Transcript Document

American Human Spaceflight
Early Missions
- Mercury & Gemini
Lunar Missions
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
(ASTP)
Select
Image
Space Stations
Reference Information
Space Shuttle
Future Missions
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Mercury - 1958 to 1963
The idea of human spaceflight
has been in the mind of humans
throughout recorded history. By
the late 1950s, technology had
developed to the level ideas
could be transformed into
hardware to achieve human
spaceflight.
In 1959, NASA asked the U.S.A.
military services to list members
who met specific qualifications.
The search was underway for
pilots for the new manned
spaceflight program. The first
seven NASA Astronauts for
Project Mercury were
announced on April 9, 1959.
Front row - left to right - Walter
Schirra, Donald Slayton, John
Glenn, and Scott Carpenter.
Back row - Alan Shepard, Virgil
“Gus” Grissom, and Gordon
Cooper.
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Mercury Chimp “Ham” Prepares for Test Flight
On January 31, 1961, a 44-month old
chimpanzee, named Ham, was the first
higher primate launched into outer space.
Ham is shown trying out his combination
couch and life support system on January
28, 1961 in preparation for his flight.
Ham was secured in a Mercury capsule
atop the Mercury Redstone-2 (MR-2) rocket
and launched from Cape Canaveral, FL.
During the flight, Ham successfully pushed
a lever within five seconds after seeing a
flashing blue light. Failure resulted in
negative reinforcement in the form of an
electric shock to the soles of his feet. He
landed 422 miles downrange after a 16.5
minute flight. Ham's capsule landed in the
Atlantic Ocean and was recovered by a
rescue ship. After the flight Ham lived for
17 years in the National Zoo in Washington
D.C., then at the North Carolina Zoo before
dying at the age of 27 on January 19, 1983.
The MR-2 flight was one in a series of
flights leading to the manned orbital flights
of the Mercury program.
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Mercury
Project Mercury put the first
Americans into space.
Astronaut Alan Shepard was the first
American in space during his suborbital flight on May 5, 1961 aboard
Freedom 7. The Mercury – Redstone 3
rocket was launched from Pad LC-5 at
Cape Canaveral, FL.
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Mercury
Astronaut John Glenn became the first
American to orbit the Earth on February
20, 1962 aboard Friendship 7 launched
by the Mercury - Atlas 6 rocket from
Pad LC-14 at Cape Canaveral, FL.
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Gemini - 1962 to1966
Project Gemini was an
intermediate step between
Mercury and Apollo developing
technologies needed for lunar
exploration.
Gemini-Titan 4 lift-off from Cape
Canaveral, FL carried James
McDivitt and Ed White for a fourday mission on June 3, 1965. This
flight included the first spacewalk by an American astronaut,
accomplished by Ed White.
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Gemini
On June 3, 1965,
Edward White
became the first
American to step
outside his
Gemini 4
spacecraft.
(Gemini –
the twins)
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Gemini
On December 15, 1965, Walter Schirra and
Thomas Stafford on Gemini 6 and Frank Borman
and James Lovell on Gemini 7 accomplished the
first space rendezvous. Gemini 6 views Gemini 7.
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Gemini
Gemini 11 command pilot Charles Conrad climbs from the spacecraft hatch minutes after
splashdown on September 9, 1966. Pilot Richard Gordon still has his hatch closed. U.S.
Navy frogman team attached a flotation collar to the spacecraft.
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Grissom got his first mission in 1961. On July 21, he
piloted the second American manned suborbital flight
on spacecraft known as Liberty Bell 7. The flight
lasted only 15 minutes and 37 seconds. With its
chutes open, the craft drifted down to the waters of
the Atlantic Ocean. While the landing was smooth,
Grissom's departure from Liberty Bell 7 was
difficult. The craft had an explosive hatch, which
blew open suddenly, filling the cabin with water.
Grissom struggled to get out and swam in the waters
nearby, watching as the spacecraft sank.
Four years later, he was assigned another mission. As
the commander of Gemini III, Grissom got a chance
to orbit Earth three times. was selected to command
the first manned mission of what would become
known as Apollo 1. Unfortunately, Grissom and the
rest of his crew, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, never
made it into space. They died on January 27, 1967, in
fire during a pre-flight test at the NASA Space Center
in Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral), Florida.
Grissom left behind a wife and two children.
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Apollo - 1963 to 1972
The purpose of the Apollo
Program was to land men on the
lunar surface and to return them
safely to Earth. Six missions
landed on the surface of the
moon; three others orbited the
moon without landing, including
the ill-fated Apollo 13.
The Apollo 11 Saturn V space
vehicle lifted off with astronauts
Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins
and Edwin Aldrin on July 16,
1969, from Launch Complex 39A
at the Kennedy Space Center, FL.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong
became the first human to walk
on the moon.
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Apollo
Apollo 16 Lunar Module (LM) pilot Charles
Duke photographed this Descartes Highlands
landing site on April 21, 1972. Commander
John Young is to the right of the LM and
directly behind the Lunar Roving Vehicle.
Thomas Mattingly remained with the Command
and Service Module (CSM) in lunar orbit.
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Apollo
The Apollo 16 CSM approached the LM on April 23, 1972 for their final rendezvous.
Aboard the LM, John Young and Charles Duke returned to the CSM in lunar orbit after
three successful days on the lunar surface. Thomas Mattingly piloted the CSM.
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Apollo
The photograph of the Earth rising over the Moon's horizon was taken from the Apollo 11
CSM in July 1969.
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Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) - 1975
ASTP was the first human spaceflight
mission conducted jointly by two nations.
This led to future cooperative missions.
