1.
NASA
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. NASA shares data with various national and international such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Since 2011, NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency, from 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year. An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard, after the Soviet launch of the worlds first artificial satellite on October 4,1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. This led to an agreement that a new federal agency based on NACA was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created in February 1958 to develop technology for military application. On July 29,1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, a NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA, earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPAs early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter, the experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, however, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, to date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude,260,000 feet. The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the US Air Force, the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems
NASA
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1963 photo showing Dr. William H. Pickering, (center) JPL Director, President John F. Kennedy, (right). NASA Administrator James Webb in background. They are discussing the
Mariner program, with a model presented.
NASA
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Seal of NASA
NASA
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At launch control for the May 28, 1964,
Saturn I SA-6 launch.
Wernher von Braun is at center.
NASA
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Mercury-Atlas 6 launch on February 20, 1962
2.
Approach and Landing Tests
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The Space Shuttle program originated in the late 1960s as a means of reducing the cost of spaceflight by introducing a reusable spacecraft. The final agreed design would feature a reusable spaceplane, an external tank. The contract to build the spaceplane, which came to be known as the orbiter, was awarded to North American Rockwell. Originally planned to be named Constitution, a campaign by Star Trek. It was unveiled to the public on September 17,1976, upon the orbiters entry into service, NASA began an extensive program of tests using Enterprise to ensure all of the systems it had put in place for the Shuttle program functioned as designed. These tests would not only the flight tests planned to test the flight characteristics of the orbiter. The program lasted from February until October 1977, with a pair of two-man crews assigned to the orbiter, fullerton later flew as the pilot of STS-3 and commanded STS-51-F. This crew later flew on STS-2, mcMurty Louis E. Guidry, Jr. Victor W. Horton The ALT program was divided into three distinct phases. These tests did not involve the orbiter in any way beyond it being mated to the aircraft, so consequently it remained powered down, a total of three taxi-tests were performed on February 15,1977. Following this, the moved into its next phase. This was subdivided into two phases, There were a total of five captive-inert flights designed to test the flight, as with the taxi tests, this did not involve the orbiter beyond it being mated to the SCA, so it remained unpowered and uncrewed. The captive-active flights were intended to determine the profile required for Enterprise to separate from the SCA during the orbiters free-flights. These were also intended to refine and test the orbiter crew procedures, for these three flights, although Enterprise remained mated to the SCA, it was powered and crewed. The final phase of testing involved free-flights. These saw Enterprise mated to the SCA and carried to a launch altitude, the intention of these flights was to test the flight characteristics of the orbiter itself, on a typical approach and landing profile from orbit. The final two had the tail cone removed, with the orbiter in its full configuration, with dummy main engines. Enterprise used an air data probe mounted on its nose for these flights and these five flights were to be the only time Enterprise flew alone. Then, the orbiter was flown to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to fit check the facilities at LC-39 and the procedures to be used in launching the shuttle
Approach and Landing Tests
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Enterprise separates from the SCA during its Approach and Landing Tests
Approach and Landing Tests
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(L-R) Gordon Fullerton, Fred Haise, Joe Engle and Richard Truly pose in front of the prototype orbiter Enterprise
Approach and Landing Tests
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Enterprise during a captive flight
Approach and Landing Tests
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Enterprise takes flight for the first time in August 1977
3.
STS-1
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STS-1 was the first orbital spaceflight of NASAs Space Shuttle program. The first orbiter, Columbia, launched on 12 April 1981 and returned on 14 April,54.5 hours later, Columbia carried a crew of two – mission commander John W. Young and pilot Robert L. Crippen. It was the first American manned space flight since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. STS-1 was also the maiden test flight of a new US spacecraft to carry a crew, though it was preceded by atmospheric testing of the orbiter. The launch occurred on the 20th anniversary of the human spaceflight. This was a rather than a celebration of the anniversary. Both Young and Crippen were selected as the STS-1 crew in March 1978, Young was the most experienced astronaut in NASA at the time and was also the only member of his astronaut class in service. He had first flown in 1965 as pilot of Gemini 3, the first manned flight of the Gemini program, and would later command Gemini 10 in 1966. After the conclusion of the Gemini program, Young flew as command pilot of Apollo 10 in 1969. He later became Chief of the Astronaut Office in 1974, Crippen, who had joined NASA in 1969 after the cancellation of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, was a rookie and would become the first of his astronaut group to fly in space. Columbia was manifested with EMUs for both Young and Crippen in the event of an emergency spacewalk, if such an event occurred, Crippen would go outside the orbiter, with Young standing by in case Crippen required assistance. To that end, they suggested that STS-1, instead of being an orbital flight and this involved an abort being called in the first few moments after launch, and using its main engines, once the SRBs had been jettisoned, to power it back to the launch site. The NASA managers were swayed by Young questioning the need for the test, and the weight of his opinion was strong especially as someone who not only been to the moon twice, but walked on it. Young, commander, and Robert L. Crippen, pilot, lifted off from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, the launch took place at 7 a. m. A launch attempt two days earlier was scrubbed because of a problem in one of Columbia’s general-purpose computers. Not only was this the first launch of the Space Shuttle, STS-1 was also the first U. S. manned space vehicle launched without an unmanned powered test flight. The primary mission objectives of the flight were to perform a general check out of the Space Shuttle system, accomplish a safe ascent into orbit. All of these objectives were met successfully, and the orbiters spaceworthiness was verified, during the second day of the mission, the astronauts received a phone call from Vice President George H. W. Bush
STS-1
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The launch of STS-1
STS-1
STS-1
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STS-1 crew in Space Shuttle Columbia 's cabin.
STS-1
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The plaque of the Young-Crippen Firing Room in the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center.
4.
STS-135
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STS-135 was the 135th and final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. It used the orbiter Atlantis and hardware originally processed for the STS-335 contingency mission, STS-135 launched on 8 July 2011, and landed on 21 July 2011, following a one-day mission extension. The four-person crew was the smallest of any shuttle mission since STS-6 in April 1983, the missions primary cargo was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello and a Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier, which were delivered to the International Space Station. The flight of Raffaello marked the time that Atlantis carried an MPLM. Although the mission was authorized, it initially had no appropriation in the NASA budget, on 20 January 2011, program managers changed STS-335 to STS-135 on the flight manifest. This allowed for training and other mission specific preparations, on 13 February 2011, program managers told their workforce that STS-135 would fly regardless of the funding situation via a continuing resolution. Until this point, there had no official references to the STS-135 mission in NASA official documentation for the general public. The mission was included in NASAs 2011 authorization, which was signed into law on 11 October 2010, United Space Alliance signed a contract extension for the mission, along with STS-134, the contract contained six one-month options with NASA in order to support continuing operations. The U. S. federal budget approved in April 2011 called for $5.5 billion for NASAs space operations division, including the shuttle, according to NASA, the budget running through 30 September 2011 ended all concerns about funding the STS-135 mission. NASA announced the STS-335/135 crew on 14 September 2010, only four astronauts were assigned to this mission, versus the normal six or seven, because there were no other shuttles available for a rescue following the retirement of Discovery and Endeavour. If the shuttle was seriously damaged in orbit, the crew would have moved into the International Space Station and returned in Russian Soyuz capsules, one at a time, all STS-135 crew members were custom-fitted for a Russian Sokol space suit and molded Soyuz seat liner for this possibility. The reduced crew size allowed the mission to maximize the payload carried to the ISS. It was the time that a Shuttle crew of four flew to the ISS. The last shuttle mission to fly with just four crew members occurred 28 years earlier, the bill still needed the approval of the full Senate. A draft NASA reauthorization bill considered by the House Science & Technology Committee did not provide for a shuttle mission. On 22 July 2010, during a meeting of the House Science Committee, on 5 August 2010, the Senate passed its version of the NASA reauthorization bill, just before lawmakers left for the traditional August recess. On 20 August 2010, NASA managers approved STS-135 mission planning targeting a 28 June 2011 launch, on 29 September 2010, the House of Representatives approved the Senate-passed bill on a 304–118 vote. The bill, approved by the U. S. Congress, on 11 October 2010, Obama signed the legislation into law, allowing NASA to move forward with STS-135, though without specific funding
STS-135
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Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center, bringing the Space Shuttle program to an end
STS-135
STS-135
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STS-135 mission poster.
STS-135
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Stephen Colbert, host of
The Colbert Report, salutes the crew during their appearance for a taping of his television show.
5.
Space Shuttle Challenger
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Space Shuttle Challenger was the second orbiter of NASAs space shuttle program to be put into service following Columbia. The shuttle was built by Rockwell Internationals Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey and its maiden flight, STS-6, started on April 4,1983. It was the first of two shuttles to be destroyed in flight, the other being Columbia in 2003, the accident led to a two-and-a-half year grounding of the shuttle fleet, flights resumed in 1988 with STS-26 flown by Discovery. Challenger itself was replaced by Endeavour which was built using structural spares ordered by NASA as part of the contracts for Discovery. The Apollo 17 lunar module that landed on the Moon in 1972 was also named Challenger. Because of the low volume of orbiters, the Space Shuttle program decided to build a vehicle as a Structural Test Article, STA-099. The contract for STA-099 was awarded to North American Rockwell on July 26,1972, after STA-099s rollout, it was sent to a Lockheed test site in Palmdale, where it spent over 11 months in vibration tests designed to simulate entire shuttle flights, from launch to landing. In order to prevent damage during structural testing, qualification tests were performed to a factor of safety of 1.2 times the limit loads. The qualification tests were used to validate computational models, and compliance with the required 1.4 factor of safety was shown by analysis. STA-099 was essentially a complete airframe of a Space Shuttle orbiter, with only a crew module installed. Modifying her for flight article status would have far too difficult, expensive. Since STA-099 was not as far along in the construction of its airframe, because STA-099s qualification testing prevented damage, NASA found that rebuilding STA-099 as OV-099 would be less expensive than refitting Enterprise. Work on converting STA-099 into Challenger began in January 1979, starting with just the crew module as the rest of the orbiter was used by Lockheed. STA-099 returned to the Rockwell plant in November 1979, and the original unfinished crew module was replaced with the newly constructed model. Major portions of STA-099, including the bay doors, body flap, wings and vertical stabilizer. By early 1981, most of these components had returned to Palmdale and were reinstalled on the orbiter, work continued on the conversion until July 1982. Challenger had fewer tiles in its Thermal Protection System than Columbia, most of the tiles on the payload bay doors, upper wing surfaces, and rear fuselage surfaces were replaced with DuPont white Nomex felt insulation. These modifications as well as a lighter structure allowed Challenger to carry 2,500 lb more payload than Columbia
Space Shuttle Challenger
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Challenger is launched on its first mission,
STS-6
Space Shuttle Challenger
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Challenger being prepared in 1985 for its second-to-last flight STS-61-A
Space Shuttle Challenger
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Challenger broke apart after launch in 1986, killing all crew on board.
