THE SPACE AGE
The Space Race (1957-1975) In the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States captured Germany rocketry, designs and personnel World War to Cold War Competition Explore outer space with satellites Send humans to space Land humans on the Moon
Satellites Natural satellite = an object naturally occurring in orbit Artificial satellite = an object put into orbit by human endeavour
Sputnik 1 First artificial satellite to orbit the Earth Launched October 4, 1957. R-7 Rocket. Marks the start of the Space Race Caused fear and stirred political debate in the US Eisenhower administration formed NASA
Explorer 1 Launched February 1, 1958. Jupiter-C rocket. First USA Earth satellite These first satellites were used for scientific purposes. Sputnik: density of upper atmosphere Explorer: discovery of Van Allen radiation belt
Schooling Impacts Effort to regain technological supremacy National Defence Education Act Revamp school curriculum New school construction Loans and fellowships for promising students Vocational training Other programs
Project SCORE Signal Communications Orbit Relay Equipment World’s First communications satellite (USA) Launched December 18, 1958 Relayed a Christmas message from President Eisenhower to the world Atlas Missile used to launch SCORE
Animals in Space First animals = fruit flies Launched by USA, 1946 German V-2 Rocket First in orbit = dog named Laika Launched by Soviet Union, 1957 Sputnik2 Never returned. Died from overheating and stress.
More Animals Soviet dogs, Belka and Strelka, orbited the Earth and returned. 1960. Americans sent chimpanzees. 1961. Soviets sent turtles in 1968. First to orbit the moon.
Humans in Space Soviets first to fulfill human spaceflight with own spaceship and launcher First Human: Yuri Gagarin Vostok 1 April 12, 1961 Orbited Earth for 108min
Humans in Space 23 days later, Alan Shepard entered space for the USA Sub-orbital mission Freedom7 Less than 16min Altitude of 187km
Humans in Space First American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn February 20, 1962 Completed 3 orbits Friendship7
Humans in Space More Soviet Firsts First dual-manned flight: August 11, 1962 First woman: Valentina Tereshkova. June 16, 1963 First flight with more than 2 crew: October 12, 1964 First spacewalk: March 18, 1965
Lunar Missions Before they could put a person on the Moon, unmanned spacecraft had to land safely. Americans: The Pioneer Program The Ranger Program The Lunar Orbiter Program The robotic Surveyor Program (locate Apollo landing sites) Soviets: Luna 1 (January 1959), Luna 2 (September 1959)
The Apollo Program Established in 1961 President Kennedy and V.P. Lyndon B. Johnson Goal: manned moon-landing missions December 21, 1968: James Lovell, Frank Borman and Bill Anders in Apollo 8 orbited the moon 10 times
The Apollo Program July 20, 1969. Apollo 11 mission Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins 5 other Apollo missions have landed on the moon Last in 1972
Since the end of the Race Science and math education in school Thousands of artificial satellites Food sterilization and packaging techniques Stay dry clothing, anti-fog goggles, scratch resistant glasses, athletic shoes, cordless tools, CAT scans and MRI
Since the end of the Race April 12, 1981: USA Launched first reusable Spacecraft (space shuttle) November 15, 1986: Soviet Union launched their first reusable spacecraft November, 1998: Assembly of the ISS begins October 15, 2003: China launched their first human spaceflight. Shenzhou 5.
Space Shuttles During the “Shuttle Era”, 6 orbiters were built Enterprise: approach & landing tests only Columbia: first to fly into space. Broke-up during re-entry Feb 2003. Challenger: lost in January 1986 Discovery Atlantis Endeavor: built to replace Challenger