| Huntsville - Space celebrations |
Tribute to German-American NASA scientist in Huntsville, AL
Memorial plaque unveiled at home - historical hand drawings found after 50 years
Prof. Dr. Jesco von Puttkamer (1933 Leipzig, 2012 Alexandria VA) resided in Huntsville, Alabama from 1962-1974. A telegram from the director of the Marshall Spaceflight Center, Dr. Wernher von Braun, brought him as a fresh engineer to the Dixieland between cotton fields, the Tennessee River and the new Apollo moon program. At that time, the airfield was still near Memorial Pkwy SW and the warm air hit him "like a wet sack" (from his essay: "Watercress & Rockets").
Puttkamer was a young mechanical engineer and a science fiction writer. It was this mixture that, over time, would make him one of NASA's most important strategic minds. Every day he travelled back and forth in his Chevrolet Impala convertible between the "Von Braun Hilton" at MSFC and the modest house No. 1420 on Monte Sano. "If there was ever a traffic jam on Governors Drive, the beer at the Mexican "EL Palacio" was cold enough and the subs at the Sub Villa always tasted good when work went on through the night." - Puttkamer would later say to his international students.
In the 1960s, Puttkamer worked on the survey and comparative analysis of current geophysical models (NASA TN D-5163) and the reusability of the Saturn V 1st stage. His book about the Apollo 11 flight "Columbia, hier spricht Adler", which, to this day, is still the most translated travelogue of the first moon landing, became internationally popular.
During this time, Puttkamer travelled to many conferences to promote and educate about the landings on the moon and to illustrate visions for missions to Mars and other planets. He drew posters and sketches by hand and illustrated technical and popular literature.
After being recalled to NASA Headquarters in Washington, Puttkamer directed the strategic planning division and the promotion of space shuttles. For this, he invited the Star Trek crew to the rollout, installed Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) as NASA ambassador and advised Gene Roddenberry on the first "Star Trek" movie in 1977. His baby in the 1980s, however, was the "Space Station Alpha", which still does its work as the "International Space Station" ISS in orbit today, through the help of multinational cooperation. Puttkamer was its first NASA director between 1998 and 2012.
Puttkamer passed away 10 years ago on 27.12.2022. But his memory remains: through international schools still bearing his name to this day, an asteroid with the name 266725 Vonputtkamer and currently, through the "Return to the Moon" with the launch of Artemis 1, which he had been supporting for a long time. Next year would have been his 90th birthday.
To mark the "Return to the Moon" and his 89th birthday, which would be on 22nd of September 2022, a memorial plaque will be installed at his home in Huntsville, Alabama, after the planned launch of Artemis 1. He lived there for 12 years during the Apollo era and was the source of decisive strategic visions for space travel as we know it today.
All of Puttkamer's companions, living Apollo engineers and their interested descendants, MSFC engineers and scientists as well as representatives of Space Camp and the NASA Human Exploration Roverchallenge are invited.
While clearing up the attic of his house, colored hand drawings and sketches of Puttkamer's thoughts, which were thought to have been lost, were found. They show NASA's thoughts before the first manned moon landing, as well as ideas for the exploration of Mars and Jupiter. They represent a unique comparison between vision and possibility, which is more relevant today than ever before.
The authenticity of the drawings has now been confirmed by the historican of NASA Headquarters and proposed by Dr. Alotta Taylor to be exhibited at international events by the Jesco von Puttkamer Campus teams. They will be on display in their original form for the first time on the day of the inauguration of his memorial plaque in Huntsville, Alabama.
Location: Huntsville Alabama, Monte Sano Blvd SE, 1420
Time: will be choosen asap beetween 09/08 and 09/10/2022
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Monday, 21 March 2022 11:38 | Written by Ralf Heckel |
There are no translations available. „Der Schatten zeigt, wie ZEIT entflieht, obwohl die ZEIT man gar nicht sieht.“
Das Besondere an diesem Ziffernstrahl ist, es ist eine Linie. Der Zeigerschatten der Rakete wandert aktuell zur Mittagszeit um 4,6 cm pro Minute. Eine Viertelstunde sind bereits 70 cm. Die Ziffern einer ganzen Stunde stehen 2,80 meter voneinander ab. Ab der Tag-Nach-Gleiche nun wölben sich die Ziffernlinien wöchentlich um den Zeiger, um nach dem Herbst-Äquinotikum eine offene Parabel von der Rakete weg zu beschreiben. So verkürzte sich der Zeigerschatten an nur einem Tag zwischen dem 20. und 21. Mörz bereits um 8 cm.
Wednesday, 02 March 2022 00:35 | Written by Ralf Heckel |
(grandson of the chief designer of Soviet space flight, Sergey P. Korolev) #stopthewar There is no excuse for the war. No matter what you call it. Attacking a neighboring fraternal nation has absolutely no excuse. Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the famous designer of spacecraft, our grandfather, was born in Zhytomyr. He spent his childhood in Nizhyn. He went to school in Odesa. His first college years were at Kyiv Polytechnic University. He continued his education at Bauman Moscow State Technical University. He worked in Moscow closely collaborated with Ukraine. Oleg Antonov (AN aircraft manufacturer) was his close friend since his young years. He was a friend of our family. These cities and names are now on the news daily with the most tragic events possible. There have always been and always will be both Ukrainians and Russians among Granddad's and our closest friends and relatives. It is deeply saddening that the long-awaited launch of a piloted spaceship commemorating Sergei Korolev's 115th anniversary is shadowed by a monstrous, horrific, and unjust chapter of history.