Space Shuttle Challenger
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Challenger' s rollout from Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to the
Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Photo 1983-8-25 courtesy of NASA.
6.
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
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The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11,39 EST. Disintegration of the vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its solid rocket booster failed at liftoff. The O-ring was not designed to fly under unusually cold conditions as in this launch and this led to the separation of the right-hand SRBs aft field joint attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces broke up the orbiter, the crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. The exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown, the shuttle had no escape system, and the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable. The Rogers Commission found NASAs organizational culture and decision-making processes had been key contributing factors to the accident, NASA managers had known since 1977 that contractor Morton Thiokols design of the SRBs contained a potentially catastrophic flaw in the O-rings, but they had failed to address this problem properly. Approximately 17 percent of Americans witnessed the launch live because of the presence of Payload Specialist Christa McAuliffe, media coverage of the accident was extensive, one study reported that 85 percent of Americans surveyed had heard the news within an hour of the accident. The Challenger disaster has been used as a study in many discussions of engineering safety. Each of the Space Shuttles two Solid Rocket Boosters was constructed of seven sections, six of which were joined in pairs at the factory. For each flight, the four resulting segments were then assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, the factory joints were sealed with asbestos-silica insulation applied over the joint, while each field joint was sealed with two rubber O-rings. During the Space Shuttle design process, a McDonnell Douglas report in September 1971 discussed the safety record of solid rockets, while a safe abort was possible after most types of failures, one was especially dangerous, a burnthrough by hot gases of the rockets casing. The report stated that if burnthrough occurs adjacent to tank or orbiter, timely sensing may not be feasible and abort not possible, Morton Thiokol was the contractor responsible for the construction and maintenance of the shuttles SRBs. This phenomenon, known as joint rotation, caused a drop in air pressure. This made it possible for combustion gases to erode the O-rings, in the event of widespread erosion, a flame path could develop, causing the joint to burst—which would have destroyed the booster and the shuttle. Evidence of serious O-ring erosion was present as early as the space shuttle mission, STS-2. Contrary to NASA regulations, the Marshall Center did not report this problem to senior management at NASA, by 1985, Marshall and Thiokol realized that they had a potentially catastrophic problem on their hands. They began the process of redesigning the joint with three inches of steel around the tang. This tang would grip the inner face of the joint and prevent it from rotating and they did not call for a halt to shuttle flights until the joints could be redesigned, but rather treated the problem as an acceptable flight risk
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
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Space Shuttle Challenger ' s smoke plume after its in-flight breakup, resulting in its destruction and the deaths of all seven crew members.
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
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STS-51-L crew: (front row)
Michael J. Smith,
Dick Scobee,
Ronald McNair; (back row)
Ellison Onizuka,
Christa McAuliffe,
Gregory Jarvis,
Judith Resnik.
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
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Ice on the launch tower hours before Challenger launch
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
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Gray smoke escaping from the right side
SRB
7.
Space Shuttle Columbia
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Space Shuttle Columbia was the first space-rated orbiter in NASAs Space Shuttle fleet. It launched for the first time on mission STS-1 on April 12,1981, construction began on Columbia in 1975 at Rockwell Internationals principal assembly facility in Palmdale, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is also named after the Command Module of Apollo 11, Columbia was also the female symbol of the United States. After construction, the arrived at Kennedy Space Center on March 25,1979. Columbia was originally scheduled to lift off in late 1979, however the date was delayed by problems with both the SSME components, as well as the thermal protection system. On March 19,1981, during preparations for a ground test, workers were asphyxiated while working in Columbias nitrogen-purged aft engine compartment, resulting in two or three fatalities. Columbia spent 610 days in the Orbiter Processing Facility, another 35 days in the Vehicle Assembly Building, Columbia then undertook three further research missions to test its technical characteristics and performance. Its first operational mission, with a crew, was STS-5. At this point Columbia was joined by Challenger, which flew the next three missions, while Columbia underwent modifications for the first Spacelab mission. At that time the fleet was expanded to include Discovery. Columbia returned to space on January 12,1986, with the launch of STS-61-C, the missions crew included Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz, as well as the first sitting member of the House of Representatives to venture into space, Bill Nelson. The next shuttle mission, STS-51-L, was undertaken by Challenger and it was launched on January 28,1986, ten days after STS-61-C had landed, and ended in disaster 73 seconds after launch. In the aftermath NASAs shuttle timetable was disrupted, and Columbia was not flown again until 1989, sTS-93, launched on July 23,1999, was the first U. S. space mission with a female commander, Lt. Col. Eileen Collins. This mission deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Columbias final successful mission was STS-109, the fourth servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope. Its next mission, STS-107, culminated in the loss when it disintegrated during reentry. Consequently, President Bush decided to retire the Shuttle orbiter fleet by 2010 in favor of the Constellation program, the Constellation program was later cancelled with the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 signed by President Obama on October 11. Due to its weight, Columbia could not have used the planned Centaur-G booster, the retention of the internal airlock allowed NASA to use Columbia for the STS-109 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, along with the Spacehab double module used on STS-107. The upgrade also involved replacing many of the white LRSI tiles on the surfaces with Advanced Flexible Reusable Surface Insulation blankets that had been used on Discovery
Space Shuttle Columbia
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Columbia preparing for launch for STS-109 to repair the Hubble Space telescope. This was the final successful mission of Columbia before STS-107.
Space Shuttle Columbia
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Columbia in the Orbiter Processing Facility after delivery to Kennedy Space Center in 1979.
Space Shuttle Columbia
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Columbia astronauts
Thomas K. Mattingly and Pilot
Henry Hartsfield salute President
Ronald Reagan, standing beside his wife,
Nancy, upon landing in 1982.
Space Shuttle Columbia
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Columbia launching during
STS-1. Its distinctive black chines and "USA" painted on the starboard wing are visible. Columbia was the only orbiter launched with its
external tank painted white, which was later discontinued to save weight.
8.
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
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On February 1,2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentering Earths atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. The disaster was the tragedy in the Space Shuttle program after Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. During the launch of STS-107, Columbias 28th mission, a piece of foam broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank. A few previous shuttle launches had seen damage ranging from minor to major from foam shedding, NASA managers limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed. After the disaster, Space Shuttle flight operations were suspended for more than two years, as they had been after the Challenger disaster. Commander, Rick D. Husband, a U. S. Air Force colonel and mechanical engineer, payload Commander, Michael P. Anderson, a U. S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, physicist, and mission specialist who was in charge of the science mission. Payload Specialist, Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force, Mission Specialist, Kalpana Chawla, aerospace engineer who was on her second space mission. Mission Specialist, David M. Brown, a U. S. Navy captain trained as an aviator, Mission Specialist, Laurel Blair Salton Clark, a U. S. Navy captain and flight surgeon. The shuttles main fuel tank is covered in thermal insulation foam intended to prevent ice from forming when the tank is full of liquid hydrogen and oxygen, such ice could damage the shuttle if shed during lift-off. Mission STS-107 was the 113th Space Shuttle launch, planned to begin on January 11,2001, the mission was delayed 18 times and eventually launched on January 16,2003, following STS-113. About 82 seconds after launch from Kennedy Space Centers LC-39-A, a piece of foam broke off from the External Tank. At the time of the strike, the orbiter was at an altitude of about 66,000 feet. The Left Bipod Foam Ramp is an approximately three-foot long aerodynamic component made entirely of foam, the foam, not normally considered to be a structural material, is required to bear some aerodynamic loads. Because of these requirements, the casting-in-place and curing of the ramps may be performed only by a senior technician. Bipod Ramp insulation had been observed falling off, in whole or in part, on four flights, STS-7, STS-32, STS-50. All affected shuttle missions completed successfully, NASA management came to refer to this phenomenon as foam shedding. This phenomenon was termed normalization of deviance by sociologist Diane Vaughan in her book on the Challenger launch decision process. As it happened, STS-112 had been the first flight with the ET Cam, after STS-112, NASA leaders analyzed the situation and decided to press ahead under the justification that he ET is safe to fly with no new concerns of further foam strikes
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
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The crew of
STS-107 in October 2001. From left to right:
Brown,
Husband,
Clark,
Chawla,
Anderson,
McCool,
Ramon
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
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STS-107 flight insignia
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
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Columbia lifting off on its final mission. The light-colored triangle visible at the base of the strut near the nose of the orbiter is the Left Bipod Foam Ramp. Video
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
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Space Shuttle external tank foam block
9.
