Return to Everest 2009

Mementos from canceled NASA moon plan flying on space shuttle, Collectspace

"Together with a piece of Everest's summit, also retrieved by Parazynski, the plaque-mounted moon rocks will be displayed inside Tranquility's new seven-windowed Cupola to inspire the astronauts working there. "Imagine being in the Cupola and looking out this huge series of windows and looking at the Moon and having a piece of the Moon right next to you. What's that going to be like? I have no idea. I'll come back and tell you," said STS-130 mission specialist Stephen Robinson. Robinson had a role in including aboard the flight another, albeit subtle, nod to NASA's lunar exploration history in the form of his and his crewmates' mission patch. The six-sided emblem, which was shaped to resemble the Cupola viewing port attached to Tranquility's side, depicts the Earth as it was first seen in a photograph taken from the Moon by Lunar Orbiter I."

Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project

Keith's update: here is our BGAN in operation in Haiti.

Keith's earlier note: Earlier today I had a telecon with Miles O'Brien and David Waters. You have seen them both (along with Leroy Chiao) on SpaceflightNow.com's shuttle launch webcasts. David is headed for Haiti on Saturday - and he is taking the HNS9201 BGAN satellite phone (image below) that Scott Parazynski and I took to Mt. Everest last year. I will be giving David a quick intro on BGAN ops in remote locations tomorrow morning.

STS-130 Commander George Zamka receives a plaque containing a piece of the summit of Mt. Everest and the Apollo 11 moon rocks that Scott Parazynski carried to the summit of Mt. Everest.

Scott Parazynski, Miles O'Brien, and Keith Cowing were in Houston Texas on Wednesday for the formal return of the Moon rocks we brought to Everest and the presentation of a piece of the summit of Everest to NASA. Both rocks will ride into space on the STS-130 Space Shuttle mission and will reside as a permanent exhibit inside the new International Space Station Node "Tranquility". The rocks will be mounted next to a large window or cupola inside the node such that anyone looking at the Earth below will see the Moon and Everest rocks at the same time. By a curious coincidence the Moon rocks were collected during the Apollo 11 mission from the Sea of "Tranquility".

More photos below

A moon rock collected during the historic Apollo 11 mission more than 40 years ago will be heading back to space and a new home aboard the International Space Station, sharing quarters with a piece of Mt. Everest. On May 20, 2009, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski carried the rock to the top of Mt. Everest where he collected a rock from the world's highest mountain to accompany the lunar sample for its return to space.

This 1953 British documentary film was directed by George Lowe and covers various expeditions to the summit of Mount Everest including the first successful summit in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Now in its third season, the Discovery Channel's Everest: Beyond The Limit is taking a new approach to filming this year and will feature both International Mountain Guides and Himalayan Experience in a five-part series.

IMG climber Scott Parazynski returned to Everest this season after coming tantalizingly close last year. The former NASA Astronaut was sidelined with a ruptured lumbar disc at 24,500' on his summit bid in 2008. This year Scott came back fit and ready to top out with Danuru Sherpa. Scott achieved his goal at dawn on May 20, 2009. A veteran of five space flights and multiple spacewalks, Scott is the only person to both summit Mt. Everest and fly in space.

Sunday, December 27
8:00pm: Episode 1: early trips through the ice fall, David Tait’s summit with the rope fixing team and the fatal ice fall avalanche
9:00pm: Episode 2: John Golden’s summit attempt
10:00pm: Episode 3: main IMG team summit on May 20 (Scott Parazynski)

Wednesday, December 30
9:00pm: Episode 4: first Himex summits on May 21
10:00pm: Episode 5: second Himex summits on May 23