Those who order to and those who are shelling cities and residential areas are war criminals. Trying to solve old personal resentment with missiles, bombs, howitzers, cannons, and rifles is a crime and a sign of a completely degraded personality. This senseless, monstrous fratricidal war must be stopped immediately. Peace to everyone. instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Caj7MFsMApe/?utm_medium=copy_link multilanguage article: PS: It is a special honor for me to be able to publish this open letter in English here. The word of a Korolev carries weight in Russia, with almost all citizens, cosmonauts, scientists and worldwide. It should show that not all Russians think like Putin and that these are 2 things that have to be separated. This letter is not without danger in Russia, but the author's grandfather was also imprisoned under Stalin in the Gulag under the most difficult human conditions. Ralf Heckel,
Tuesday, 21 September 2021 21:48 | Written by Ralf Heckel |
NASA engineer, visionary, book author, ISS director, Leipzig native
Prof. Dr. Freiherr Jesco von Puttkamer was the face of NASA on German TV for over 50 years, an icon as advisor to Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek - The Movie) and that strategist who promoted private space travel as founding director of the ISS space station. His seeds are now slowly sprouting 9 years after his death. This weekend, the first 100% private space flight landed in the Atlantic Ocean with a SpaceX Dragon and 4 crew members. Inspiration4 flew even higher than the ISS at 570 km above Earth. Long ago 2 private companies fly cargo to the ISS and one of them is even flying crew members. Jesco von Puttkamer was born on September 22, 1933, at Salomonstraße 25 in Leipzig. The pastor of the Nikolai Church had to perform the baptism in the small apartment, because mother no longer dared to cross the Augustusplatz in view of the Nazi marches. He would have been 88 years old today, a number he would have particularly liked - Infinity. It is no coincidence that the 100th anniversaries of the sci-fi authors Gene Roddenberry and Stanislav Lem fall in exactly this period. It was these visions that Puttkamer picked up as a student and sci-fi author and then turned into science reality as an aerospace engineer and non-fiction writer. His biggest baby was the ISS, which he worked tirelessly on since Skylab and became its American director at NASA headquarters in Washington.
Few today remember the straightforward, outspoken, and tall man with curly white hair and a hauntingly deep voice. But his works live on in countless books and spaceflight successes. It was he who hired the colored Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) from the Starship Enterprise as NASA's ambassador in 1977, a novelty at the time. It was he who suggested christening the first space shuttle "Enterprise" and inviting the entire cast crew to its rollout, or equipping the first feature film "Star Trek" with NASA's "Voyager". In the end, he also brought the two space superpowers together, with the construction of the ISS. Since 2001, however, the tracks of the self-confessed "desk astronaut" Puttkamer have led back to his Leipzig home. A talent development school he founded for young engineers now bears his name in the Anger district of the city. His "children" are internationally successful and are regularly invited to compete. The "International Team Award" has been presented in his name since 2013 and continues his legacy: "Shaping the future together internationally, doing our best to open up the closed system of the earth.
Anyone who has been on the ISS or works at NASA headquarters knows this tireless man whose name is an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter. And anyone who wants to see it will have to wait until his 90th birthday in September 2023. Because then "266725 Vonputtkamer" is closest to the earth, will be illuminated by the sun and will be visible with a telescope. Puttkamers students of many generations Puttkamer are organizing the 1st Internationale Space & Science Festival“ on Leipzigs expocenter beetween 1.-3.10.2021. They only follow his tracks into the asteroid belt. Position of the asteroid: Tracking 266725 Vonputtkamer
Sunday, 04 July 2021 03:37 | Written by Ralf Heckel |
We are looking for your ideas for the future! Registration Festival: www.ISSFestival.com The festival will take place for the first time from 1 to 3 of October 2021 and then annually as a part of the "Hobby-Spiel-Freizeit" ("Hobby-Games-Leisure") at the Leipzig Trade Fair. It will be hosted in the entire 20,000 m² exhibition hall No. 4 and will offer an extensive educational seminar programme. We are looking for talented young amateur researchers and craftspeople who want to change their future with their wit, creativity, skills and present their work and ideas at the festival. We offer an independent platform to present all applied projects, talents and those who want to discover them. We are always available both live and virtually! Great prizes are in store for the winners, such as trips to NASA, training in the US SpaceCamp or Russian spaceflight, awards, certificates and prize money. The globally successful international NASA junior teams also invite you to the exciting "Beat the Rovernauts" competition. All projects must be registered online and will be judged four times (preliminary written work, on-site oral defence, display of the exhibit, online audience evaluation). Each team gets a booth and their own time in the conference centre, as well as their personal online TV Channel! Participation in the competition is free of charge. An international jury and a pedagogical advisory board will be provided. Individuals, groups of friends, work collectives, societies and school projects can apply. The age range of the participants or teams is 6 to 19 years old. One supervisor over the age of 21 is required for each participant. Individual students or work collectives and teams can register online and upload written projects in German or English in PDF format. The main topics are: We offer practical seminars, summer camps, workshops and excursions on all topics in the run-up to and after the event at the Jesco von Puttkammer School campus in Leipzig. Accommodation and meals are provided by the school's own Space Hotel. |