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
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Launch Complex 39 is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were built for the Apollo program. As of 2017, only Launch Complex 39A is active, launching SpaceXs Falcon 9. LC-39 is also being modified to support launches of the SpaceXs Dragon 2 and Falcon Heavy, as well as NASAs Space Launch System, with a new, smaller pad, C, added to support smaller launches. SpaceX leases Launch Pad 39A from NASA and has modified the pad to support Falcon Heavy launches in 2017 and beyond. NASA began modifying Launch Pad 39B in 2007 to accommodate the now defunct Project Constellation, Pad C was originally planned but never built for Apollo, and would have been a copy of pads 39A and 39B. A smaller pad, designated 39C was constructed from January to June 2015 to accommodate small-class vehicles, NASA launches from LC-39A and 39B have been supervised from the NASA Launch Control Center, located 3 miles from the launch pads. LC-39 is one of launch sites that share radar and tracking services of the Eastern Test Range. During the 1920s, Peter E. Studebaker Jr. son of the automobile magnate, in 1948, the Navy transferred the former Banana River Naval Air Station located south of Cape Canaveral, to the Air Force for use in testing captured German V-2 rockets. The sites location on the East Florida coast was ideal for this purpose in that launches would be over the ocean and this site became the Joint Long Range Proving Ground in 1949, and was renamed Patrick Air Force Base in 1950. The Air Force annexed part of Cape Canaveral to the North in 1951, forming the Air Force Missile Test Center, Missile and rocketry testing and development would take place here through the 1950s. After the creation of NASA in 1958, the CCAFS launch pads were used for NASAs civilian unmanned and manned launches, including those of Project Mercury, in 1961, President Kennedy proposed to Congress the goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. NASA began acquisition of land in 1962, taking title to 131 square miles by outright purchase, on July 1,1962, the site was named the Launch Operations Center. At the time, the highest numbered launch pad on CCAFS was Launch Complex 37 and it was designed to handle launches of the Saturn V rocket, at the time the largest, most powerful rocket then designed, required to take Apollo to the Moon. Initial plans included four pads evenly spaced 8,700 feet apart to damage in the event of an explosion on the pad. Three were scheduled for construction and two would have built at a later date. The numbering of the pads at the time was from north to south, with the northernmost being 39A, Pad 39A was never built, and 39C became 39A in 1963. With todays numbering, 39C would have been north of 39B, Pad 39E would have been due north of the mid-distance between 39C and 39D, with 39E forming the top of a triangle, and equidistant from 39C and 39D
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
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An aerial view of Launch Complex 39
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
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Apollo-Saturn 506 with Apollo 11 spacecraft being moved from the VAB to LC39A
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
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Apollo era walkway and
white room, on display at
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
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Warning lamps showing the planned 3 pads including the unbuilt Pad C
10.
Kennedy Space Center
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The John F. Kennedy Space Center is one of ten National Aeronautics and Space Administration field centers. Since December 1968, Kennedy Space Center has been NASAs primary launch center of human spaceflight, Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources, and even own facilities on each others property. Additionally, the center manages launch of robotic and commercial missions, researches food production and In-Situ Resource Utilization for off Earth exploration. Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user spaceport through industry partnerships, there are about 700 facilities grouped across the centers 144,000 acres. There is also a Visitor Complex open to the public on site, the military had been performing launch operations since 1949 at what would become Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. In December 1959, the Department of Defense transferred 5,000 personnel, President John F. Kennedys 1961 goal of a manned lunar landing before 1970 required an expansion of launch operations. On July 1,1962, the Launch Operations Directorate was separated from MSFC to become the Launch Operations Center, therefore, the decision was made to build a new LOC site located adjacent to Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island. NASA began land acquisition in 1962, buying title to 131 square miles, the major buildings in KSCs Industrial Area were designed by architect Charles Luckman. Construction began in November 1962, and Kennedy visited the site twice in 1962, on November 29,1963, the facility was given its current name by President Lyndon B. Johnson under Executive Order 11129. Johnsons order joined both the civilian LOC and the military Cape Canaveral station under the designation John F. Kennedy Space Center, spawning some confusion joining the two in the public mind. Located on Merritt Island, Florida, the center is north-northwest of Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic Ocean and it is 34 miles long and roughly six miles wide, covering 219 square miles. KSC is a major central Florida tourist destination and is one hours drive from the Orlando area. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex offers public tours of the center, Center workers can encounter bald eagles, American alligators, wild boars, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, the endangered Florida panther and Florida manatees. From 1967 through 1973, there were 13 Saturn V launches, the first of two unmanned flights, Apollo 4 on November 9,1967, was also the first rocket launch from KSC. The Saturn Vs first manned launch on December 21,1968 was Apollo 8s lunar orbiting mission, the next two missions tested the Lunar Module, Apollo 9 and Apollo 10. Apollo 11, launched from Pad A on July 16,1969, Apollo 12 followed four months later. From 1970–1972, the Apollo program concluded at KSC with the launches of missions 13 through 17, on May 14,1973, the last Saturn V launch put the Skylab space station in orbit from Pad 39A
Kennedy Space Center
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Aerial view of
KSC Headquarters looking south
Kennedy Space Center
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KSC shown in white;
CCAFS in green
Kennedy Space Center
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A Saturn V carrying
Apollo 15 rolls out to Pad 39A in 1971 on
Mobile Launch Platform 1.
Kennedy Space Center
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Shuttle Discovery launching from Pad 39A on
STS-60, February 3, 1994
11.
Space Shuttle Orbiter
–
The Space Shuttle orbiter was the reusable spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle program. Six orbiters were built for flight, Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, all were built in Palmdale, California, by the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Rockwell International company. The first orbiter, Enterprise, made its flight in 1977. An unpowered glider, it was carried by a modified Boeing 747 airliner called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and released for a series of atmospheric test flights, Enterprise was partially disassembled and retired after completion of critical testing. The remaining orbiters were fully operational spacecraft, and were launched vertically as part of the Space Shuttle stack, Columbia was the first space-worthy orbiter, and made its inaugural flight in 1981. Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis followed in 1983,1984 and 1985 respectively, in 1986, Challenger was destroyed in an accident shortly after launch. Endeavour was built as Challengers replacement, and was first launched in 1992, in 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry, leaving just three remaining orbiters. Discovery completed its flight on March 9,2011. Atlantis completed the last ever Shuttle flight, STS-135, on July 21,2011, additionally, two reusable solid rocket boosters provided additional thrust for approximately the first two minutes of launch. The orbiters themselves did carry hypergolic propellants for their RCS thrusters, the vertical stabilizer of the orbiter had a leading edge that was swept back at a 45-degree angle. There were four elevons mounted at the edges of the delta wings. These, along with a movable body flap located underneath the main engines, controlled the orbiter during later stages of descent through the atmosphere, overall, the Space Shuttle orbiter was roughly the same size as a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 airliner. This control system carried out the usual attitude control along the pitch, roll, and yaw axes during all of the phases of launching, orbiting. This system also executed any needed orbital maneuvers, including all changes in the altitude, orbital plane. These were all operations that required a lot more power and energy than mere attitude control, the forward rockets of the Reaction Control System, located near the nose of the Space Shuttle orbiter, included 14 primary and two vernier RCS rockets. The aft RCS engines were located in the two Orbital Maneuvering System pods at the rear of the orbiter, and these included 12 primary and two vernier engines in each pod. The RCS also controlled the attitude of the orbiter during most of its re-entry into the Earths atmosphere – until the air became dense enough that the rudder, elevons and body flap became effective. During the early process of the orbiter, the forward RCS thrusters were to be hidden underneath retractable doors
Space Shuttle Orbiter
–
Discovery approaches the
ISS on
STS-121
Space Shuttle Orbiter
–
Space Shuttle forward reaction control thrusters
Space Shuttle Orbiter
–
Space Shuttle
glass cockpit
Space Shuttle Orbiter
–
Atlantis 's main engines during launch
12.
Space Shuttle
–
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System, taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development, the first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. Five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, the Shuttle fleets total mission time was 1322 days,19 hours,21 minutes and 23 seconds. Shuttle components included the Orbiter Vehicle, a pair of solid rocket boosters. The Shuttle was launched vertically, like a rocket, with the two SRBs operating in parallel with the OVs three main engines, which were fueled from the ET. The SRBs were jettisoned before the vehicle reached orbit, and the ET was jettisoned just before orbit insertion, at the conclusion of the mission, the orbiter fired its OMS to de-orbit and re-enter the atmosphere. The orbiter then glided as a spaceplane to a landing, usually at the Shuttle Landing Facility of KSC or Rogers Dry Lake in Edwards Air Force Base. After landing at Edwards, the orbiter was back to the KSC on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The first orbiter, Enterprise, was built in 1976, used in Approach, four fully operational orbiters were initially built, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis. Of these, two were lost in accidents, Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003, with a total of fourteen astronauts killed. A fifth operational orbiter, Endeavour, was built in 1991 to replace Challenger, the Space Shuttle was retired from service upon the conclusion of Atlantiss final flight on July 21,2011. Nixons post-Apollo NASA budgeting withdrew support of all components except the Shuttle. The vehicle consisted of a spaceplane for orbit and re-entry, fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982, all launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The system was retired from service in 2011 after 135 missions, the program ended after Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21,2011. Major missions included launching numerous satellites and interplanetary probes, conducting space science experiments, the first orbiter vehicle, named Enterprise, was built for the initial Approach and Landing Tests phase and lacked engines, heat shielding, and other equipment necessary for orbital flight. A total of five operational orbiters were built, and of these and it was used for orbital space missions by NASA, the US Department of Defense, the European Space Agency, Japan, and Germany. The United States funded Shuttle development and operations except for the Spacelab modules used on D1, sL-J was partially funded by Japan
Space Shuttle
–
Discovery lifts off at the start of
STS-120.
Space Shuttle
–
STS-129 ready for launch
Space Shuttle
–
President Nixon (right) with
NASA Administrator Fletcher in January 1972, three months before Congress approved funding for the Shuttle program
Space Shuttle
–
STS-1 on the launch pad, December 1980
13.
