Going to the Moon
As of August 29, 2009, 505 individuals from 38 countries had
flown in space.
This is Rocket Science• First U.S. spy satellites, the Discoverer series
(1960-)
• Designed to take photos, drop film canisters for mid-air recovery.
• Thirteen consecutive failures before success
• Eventually evolved into standard U.S. space intelligence systems
• Spy satellites key in keeping peace during the Cold War
The Soviets Press On
• Yuri Gagarin (one orbit) April 12, 1961
• Gherman Titov, August 6-7, 1961, more than 24 hours in orbit.
• Andrian Nikolayev and Pavel Popovich, 1962; first two manned spacecraft to be simultaneously in orbit.
• This series of spacecraft was called Vostok (Russian for "east", connoting sunrise).
More Soviet Firsts
• In June, 1963, a second twin launch carried Valery Bykovsky and Valentina Tereshkova into orbit.
• Tereshkova became the first woman into space, and the last for two decades.
And Still More
• In 1964 the Soviets launched the first of the Voskhod (meaning "ascent") multi-person spacecraft.
• Three cosmonauts orbited on Voskhod 1 in 1964
• Two orbited on Voskhod 2 in 1965. One of these, Alexei Leonov, made the first space walk.
Project Mercury 1961-63• U.S. response: adapt a space capsule to an
existing missile.
• The first series of U.S. manned space missions was called Mercury.
• Nobody had a clue what qualities would be necessary to travel in space.
• Military test pilots were chosen.
• Two suborbital flights
• Four orbital flights (3-22 orbits)
Project Gemini, 1965-66
• Two-man craft
• Ten flights up to 14 days long
• First (and only) U.S. rendezvous (Gemini 6 and 7)
• First emergency landing, also first Pacific landing (Gemini 8)
• Altitude record (Gemini 11, 1370 km)
Russians to the Moon
• In 1959 Luna II became the first spacecraft to strike the Moon.
• In 1960, Luna III returned the first (very crude) pictures ever of the Moon’s far side.
• 1966-68: First lunar soft landing, lunar rover and sample-return mission.
Did the Russians ever have a serious manned lunar program?
• Critics: a myth to sustain NASA through the use of cold war hysteria.
• In early 1990’s artifacts from the supposedly nonexistent Soviet lunar program, including lunar spacesuits, went on sale at Sotheby's in New York.
Did the Russians ever have a serious manned lunar program?
• Several catastrophic explosions of the Soviet lunar rocket booster made it clear that they would not beat the U.S. to the moon.
• Failure probably due to cutting corners and false economizing (Dan Goldin, are you listening?)
Did the Russians ever have a serious manned lunar program?
• Author James Oberg calls continued denial of a Soviet lunar landing program a "cover-up".
Kennedy’s Challenge
• U.S. had 15 minutes’ experience in space when Kennedy proposed a race to the Moon.
• Reason: would require both sides to develop new technology
• Would be a level playing field
U.S. Robots to the Moon, 1963-68
• Ranger series: designed to impact the Moon, returning pictures on the way. – Only last three of nine worked, but results were
spectacular.
• Surveyor soft-lander series; most of the seven worked well.
• Five Lunar Orbiter missions mapped almost all of the Moon.
• First pictures ever of the Earth rising above the lunar horizon.
Tragedy for the Russians
• Vladimir Komarov, on Soyuz 1, 1967, was Russia's first two-time space traveler. In 1967
• His parachute failed on re-entry; first space traveler to be killed.
• Soyuz 11, 1971, lost pressurization on reentry; three-man crew died from lack of oxygen.
Tragedy at the Cape
• On January 26, 1967, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire.
• The Apollo Program was delayed for 18 months while equipment and procedures were redesigned.
Apollo Gets Off the Ground• Apollo 7, October 11, 1968, was first
launch of a manned Apollo capsule into orbit.
• Decision was made to reverse the order of the next two missions
• Apollo 8: lunar flyby and return.
• Live broadcast from lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, 1968.
More Rehearsals
• Apollo 9 in Earth orbit, was a test of the lunar module.
• Apollo 10, a return to the Moon, practiced maneuvering the lander in lunar orbit but did not touch down.
The Eagle Has Landed
• At 4:17:41 P.M. (EDT) on July 20, 1969, an estimated 500 million people watched worldwide as Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon, confirmed by the message: "Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
• 6-1/2 hours later, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon.
Houston, We’ve Had a Problem
• Apollo 12 landed near the site of the Surveyor 3 lunar lander as a test of pinpoint lunar navigation.
• Apollo 13: side of the lunar service module blew out halfway to the Moon and only heroic innovations on the ground and in space got the crew back.
Apollo Science
• Apollo 14: first to explore lunar highlands.
• Apollo 15: first to use the lunar rover.
• Apollo 16 made three rover expeditions totaling 27 km.
• Apollo 17 made three rover expeditions lasting 22 hours and travelling 35 kilometers.
• Apollo astronauts John Young (10, 16), Eugene Cernan (10, 17), and Jim Lovell (8, 13) each made two lunar flights.
• No one has actually set foot on the Moon twice.
• September 2, 1970: Apollo 18-20 cancelled.
• We just quit.
End of Apollo