
                        13    aborted third manned mission to the moon 
                        (crew: James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr., Fred 
                        W. Haise, Jr. )    CSM-109  #04371  
                        1970-029A  | 
                    This aborted 3rd 
                        manned mission to moon  ended 
                        almost fatal. Due to an explosion of the oxygen tank 
                        in the service module the mission had to be aborted 
                        and luckily the crew returned safely on April 17th 
                        1970. See here a short movie of the damaged service 
                        module when clicking on the picture to the right.   | 
                    Apr 11th 1970  | 
                    136077 kg  | 
                
                
                      Listen 
                        to the famous words of J. Swigert after the explosion 
                        of the tank: "Houston, we've had a problem here."
  | 
                
                
                      
                          
                         
  | 
                    Apollo 
                        17    last manned mission to the moon (crew: Eugene 
                        A. Cernan, Harrison H. Schmitt, Ronald E. Evans)  
                          CSM-114  #06300  1972-096A  | 
                    Apollo 17 was the 6th 
                        and last Apollo mission during which humans walked on 
                        the lunar surface. On December 11th 
                        1972 commander Cernan and lunar module (LM) pilot Schmitt 
                        landed in the Taurus-Littrow region of the Moon. The 
                        Command and Service Module (CSM) with its pilot Evans 
                        continued in its lunar orbit. During their stay on the 
                        Moon, the astronauts set up scientific experiments, 
                        took photographs, drove around with the rover and collected 
                        lunar samples. The LM took off from the Moon on December 
                        14th and the astronauts returned 
                        to Earth on December 19th. 
                          | 
                    Dec 7th 
                        1972  | 
                    30320 kg  | 
                
                
                     Enclosed 
                        shortwave broadcast transmission of the launch of Apollo 
                        17 by Voice of America (VOA) was recorded on Dec 7th 
                        1972 by Ian Holder. It was kindly provided by Thomas 
                        K4SWL from "The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive".
  | 
                
                
                     Enclosed 
                        voice transmission of Apollo-17 while in earth orbit 
                        was received on 296.8 MHz on December 7th 
                        1972 at 07:08 UTC by R.S. (Dick) Flagg and Sven Grahn 
                        in Titusville, Florida.  This recording was kindly 
                        provided by Sven Grahn with permission of R.S. (Dick) 
                        Flagg.
  | 
                
                
                     Enclosed 
                        voice transmission of Apollo-17 while in lunar  
                        orbit was received on 2287.5 MHz on December 12th 
                        1972 by R.S. (Dick) Flagg and Sven Grahn in Biven's 
                        Arm, Gainesville, Florida.  This recording was kindly 
                        provided by Sven Grahn with permission of R.S. (Dick) 
                        Flagg.
  | 
                
                
                     This recording 
                        of the Apollo 17 descent and lunar landing was made 
                        at Honeysuckle Creek and was preserved by Alan Foster. 
                        Goldstone was tracking, and so this was recorded from 
                        the Net 1 feed. It begins as Challenger is at 57,000 
                        feet. Touchdown is 10'40" into the recording. The 
                        audio quality on this recording is quite good. Ron Evans 
                        in the orbiting Command Module is not heard on this 
                        circuit from Goldstone, whereas the Cernan and Schmitt 
                        – and Houston – can hear him. Digitized from the original 
                        tapes and kindly provided by Colin Mackellar.
  | 
                
                
                     Enclosed 
                        recording of the audio link between the team on the 
                        moon while driving around with the rover and the ground 
                        staff on Earth was recorded on December 13th 
                        1972 around 05:00 UTC by Bob K5DZE (ex DA1EZ). It was 
                        actually a live re-transmission on 7.524 MHz in SSB 
                        between 2 NASA stations. You can hear in this excellent 
                        20 minutes long recording the slow but strong fading 
                        of the signal coming from the moon. Many thanks to Bob 
                        K5DZE for kindly providing this interesting recording.
  | 
                