Space policy of the United States
–
The early history of United States space policy is linked to the US–Soviet Space Race of the 1960s, which gave way to the Space Shuttle program. There is a current debate on the post-Space Shuttle future of the space program. Space advocacy organizations may provide advice to the government and lobby for space goals, the President is legally responsible for deciding which space activities fall under the civilian and military areas. The President also consults with the National Security Council, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Office of Management and Budget. Before taking office as President, John F. Kennedy persuaded Congress to amend the Act to allow him to set the precedent of delegating chairmanship of this council to his Vice President, the Council was discontinued in 1973 during the presidency of Richard M. Nixon. In 1989, President George H. W. Bush re-established a differently constituted National Space Council by executive order, International aspects of US space policy may involve diplomatic negotiation with other countries, such as the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. In these cases, the President negotiates and signs the treaty on behalf of the United States according to his constitutional authority, once a request is submitted, the Congress exercises due diligence to approve the policy and authorize a budgetary expenditure for its implementation. In support of this, civilian policies are reviewed by the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee conducts hearings on proposed space treaties, and the various appropriations committees have power over the budgets for space-related agencies. In addition, the Department of Commerces National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operates various services with space components, military space activities are implemented by the Air Force Space Command, Naval Space Command, and Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Funding for space programs occurs through the budget process, where it is mainly considered to be part of the nations science policy. In the Obama administrations budget request for fiscal year 2011, NASA would receive $11.0 billion, out of a total research and development budget of $148.1 billion. Other space activities are funded out of the research and development budget of the Department of Defense, the United States is a party to four of the five space law treaties ratified by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The United States has ratified the Outer Space Treaty, Rescue Agreement, Space Liability Convention, and the Registration Convention, the United Nations General Assembly adopted five declarations and legal principles which encourage exercising the international laws, as well as unified communication between countries. No one nation may claim ownership of space or any celestial body. Objects launched into space are subject to their nation of belonging, including people, objects, parts, and components discovered outside the jurisdiction of a nation will be returned upon identification. If a nation launches an object into space, they are responsible for any damages that occur internationally, prior to the Soviet Unions launch of Sputnik 1, Eisenhower had already authorized Project Vanguard, a scientific satellite program associated with the International Geophysical Year. At the suggestion of Eisenhowers science advisor James R. Killian, the result was the National Aeronautics and Space Act passed in July 1958, which created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Eisenhower appointed T. Keith Glennan as NASAs first Administrator, with the last NACA Director Hugh Dryden serving as his Deputy, NASA as created in the act passed by Congress was substantially stronger than the Eisenhower administrations original proposal
Space policy of the United States
–
President Nixon visits the
Apollo 11 astronauts in
quarantine after observing their landing in the ocean from the deck of the aircraft carrier
USS Hornet.
Space policy of the United States
Space policy of the United States
–
President Reagan delivering the March 23, 1983 speech initiating the
Strategic Defense Initiative.
Space policy of the United States
–
The launch of the
Ares I-X prototype on October 28, 2009 was the only flight performed under the Bush administration's
Constellation program.
14.
Apollo program
–
Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972. In these six spaceflights, twelve men walked on the Moon, Apollo ran from 1961 to 1972, with the first manned flight in 1968. It achieved its goal of manned lunar landing, despite the setback of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a prelaunch test. After the first landing, sufficient flight hardware remained for nine follow-on landings with a plan for extended lunar geological and astrophysical exploration, Budget cuts forced the cancellation of three of these. The crew returned to Earth safely by using the Lunar Module as a lifeboat for these functions, Apollo set several major human spaceflight milestones. It stands alone in sending manned missions beyond low Earth orbit, Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, while the final Apollo 17 mission marked the sixth Moon landing and the ninth manned mission beyond low Earth orbit. The program returned 842 pounds of rocks and soil to Earth, greatly contributing to the understanding of the Moons composition. The program laid the foundation for NASAs subsequent human spaceflight capability, Apollo also spurred advances in many areas of technology incidental to rocketry and manned spaceflight, including avionics, telecommunications, and computers. The Apollo program was conceived during the Eisenhower administration in early 1960, while the Mercury capsule could only support one astronaut on a limited Earth orbital mission, Apollo would carry three astronauts. Possible missions included ferrying crews to a station, circumlunar flights. The program was named after the Greek god of light, music, and the sun by NASA manager Abe Silverstein, who later said that I was naming the spacecraft like Id name my baby. Silverstein chose the name at home one evening, early in 1960, in July 1960, NASA Deputy Administrator Hugh L. Dryden announced the Apollo program to industry representatives at a series of Space Task Group conferences. Preliminary specifications were laid out for a spacecraft with a mission module cabin separate from the module. On August 30, a feasibility study competition was announced, and on October 25, meanwhile, NASA performed its own in-house spacecraft design studies led by Maxime Faget, to serve as a gauge to judge and monitor the three industry designs. In November 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected president after a campaign that promised American superiority over the Soviet Union in the fields of space exploration and missile defense. Beyond military power, Kennedy used aerospace technology as a symbol of prestige, pledging to make the US not first but, first and, first if. Despite Kennedys rhetoric, he did not immediately come to a decision on the status of the Apollo program once he became president and he knew little about the technical details of the space program, and was put off by the massive financial commitment required by a manned Moon landing. On April 12,1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly in space, Kennedy was circumspect in his response to the news, refusing to make a commitment on Americas response to the Soviets
Apollo program
–
Buzz Aldrin (pictured) walked on the
Moon with
Neil Armstrong, on
Apollo 11, July 20–21, 1969
Apollo program
Apollo program
–
President Kennedy delivers his proposal to put a man on the Moon before a joint session of
Congress, May 25, 1961
Apollo program
–
John Houbolt explaining the
LOR concept
15.
Skylab
–
Skylab was the United States first space station, orbiting Earth from 1973 to 1979, when it fell back to Earth amid huge worldwide media attention. Launched and operated by NASA, Skylab included a workshop, a solar observatory and it was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a weight of 170,000 pounds. Lifting Skylab into low earth orbit was the mission and launch of a Saturn V rocket. Skylabs solar observatory was one aspect of study, and solar science was significantly advanced by the telescope. Each of these missions delivered a three-astronaut crew, carried in the Apollo Command/Service Module launched atop the Saturn IB rocket, which is much smaller than the Saturn V. For the final two manned missions to Skylab, a backup Apollo CSM/Saturn IB was assembled and made ready in case a rescue mission was needed. This deprived Skylab of most of its power, and also removed protection from intense solar heating, threatening to make it unusable. However, the first crew was able to save Skylab by deploying a replacement heat shade and freeing the jammed solar panels, Skylab included the Apollo Telescope Mount, Multiple Docking Adapter, Airlock Module with extravehicular activity hatches, and the Orbital Workshop. Electrical power came from solar arrays, as well as cells in the docked Apollo CSM. The rear of the station included a large tank, propellant tanks for maneuvering jets. Numerous scientific experiments were conducted aboard Skylab during its operational life, the Earth Resources Experiment Package was used to view Earth with sensors that recorded data in the visible, infrared, and microwave spectral regions. Plans were made to refurbish and reuse Skylab by using the Space Shuttle to boost its orbit, however, due to delays with the development of the Space Shuttle, Skylabs decaying orbit could not be stopped. In the hours before re-entry, NASA ground controllers attempted to adjust Skylabs trajectory, NASAs attempted target was a spot 810 miles south-southeast of Cape Town, South Africa. Skylab did not burn up as fast as NASA expected, and Skylab debris landed southeast of Perth in Western Australia, over a single property in Esperance,24 pieces of Skylab were found. Analysis of some debris indicated that the Skylab station had disintegrated 10 mi above the Earth, after Skylab, NASA space station/laboratory projects included Spacelab, Shuttle-Mir, and Space Station Freedom. Rocket engineer Wernher von Braun, science fiction writer Arthur C, clarke, and other early advocates of manned space travel, expected until the 1960s that a space station would be an important early step in space exploration. Von Braun participated in the publishing of a series of articles in Colliers magazine from 1952 to 1954. He envisioned a large, circular station 250 feet in diameter that would rotate to generate gravity and require a fleet of 7
Skylab
–
Skylab
Skylab
–
Skylab as SL2 mission departs
Skylab
–
A closeup view of the Skylab space station taken with a hand-held 70 mm Hasselblad camera using a 100 mm lens and SO-368 medium speed Ektachrome film
Skylab
–
Von Braun's sketch of a Space Station based on conversion of a Saturn V stage, 1964.
16.
Constellation program
–
The Constellation Program was a manned spaceflight program developed by NASA, the space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. The major goals of the program were completion of the International Space Station, the programs logo reflected the three stages of the program, the Earth, the Moon, and finally Mars—while the Mars goal also found expression in the name given to the programs booster rockets, Ares. Constellation began in response to the laid out in the Vision for Space Exploration under NASA Administrator Sean OKeefe. Work began on this revised Constellation Program, to send astronauts first to the International Space Station, then to the Moon,2011 fiscal year budget, but later announced changes to the proposal in a major space policy speech at Kennedy Space Center on April 15,2010. Obama signed the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 on October 11, in 2011, NASA announced that it had adopted the design of its new Space Launch System. One of the goals of Constellation was the development of spacecraft. NASA had already begun designing two boosters, the Ares I and Ares V, when the program was created, the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle was designed for the Constellation program as a crew compartment for use in low Earth orbit. Lockheed Martin was selected as the contractor for the Orion project on August 31,2006. NASA initially planned to develop different Orion capsules tailored for specific missions, the Block I Orion was to be used for International Space Station missions and other Earth orbit missions, while the Block II and III variants were designed for deep-space exploration. The Orion Crew Module is designed to be reusable for up to ten flights, Altair was designed to be the main transport vehicle for astronauts on lunar missions. It was to stand 32 feet tall and span 49 feet wide from tip to tip of the landing gear, unlike the Lunar Module, Altair was designed to land in the lunar polar regions favored by NASA for future lunar base construction. Altair, like the Lunar Module, was not designed to be reusable, the Altair descent stage was to be powered by four RL-10 rocket engines, which are also those used in the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V rocket. Alternately, there was a possibility that the original plan of using LOX/CH4–fueled engines on board the Block II Orion CSM. NASA planned to use two separate boosters for the Constellation Program missions – the Ares I for crew and the Ares V for cargo. This would have allowed the two vehicles to be optimized for their respective missions, and allowed a much higher total lift for the Ares V without being cost-prohibitive. The Constellation Program thus combined the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous method adopted by the Apollo programs lunar missions with the Earth Orbit Rendezvous method which had also been considered, the name Ares was chosen for the boosters as a reference to the projects goal of landing on Mars. The numbers I and V were chosen to pay homage to the Saturn rockets of the 1960s, the Orion spacecraft would have been launched into a low Earth orbit by the Ares I rocket, developed by Alliant Techsystems, Rocketdyne, and Boeing. NASA selected the Ares designs for their anticipated overall safety, reliability, as of May 2010, the program got as far as launching the first Ares I-X first-stage flight on October 28,2009 and testing the Orion launch abort system before its cancellation
Constellation program
–
The launch of Ares I prototype,
Ares I-X on October 28, 2009
Constellation program
–
Constellation Program logo
Constellation program
–
Earth Departure Stage
Constellation program
–
Artist's conception of the
Orion Spacecraft in lunar orbit
17.
