A Proton rocket launching Zvezda Service Module for the International Space Station in 2000

Spaceflight (also written space flight) is ballistic flight into or through outer space. Spaceflight can occur with spacecraft with or without humans on board. Examples of human spaceflight include the Russian Soyuz program, the U.S. Space shuttle program, as well as the ongoing International Space Station. Examples of unmanned spaceflight include space probes which leave Earth's orbit, as well as satellites in orbit around Earth, such as communication satellites. These operate either by telerobotic control or are fully autonomous.

Spaceflight is used in space exploration, and also in commercial activities like space tourism and satellite telecommunications. Additional non-commercial uses of spaceflight include space observatories, reconnaissance satellites and other earth observation satellites.

A spaceflight typically begins with a rocket launch, which provides the initial thrust to overcome the force of gravity and propels the spacecraft from the surface of the Earth. Once in space, the motion of a spacecraft—both when unpropelled and when under propulsion—is covered by the area of study called astrodynamics. Some spacecraft remain in space indefinitely, some disintegrate during atmospheric reentry, and others reach a planetary or lunar surface for landing or impact.

History[link]

Part of a series on Spaceflight
History
Space Race · Timeline of spaceflight
Applications
Earth observation satellites · Spy satellites · Communications satellites · Satellite navigation · Space observatory · Space exploration · Space colonization · Space tourism
Spacecraft
Robotic spacecraft (Satellite · Space probe · Unmanned resupply spacecraft) · Human spaceflight (Space capsule · Space station · Spaceplane)
Launch
Spaceport · Launch pad · Expendable and Reusable systems · Escape velocity · Non-rocket spacelaunch ·
Destinations
Sub-orbital · Orbital · Interplanetary spaceflight · Interstellar travel · Intergalactic travel
Space agencies
ESA · NASA · RKA · CNES · DLR · ISA · CNSA · ISRO · JAXA
Spaceflight portal
This box: view talk edit

Tsiolkovsky, early space theorist

The realistic proposal of space travel goes back to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. His most famous work, "Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами" (The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices), was published in 1903, but this theoretical work was not widely influential outside of Russia.

Spaceflight became an engineering possibility with the work of Robert H. Goddard's publication in 1919 of his paper 'A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes'; where his application of the de Laval nozzle to liquid fuel rockets gave sufficient power that interplanetary travel became possible. He also proved in the laboratory that rockets would work in the vacuum of space; not all scientists of that day believed they would. This paper was highly influential on Hermann Oberth and Wernher Von Braun, later key players in spaceflight.

The first rocket to reach space, an altitude of 100 km, was the German V-2 Rocket, on a test flight in June 1944.^{[citation needed]} On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, which became the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, aboard which Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made one orbit around the Earth. The lead architects behind the Soviet space program's Vostok 1 mission were the rocket scientists Sergey Korolyov and Kerim Kerimov.^[1]

Rockets remain the only currently practical means of reaching space. Other non-rocket spacelaunch technologies such as scramjets still fall far short of orbital speed.

Phases of spaceflight[link]

Saturn V on the launch pad before the launch of Apollo 4

Launch[link]

A rocket launch for a spaceflight usually starts from a spaceport (cosmodrome), which may be equipped with launch complexes and launch pads for vertical rocket launches, and runways for takeoff and landing of carrier airplanes and winged spacecraft. Spaceports are situated well away from human habitation for noise and safety reasons. ICBMs have various special launching facilities.

A launch is often restricted to certain launch windows. These windows depend upon the position of celestial bodies and orbits relative to the launch site. The biggest influence is often the rotation of the Earth itself. Once launched, orbits are normally located within relatively constant flat planes at a fixed angle to the axis of the Earth, and the Earth rotates within this orbit.

A launch pad is a fixed structure designed to dispatch airborne vehicles. It generally consists of a launch tower and flame trench. It is surrounded by equipment used to erect, fuel, and maintain launch vehicles.

Reaching space[link]

The most commonly used definition of outer space is everything beyond the Kármán line, which is 100 kilometers (62 mi) above the Earth's surface. (The United States sometimes defines outer space as everything beyond 50 miles (80 km) in altitude.)

Rockets are the only currently practical means of reaching space. Conventional airplane engines cannot reach space due to the lack of oxygen. Rocket engines expel propellant to provide forward thrust that generates enough delta-v (change in velocity) to reach orbit. Propulsion systems for different applications include:

• Expendable launch system
• Single stage to orbit

For manned launch systems launch escape systems are frequently fitted to allow astronauts to escape in the case of catastrophic failures.

Other ways of reaching space[link]

Many ways other than rockets to reach space have been proposed. Ideas such as the space elevator and rotovators require new materials much stronger than any currently known.^{[citation needed]} Electromagnetic launchers such as launch loops might be feasible with current technology. Other ideas include rocket assisted jet planes such as Reaction Engines Skylon or the trickier scramjets. Gun launch has been proposed for cargo.

