Transcript Chapter 1

Chapter 3
Part 2
The History of Space Travel
Post War
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During World War II the birth of four distinct
technologies led directly to the advent of the
Space Age:
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Development of the V-2 rocket in Germany: This
weapon of war could fly to the edge of space. After
the war, this missile was the basis for the design of all
other missiles. The Americans used this technology
directly from the German engineer and the Russians
used the German technologies in combination with
their own theorists' and engineers' ideas.
Post War
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Development of the atomic bomb: Stalin
wanted the Soviet Union to develop a rocket
to deliver this huge atomic weapon to America
if the need arose.
Development of radar technology: Radars
were needed for developing the tracking and
telemetry capability needed to launch and
track a rocket.
Development of the computer
Post War United States
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Even though the United States had Wernher von
Braun and his large team of German scientists
as well as numerous V-2 rockets, the United
States still did not consider development of
rocketry very important. President Truman
himself killed a number of attempts to start an
American space program because he believed
there was no need for it and there wasn’t
enough money for it in the budget. Regardless
Von Braun and his team continued to refine the
V-2 rocket and in 1949 they began the Space
Age.
Bumper Project
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In October 1946, army ordnance initiated the
Bumper Project to develop a two stage rocket
test vehicle under the direction of Von Braun in
White Sands Proving Grounds, NM.
Von Braun combined a V-2 rocket with an
American WAC Corporal rocket to serve as the
upper stage. On February 24 1949, this rocket
became the first to reach man-made object to
reach space reaching a height of about 250
miles.
Soviet Union Post War
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After the war, the Soviet Union realizing that it
had fallen behind technologically made a huge
effort to catch up and eventually pass the rest of
the world. Within a decade, Soviet scientists
gained enormous status and became some of
the richest people in the country.
Stalin led this effort with an iron grip. However,
after his death in 1953, Soviet scientists gained
a little bit of freedom to think about scientific
applications.
Soviet Union Post War
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By 1955, Soviet scientists under the
leadership of Sergei Korolev had
developed all the necessary technology
and had an ICBM ready for testing.
After 2 failed tests, on August 1957 the
first ICBM flew successfully on an R-7
rocket. Korolev set his sights on space.
“Fellow Traveler”
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On October 4, 1957 at 10:28 P.M. Moscow time
the world's first artificial satellite was launched
from Tyuratam, Kazakhstan on an R-7 rocket.
After the satellite separated from its rocket
carrier, the small craft began to transmit its
message over its two designated frequencies.
The message was nothing more than a simple
“beep...beep...beep.”
The small satellite had a diameter of 23 inches
and a mass of 184 pounds. The Soviets named
their little craft Sputnik which basically means
“fellow traveler”.
“Fellow Traveler”
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Astronomers and observers around the world
estimated that the satellite entered a very
elliptical orbit around Earth. Its inclination was
65.1º with a perigee of 142 miles, an apogee of
588 miles, and a period of 96 minutes and 10.2
seconds.
The little craft was to stay in orbit until January
4, 1958 when it burned into the Earth's
atmosphere and into the history books.
Sputnik 2
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On November 3, 1957 Korolev's design bureau launched
a second spacecraft into orbit. This was, however, about
6 times the size of Sputnik (1118 lb) and carried the
world's first biological traveler, a female Siberian dog
named Laika.
No reentry technique had been devised to return the
animal back to Earth safely after orbit. For that reason,
Laika was put to sleep after a week in orbit.
On April 14, 1958 Sputnik 2 with Laika's remains on
board burned into the Earth's atmosphere after a flight of
162 days.
United States Reaction
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Sputnik 1 and 2 sent the United States into a
panic.
In December 1957, in a hurried attempt by the
administration and in front of a national
audience, a Vanguard rocket raised four feet off
the pad and then fell back to its starting point.
The nose cone separated from the rest of the
missile which immediately exploded into a
brilliant ball of orange flame hovering over the
gantries for a few moments and then quickly
transforming into a large cloud of black smoke.