International Space Station
–
The International Space Station is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, and the ISS is now the largest man-made body in space, the ISS consists of pressurised modules, external trusses, solar arrays, and other components. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, the ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields. The station is suited for the testing of systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon. The ISS maintains an orbit with an altitude of between 330 and 435 km by means of reboost manoeuvres using the engines of the Zvezda module or visiting spacecraft and it completes 15.54 orbits per day. The ISS is the space station to be inhabited by crews, following the Soviet and later Russian Salyut, Almaz. The station has continuously occupied for 16 years and 156 days since the arrival of Expedition 1 on 2 November 2000. This is the longest continuous presence in low Earth orbit. It has been visited by astronauts, cosmonauts and space tourists from 17 different nations, Soyuz has very limited downmass capability. The ISS programme is a joint project among five participating space agencies, NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, the ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The station is divided two sections, the Russian Orbital Segment and the United States Orbital Segment, which is shared by many nations. As of January 2014, the American portion of ISS is being funded until 2024, Roscosmos has endorsed the continued operation of ISS through 2024 but has proposed using elements of the Russian Orbital Segment to construct a new Russian space station called OPSEK. On 28 March 2015, Russian sources announced that Roscosmos and NASA had agreed to collaborate on the development of a replacement for the current ISS. NASA later issued a statement expressing thanks for Russias interest in future co-operation in space exploration. According to the original Memorandum of Understanding between NASA and Rosaviakosmos, the International Space Station was intended to be a laboratory, observatory and factory in low Earth orbit. It was also planned to provide transportation, maintenance, and act as a base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars. In the 2010 United States National Space Policy, the ISS was given roles of serving commercial, diplomatic. The ISS provides a platform to conduct scientific research, the ISS simplifies individual experiments by eliminating the need for separate rocket launches and research staff
International Space Station
–
International Space Station
International Space Station
–
Sunrise at Zvezda
International Space Station
–
Fisheye view of several labs
International Space Station
–
CubeSats are deployed by the
NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer attached to the end of the Japanese robotic arm
18.
Project Gemini
–
Project Gemini was NASAs second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966, the Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews flew low Earth orbit missions between 1965 and 1966 putting the United States in the lead during the Cold War Space Race against the Soviet Union, geminis objective was the development of space travel techniques to support the Apollo mission to land astronauts on the Moon. With these new techniques proven by Gemini, Apollo could pursue its mission without doing these fundamental exploratory operations. All Gemini flights were launched from Launch Complex 19 at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station in Florida and their launch vehicle was the Gemini–Titan II, a modified Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. Gemini was the first program to use the newly built Mission Control Center at the Houston Manned Spacecraft Center for flight control, the astronaut corps that supported Project Gemini included the Mercury Seven, The New Nine, and the 1963 astronaut class. During the program, three died in air crashes during training, including the prime crew for Gemini 9. This mission was performed by the crew, the only time that had happened in NASAs history to date. Gemini was robust enough that the United States Air Force planned to use it for the Manned Orbital Laboratory program, geminis chief designer, Jim Chamberlin, also made detailed plans for cislunar and lunar landing missions in late 1961. He believed Gemini could perform lunar operations before Project Apollo, NASAs administration did not approve those plans. In 1969, McDonnell-Douglas proposed a Big Gemini that could have used to shuttle up to 12 astronauts to the planned space stations in the Apollo Applications Project. The only AAP project funded was Skylab – which used existing spacecraft and he presented two initial versions of Gemini at a NASA retreat at Wallops Island in March 1961. Scale models of Mercury Mark II were shown in July 1961 at McDonnell Aircraft Corporations offices in St. Louis, NASA approved Project Gemini on December 7,1961. The McDonnell corporation was contracted to build it on December 22,1961, when it was publicly announced on January 3,1962, it was formally re-christened Project Gemini. Gemini in Latin means twins or double, which reflected that the spacecraft would hold two astronauts, Gemini is also the name of the third constellation of the Zodiac and its twin stars, Castor and Pollux. He was previously the chief aerodynamicist on Avro Canadas Avro Arrow fighter interceptor program, Chamberlin joined NASA along with 25 senior Avro engineers after cancellation of the Arrow program, and became head of the U. S. Space Task Group’s engineering division in charge of Gemini, the prime contractor was McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, which was also the prime contractor for the Project Mercury capsule. Astronaut Gus Grissom was heavily involved in the development and design of the Gemini spacecraft, the Gemini program was managed by the Manned Spacecraft Center, located in Houston, Texas, under direction of the Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D. C
Project Gemini
–
A cutaway illustration of the Gemini spacecraft
Project Gemini
–
Project Gemini
Project Gemini
–
Gemini paraglider during tests at
Edwards Air Force Base in August 1964.
Project Gemini
–
Astronauts White and McDivitt inside the Gemini 4 spacecraft, 1965
19.
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
–
The project was developed from several early Air Force and NASA concepts of manned space stations to be used for reconnaissance purposes. MOL evolved into a laboratory, with which crews would be launched on 40-day missions and return to Earth using a Gemini B spacecraft. The MOL program was announced to the public on 10 December 1963 as a platform to prove the utility of man in space for military missions. Astronauts selected for the program were later told of the mission for the program. The contractor for the MOL was the Douglas Aircraft Company, MOL was cancelled in 1969, during the height of the Apollo program, when it was shown that unmanned reconnaissance satellites could achieve the same objectives much more cost-effectively. U. S. space station development was pursued with the civilian NASA Skylab which flew in the mid-1970s. In the 1970s, the Soviet Union launched three Almaz military space stations, similar in intent to the MOL, but cancelled the program in 1977 for the same reasons, the MOL was planned to use a helium-oxygen atmosphere. It used a Gemini B spacecraft as a reentry vehicle, the crew were to be launched using a Titan 3M with the stacked Gemini B and MOL, and returned to Earth in the Gemini B. They would conduct up to 40 days of military reconnaissance using large optics, cameras, the USAF Astronaut Maneuvering Unit was developed for the MOL project. In response to the announcement of the MOL, the Soviet Union commissioned the development of its own space station. Three Almaz space stations flew as Salyut space stations, and the program developed a military add-on used on Salyut 6. Externally it was similar to Gemini, but featured a rear hatch for the crew to enter MOL, Gemini B would be launched with the MOL space station. Once in orbit, the crew would power down the capsule, after about one month of space station operations, the crew would return to the Gemini B capsule, separate from the station and perform reentry. Test flight OPS0855 for MOL was launched on 3 November 1966 at 13,50,42 UTC on a Titan IIIC-9 from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40. The flight consisted of a MOL mockup built from a Titan II propellant tank, after the Gemini B separated for a sub-orbital reentry, the MOL mockup continued into orbit and released three satellites. A hatch installed in the Geminis heat shield—intended to provide access to the MOL during manned operations—was tested during the capsules reentry, the Gemini capsule was recovered near Ascension Island in the South Atlantic by the USS La Salle after a flight of 33 minutes. The Gemini 2 capsule used in the flight of the MOL program is on display at the Air Force Space & Missile Museum at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A test article at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB and it is recognized by its distinctive US Air Force written on the side, and the circular hatch cut through the heat shield
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
–
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
–
14 of the 17 MOL astronauts: Top row L-R: Herres, Hartsfield, Overmyer, Fullerton, Crippen, Peterson, Bobko, Abrahamson. Bottom Row L-R: Finley, Lawyer, Taylor, Crews, Neubeck, Truly.
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
–
MOL test launch
OPS 0855, 3 November 1966, Cape Canaveral, Fla.
20.