Leaving orbit[link]

Launched in 1959, Luna 1 was the first known man-made object to achieve escape velocity from the Earth.^[2] Museum replica pictured

Achieving a closed orbit is not essential to lunar and interplanetary voyages. Early Russian space vehicles successfully achieved very high altitudes without going into orbit. NASA considered launching Apollo missions directly into lunar trajectories but adopted the strategy of first entering a temporary parking orbit and then performing a separate burn several orbits later onto a lunar trajectory. This costs additional propellant because the parking orbit perigee must be high enough to prevent reentry while direct injection can have an arbitrarily low perigee because it will never be reached.

However, the parking orbit approach greatly simplified Apollo mission planning in several important ways. It substantially widened the allowable launch windows, increasing the chance of a successful launch despite minor technical problems during the countdown. The parking orbit was a stable "mission plateau" that gave the crew and controllers several hours to thoroughly check out the spacecraft after the stresses of launch before committing it to a long lunar flight; the crew could quickly return to earth, if necessary, or an alternate earth-orbital mission could be conducted. The parking orbit also enabled translunar trajectories that avoided the densest parts of the Van Allen radiation belts.

Apollo missions minimized the performance penalty of the parking orbit by keeping its altitude as low as possible. For example, Apollo 15 used an unusually low parking orbit (even for Apollo) of 92.5 by 91.5 nautical miles (171x169 km) where there was significant atmospheric drag. But it was partially overcome by continuous venting of hydrogen from the third stage of the Saturn V, and was in any event tolerable for the short stay.

Robotic missions do not require an abort capability or radiation minimization, and because modern launchers routinely meet "instantaneous" launch windows, space probes to the moon and other planets generally use direct injection to maximize performance. Although some might coast briefly during the launch sequence, they do not complete one or more full parking orbits before the burn that injects them onto an earth escape trajectory.

Note that the escape velocity from a celestial body decreases with altitude above that body. However, it is more fuel-efficient for a craft to burn its fuel as close to the ground as possible; see Oberth effect and reference.^[3] This is another way to explain the performance penalty associated with establishing the safe perigee of a parking orbit.

Plans for future crewed interplanetary spaceflight missions often include final vehicle assembly in Earth orbit, such as NASA's Project Orion and Russia's Kliper/Parom tandem.

Astrodynamics[link]

Astrodynamics is the study of spacecraft trajectories, particularly as they relate to gravitational and propulsion effects. Astrodynamics allows for a spacecraft to arrive at its destination at the correct time without excessive propellant use. An orbital maneuvering system may be needed to maintain or change orbits.

Non-rocket orbital propulsion methods include solar sails, magnetic sails, plasma-bubble magnetic systems, and using gravitational slingshot effects.

Reentry[link]

Ionized gas trail from Shuttle re-entry

Vehicles in orbit have large amounts of kinetic energy. This energy must be discarded if the vehicle is to land safely without vaporizing in the atmosphere. Typically this process requires special methods to protect against aerodynamic heating. The theory behind reentry is due to Harry Julian Allen. Based on this theory, reentry vehicles present blunt shapes to the atmosphere for reentry. Blunt shapes mean that less than 1% of the kinetic energy ends up as heat that reaches the vehicle and the heat energy instead ends up in the atmosphere.

Landing[link]

The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules all splashed down in the sea. These capsules were designed to land at relatively slow speeds. Russian capsules for Soyuz make use of braking rockets as were designed to touch down on land. The Space Shuttle and Buran glide to a touchdown at high speed.

Recovery[link]

Recovery of Discoverer 14 return capsule by a C-119 airplane

After a successful landing the spacecraft, its occupants and cargo can be recovered. In some cases, recovery has occurred before landing: while a spacecraft is still descending on its parachute, it can be snagged by a specially designed aircraft. This mid-air retrieval technique was used to recover the film canisters from the Corona spy satellites.

Types of spaceflight[link]

Human spaceflight[link]

The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, on which cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin of the USSR made one orbit around the Earth. In official Soviet documents, there is no mention of the fact that Gagarin parachuted the final seven miles.^[4] The international rules for aviation records stated that "The pilot remains in his craft from launch to landing". This rule, if applied, would have "disqualified" Gagarin's spaceflight. Currently the only spacecraft regularly used for human spaceflight is the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The U.S. Space Shuttle fleet has been retired. Each of those space programs have used other craft in the past. Recently, the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft has been used three times for human spaceflight, and SpaceShipOne twice.

The International Space Station in earth orbit after a visit from the crew of STS-119.

Sub-orbital spaceflight[link]

On a sub-orbital spaceflight the spacecraft reaches space and then returns to the atmosphere after following a (primarily) ballistic trajectory. This is usually because of insufficient specific orbital energy, in which case a suborbital flight will last only a few minutes, but it is also possible for an object with enough energy for an orbit to have a trajectory that intersects the Earth's atmosphere, sometimes after many hours. Pioneer 1 was NASA's first space probe intended to reach the Moon. A partial failure caused it to instead follow a suborbital trajectory to an altitude of 113,854 kilometers (70,746 mi) before reentering the Earth's atmosphere 43 hours after launch.