United States Reaction
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The Vanguard team satellite had worked
perfectly but the rocket had been the
problem. Von Braun was called. Within 60
days, he was ready to launch.
On January 31, 1958, the United States
launched Explorer I into space in a Jupiter
class four-stage rocket.
NASA
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After the Explorer launch, there was a drive to
establish a national space program. Everyone in
the government agreed this should be done, but
no one could agree on which agency would
head such a national space program. The
agency most thought to head such a program
was the Department of Defense with all of their
space assets. Because the Atomic Energy
Commission was already involved in nuclear
weapons and nuclear propulsion, many
congressmen thought that this would be the
ideal agency to run the space tasks.
NASA
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The Eisenhower administration preferred a
civilian organization to lead the effort though. He
set his eyes on a very small government
organization involved in aeronautics since 1915
had been doing missile research throughout the
1950s; this close knit organization of engineers
and scientists was called the National Advisory
Committee on Aeronautics or NACA.
In July 1958, Eisenhower got his way and
signed it into law.
NASA
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The law called for the establishment of a civilian space
program, dedicated to peaceful exploration and the
development of new technology. This new government
agency was given the mandate under a broad charter to
provide information concerning the American Space
Program directly to the public. Recognizing the
importance of outer space for national security, the same
act assigned to the Department of Defense those space
programs related to the U.S. military. Finally, the act
required NASA and the military space programs to share
technology for the advantage of both parties. As the lead
government agency, NACA spent the summer of 1958
quickly transforming itself into NASA.
Marshall Space Center
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Two years later NASA opened the new Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and
transferred Von Braun and his development
team to NASA. Von Braun was the center's first
Director, from July 1960 to February 1970.
The Marshall Center's first major program was
development of the Saturn rockets, capable of
carrying astronauts to the moon.
Soviet Response
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In January 1959, Korolev sent the first object,
Luna-1, that escaped Earth’s gravitational field.
Thirty-four hours after launch, Luna-1 flew by
the Moon at a distance of 6000 Km, the first
spacecraft to do this. It then went into a
Heliocentric (Sun-centered orbit) where it
remains to this day.
Ten months later, Luna-3 took the first pictures
of the back side of the moon.
Yuri A. Gagarin
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At 9:07 on April 12, 1961, an SL-3 ignited with
the first human to go to space, Yuri A. Gagarin.
Korolev wished Gagarin a safe flight and
nervously awaited word that the cosmonaut was
in space. "I see Earth. It's so beautiful!" were the
first words spoken from a man in space. At 9:26
Gagarin reported that the flight was going as
planned and he wrote in his log about the
mountain ranges and coastlines. At 10:25 the
retrorockets fired and Gagarin began his
descent to Earth.
Yuri A. Gagarin
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At 10:55 the capsule landed 18 miles
southwest of Engels near the village of
Smelovka. A grandmother, her
granddaughter, and a cow were the first
beings to see Yuri Gagarin after he
parachuted to Earth from his capsule. By
10:59 the recovery team had arrived and
Gagarin became a major figure in world
history.
Project Mercury
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One of the first projects of the brand new
organization, NASA, was to immediately
establish Project Mercury with the mission of
placing a human into orbit and return him to
Earth basically to see what the effects of space
would be on the human body.
508 military pilots initially met NASA's criteria to
be ordinary supermen. After discussions with
commanders and instructors this list was culled
to 69.
Project Mercury
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From there, NASA submitted the pilots to grueling tests.
They were immersed in water to measure their body fat.
Their hearts were tested with electrocardiograms and
their brains with electroencephalograms. They were
given 17 different eye tests and several times they
walked on tread mills until their pulses reached 180, then
rested, they started again. Doctors baked them in
chambers at 135º F and dunked their feet in ice water to
watch the shock reaction. They made several altitude
runs in chambers to 65,000 feet and spent several hours
in total silence in soundproof rooms.
Project Mercury
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Finally, NASA introduced M. Scott
Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., John H.
Glenn, Jr., Virgil I. Grissom, Walter M.
Schirra, Jr., Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and
Donald K. Slayton as the seven Mercury
astronauts.