Manned Venus Flyby
–
A number of proposals for a manned Venus flyby have been considered since the start of the space age. NASA considered a manned fly-by of Venus in the mid-1960s as part of the Apollo Applications Program, launch would have taken place on October 31,1973, with a Venus flyby on March 3,1974 and return to Earth on December 1,1974. The proposed mission would use a Saturn V to send three men to fly past Venus in a flight which would last approximately one year, the S-IVB stage would be a wet workshop similar to the original design of Skylab. In this concept, the interior of the tanks would be filled with living quarters. The S-IVB would then be filled with fuel as normal and used to accelerate the craft on its way to Venus, once the burn was complete, any remaining fuel was vented to space, and then the tank could be used as living space. Only so much equipment could be carried in the tank without taking up too much room, while other pieces could not be immersed in liquid hydrogen. To maximize the amount of space available in area, the Service Propulsion System engine of the CSM would be replaced by two LM Descent Propulsion System engines. These had much smaller engine bells, and would lie within the Service Module instead of extending out the end into the SLA area and this also provided redundancy in the case of a single-engine failure. These engines were responsible for course correction during the flight as well as the braking burn for Earth re-entry. Unlike the Apollo lunar missions, the CSM would perform its transposition and this meant the astronauts would fly eyeballs-out, the thrust of the engine pushing them out of their seats rather than into them. The mission would measure, Atmospheric density, temperature and pressure as functions of altitude, latitude, definition of the planetary surface and its properties. Chemical composition of the low atmosphere and the planetary surface, ionospheric data such as radio reflectivity and electron density and properties of cloud layers. Optical astronomy - UV and IR measurements above the Earths atmosphere to aid in the determination of the distribution of hydrogen. Solar astronomy - UV, X-ray and possible infrared measurements of the solar spectrum, data on the Earth-Venus interplanetary environment, including particulate radiation, magnetic fields and meteoroids. Phase A of the plan would have launched a wet workshop S-IVB, after evaluating the use of the S-IVB as a long-term habitat for astronauts, they would separate the CSM from the S-IVB and return to Earth. Phase B would test the Venus flyby spacecraft in a long mission in high orbit. Power would probably be provided by solar panels similar to those used on Skylab, similarly the fuel cells in the SM used to provide power on lunar flights would be replaced by batteries which would provide enough power for the duration of launch and re-entry operations. This would put them into an elliptical orbit which would typically bring them back to Earth for a re-entry two to three days later
Manned Venus Flyby
–
Cutaway diagram of the Venus flyby spacecraft.
Manned Venus Flyby
–
Diagram of the planned development phases of the Venus flyby spacecraft.
Manned Venus Flyby
–
Mockup of Phase-A test, in an 'eyeballs-out' burn. (From
Orbiter Space Flight Simulator)
Manned Venus Flyby
–
Orbiters
21.
Project Mercury
–
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit, taken over from the U. S. Air Force by the newly created civilian space agency NASA, it conducted twenty unmanned developmental flights, and six successful flights by astronauts. The program, which took its name from the god of travel in Roman mythology, cost $277 million in 1965 US dollars, the astronauts were collectively known as the Mercury Seven, and each spacecraft was given a name ending with a 7 by its pilot. The Space Race began with the 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 and this came as a shock to the American public, and led to the creation of NASA to expedite existing U. S. space exploration efforts, and place most of them under civilian control. After the successful launch of the Explorer 1 satellite in 1958, the Soviet Union put the first human, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, into a single orbit aboard Vostok 1 on April 12,1961. Shortly after this, on May 5, the U. S. launched its first astronaut, Alan Shepard, Soviet Gherman Titov followed with a day-long orbital flight in August 1961. The U. S. reached its goal on February 20,1962. When Mercury ended in May 1963, both nations had sent six people into space, but the Soviets led the U. S. in total spent in space. The Mercury space capsule was produced by McDonnell Aircraft, and carried supplies of water, food, Mercury flights were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, on launch vehicles modified from the Redstone and Atlas D missiles. The capsule was fitted with an escape rocket to carry it safely away from the launch vehicle in case of a failure. The flight was designed to be controlled from the ground via the Manned Space Flight Network, small retrorockets were used to bring the spacecraft out of its orbit, after which an ablative heat shield protected it from the heat of atmospheric reentry. Finally, a parachute slowed the craft for a water landing, both astronaut and capsule were recovered by helicopters deployed from a U. S. Navy ship. After a slow start riddled with humiliating mistakes, the Mercury project gained popularity, its missions followed by millions on radio, Project Mercury was officially approved on October 7,1958 and publicly announced on December 17. Originally called Project Astronaut, President Dwight Eisenhower felt that too much attention to the pilot. Instead, the name Mercury was chosen from classical mythology, which had already lent names to rockets like the Greek Atlas and Roman Jupiter for the SM-65 and it absorbed military projects with the same aim, such as the Air Force Man In Space Soonest. Following the end of World War II, an arms race evolved between the U. S. and the Soviet Union. The rocket technology in turn enabled both sides to develop Earth-orbiting satellites for communications, and gathering data and intelligence. Americans were shocked when the Soviet Union placed the first satellite into orbit in October 1957, a month later, the Soviets launched Sputnik 2, carrying a dog into orbit
Project Mercury
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Wallops Island test facility, 1961
Project Mercury
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Project Mercury
Project Mercury
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Mercury Control Center, Cape Canaveral, 1963
Project Mercury
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Robert R. Gilruth, head of Space Task Group, 1969
22.
Orion (spacecraft)
–
The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle is an American spacecraft intended to carry a crew of four astronauts to destinations at or beyond low Earth orbit. The Orion MPCV was announced by NASA on May 24,2011 and its design is based on the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle from the cancelled Constellation program. The Orion command module is being built by Lockheed Martin at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the Orion Service Module, provided by the European Space Agency, is being built by Airbus Defence and Space. However, a July 2016 Government Accountability Office report cast doubt on even the 2023 launch date, the report gave only a 40% confidence in the 2021 launch date, and suggested the aggressive goal may be counterproductive to the program. On January 14,2004, U. S. President George W. Bush announced the Crew Exploration Vehicle as part of the Vision for Space Exploration. The CEV effectively replaced the conceptual Orbital Space Plane, which was proposed after the cancellation of the Lockheed Martin X-33 program to produce a replacement for the space shuttle. Constellation proposed using the Orion CEV in both crew and cargo variants to support the International Space Station and as a vehicle for a return to the Moon. The Orion CEV weighs about 23 tonnes, less than the 30 tonne Apollo command/service module, the crew module would weigh about 8.9 tonnes, greater than the equivalent Apollo command module at 5.8 tonnes. With a diameter of 5 metres as opposed to 3.9 metres, the Orion CEV design consisted of two main parts, a conical crew module and a cylindrical service module holding the spacecrafts propulsion system and expendable supplies. Both were based substantially on the Apollo command and service modules flown between 1967 and 1975, on May 7,2009, the Obama administration enlisted the Augustine Commission to perform a full independent review of the ongoing NASA space exploration program. As a consequence, the commission recommended a significant re-allocation of goals, as one of the many outcomes based on these recommendations, on October 11,2010, the Constellation program was cancelled, ending development of the Altair, Ares I, and Ares V. The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle survived the cancellation and was renamed the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the Orion MPCV takes basic design elements from the Apollo Command Module that took astronauts to the moon, but its technology and capability are more advanced. It is designed to support long-duration deep space missions, with up to 21 days active crew time plus 6 months quiescent, during the quiescent period crew life support would be provided by another module such as a Deep Space Habitat. The spacecrafts life support, propulsion, thermal protection and avionics systems are designed to be upgradeable as new technologies become available, the MPCV spacecraft includes both crew and service modules, and a spacecraft adaptor. The MPCVs crew module is larger than Apollos and can support more crew members for short or long-duration missions, the service module fuels and propels the spacecraft as well as storing oxygen and water for astronauts. The service modules structure is also being designed to provide locations to mount scientific experiments, the crew module is the only part of the MPCV that returns to Earth after each mission and is a 57. 5° frustum shape, similar to that of the Apollo command module. As projected, the CM will be 5.02 meters in diameter and 3.3 meters in length, with a mass of about 8.5 metric tons and it was manufactured by the Lockheed Martin Corporation. It will have more than 50% more volume than the Apollo capsule, which had a volume of 5.9 m3
Orion (spacecraft)
–
Orion
Orion (spacecraft)
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Orion CEV design as of 2009.
Orion (spacecraft)
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Interior of the Orion mock-up in October 2014.
Orion (spacecraft)
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Test of Orion's parachute system in July 2012.
23.
Space Transportation System
–
In February 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed a Space Task Group headed by Vice President Spiro Agnew to recommend human space projects beyond Apollo. The systems major components consisted of, a permanent space station designed for 6 to 12 occupants, in a 270-nautical-mile Earth orbit. Modules could be combined in Earth orbit to create a 50 to 100 person permanent station, the tug and ferry vehicles would be of a modular design, allowing them to be clustered and/or staged for large payloads or interplanetary missions. The system would be supported by permanent Earth and lunar orbital propellant depots, the Saturn V might still have been used as a heavy lift launch vehicle for the nuclear ferry and space station modules. A special Mars Excursion Module would be the remaining vehicle necessary for a human Mars landing. Based on this, Nixon rejected all parts of the program except the Space Shuttle which inherited the STS name, as funded, the Shuttle was greatly scaled back from its planned degree of reusability, and deferred in time. The Shuttle first flew in 1981, and was retired in 2011, a second part of the system, Space Station Freedom, was approved in the early 1980s and announced in 1984 by president Ronald Reagan. However, this became politically unviable by 1993, and was replaced with the International Space Station. The ISS was completed in 2010, the space has a propulsion, crew, and cargo modules. Report of the Space Task Group,1969, the Space Shuttle Decision, NASAs Search for a Reusable Space Vehicle. Washington, DC, National Aeronautics and Space Administration,1999, the Space Shuttle Decision, NASAs Search for a Reusable Space Vehicle. Washington, DC, National Aeronautics and Space Administration,1999, NASA Report, Technical Study for the Use of the Saturn 5, INT-21 and Other Saturn 5 Derivatives to Determine an Optimum Fourth Stage. Volume 1, Technical Volume, Book 1, Web Address when accessed, http, //ntrs. nasa. gov/archive/nasa/casi. ntrs. nasa. gov/19810065609_1981065609. pdf Dewar, to The End Of The Solar System, The Story Of The Nuclear Rocket, Apogee, December 2003. ISBN0813122678 Beyond Apollo, Five options for NASAs future, archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Report of the Space Task Group,1969
Space Transportation System
–
Early North American Rockwell shuttle concept, 1969
Space Transportation System
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1971 Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) concept drawing of the space tug
Space Transportation System
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1971 MSFC drawing illustrates use of the nuclear shuttle (ferry) for lunar orbit, or Mars orbit missions
24.