                
                     
  | 
                    STS-1  
                        Columbia  #12399  
                        1981-034A  | 
                      German 
                        report about the first launch of a space shuttle: STS-1 
                        Columbia which was broadcasted by Bayrischer Rundfunk. 
                        Record provided by Maik Hermenau.  You can find many 
                        more recordings from Spaceships like he Space Shuttle 
                        in the respective section of this website. 
  | 
                    Apr 12th 1981  | 
                    4908 kg  | 
                
                
                      
                         
  | 
                    MIR 
                        Space Station  #16609  
                        1986-017A  | 
                    Mir (english peace), 
                        a Russian space station, was the world's first consistently 
                        inhabited long-term research station in space.  Constructed 
                        from 1986 to 1996 using a modular design (core 
                        module launched February 20th 1986) the station was 
                        in operation for fifteen years before it was deliberately 
                        de-orbited and re-entered into the atmosphere over the 
                        South Pacific Ocean on March 23rd 2001. 10 years after 
                        its reentry I built a model of MIR which is now in my 
                        bookshelf and a nice reminiscence of the various contacts 
                        I had with people onboard MIR.  | 
                    Feb 
                        20th  
                        1986 (core module)  | 
                    140000 
                        kg  | 
                
                
                    The first crew to visit 
                        MIR were Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Soloviev. Their Soyuz 
                        T-15 spacecraft was launched on March 13th 
                        1986 and they docked to MIR on March 14th. 
                        They stayed in space for 125 days and during that time 
                        even travelled from MIR to Salyut 6 and back before 
                        finally returning back to earth.     The first 
                        audio file was recorded by Sven Grahn on March 15th 1986 15:27 
                        UTC on 121.75 MHz, apparently shortly after they entered 
                        MIR. Many thanks to Sven Grahn.    The second 
                        audio file was recorded the day after on March 16th 1986 14:14 
                        UTC on 143.625 MHz also by Sven Grahn.  | 
                
                
                      
                         
  | 
                    International Space 
                        Station ISS  #25544   
                        1998-067A  | 
                    The first crew of the 
                        ISS was the team of Commander William M. Shepherd, Soyuz 
                        Pilot Yuri P. Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev. 
                        They arrived with a Soyuz spacecraft on Nov. 2nd 2000 and stayed 
                        136 days.    In the 
                        sound file enclosed Bill Shepherd is thanking the ground 
                        crews. Recorded shortly after arrival of the 1st 
                        crew on Nov. 2nd 
                        2000 at 12:27 UTC on 143.625 MHz by Sven Grahn.  
                        You can find many more recordings from Spaceships like 
                        ISS in the respective section of this website.  | 
                    Nov 20th  
                        1998  (Zarja module)  | 
                    183283 kg  | 
                
                
                     
  | 
                    STS-135  
                        Atlantis OV-104  #37736  
                        2011-031A  | 
                    STS-135 
                        was the final shutttle mission. It was launched in July 
                        8th 2011 from Kennedy Space 
                        Center and docked to ISS on July 10th 
                        2011 at 15:07 UTC.  STS-135 
                        Atlantis's External Tank video downlink was received 
                        over Europe by Nils von Storch 24 minutes after launch 
                        on 2272.5 MHz FM. Normally an internal timer disables 
                        the 10 Watts s-band video transmitter onboard the External 
                        Tank (ET) about 15 Minutes after launch, to avoid interference 
                        with S-Band communication systems in Europe. On this 
                        final Space Shuttle mission however, engineers decided 
                        to disable the timer in order to capture video from 
                        the ETs perspective when it re-entries the earths atmosphere 
                        about 60 minutes after launch. Unfortunately the signal 
                        was at 4° elevation only before disappearing behind 
                        the horizon again, which is the reason why the received 
                        video is only so short. Equipment used to receive this 
                        video was a 90cm mesh dish with 3,5 turn RHCP Helix 
                        for 2250 MHz, EME103B S-Band LNA and a G1MFG S-Band 
                        video receiver. Thanks to Nils for sharing this video 
                        with us. The mission lasted 13 days ending with a landing 
                        at Cape Canaveral on July 21st 
                        2011 at 09:55 UTC. Please note that the .mp4-video is 
                        almost 20 MByte large.  | 
                    Jul 8th 2011  | 
                    5000 kg  |