Soyuz was launched prior to the American
Apollo launch on the same day. The two
spacecrafts docked on July 17, 1975 and
joint operations were conducted for two full
days. The docking module served as an
airlock and transfer corridor between the
two spacecrafts.
Astronaut Donald Slayton and cosmonaut
Aleksey Leonov are shown in Soyuz.
Apollo Command
and Service Module
Docking
Module
Soyuz
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Skylab- 1973 to 1974
Skylab, the first American space station, was adapted from the
third stage of an Apollo Saturn V rocket and launched into orbit on
May 14, 1973. Three successive crews of three astronauts each
occupied Skylab. The longest mission, ending on February 8, 1974,
lasted almost three months.
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Skylab
Skylab 3 astronaut Jack Lousma takes a shower
in the crew quarters of the Orbital Workshop
(OWS) on July 1, 1973.
Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald Carr (right) and
William Pogue are shown in the OWS on
February 1, 1974.
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Seven American astronauts spent nearly 1000 days
living in orbit with cosmonauts on the Russian space
station Mir. American shuttles rendezvoused ten times
with Mir. The Shuttle-Mir Program prepared the way for
the International Space Station and began an era of
cooperation and exploration. Soyuz cosmonauts took
the photograph during a fly-around on July 4, 1995.
Shuttle / MIR - 1994 to 1998
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International Space Station (ISS) - 1998 to present
In 1998, the first two ISS modules were launched
and joined in orbit. Other components soon
followed and the first crew arrived in 2000.
A crewmember onboard the STS-130 Space
Shuttle Endeavour photographed the ISS after the
two spacecrafts undocked February 19, 2010.
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Space Shuttle - 1981 to present
The space shuttle orbiters were
the first spacecraft capable of
routinely launching into orbit
like rockets and then returning
to Earth as gliders. The
orbiters are part of the Space
Transportation System used for
scientific research and space
applications. The space shuttle
will be retired in 2010.
The first shuttle, Columbia,
STS-1, was launched April 12,
1981 from Pad 39A at Kennedy
Space Center, FL carrying
astronauts John Young and
Robert Crippen. The Earth
orbital mission lasted 54 hours
and ended with an un-powered
landing at Edwards Air Force
Base, CA.
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Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) - Future
Orion was part of the Constellation Program that provided humans the capabilities
necessary to travel and explore the solar system. On February 1, 2010, President Barack
Obama announced cancellation of the program. The new spacecraft was designed to
deliver six crew members and supplies to the International Space Station (above) by 2014;
carry four astronauts to and from the moon by 2020; and transport crews to Mars bound
vehicles assembled in low Earth orbit. The Orion vehicle was shaped like an Apollo
capsule, but it was larger and it had solar panels to provide power.
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Orion Crew Vehicle – Launch and Return
Orion astronauts would be launched
on the Ares I (left) comprised of a
single space shuttle solid rocket
booster derivative and a second stage
powered by an engine using liquid
hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen
oxidizer. Ares I lifted more than 27.5
tons to low Earth orbit.
To return to Earth, the Orion spacecraft engine would
be fired, and the service module jettisoned from the
crew module, exposing the heat shield. The capsule
re-entered Earth’s atmosphere; the parachutes and
airbags deployed; and the capsule set down on dry
land (right) or water. Splashdown would have been
the primary landing method with dry land an option.
NASA recovered the astronaut capsule, replaced the
heat shield and launched it again. A new crew module
would be reused up to 10 times.
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Aries V Cargo Launch Vehicle
The Ares V (left), a heavy lift launch vehicle,
would have used five liquid oxygen/liquid
hydrogen engines mounted below a larger
version of the space shuttle's external tank
and two solid propellant rocket boosters. It
would have launched up to 143 tons of cargo
and components into low Earth orbit needed
for the space station or exploration of the
moon and Mars.
In August 2010, the Senate directed NASA to
build a heavy lift rocket (up to 110 tons to
low Earth orbit) that looks like Ares V.
The Ares V solid rocket boosters separated
and the payload fairings released following
launch. The cargo launch vehicle is shown
(right) carrying the lunar lander and the
departure stage that would have provided
the energy to allow the astronauts to leave
Earth's orbit for the moon.
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Orion – Lunar Missions
The Orion crew would have launched after
Ares V achieved orbit, docked with the
lunar lander/departure stage and then left
Earth orbit for the moon. Three days later,
the crew would go into lunar orbit (left).
Orion would have sent four astronauts to
the lunar surface, twice as many as Apollo,
and they would have stayed longer. The
initial missions would have lasted four to
seven days and the new ship could have
carried enough propellant to land anywhere
on the moon's surface.
After landing and exploring the surface (right);
the crew launched from the lower part of the
lander; docked with Orion; and returned to
Earth.
The Orion spacecraft operated without a crew
in lunar orbit, eliminating the need for one
astronaut to stay in the capsule while others
explored the surface. Once a lunar outpost
was established, crews could remain on the
lunar surface for up to six months.
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American Human Spaceflight - Reference Information
Sheet 1 of 2
Orion images courtesy of NASA, Lockheed Martin, and John Frassanito and Associates.
Images and Text:
http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/index.html
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/
http://history.nasa.gov/
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/astp/AST-5-298.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo-Soyuz-Test-Program-artist-rendering.jpg
Text and Additional Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_the_Chimp
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/complete.htm
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/mercury/mercury-overview.htm
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/gemini/gemini-overview.htm
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/apollo/
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/skylab/skylab.htm
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/complete.htm#shuttle
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/complete.htm#shuttlemir
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/complete.htm#iss
http://exploration.nasa.gov/constellation
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American Human Spaceflight - Reference Information
Sheet 2 of 2
End
Text and Additional Information (Continued):
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/main/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/spacecraft/index.html
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