The most generally recognized boundary of space is the Kármán line (actually a sphere) 100 km above sea level. (NASA alternatively defines an astronaut as someone who has flown more than 50 miles (80 km) or 80 km above sea level.) It is not generally recognized by the public that the increase in potential energy required to pass the Kármán line is only about 3% of the orbital energy (potential plus kinetic energy) required by the lowest possible earth orbit (a circular orbit just above the Kármán line.) In other words, it is far easier to reach space than to stay there.

On May 17, 2004, Civilian Space eXploration Team launched the GoFast Rocket on a suborbital flight, the first amateur spaceflight. On June 21, 2004, SpaceShipOne was used for the first privately-funded human spaceflight.

Orbital spaceflight[link]

A minimal orbital spaceflight requires much higher velocities than a minimal sub-orbital flight, and so it is technologically much more challenging to achieve. To achieve orbital spaceflight, the tangential velocity around the Earth is as important as altitude. In order to perform a stable and lasting flight in space, the spacecraft must reach the minimal orbital speed required for a closed orbit.

Interplanetary spaceflight[link]

Interplanetary travel is travel between planets within a single planetary system. In practice, the use of the term is confined to travel between the planets of the Solar System.

Interstellar spaceflight[link]

Five spacecraft are currently leaving the Solar System on escape trajectories. The one farthest from the Sun is Voyager 1, which is more than 100 AU distant and is moving at 3.6 AU per year.^[5] In comparison Proxima Centauri, the closest star other than the Sun, is 267,000 AU distant. It will take Voyager 1 over 74,000 years to reach this distance. Vehicle designs using other techniques, such as nuclear pulse propulsion are likely to be able to reach the nearest star significantly faster.

An artist's imaginative impression of a vehicle entering a wormhole

Another possibility that could allow for human interstellar spaceflight is to make use of time dilation, as this would make it possible for passengers in a fast-moving vehicle to travel further into the future while aging very little, in that their great speed slows down the rate of passage of on-board time. However, attaining such high speeds would still require the use of some new, advanced method of propulsion.

Intergalactic spaceflight[link]

Intergalactic travel involves spaceflight between galaxies, and is considered much more technologically demanding than even interstellar travel and, by current engineering terms, is considered science fiction.

Point-to-point sub-orbital spaceflight[link]

Point-to-point sub-orbital spaceflight is a category of spaceflight in which a spacecraft uses a sub-orbital flight for transportation. This can provide a two-hour trip from London to Sydney. Today, no company offers this type of spaceflight for transportation. However, Virgin Galactic is planning to build a spaceplane called SpaceShipThree, which will offer this service in the future.

Spacecraft and launch systems[link]

An Apollo Lunar Module on the lunar surface

Spacecraft are vehicles capable of controlling their trajectory through space.

The first 'true spacecraft' is sometimes said to be Apollo Lunar Module,^[6] since this was the only manned vehicle to have been designed for, and operated only in space; and is notable for its non aerodynamic shape.

Spacecraft propulsion[link]

Spacecraft today predominantly use rockets for propulsion, but other propulsion techniques such as ion drives are becoming more common, particularly for unmanned vehicles, and this can significantly reduce the vehicle's mass and increase its delta-v.

Expendable launch systems[link]

All current spaceflight except NASA's Space Shuttle and the SpaceX Falcon 1 use multi-stage expendable launch systems to reach space.

Reusable launch systems[link]

The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition on mission STS-1

The first reusable spacecraft, the X-15, was air-launched on a suborbital trajectory on July 19, 1963. The first partially reusable orbital spacecraft, the Space Shuttle, was launched by the USA on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, on April 12, 1981. During the Shuttle era, six orbiters were built, all of which have flown in the atmosphere and five of which have flown in space. The Enterprise was used only for approach and landing tests, launching from the back of a Boeing 747 and gliding to deadstick landings at Edwards AFB, California. The first Space Shuttle to fly into space was the Columbia, followed by the Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. The Endeavour was built to replace the Challenger, which was lost in January 1986. The Columbia broke up during reentry in February 2003.

The first (and so far only) automatic partially reusable spacecraft was the Buran (Snowstorm), launched by the USSR on November 15, 1988, although it made only one flight. This spaceplane was designed for a crew and strongly resembled the U. S. Space Shuttle, although its drop-off boosters used liquid propellants and its main engines were located at the base of what would be the external tank in the American Shuttle. Lack of funding, complicated by the dissolution of the USSR, prevented any further flights of Buran.

Per the Vision for Space Exploration, the Space Shuttle is due to be retired in 2011 due mainly to its old age and high cost of the program reaching over a billion dollars per flight. The Shuttle's human transport role is to be replaced by the partially reusable Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) no later than 2014. The Shuttle's heavy cargo transport role is to be replaced by expendable rockets such as the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) or a Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicle.

Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne was a reusable suborbital spaceplane that carried pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie on consecutive flights in 2004 to win the Ansari X Prize. The Spaceship Company will build its successor SpaceShipTwo. A fleet of SpaceShipTwos operated by Virgin Galactic planned to begin reusable private spaceflight carrying paying passengers (space tourists) in 2008, but this was delayed due to an accident in the propulsion development.^[7]

Challenges associated with spaceflight[link]

Space disasters[link]

All launch vehicles contain a huge amount of energy that is needed for some part of it to reach orbit. There is therefore some risk that this energy can be released prematurely and suddenly, with significant effects. When a Delta II rocket exploded 13 seconds after launch on January 17, 1997, there were reports of store windows 10 miles (16 km) away being broken by the blast.^[8]

Space is a fairly predictable environment, but there are still risks of accidental depressurisation and the potential failure of equipment, some of which may be very newly developed.

