1. History of Spaceflight
Flight and Space
© 2011 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

2. Chinese Used Rockets in Battle
History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Chinese Used Rockets in Battle
In 1232 AD the Chinese used rockets against the Mongols
An arrow with a tube of gunpowder produced an arrow of flying fire
Reproduced from a painting by Charles Hubbell and presented here courtesy of TRW Inc. and Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

3. Historical Discoveries
History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Historical Discoveries
Johannes Kepler
In 1609 discovered that the paths of the planets around the Sun are elliptical
Determined the relative velocity of a planet as it travels around the Sun as well as a method for determining its period (the amount of time it takes to make one orbit)
Proved that our Sun was the center of the solar system
Kepler’s platonic solid model of the solar system from Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596)

4. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Historical Discoveries
Isaac Newton
In 1687 published a book that stated his basic laws of motion – these govern the movement of objects on Earth and in space
Formulated a universal law of gravitation that explains the orbit of objects around stars and planets
Was a pioneer of calculus, which is a type of mathematics critical for space flight
Sir Isaac Newton

5. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Historical Discoveries
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
In 1903 determined the basic equations of rocketry
Rocketry visionary who thought space travel was possible
Drew pictures of rockets and predicted how the Saturn V rocket would operate for the first landing of humans on the moon 65 years later
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was a Russian rocket scientist and pioneer of cosmonautics.

6. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Historical Discoveries
Dr. Robert Goddard
The Goddard Space Flight Center was named in honor of Dr. Robert Goddard, a pioneer in rocket development.
By 1926 Goddard had constructed and successfully tested the first rocket using liquid fuel.

7. German Rocket Experimenters
History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
German Rocket Experimenters
Another pioneer was Hermann Oberth, who wrote the book The Rocket into Interplanetary Space, which influenced the modern world to take rocketry seriously and opened avenues for the exploration of space.
Wernher Von Braun and Oberth launched the first rocket capable of reaching space, called the German V2 rocket. After World War II, they worked in the US to develop the Saturn rockets. Oberth’s developments enabled the US to eventually travel to the moon.

8. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Rocket Engine
The development of the rocket engine in the 1940s and 1950s provided us with the necessary thrust to break free of the Earth’s gravity and thus enter space.
From earliest times, Man has longed to journey into space. However, the Earth's gravitational pull has kept us planet bound.

9. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
USSR launches Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1
The Russians launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, on October 4,1957.
Sputnik traveled 500 miles above the Earth’s surface, flying at 18,000 miles an hour.
Sputnik circled the globe every 96 minutes. It flew over the U.S. seven times a day.
Click on Sputnik 1 to go to 50th anniversary of Sputnik 1 from the NASA website. Make sure to hit continue, then watch the video.
During its three week mission, Sputnik 1 transmitted radio signals back to Earth that were used to determine the temperature of the spacecraft and measure the electron density of the ionosphere (a layer of the atmosphere).

10. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
USA launches Vanguard
March 1958
Americans successfully launch a man-made satellite.

11. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
USSR – Yuri Gagarin
First person to orbit the earth
April 12, 1961
Demonstrated that the Soviets were ahead in the space race with the U.S.

12. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
USA – John Glenn
First American to orbit the earth
Completed three orbits on February 20, 1962, aboard Friendship 7

13. USSR – Valentina Tereshkova
History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
USSR – Valentina Tereshkova
First woman in space
First “ordinary” person in space
Textile worker and amateur parachuter who became a cosmonaut
June 1963 spent 71 hours orbiting Earth 48 times in capsule Sea Gull
1982: Second woman in space, second woman in orbit - USSR cosmonaut Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya flew to the USSR's Salyut 7 space station August 19, : First American woman in space, first American woman in orbit - Dr. Sally Kristen Ride rode in shuttle Challenger June 18, She rode Challenger to space again, a year later, and was training for a third flight when Challenger exploded during liftoff on January 28, More than three dozen women have flown on U.S. space shuttles since Sally Ride's first trip : First woman to take a spacewalk - USSR cosmonaut Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya

14. First Manned Mission to the Moon
History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
First Manned Mission to the Moon
Kennedy’s Speech
May 25, 1961
8 Years Later . . .
Apollo 11
July 20, 1969
First Landing on the Moon

15. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Manned Spaceflight
Space shuttle - a re-usable rocket vehicle with short wings that allow it to land on a runway like an airplane.
Any manned mission faces the problem of a safe return to Earth. This requires eliminating the huge amount of energy associated with orbital motion. A spacecraft in low Earth orbit moves at about 8 km per second. To slow down, the spacecraft uses the friction of the atmosphere. The air hitting the spacecraft slows it down, but the friction also creates an immense amount of heat. Enough heat is generated to melt or even evaporate the re-entering material, even if it is a tough metal. To eliminate this heat, the vehicle re-enters the atmosphere at a shallow angle. Still, a great amount of heat reaches the spacecraft, requiring its forward-facing part to be lined with heat-resistant material.

16. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Manned Spaceflight
Space stations -intended for long-term residence
International Space Station (ISS)

17. History of Spaceflight
Unmanned Spaceflight
History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Satellites that observe our Sun, the solar system, or the universe
Satellites that observe the Earth from above for scientific, military, and commercial purposes
Satellites that sample their local environment
Satellites used for the benefit of humanity
Spacecraft that are not tied to Earth's gravitational field but explore other planets
Satellites that observe our Sun, the solar system, or the universe are orbiting observatories that can sense wavelengths that the atmosphere does not let pass through, such as ultra-violet light or X-rays
Satellites that observe the Earth from above for scientific, military, and commercial purposes, such as those that provide global images of cloud patterns for weather reports
Satellites that sample their local environment, such as those that monitor the radiation belts and the solar wind
Satellites used for the benefit of humanity, such as communication satellites and the GPS system used for determining position
Spacecraft that are not tied to Earth's gravitational field but explore other planets and the far reaches of the solar system

18. History of Spaceflight
“Living” on the Moon
History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
S (July 1989) – With a number of studies ongoing for possible lunar expeditions, many concepts for living and working on Earth's natural satellite have been examined. This art concept reflects the evaluation and study at JSC by the Man Systems Division and Johnson Engineering personnel. A sixteen-meter diameter inflatable habitat such as the one depicted here could accommodate the needs of a dozen astronauts living and working on the surface of the Moon. Depicted are astronauts exercising, a base operations center, a pressurized lunar rover, a small clean room, a fully equipped life sciences lab, a lunar lander, selenological work, hydroponic gardens, a wardroom, private crew quarters, dust-removing devices for lunar surface work, and an airlock.

19. History of Spaceflight
“Living” on the Moon
History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
S (1995) – (artist's concept of possible exploration programs) Just a few kilometers from the Apollo 17 Taurus Littrow landing site, a lunar mining facility harvests oxygen from the resource-rich volcanic soil of the eastern Mare Serenitatis. Here a marketing executive describes the high iron, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium content in the processed tailings, which could be used as raw material for a lunar metals production plant. This image produced for NASA by Pat Rawlings, (SAIC). Technical concepts for NASA's Exploration Office, Johnson Space Center (JSC). Note: NASA currently has no formal plans for a human expedition to Mars or the Moon. This image and others displayed may not reflect the hardware and overall concept of possible visits to either of those celestial bodies. However, the artwork represented here serves as a comprehensive study of various concepts and ideas developed as possibilities over a period of years. The renderings were accomplished by NASA and/or NASA-commissioned artists.

20. History of Spaceflight
PLTW Gateway
Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Travelling and Living in Space
Image Resources
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (June 2009). Great images in NASA. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (2009). A timeline of rocket history. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from
Star Child (n.d.). Valentina Tereshkova. Retrieved January 4, 2010, from
Teach Engineering. (2006). Destination outer space. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from