Shuttle-Mir Program
–
The project helped to prepare the way for further cooperative space ventures, specifically, Phase Two of the joint project, the construction of the International Space Station. The program was announced in 1993, the first mission started in 1994, eleven Space Shuttle missions, a joint Soyuz flight and almost 1000 cumulative days in space for American astronauts occurred over the course of seven long-duration expeditions. The construction of the Mir-2 space station as a replacement for the aging Mir became illusionary, though only after its base block, in June 1992, American President George H. W. In September 1993, American Vice-President Al Gore, Jr. and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced plans for a new space station, which eventually became the International Space Station. They also agreed, in preparation for new project, that the United States would be heavily involved in the Mir project in the years ahead. The first Space Shuttle flight to Mir was a mission without docking on STS-63. This was followed during the course of the project by a total of 9 Shuttle-Mir docking missions, the Shuttle rotated crews and delivered supplies, and one mission, STS-74, carried a docking module and a pair of solar arrays to Mir. Various scientific experiments were conducted, both on shuttle flights and long-term aboard the station. In addition to the flights of the Shuttle to Mir, Phase One also featured seven Increments aboard the station, long-duration flights aboard Mir by American astronauts. They also assisted in the maintenance and repair of the station, following various incidents with fires, collisions, power losses, uncontrolled spins. Mir was constructed between 1986 and 1996 and was the worlds first modular space station and it was the first consistently inhabited long-term research station in space, and previously held the record for longest continuous human presence in space, at eight days short of ten years. The station existed until March 23,2001, at which point it was deliberately deorbited, Mir was based upon the Salyut series of space stations previously launched by the Soviet Union, and was mainly serviced by Russian-manned Soyuz spacecraft and Progress cargo ships. The Buran space shuttle was anticipated to visit Mir, but its program was canceled after its first unmanned spaceflight, nASAs Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System, is the United States governments most recent manned launch vehicle. A total of five usable orbiters were built, of three were in use until the programs retirement in 2011. The winged shuttle Orbiter is launched vertically, usually carrying five to seven astronauts along with up to 50,000 pounds of payload into low earth orbit, when its mission is complete, it fires its manoeuvring thrusters to drop out of orbit and re-enters the Earths atmosphere. During the descent and landing, the shuttle Orbiter acts as a glider, the Shuttle is the first orbital spacecraft designed for partial reusability. It carries large payloads to various orbits, and, during the Shuttle–Mir and ISS programs, provides crew rotation, each Shuttle was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or 10 years operational life. In total 9 docking missions were flown to Mir, from 1995 to 1997 during Phase One, Space Shuttle Atlantis docked 7 times to Mir, with Discovery and Endeavour each flying one docking mission to Mir
Shuttle-Mir Program
–
Space Shuttle Atlantis docked to Mir on
STS-71
Shuttle-Mir Program
–
Contents
Shuttle-Mir Program
–
The seven American astronauts who carried out long-duration Increments on Mir
Shuttle-Mir Program
–
The view of Mir from
Space Shuttle Discovery as it left the station during
STS-91
25.
Project Vanguard
–
In response to the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4,1957, the U. S. restarted the Explorer program, which had been proposed earlier by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. Privately, however, the CIA and President Dwight D. Eisenhower were aware of progress being made by the Soviets on Sputnik from secret spy plane imagery, together with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ABMA built Explorer 1 and launched it on January 31,1958. Before work was completed, however, the Soviet Union launched a satellite, Sputnik 2. Meanwhile, the televised failure of Vanguard TV3 on December 6,1957 deepened American dismay over the countrys position in the Space Race. On March 17,1958, Vanguard 1 became the second artificial satellite successfully placed in Earth orbit by the United States and it was the first solar-powered satellite. Just 152 mm in diameter and weighing just 1.4 kg, Vanguard 1 was described by then-Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev as, The grapefruit satellite. Vanguard 1 is the oldest artificial satellite still in space, as Vanguards predecessors, Sputnik 1, Sputnik 2, and Explorer 1, have decayed from orbit. In the early 1950s, the American Rocket Society set up an ad hoc Committee on Space Flight, of which Milton W. Rosen, NRL project manager for the Viking rocket, the report was submitted to the NSF early in 1955. As part of planning for the International Geophysical Year, the U. S. publicly undertook to place a satellite with a scientific experiment into orbit around the Earth. Proposals to do this were presented by the United States Air Force, the United States Army, and the United States Navy. The Army Ballistic Missile Agency under Dr. Wernher von Braun had suggested using a modified Redstone rocket while the Air Force had proposed using the Atlas rocket, the Navy proposed designing a rocket system based on the Viking and Aerobee rocket systems. The Air Force proposal was not seriously considered, as Atlas development was years behind the other vehicles, meanwhile, the NRL proposal detailed all three aspects of the mission. Accomplish a scientific experiment in orbit, track the satellite and ensure its attainment of orbit. Another consideration was that the Navy proposal used civilian sounding rockets rather than military missiles, which were considered inappropriate for peaceful scientific exploration. What went unstated at the time was that the U. S. already had a satellite program underway, WS-117. The US government was concerned that the Soviets would object to military satellites overflying the Soviet Union as they had to various aircraft incursions and the balloons of the Genetrix project. The idea was if a clearly civilian and scientific satellite went up first, the Soviets might not object. Designated Project Vanguard, the program was placed under Navy management, the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington was given overall responsibility, while initial funding came from the National Science Foundation
Project Vanguard
–
Vanguard rocket on Pad LC-18A
Project Vanguard
–
Vanguard TV3 in previous display at the National Air and Space Museum. The antenna rods should extend radially from the body of the satellite, but are bent as a result of damage sustained in the launch failure.
Project Vanguard
–
Vanguard rocket explodes seconds after launch at Cape Canaveral (December 6, 1957).
26.
Explorer 1
–
Explorer 1 was the first satellite of the United States, launched as part of its participation in the International Geophysical Year. The mission followed the first two satellites the previous year, the Soviet Unions Sputnik 1 and 2, beginning the Cold War Space Race between the two nations. Explorer 1 was launched on January 31,1958 at 22,48 Eastern Time atop the first Juno booster from LC-26 at the Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida. It was the first spacecraft to detect the Van Allen radiation belt and it remained in orbit until 1970, and has been followed by more than 90 scientific spacecraft in the Explorer series. Explorer 1 was given Satellite Catalog Number 4, and the Harvard designation 1958 Alpha 1, the forerunner to the modern International Designator. Earth satellite program began in 1954 as a joint U. S. Army and U. S. Navy proposal, called Project Orbiter, to put a scientific satellite into orbit during the International Geophysical Year. The proposal, using a military Redstone missile, was rejected in 1955 by the Eisenhower administration in favor of the Navys Project Vanguard, using a booster advertised as more civilian in nature. Following the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 on October 4,1957, the Jupiter-C design used for the launch had already been flight-tested in nose cone reentry tests for the Jupiter IRBM, and was modified into Juno I. Working closely together, ABMA and JPL completed the job of modifying the Jupiter-C, however, before work was completed, the Soviet Union launched a second satellite, Sputnik 2, on November 3,1957. The U. S. Navys attempt to put the first U. S. satellite into orbit failed with the launch of the Vanguard TV3 on December 6,1957. Explorer 1 was designed and built by the California Institute of Technologys JPL under the direction of Dr. William H. Pickering and it was the second satellite to carry a mission payload. The total weight of the satellite was 13.37 kilograms, in comparison, the first Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 weighed 83.6 kg. The instrument section at the front end of the satellite and the empty scaled-down fourth-stage rocket casing orbited as a single unit, data from the scientific instruments was transmitted to the ground by two antennas. This was an early time frame in the development of transistor technology. A total of 29 transistors were used in Explorer 1, plus additional ones in the Armys micrometeorite amplifier, electrical power was provided by mercury chemical batteries that made up approximately 40 percent of the payload weight. The external skin of the instrument section was sandblasted stainless steel with white stripes, the final coloration was determined by studies of shadow–sunlight intervals based on firing time, trajectory, orbit, and inclination. The Explorer 1 payload consisted of the Iowa Cosmic Ray Instrument without a data recorder which was not modified in time to make it onto the spacecraft. The real-time data received on the ground was very sparse and puzzling showing normal counting rates
Explorer 1
–
Photograph of the Explorer 1
Explorer 1
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Explorer 1 is mated to its booster at LC-26
Explorer 1
–
Explorer 1 schematic
Explorer 1
–
William Hayward Pickering,
James Van Allen, and
Wernher von Braun display a full-scale model of Explorer 1 at a crowded news conference in Washington, DC after confirmation the satellite was in orbit.
27.
Pioneer program
–
The Pioneer program is a series of United States unmanned space missions that were designed for planetary exploration. There were a number of missions in the program, but the most notable were Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 carry a golden plaque, depicting a man and a woman and information about the origin and the creators of the probes, should any extraterrestrials find them someday. Credit for naming the first probe has been attributed to Stephen A. Saliga, while he was at a briefing, the spacecraft was described to him as a lunar-orbiting vehicle with an infrared scanning device. Saliga thought the title too long and lacked theme for an exhibit design, the earliest missions were attempts to achieve Earths escape velocity, simply to show it was feasible and study the Moon. This included the first launch by NASA which was formed from the old NACA and these missions were carried out by the US Air Force and Army. Most missions here are listed with their most recognised name, while successful, the missions returned much poorer images than the Voyager program probes would five years later. In 1978, the end of the program saw a return to the inner Solar System, with the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe, the new missions were numbered from Pioneer 6.8 AU distance to the Sun. Their orbital periods are slightly shorter than Earths. Pioneer 7 and Pioneer 8 are in orbits with 1.1 AU distance to the Sun. Their orbital periods are slightly longer than Earths. Since the probes orbital periods differ from that of the Earth, from time to time, the probes can sense parts of the Sun several days before the Suns rotation reveals it to ground-based Earth orbiting observatories. If a powerful solar magnetic storm is formed, they can warn Earth in advance, Pioneer 10 – Jupiter, interstellar medium, launched March 1972 Pioneer 11 – Jupiter, Saturn, interstellar medium, launched April 1973 Pioneer H – identical to Pioneers 10 and 11. Proposed out-of-the-ecliptic mission for 1974, but was not built
Pioneer program
–
Pioneer 10, undergoing construction in 1971. Pioneer 10 and
11 are the most famous probes in the Pioneer program, the first probes to visit the
outer planets, and the first to go beyond the orbit of
Pluto.