In 2004 the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety was established in the Netherlands to further international cooperation and scientific advancement in space systems safety.^[9]

Weightlessness[link]

Astronauts on the ISS in weightless conditions. Michael Foale can be seen exercising in the foreground.

In a microgravity environment such as that provided by a spacecraft in orbit around the Earth, humans experience a sense of "weightlessness." Short-term exposure to microgravity causes space adaptation syndrome, a self-limiting nausea caused by derangement of the vestibular system. Long-term exposure causes multiple health issues. The most significant is bone loss, some of which is permanent, but microgravity also leads to significant deconditioning of muscular and cardiovascular tissues.

Radiation[link]

Once above the atmosphere, radiation due to the Van Allen belts, solar radiation and cosmic radiation issues occur and increase.

Further away from the Earth, solar flares can give a fatal radiation dose in minutes, and the health threat from cosmic radiation significantly increases the chances of cancer over a decade exposure or more.^[10]

Life support[link]

In human spaceflight, the life support system is a group of devices that allow a human being to survive in outer space. NASA often uses the phrase Environmental Control and Life Support System or the acronym ECLSS when describing these systems for its human spaceflight missions.^[11] The life support system may supply: air, water and food. It must also maintain the correct body temperature, an acceptable pressure on the body and deal with the body's waste products. Shielding against harmful external influences such as radiation and micro-meteorites may also be necessary. Components of the life support system are life-critical, and are designed and constructed using safety engineering techniques.

Space weather[link]

Aurora australis and Discovery, May 1991.

Space weather is the concept of changing environmental conditions in outer space. It is distinct from the concept of weather within a planetary atmosphere, and deals with phenomena involving ambient plasma, magnetic fields, radiation and other matter in space (generally close to Earth but also in interplanetary, and occasionally interstellar medium). "Space weather describes the conditions in space that affect Earth and its technological systems. Our space weather is a consequence of the behavior of the sun, the nature of Earth's magnetic field, and our location in the solar system." ^[12]

Space weather exerts a profound influence in several areas related to space exploration and development. Changing geomagnetic conditions can induce changes in atmospheric density causing the rapid degradation of spacecraft altitude in Low Earth orbit. Geomagnetic storms due to increased solar activity can potentially blind sensors aboard spacecraft, or interfere with on-board electronics. An understanding of space environmental conditions is also important in designing shielding and life support systems for manned spacecraft.

Environmental considerations[link]

Rockets as a class are not inherently grossly polluting. However, some rockets use toxic propellants, and most vehicles use propellants that are not carbon neutral. Many solid rockets have chlorine in the form of perchlorate or other chemicals, and this can cause temporary local holes in the ozone layer. Re-entering spacecraft generate nitrates which also can temporarily impact the ozone layer. Most rockets are made of metals that can have an environmental impact during their construction.

In addition to the atmospheric effects there are effects on the near-Earth space environment. There is the possibility that orbit could become inaccessible for generations due to exponentially increasing space debris caused by spalling of satellites and vehicles (Kessler syndrome). Many launched vehicles today are therefore designed to be re-entered after use.

Applications of spaceflight[link]

ISS habitant stores samples

Current spaceflights are frequently, but not invariably paid for by governments; but there are strong launch markets such as satellite television that is purely commercial, although the launchers themselves are often at least partly funded by governments.

Uses for spaceflight include:

• Earth observation satellites such as Spy satellites, weather satellites
• Space exploration
• Space tourism is a small market at present
• Communication satellites
• Satellite navigation

There is growing interest in spacecraft and flights paid for by commercial companies and even private individuals. It is thought that some of the high cost of access to space is due to governmental inefficiencies; and certainly the costs of the governmental paperwork surrounding NASA is legendary^{[citation needed]}. If a commercial company were able to be more efficient, costs could come down significantly. Space launch vehicles such as Falcon I have been wholly developed with private finance, and the quoted costs for launch are lower.

See also[link]

Spaceflight portal

Part of a series on
Transport
Modes
Animal-powered Aviation Cable Human-powered Pipeline Rail Road Ship Space
Topics
History Outline
Transport portal
v t e

• Aerial landscape art
• List of spaceflight records
• Manned mission to Mars
• Space logistics
• US space exploration history on US stamps

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up spaceflight in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Aerospace engineering at Wikiversity
• Basics of Spaceflight

v t e Spaceflight General Astrodynamics History (Accidents and incidents Records Space Race) Applications Earth observation satellites (Spy satellites Weather satellites) Private spaceflight Satellite navigation Space archaeology Space architecture Space colonization Space exploration Space medicine Space nursing Space tourism Human spaceflight General Astronaut Life support system (Extra-vehicular activity Space suit) Hazards Effect of spaceflight on the human body (Space adaptation syndrome) Cosmic radiation Survival Weather Weightlessness Major projects Apollo Gemini International Space Station Mercury Mir Shenzhou Soyuz Space Shuttle Voskhod Vostok Spacecraft Launch vehicle Robotic spacecraft Rocket Spacecraft propulsion Spaceplane Destinations Sub-orbital Orbital (Geocentric Geosynchronous) Interplanetary Interstellar Intergalactic Space launch Direct ascent Escape velocity Expendable and reusable launch systems Launch pad Non-rocket spacelaunch Spaceport Space agencies CNES CNSA ESA JAXA NASA RKA more...

