Kennedy Space Center - WKTV Journal

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars upward after lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 4:30 p.m. EDT, carrying the SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft. On its 14th commercial resupply services mission for NASA, Dragon will deliver supplies, equipment and new science experiments for technology research to the space station. NASA/Tony Gray, Tim Powers, Tim Terry

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

It is not another satellite or a Tesla but rather a toy dog named Seaman Jr. that will be heading to space this Friday.

Seaman Jr. heads to the International Space Station.

In celebration of NASA’s 60th anniversary and the National Trail System’s 50th anniversary, the two organizations have joined up by sending the toy dog. Seaman Jr. is a replica of Seaman, the Newfoundland working dog owned by Capt. Meriwether Lewis and accompanied Lewis and William Clark on their famous expedition to the West.

Seaman Jr. will travel on the SpaceX 15th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Coverage for this launch is set to being at 5:15 a.m. Friday, June 29, with the launch from the Kennedy Space Center targeted for 5:41: 42 a.m. There will be additional post coverage of the launch at 8 a.m. The coverage will be on WKTV Government Channel 26 on Comcast and AT&T U-verse 99 Government Channel 99.

Packed with more than 5,900 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon reaches its preliminary orbit, at which point it will deploy its solar arrays and begin a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the International Space Station.

In addition to bringing research and Seaman Jr. to the station, the Dragon’s unpressurized trunk is carrying a new Canadian-built Latching End Effector or LEE. This new LEE is being launched as a spare to replace the failed unit astronauts removed during a series of spacewalks in the fall of 2017. Each end of the Canadrm2 robotic arm has an identical LEE, and they are used as the “hands” that grapple payloads and visiting cargo spaceships. They also enable main truss.

It will take three days for the SpaceX to reach the space station. It is scheduled to arrive Monday, July 2. Coverage of the rendezvous and capture of the SpaceX CRS-15 Dragon Cargo Craft will begin at 5:30 a.m. July 2 with the capture scheduled for 7 a.m. Once again, the coverage will be on WKTV Government Channel 26 on Comcast and AT&T U-verse 99 Government Channel 99.

The Lewis and Clark Pups, from the left, Harper, Dakota, Rocky, and Keelie.

Seaman Jr. will be abroad the International Space Station through November 2018. You can follow Seaman Jr.’s journal on the Newfle News blog www.nps.gov/lecl/newfle-news.htm. The site also follows the Lewis and Clark Pups, Rocky, Harper, Dakota, and Keelie. The pups will travel more than 3,700 miles to to commemorate and protect the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

For more information on NASA TV or the International Space Station, visit www.nasa.gov.

On the far right is Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee with his crew. Photo courtesy of NASA

By David Thompson

A full-sized bronze statue of Apollo Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee will be unveiled in his hometown of Grand Rapids at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 19. Chaffee’s widow Martha and daughter Sheryl Lyn plan to attend the event, taking place at the corner of East Fulton Street and Sheldon Avenue NE, near the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum.

Chaffee was born and raised in Grand Rapids, where he was a 1953 graduate of Grand Rapids Central High School. He went on to become a U.S. naval aviator who flew missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1961.

In 1963, NASA selected Chaffee for its third group of astronauts. In 1966, he joined the crew of AS-204 (Apollo 1), which was to be NASA’s first three-man flight. Chaffee, along with his crewmates Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Ed White, died on January 27, 1967, in flash fire during a launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

His parents, Donald and Blanche Chaffee, had moved to the City of Wyoming where the former Kent County Airport landing strip was renamed the Roger B. Chaffee Boulevard. Also the American Legion Roger B. Chaffee Post 154 is located in City of Wyoming.

The Michigan Military Preservation Society (MMPS), together with the Lowell American Legion Post #152, raised the funds for the statue. MMPS is a non-profit organization of veterans whose vision is to honor historical contributions made by West Michigan vets.

CMDR David L. Thompson, USN (Ret.) chaired the project, with MMPS board members Dan Pfeiffer and Bud Vierson. This group chose respected sculptor and Grand Rapids native J. Brett Grill to undertake the project.

“We conducted a nationwide search to find the absolute finest possible sculptor to handle this commission,” said Thompson. “We wanted an artist who worked in bronze, and who could create a lifelike work of art. To our delight, we found Brett Grill, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the final product.”

Roger B. Chaffee Photo courtesy of the Grand Rapids Public Museum

Grill has become a highly sought-after sculptor, who recently returned to his hometown to open a Grand Rapids studio. In recent years, Grill has sculpted several likenesses of President Gerald R. Ford, on display in Grand Rapids and distinguished locations around the country.

Additional commissions, including Amway co-founder Jay Van Andel, Michigan Football Coach Glenn E. “Bo” Schembechler, L. William Seidman and others are displayed in well-known locations in Grand Rapids and around the state.

“I was deeply humbled to receive this commission,” said Grill. “Roger Chaffee is a hometown hero whose sacrifice helped ensure that mankind successfully reached the Moon. While a street and a building in Grand Rapids bear his name, his story may be less well known. For these reasons I’m immensely proud to be a part of its telling.”

The bronze statue alone stands over seven feet tall. Sitting atop a stone base adds another 36 inches. “Roger Chaffee will stand tall over this high traffic intersection in the heart of Grand Rapids for generations to come,” added Thompson.

The MMPS has also commissioned a documentary produced by West Michigan filmmaker Daniel Joel Deal. The program will track the arc of the project, starting with selecting Grill as the artist. It includes Grill’s detailed research of Chaffee and his lifelong passion for flight, visiting the NASA archives, creating the initial clay sculptures, right through to the foundry casting and installing the final bronze work.

MMPS plans to make the film available to schools, and talks are underway to air this fascinating story on television.

“For a statue of this caliber, it was critically important to me that every detail is accurate,” added Grill. “For a space suit that never flew on a mission, that meant doing some serious digging to learn some of the details needed to recreate Roger in his pressure suit and holding his helmet.”

This accuracy can only add value to a statue that will reside on the NW corner of East Fulton Street and Sheldon Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids, near the entrance of the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum. Beginning on May 19, children and adults alike will have a chance to see the man from Grand Rapids who played an important role in achieving humanity’s goal of walking on the moon.