Pioneer program
–
The
Pioneer plaque attached to Pioneers 10 and 11
Pioneer program
–
Artist's conception of the Pioneer 6–9 spacecraft
Pioneer program
–
Artist's conception of the Pioneer Venus spacecraft
28.
Mariner program
–
The program included a number of firsts, including the first planetary flyby, the first planetary orbiter, and the first gravity assist maneuver. Of the ten vehicles in the Mariner series, seven were successful, other Mariner-based spacecraft, launched since Voyager, included the Magellan probe to Venus, and the Galileo probe to Jupiter. A second-generation Mariner spacecraft, called the Mariner Mark II series, eventually evolved into the Cassini–Huygens probe, the total cost of the Mariner program was approximately $554 million. Mariner 2 was based on the Ranger Lunar probe, all of the Mariners launched after Mariner 2 had four solar panels for power, except for Mariner 10, which had two. Additionally, all except Mariner 1, Mariner 2 and Mariner 5 had TV cameras, the first five Mariners were launched on Atlas-Agena rockets, while the last five used the Atlas-Centaur. All Mariner-based probes after Mariner 10 used the Titan IIIE, Titan IV unmanned rockets or the Space Shuttle with a solid-fueled Inertial Upper Stage and multiple planetary flybys. Mariners, Mariner 1 Mariner 2 Mariner 3 Mariner 4 Mariner 5 Mariner 6 Mariner 7 Mariner 8 Mariner 9 Mariner 10 Mariner 1, a secondary objective was to make interplanetary magnetic field and/or particle measurements on the way to, and in the vicinity of, Venus. Mariner 1 was launched on July 22,1962, but was destroyed approximately 5 minutes after liftoff by the Air Force Range Safety Officer when its malfunctioning Atlas-Agena rocket went off course. Mariner 2 was launched on August 27,1962, sending it on a 3½-month flight to Venus, the mission was a success, and Mariner 2 became the first spacecraft to have flown by another planet. Mariner 2 – Defunct after successful mission, occupies a heliocentric orbit, sisterships Mariner 3 and Mariner 4 were Mars flyby missions. Mariner 3 was lost when the vehicles nose fairing failed to jettison. Mariner 4, launched on November 28,1964, was the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, Mariner 4 – Communications lost after bombardment by micrometeoroids. The Mariner 5 spacecraft was launched to Venus on June 14,1967, Mariners 6 and 7 were identical teammates in a two-spacecraft mission to Mars. Mariner 6 was launched on February 24,1969, followed by Mariner 7 on March 21,1969 and they flew over the equator and southern hemisphere of the planet Mars. Mariner 8 and Mariner 9 were identical sister craft designed to map the Martian surface simultaneously and its identical sister craft, Mariner 9, was launched in May 1971 and became the first artificial satellite of Mars. It entered Martian orbit in November 1971 and began photographing the surface and analyzing the atmosphere with its infrared, in Areocentric orbit until at least 2022 when it is projected to fall out of orbit and into the Martian atmosphere. It was also the first spacecraft to encounter two planets at close range, and for 33 years the spacecraft to photograph Mercury in closeup. Mission, plasma, charged particles, magnetic fields, radio occultation and celestial mechanics Status, Mariner Jupiter-Saturn was approved in 1972 after the cancellation of the Grand Tour program, which proposed visiting all the outer planets with multiple spacecraft
Mariner program
–
Launch of
Mariner 1 in 1962
Mariner program
–
This 1963 photo shows Dr.
William H. Pickering, (center) JPL Director, presenting a Mariner 2 spacecraft model to President
John F. Kennedy, (right). NASA Administrator
James Webb is standing directly behind the Mariner model
Mariner program
Mariner program
29.
Ranger program
–
The Ranger program was a series of unmanned space missions by the United States in the 1960s whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon. The Ranger spacecraft were designed to take images of the lunar surface, a series of mishaps, however, led to the failure of the first six flights. At one point, the program was called shoot and hope, congress launched an investigation into “problems of management” at NASA Headquarters and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. After two reorganizations of the agencies, Ranger 7 successfully returned images in July 1964, followed by two successful missions. Ranger was originally designed, beginning in 1959, in three phases, called blocks. Each block had different mission objectives and progressively more advanced system design, the JPL mission designers planned multiple launches in each block, to maximize the engineering experience and scientific value of the mission and to assure at least one successful flight. Total research, development, launch, and support costs for the Ranger series of spacecraft was approximately $170 million, each of the block III Ranger spacecraft had six cameras on board. The cameras were fundamentally the same differences in exposure times, fields of view, lenses. The camera system was divided into two channels, P and F, each channel was self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters. The F-channel had two cameras, the wide-angle A-camera and the narrow angle B-camera, the P-channel had four cameras, P1 and P2 and P3 and P4. The final F-channel image was taken between 2.5 and 5 seconds before impact and the last P-channel image 0.2 to 0.4 seconds before impact, the images provided better resolution than was available from Earth-based views by a factor of 1000. In 1962, JPL utilized the Ranger 1 and Ranger 2 design for the failed Mariner 1, the three missions together demonstrated good performance of the Atlas/Agena B launch vehicle and the adequacy of the spacecraft design, but unfortunately not both on the same attempt. Ranger 3 had problems with both the vehicle and the spacecraft, missed the Moon by about 36,800 km. Ranger 4 had a launch, but the spacecraft was completely disabled. The project team tracked the seismometer capsule to impact just out of sight on the far side, validating the communications. Ranger 5 missed the Moon and was disabled, no significant science information was gleaned from these missions. Around the end of Block 2, it was discovered that a type of diode used in previous missions produced problematic gold-plate flaking in the conditions of space and this may have been responsible for some of the failures. The first of the new series, Ranger 6, had a flight, except that the television system was disabled by an in-flight accident
Ranger program
–
First image of the Moon returned by a Ranger mission (Ranger 7 in 1964)
Ranger program
–
Ranger block I spacecraft diagram. (NASA)
Ranger program
–
Ranger block II spacecraft diagram. (NASA)
Ranger program
30.
Surveyor program
–
The Surveyor program was a NASA program that, from June 1966 through January 1968, sent seven robotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon. Its primary goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of soft landings on the Moon, the Surveyor craft were the first American spacecraft to achieve soft landing on an extraterrestral body. The program was implemented by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory to prepare for the Apollo program, JPL selected Hughes Aircraft to develop the spacecraft system. The total cost of the Surveyor program was officially $469 million, five of the Surveyor craft successfully soft-landed on the moon, including the first one. The other two failed, Surveyor 2 crashed at high velocity after a failed mid-course correction, and Surveyor 4 was lost to contact 2.5 minutes before its scheduled touch-down, all seven spacecraft are still on the Moon, none of the missions included returning them to Earth. Some parts of Surveyor 3 were returned to Earth by the crew of Apollo 12, the camera from this craft is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The program performed several other services beyond its primary goal of demonstrating soft landings, the ability of spacecraft to make midcourse corrections was demonstrated, and the landers carried instruments to help evaluate the suitability of their landing sites for manned Apollo landings. Several Surveyor spacecraft had robotic shovels designed to test lunar soil mechanics, before the Soviet Luna 9 mission and the Surveyor project, it was unknown how deep the dust on the Moon was. If the dust was too deep, then no astronaut could land, the Surveyor program proved that landings were possible. Some of the Surveyors also had alpha scattering instruments and magnets, the Surveyor missions were the first time that NASA tested such systems in the challenging thermal and radiation environment near the Moon. Each Surveyor mission consisted of an unmanned spacecraft designed and built by Hughes Aircraft Company. The launch vehicle was the Atlas-Centaur, which injected the craft directly into trans-lunar flightpath. The remainder of the trip to the surface, lasting about 2.5 minutes, was handled by smaller doppler radar units and three vernier engines running on liquid fuels fed to them using pressurized helium. The last 3.4 meters to the surface was accomplished in free fall from zero velocity at that height and this resulted in a landing speed of about 3 m/s. Surveyor 1 required a total of about 63 hours to reach the Moon, the launch weights of the seven Surveyors ranged from 995.2 kilograms to 1,040 kilograms, and their landing weights ranged from 294.3 kilograms to 306 kilograms. There were seven Surveyor missions, five were successful, Apollo 12s Lunar Module Intrepid landed 600 feet from Surveyor 3, as planned. Surveyor 3s TV and telemetry systems were found to have been damaged by its unplanned landings, during the time of the Surveyor missions, the United States was actively involved in the Space Race with the Soviet Union. Thus, the Surveyor 1 landing in June 1966, only four months after the Soviet Luna 9 probe landed in February, was an indication the programs were at similar stages
Surveyor program
–
Photograph of the Surveyor 3 spacecraft resting on the surface of the Moon, taken by
Apollo 12 astronauts (descriptions added). Not seen are the main retrorocket and radar unit, which are jettisoned before landing. (NASA)
Surveyor program
–
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Surveyor program
–
Astronaut
Pete Conrad jiggles the Surveyor 3 craft. Human scale demonstrates typical lander height of 3 meters. Lunar module is about 200 meters away, in the background. (NASA)
Surveyor program
–
Surveyor 7 landing site landscape
Rockwell 74 Passenger Module
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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