Felix Baumgartner (born 20 April 1969 in Salzburg, Austria) is an Austrian skydiver and a BASE jumper. He is renowned for the particularly dangerous nature of the stunts he has performed during his career. Baumgartner spent time in the Austrian military where he practiced parachute jumping, including training to land on small target zones.

Biography[link]

He was born on 20 April 1969 in Salzburg, Austria.^[1]

In 1999 he claimed the world record for the highest parachute jump from a building when he jumped from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[2]

On 31 July 2003, Baumgartner became the first person to skydive across the English Channel using a specially made fibre wing.^[3]

Baumgartner set the world record for the lowest BASE jump ever, from the hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.^[4]

He became the first person to BASE jump from the completed Millau Viaduct in France on 27 June 2004^{[citation needed]} and the first person to sky dive onto, then BASE jump from, the Turning Torso building in Malmö, Sweden on 18 August 2006.^[5]

On 12 December 2007 he became the first person to jump from the 91st floor observation deck, then went to the 90th floor (about 390 m (1,280 ft)) of the then tallest completed building in the world, Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan.^[6]

[edit] Red Bull Stratos

In January 2010, it was reported that Baumgartner was working with a team of scientists and sponsor Red Bull to attempt the highest sky-dive on record.^[7] Baumgartner was going to make the 120,000 ft (36,600 m) jump from a capsule suspended from a balloon filled with helium, intending to become the first parachutist to break the sound barrier; the feat was scheduled to take place sometime in 2011.^[8][9][10] Joseph Kittinger, who holds the records Baumgartner is attempting to break, was advising Baumgartner during the "Stratos" mission in the hopes of getting scientific data on next-generation full pressure suits.^[7][11] However, on October 12, 2010, Red Bull announced it was placing the project on hold after Daniel Hogan filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court in Los Angeles, California in April, claiming he had originated the idea of the parachute dive from the edge of space in 2004 and that Red Bull had stolen the idea from him.^[12][13] The lawsuit was resolved out of court in June 2011^[14] and on 5 February 2012, The Daily Telegraph reported that the project would be resumed.^[15]

On 15 March 2012 he completed the first of two test jumps from 71,581 feet (21,818 m). During the jump he spent approximately three minutes and 43 seconds in free fall, reaching speeds of more than 360 miles per hour (580 km/h), before opening his parachute. In total, the jump lasted approximately eight minutes and eight seconds and Baumgartner became only the third person to safely parachute from a height of over 13.5 miles (21.7 km).^[16]

See also[link]

• Michel Fournier, who has been working on a 25 mile jump for several years.^[17]
• Joseph Kittinger, world record holder for skydiving from 102,800 ft
• Yves Rossy, the first man to cross the English Channel using a jet-powered wing

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Red Bull Stratos Project
• Felix Jumping from the Christ Redemeer - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

External media
	Felix Baumgartner

Sam Lazar (born 1933) was a pianist and Hammond organist originally from St. Louis, Missouri. His first LP on Argo Records approximates his birth year as 1933. Initially a pianist, Lazar played in Ernie Wilkins group before Wilkins left St. Louis to join Count Basie. This was followed by a stint in George Hudson's big band which also included Clark Terry and Jimmy Forrest at various times. After a tour with alto saxophonist Tab Smith, Lazar was in the army from 1951-1953. Upon discharge, he began studying medical technology.

In 1958, Lazar saw the Jimmy Smith trio at the Peacock Alley club in St. Louis and was inspired to play the Hammond organ and return to music. His St. Louis-based organ combo later included guitarists Grant Green, Joe Diorio, George Eskridge, drummer Chauncey Williams and saxophonist Miller Brisker among others. Not only did the group play a variety of gigs from strip clubs to jazz clubs, but they were reportedly one of the first interracial combos in the area.

After a single on Cawthron Records, Lazar went on to record several albums in the 1960s for the Chicago-based Argo Records. His first, Space Flight, was recorded in 1960 and added bassist Willie Dixon to his regular working combo featuring Williams and fellow St. Louis musician Grant Green.^[1][2]

Discography[link]

• Space Flight (1960)
• Playback (1962)
• Soul Merchant (1962)

References[link]

Grant Green (St. Louis, Missouri, June 6, 1935 – New York, January 31, 1979; some sources erroneously give the birth year as 1931^[1]) was a jazz guitarist and composer.

