Difference between revisions of "National Aeronautics and Space Administration"
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:The program also drew inspiration from Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, who lost their lives in a fire during a launch pad test in 1967. | :The program also drew inspiration from Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, who lost their lives in a fire during a launch pad test in 1967. | ||
| − | :Project Apollo concluded with the Apollo/ Soyuz mission during July1975, part of a series of cooperative space flights between the United States and the Soviet Union that continues today. The docking in space of the two spacecraft took place at 2:17 p.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time on 17 July. Two days of joint operations followed. After separation, the Soyuz remained in space for almost two days before landing in the USSR on 21 July. The Apollo spacecraft remained in space for another three days before splashing down near Hawaii on 24 July. The mission was a resounding success for both Americans and Soviets. They achieved their goal of obtaining flight experience for rendezvous and docking of human spacecraft. In addition, they also demonstrated in-flight intervehicular crew transfer, as well as accomplished a series of scientific experiments. <ref> http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/index.html </ref> <ref> http http://history.nasa.gov/30thastp/overview.html </ref> | + | :Project Apollo concluded with the Apollo/ Soyuz mission during July1975, part of a series of cooperative space flights between the United States and the Soviet Union (Russia) that continues today. The docking in space of the two spacecraft took place at 2:17 p.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time on 17 July. Two days of joint operations followed. After separation, the Soyuz remained in space for almost two days before landing in the USSR on 21 July. The Apollo spacecraft remained in space for another three days before splashing down near Hawaii on 24 July. The mission was a resounding success for both Americans and Soviets. They achieved their goal of obtaining flight experience for rendezvous and docking of human spacecraft. In addition, they also demonstrated in-flight intervehicular crew transfer, as well as accomplished a series of scientific experiments. <ref> http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/index.html </ref> <ref> http http://history.nasa.gov/30thastp/overview.html </ref> |
Revision as of 19:21, May 26, 2008
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began in 1958. It was created by U.S. legislation for the purpose of creating a government space program for the United States. This legislation was in response to the Soviet Union's the first man-made satellite, Sputnik I. According to the act NASA was to conduct research on the problems of flight in and out of the atmosphere, with and without human pilots, and to cooperate with other nations in the peaceful exploration of space. NASA is responsible for many satellites including Landsat, which was a series of satellites for the collection of information on natural resources, communication satellites and weather satellites. The Project Apollo program under NASA led to several landings on the Moon from 1969-1972. It is also the designer and developer of the space shuttle.
NASA Manned Missions
- Project Mercury Initiated in 1958 and completed in 1963, Project Mercury was the United States' first man-in-space program. The objectives of the program, which made six manned flights from 1961 to 1963, were specific: orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth, investigate man's ability to function in space and recover both man and spacecraft safely. [1]
- Project Gemini The Gemini Program was a necessary intermediate step between Project Mercury and the Apollo Program and had four objectives: subject astronauts to long duration flights- a requirement for projected later trips to the moon or deeper space; develop effective methods of rendezvous and docking with other orbiting vehicles, and to maneuver the docked vehicles in space; perfect methods of reentry and landing the spacecraft at a pre-selected land-landing point; gain additional information concerning the effects of weightlessness on crew members and to record the physiological reactions of crew members during long duration flights. [2]
- Project Apollo On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced the goal of sending astronauts to the moon before the end of the decade. Coming just three weeks after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space, Kennedy's bold challenge set the nation on a journey unlike any before in human history.
- Eight years of hard work by thousands of Americans came to fruition on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong stepped out of the lunar module and took "one small step" in the Sea of Tranquility, calling it "a giant leap for mankind."
- Six of the missions -- Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 -- went on to land on the moon, studying soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields and solar wind. Apollos 7 and 9 tested spacecraft in Earth orbit; Apollo 10 orbited the moon as the dress rehearsal for the first landing. An oxygen tank explosion forced Apollo 13 to scrub its landing, but the "can-do" problem solving of the crew and mission control turned the mission into a "successful failure."
- The program also drew inspiration from Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, who lost their lives in a fire during a launch pad test in 1967.
- Project Apollo concluded with the Apollo/ Soyuz mission during July1975, part of a series of cooperative space flights between the United States and the Soviet Union (Russia) that continues today. The docking in space of the two spacecraft took place at 2:17 p.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time on 17 July. Two days of joint operations followed. After separation, the Soyuz remained in space for almost two days before landing in the USSR on 21 July. The Apollo spacecraft remained in space for another three days before splashing down near Hawaii on 24 July. The mission was a resounding success for both Americans and Soviets. They achieved their goal of obtaining flight experience for rendezvous and docking of human spacecraft. In addition, they also demonstrated in-flight intervehicular crew transfer, as well as accomplished a series of scientific experiments. [3] [4]