Recording prolifically and almost exclusively for Blue Note Records (as both leader and sideman) Green performed well in hard bop, soul jazz, bebop and Latin-tinged settings throughout his career. Critics Michael Erlewine and Ron Wynn write, "A severely underrated player during his lifetime, Grant Green is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz guitar ... Green's playing is immediately recognizable -- perhaps more than any other guitarist."^[2] Critic Dave Hunter described his sound as "lithe, loose, slightly bluesy and righteously groovy".^[3] He often performed in an organ trio, a small group with an organ and drummer.

Apart from Charlie Christian, Green's primary influences were saxophonists, particularly Charlie Parker, and his approach was therefore almost exclusively linear rather than chordal. The simplicity and immediacy of Green's playing, which tended to avoid chromaticism, derived from his early work playing rhythm and blues and, although at his best he achieved a synthesis of this style with bop, he was essentially a blues guitarist and returned almost exclusively to this style in his later career.^[4] Green used a Gibson ES-330, then a Gibson L7 with a Gibson McCarty pickguard/pick-up, an Epiphone Emperor (with the same pick-up) and finally had a custom built D'Aquisto. George Benson said he would turn all the bass and treble off the amp, and max the midrange. This way he could get his signature punchy, biting tone.

Biography[link]

Green was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He first performed in a professional setting at the age of 12. His influences were Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker, Ike Quebec, Lester Young, Jimmy Raney, Jimmy Smith and Miles Davis, he first played boogie-woogie before moving on to jazz. His first recordings in St. Louis were with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest for the Delmark label. The drummer in the band was Elvin Jones, later the powerhouse behind John Coltrane. Grant recorded with Elvin again in the early Sixties. Lou Donaldson discovered Grant playing in a bar in St. Louis. After touring together with Donaldson, Grant arrived in New York around 1959-60.

Lou Donaldson introduced Grant to Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records. Lion was so impressed with Grant that, rather than testing Grant as a sideman, as was the usual Blue Note practice, Lion arranged for him to record as a bandleader first. Green's initial recording session went unreleased until 2001, however, owing to a lack of confidence on Green's behalf. [1] [2]

Despite the shelving of his first session, Green's recording relationship with Lion and Blue Note was to last, with a few exceptions, throughout the Sixties. From 1961 to 1965, Grant made more appearances on Blue Note LPs, as leader or sideman, than anyone else. Grant's first issued album as a leader was Grant's First Stand. This was followed in the same year by Green Street and Grantstand. Grant was named best new star in the Down Beat critics' poll, 1962, and, as a result, his influence spread wider than New York. He often provided support to the other important musicians on Blue Note, including saxophonists Hank Mobley, Ike Quebec, Stanley Turrentine and Harold Vick, as well as organist Larry Young.

Sunday Mornin' , The Latin Bit and Feelin' the Spirit are all loose concept albums, each taking a musical theme or style: Gospel, Latin and spirituals respectively. Grant always carried off his more commercial dates with artistic success during this period. Idle Moments (1963), featuring Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson, and Solid (1964), featuring the Coltrane rhythm section, are acclaimed as two of Grant's best recordings.

Many of Grant's recordings were not released during his lifetime. These include Matador, in which Grant is once again in the heavyweight company of the Coltrane rhythm section, and a series of sessions with pianist Sonny Clark. In 1966 Grant left Blue Note and recorded for several other labels, including Verve. From 1967 to 1969 Grant was, for the most part, inactive due to personal problems and the effects of heroin addiction. In 1969 Grant returned with a new funk-influenced band. His recordings from this period include the commercially successful Green is Beautiful and the soundtrack to the film The Final Comedown. Grant was also a huge influence on guitarists, from George Benson to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Still to this day guitarists try to get his signature sound, Idle Moments is considered one of the top 100 jazz albums of all time.

Grant left Blue Note again in 1974 and the subsequent recordings he made with other labels divide opinion: some consider Green to have been the 'Father of Acid Jazz' (and his late recordings have been sampled by artists including US3, A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy^[5]), whilst others have dismissed them (Michael Cuscuna wrote in the sleeve notes for the album Matador that "During the 1970s he made some pretty lame records").

Grant spent much of 1978 in hospital and, against the advice of doctors, went back on the road to earn some money. While in New York to play an engagement at George Benson's Breezin' Lounge, Grant collapsed in his car of a heart attack in New York City on January 31, 1979. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and was survived by six children. Since Green's demise, his reputation has grown to legendary status and many compilations of both his earlier (post-bop/straight ahead and soul jazz) and later (funkier/dancefloor jazz) periods, exist.

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

Blue Note Records

Other labels

As sideman[link]

1959

• Jimmy Forrest - All the Gin Is Gone (Delmark)
• Jimmy Forrest - Black Forrest (Delmark)

1960

• Sam Lazar - Space Flight (Argo)
• Willie Dixon - Blues Roots Series, Vol. 12 (Chess)

1961

• Lou Donaldson - Here 'Tis (Blue Note)
• Baby Face Willette - Face to Face (Blue Note)
• Baby Face Willette - Stop and Listen (Blue Note)
• Brother Jack McDuff - The Honeydripper (Prestige)
• Stanley Turrentine - Up at "Minton's" (Blue Note)
• Dave Bailey - Reaching Out (Jazztime)
• Hank Mobley - Workout (Blue Note)
• Horace Parlan - Up & Down (Blue Note)
• Brother Jack McDuff - Steppin' Out (Prestige)
• Brother Jack McDuff - Goodnight, It's Time To Go (Prestige)
• Stanley Turrentine - ZT's Blues (Blue Note)
• Lou Donaldson - A Man with a Horn (Blue Note)
• Sonny Red/Grant Green/Barry Harris - The Mode (Jazzland)
• Sonny Red - Images (Jazzland)
• Ike Quebec - Blue and Sentimental (Blue Note)

1962

• Joe Carroll - Man with a Happy Sound (Charlie Parker Records)
• Dodo Greene - My Hour of Need (Blue Note)
• Don Wilkerson - Elder Don (Blue Note)
• Lou Donaldson - The Natural Soul (Blue Note)
• Don Wilkerson - Preach Brother! (Blue Note)

1963

• Lou Donaldson - Good Gracious! (Blue Note)
• Jimmy Smith - I'm Movin' On (Blue Note)
• Jimmy Smith - Special Guests (Blue Note Japan)
• Booker Ervin - Back from the Gig (Blue Note)
• Herbie Hancock - My Point of View (Blue Note)
• Horace Parlan - Happy Frame of Mind (Blue Note)
• "Big" John Patton - Along Came John (Blue Note)
• Gloria Coleman - Soul Sisters (Impulse!)
• Harold Vick - Steppin' Out! (Blue Note)
• "Big" John Patton - Blue John (Blue Note)
• Don Wilkerson - Shoutin' (Blue Note)
• George Braith - Two Souls in One (Blue Note)
• Mary Lou Williams - Black Christ of the Andes (Saba/MPS)
• George Braith - Soulstream (Blue Note)
• Bobby Hutcherson - The Kicker (Blue Note)

1964

• Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land (Blue Note)
• George Braith - Extension (Blue Note)
• "Big" John Patton - The Way I Feel (Blue Note)
• Larry Young - Into Somethin' (Blue Note)
• Donald Byrd - I'm Tryin' to Get Home (Blue Note)

1965

• Johnny Hodges/Wild Bill Davis - Joe's Blues (Verve)
• Grassella Oliphant - The Grass Is Greener (Atlantic)
• "Big" John Patton - Oh Baby! (Blue Note)
• Lou Donaldson - Musty Rusty (Cadet)
• Johnny Hodges/Wild Bill Davis - Wings and Things (Verve)
• "Big" John Patton - Let 'em Roll (Blue Note)

1966

• George Braith - Laughing Souls (Prestige)
• "Big" John Patton - Got a Good Thing Goin' (Blue Note)
• Art Blakey - Hold On, I'm Coming (Limelight)
• Stanley Turrentine - Rough 'n' Tumble (Blue Note)

1969

• Rusty Bryant - Returns (Prestige)
• Charles Kynard - The Soul Brotherhood (Prestige)
• Reuben Wilson - Love Bug (Blue Note)
• Don Patterson - Brother-4 (Prestige)
• Don Patterson - Donnybrook (Prestige)
• Don Patterson - Tune Up! (Prestige)

1970

• Charles Kynard - Afro-Disiac (Prestige)
• Fats Theus - Black Out (CTI)
• Houston Person - Person to Person! (Prestige)

1973

• Houston Person - The Real Thing (Eastbound)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Great Jazz Guitar Players: Grant Green
• Grant Green discography at MusicBrainz
• Grant Green Pages
• The Grant Green Tone
• Grant Green Discography Project
• Evergreen - Grant Green Tribute Page
• German Grant Green site with fully illustrated discography
• Grant Green discography with cover photos

William James "Willie" Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer.^[1] A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the upright bass and the guitar and as a vocalist, Dixon is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. He is recognized as one of the founders of the Chicago blues sound. Dixon's songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated. A short list of the man's most famous compositions includes "Little Red Rooster", "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Evil", "Spoonful", "Back Door Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "I Ain't Superstitious", "My Babe", "Wang Dang Doodle", and "Bring It On Home". These tunes were written during the peak of Chess Records, 1950–1965, and performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter, influencing a worldwide generation of musicians.^[2]

Next to Muddy Waters, he was the most influential person in shaping the post World War II sound of the Chicago blues.^[3] He also was an important link between the blues and rock and roll, working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the late 1950s. His songs were covered by some of the biggest artists of more recent times, including Styx, Bob Dylan, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Foghat, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Megadeth, The Doors, The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead,^[3] and a posthumous duet with Colin James.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 1915.^[1] His mother Daisy often rhymed the things she said, a habit her son imitated. At the age of seven, young Dixon became an admirer of a band that featured pianist Little Brother Montgomery. Dixon was first introduced to blues when he served time on prison farms in Mississippi as an early teenager. He later learned how to sing harmony from local carpenter Leo Phelps. Dixon sang bass in Phelps' group The Jubilee Singers, a local gospel quartet that regularly appeared on the Vicksburg radio station WQBC. Dixon began adapting poems he was writing as songs, and even sold some tunes to local music groups.

Adulthood[link]

Dixon left Mississippi for Chicago in 1936. A man of considerable stature, at 6 and a half feet and weighing over 250 pounds, he took up boxing; he was so successful that he won the Illinois State Golden Gloves Heavyweight Championship (Novice Division) in 1937.^[4] Dixon turned professional as a boxer and worked briefly as Joe Louis' sparring partner. After four fights, Dixon left boxing after getting into a fight with his manager over being cheated out of money.

Dixon met Leonard Caston at the boxing gym where they would harmonize at times. Dixon performed in several vocal groups in Chicago but it was Caston that got him to pursue music seriously. Caston built him his first bass, made of a tin can and one string. Dixon's experience singing bass made the instrument familiar. He also learned the guitar.

Dixon, whose initial attempts at his vocation as a boxer were now dubious, began performing around Chicago and with Caston, who convinced him to move towards a musical career.^[5] In 1939, was a founding member of the Five Breezes, with Caston, Joe Bell, Gene Gilmore and Willie Hawthorne. The group blended blues, jazz, and vocal harmonies, in the mode of the Ink Spots. Dixon's progress as he progressed on the Upright bass came to an abrupt halt during the advent of World War II when he resisted the draft as a conscientious objector and was imprisoned for ten months.^[1] After the war, he formed a group named the Four Jumps of Jive and then reunited with Caston, forming the Big Three Trio, who went on to record for Columbia Records.

Pinnacle of career[link]

Dixon signed with Chess Records as a recording artist, but began performing less, being more involved with administrative tasks for the label. By 1951, he was a full-time employee at Chess, where he acted as producer, talent scout, session musician and staff songwriter. He was also a producer for Chess subsidiary Checker Records. His relationship with Chess was sometimes strained, although he stayed with the label from 1948 to the early 1960s. During this time Dixon's output and influence were prodigious. From late 1956 to early 1959, he worked in a similar capacity for Cobra Records, where he produced early singles for Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy.^[6] He later recorded on Bluesville Records.^[7] From the late 1960s until the middle 1970s, Dixon ran his own record label, Yambo Records, along with two subsidiary labels, Supreme and Spoonful. He released his 1971 album Peace? on Yambo, as well as singles by McKinley Mitchell, Lucky Peterson and others.^[8]

Dixon is considered one of the key figures in the creation of Chicago blues. He worked with Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Joe Louis Walker, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Eddie Boyd, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulson, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, Washboard Sam, Jimmy Rogers, Sam Lay and others. His double bass playing was of a high standard. He appears on many of Chuck Berry's early recordings, further proving his linkage between the blues and the birth of rock and roll.

Dixon is remembered mainly as a songwriter; his most enduring gift to the blues lay in refurbishing archaic Southern motifs, often of magic and country folkways and often derived from earlier records such as those by Charlie Patton, in contemporary arrangements, to produce songs with both the sinew of the blues, and the agility of pop.^[9] British R&B bands of the 1960s constantly drew on the Dixon songbook for inspiration.^[9] In December 1964, The Rolling Stones reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Dixon's "Little Red Rooster".^[10]

By the late sixties, Dixon's songwriting and production work began to take a back seat to his organizational abilities, which were utilised to assemble all-star, Chicago-based blues ensembles for work in Europe.^[9]

Dixon in Cary, Illinois at Harry Hopes, 1979

In his later years, Willie Dixon became a tireless ambassador for the blues and a vocal advocate for its practitioners, founding the Blues Heaven Foundation. The organization works to preserve the blues’ legacy and to secure copyrights and royalties for blues musicians who were exploited in the past. Speaking with the simple eloquence that was a hallmark of his songs, Dixon claimed, "The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. It’s better keeping the roots alive, because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues."

Dixon's health deteriorated increasingly during the seventies and the eighties, primarily due to long-term diabetes. Eventually one of his legs had to be amputated.^[1] Dixon was inducted at the inaugural session of the Blues Foundation's ceremony, and into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.^[11] In 1989 he was also the recipient of a Grammy Award for his album, Hidden Charms.^[12]

Death and legacy[link]

Dixon died of heart failure^[13] in Burbank, California on January 29, 1992,^[1] and was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. Dixon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the "early influences" (pre-rock) category in 1994.^[14]

Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer portrayed Dixon in Cadillac Records, a 2008 film based on the early history of Chess Records.^[15][16]

Willie Dixon's grandson Alex Dixon recorded two Willie Dixon songs, ("Spoonful" and "Down in the Bottom"), on his release Rising from the Bushes.^[1]

Songs[link]

Tributes[link]

• French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel refers to Dixon in the song "Cent Ans de Plus" on his 1999 album Hors-Saison. Cabrel cites the artist as one of a number of blues influences, including Charley Patton, Son House, Blind Lemon, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Blake and Ma Rainey.
• Canadian rock musician Tom Cochrane wrote a song entitled "Willie Dixon Said" that appeared on his 1999 album X-Ray Sierra.
• Bob Dylan credited Willie Dixon for the music of the song "My Wife's Hometown" on his album Together Through Life and gave special thanks to Dixon's estate.

Discography[link]

See also[link]

• List of blues musicians
• Chicago Blues Festival
• List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
• Boogie-woogie

References[link]