1958-2008: Fifty Years of Discovery

Exploring Space: A Celebrated History Leads to an Exciting Future

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

The words spoken by Neil Armstrong 39 years ago continue to signify the challenges and successes of NASA and the human space flight program.

It was more than a scientific achievement when the United States became the first country to have a man walk on the moon; it was a moment of national pride. This achievement was the fulfillment of President John F. Kennedy’s pledge eight years before that the United States should commit itself to “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth,” and it was a significant moment in NASA’s prestigious history.

Fifty years ago, on July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik on October 4, 1957.

Within months of its creation, NASA began to conduct space missions, and over the last 50 years it has undertaken programs in human space flight, robotic space flight and aeronautics research.

The first goal involved a program named Project Mercury and seven astronauts – Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton. From 1961 through 1963, these men flew suborbital flights and orbital flights that proved humans could survive in space.

Following Mercury was Project Gemini, which provided the methods and expertise needed to fulfill Kennedy’s goal in the Apollo Program. Gemini missions proved the concepts of rendezvous and docking in space, long-duration space flight and Extravehicular Activity (EVA). The spacecraft tested the techniques for true orbital maneuvering, or “flying in space.”

The first Gemini mission was flown by Gus Grissom and John Young in March of 1965. Astronaut Ed White, who performed the first EVA, or spacewalk, commanded the second in June of that same year. Eight more Gemini missions followed through November 1966. The success of the Gemini Program paved the way for Apollo and missions to the moon.

 In December 1968, Apollo 8, with a crew of three men, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders, traveled 250,000 miles to the moon - a considerable risk for NASA since no human had flown more than 800 miles above the Earth.

On their third lunar orbit, astronaut Borman snapped what remains one of the most famous photographs ever taken, a color photo showing the full Earth as a blue marble suspended in space and without boundaries. It was an image that showed Earth as a blue oasis in the vast blackness of space.

On Christmas Eve, the Apollo 8 crew made a live television broadcast from lunar orbit. With the Earth rising over the lunar surface, each astronaut read from the Bible a passage from the book of Genesis with Borman signing off, “And from the crew of Apollo, we close with a good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God Bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.” An estimated one billion people in 64 countries heard or viewed the live reading and greeting; delayed broadcasts reached an additional 30 countries that same day.

After Apollo 8, two more missions, Apollo 9 and 10, successfully orbited the moon confirming that NASA was ready to land on the lunar surface. That came during the flight of Apollo 11, which landed on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility.

The lunar module, named Eagle, manned by astronauts Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, touched the moon’s surface on July 20, 1969.

Many Americans remember those historic words spoken by Armstrong, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

Five more flights landed on the moon, culminating with the flight of Apollo 17 in December 1972. Each mission collected scientific data and completed experiments on the lunar surface. The last three missions used a lunar rover vehicle to extend the area that the astronauts could explore. All totaled, 12 men walked on the surface of the moon, spending almost 300 hours on the surface.

 “The space vehicle capabilities along with ground and flight operations knowledge that we gained from the Apollo program played a vital role in the development of the Space Shuttle Program. During those years, NASA developed a highly capable and flexible human space flight capability,” said Chuck Knarr, USA Vice President of Flight Operations. “A classic example is the lesson we learned during Apollo 13 when a group of NASA’s finest and brightest engineers found a solution to a critical situation, taking what was technically a mission failure and turning it into one of NASA’s finest hours. Today, highly refined online analytical capabilities, real-time contingency management processes and in-flight maintenance capabilities are integral parts of every Shuttle and ISS (International Space Station) mission we fly.”

Following the Apollo program, NASA operated Skylab, the first orbiting space station, from 1973 to 1974. Built from the third stage element of a Saturn V booster, Skylab was an orbiting laboratory with three separate astronaut crews. Pete Conrad, Paul Weitz and Joe Kerwin spent 28 days in orbit as the first crew of Skylab. The second crew – Alan Bean, Jack Lousma and Owen Garriott – spent 59 days in space. The final Skylab crew spent 84 days in space and consisted of Jerry Carr, Bill Pogue and Edward Gibson.

Skylab served as a solar observatory, microgravity lab, medical lab and Earth-observation platform. The Skylab astronauts proved that it was feasible for humans to live and work in a weightless environment for extended stays. The program led to new technologies for space habitation, including special showers, toilets, sleeping bags, exercise equipment and kitchen facilities. Astronauts also made repairs to Skylab in space, paving the way for future repairs of satellites from the Space Shuttle.

In 1975, the United States and the Soviet Union achieved the first international human space flight, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. This mission proved to be a huge step in international cooperation during the Cold War. Designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems for American and Soviet spacecraft, astronauts Vance Brand, Slayton and Thomas Stafford joined their Russian counterparts Valeri Kubasov and Alexei Leonov in opening the way for future joint human flights.

The success of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Skylab paved the way for America to now live, study and operate in space.

In the early 1970s, NASA was ordered to build a reusable space shuttle that would handle all the nation’s space flight needs. A reusable space vehicle would decrease the cost of space travel and enable the establishment of a space station.

The Space Shuttle Program began flying on April 1981 with the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Columbia, the world’s first reusable spacecraft. Columbia demonstrated that a spacecraft could take off vertically and glide to an unpowered airplane-like landing with crews of five to seven.

NASA has had five Shuttle orbiters: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, each is capable of carrying heavy cargo or payloads both to and from orbit.

While the accomplishments of the Space Shuttle Program are long and varied, two tragic moments serve as reminders to all those who work in the space program of the challenges and risks involved in space exploration. The loss of STS-51L crew on Challenger and the STS-107 crew on Columbia play an important role in the safety and practices of today’s space program.

“Exploring space is incredibly complex and carries with it inherent risks,” said USA President and Chief Executive Officer Dick Covey. Covey has a unique insight into the two Shuttle accidents. He was Capcom for the launch of STS 51-L and was Pilot for the STS-26 Return to Flight launch in 1988. He also served as co-chair for the Return to Flight Task Group following the loss of Columbia on STS-107.

“We manage those risks as best we can, and when we do suffer losses, we use that as an opportunity to improve our systems. The true legacy of the STS 51-L and STS-107 crews is that because of their sacrifices, we will be better and safer as we continue the human exploration of space,” Covey said.

Today, the Space Shuttle fleet is a trio of veterans – Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. Since STS-1, all five Orbiters have accumulated more than three years in space during 123 missions. They have traveled a total of 473,659,150 miles and made 18,449 orbits of the Earth.

The Orbiters have facilitated major scientific missions – including deployment of the Galileo, Magellan and Chandra space probes and the Hubble Space Telescope – and have enabled a wide variety of microgravity and life sciences experiments. They also have supported the deployment of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System constellation and numerous flights to support the Mir and ISS.

American astronauts have conducted 197 spacewalks over the history of space exploration. Of those, 77 have been conducted out of the Shuttle airlock. Some of the most memorable include the deployment, retrieval and repair of satellites like the International Telecommunications Satellite (INTELSAT) during STS-49 in May 1992.

Endeavour’s maiden voyage proved unbelievably successful. Four EVAs were performed that retrieved, repaired and deployed the satellite and demonstrated a number of skills that would later be used to assemble the Space Station. After two failed attempts to capture the INTELSAT using a capture bar, the capstone EVA of the mission was a third unscheduled but successful three-man spacewalk to capture the large INTELSAT by hand.

“The INTELSAT retrieval and repair mission dramatically demonstrated the importance of having humans in space to react and respond when things don’t go exactly as planned,” said Dan Brandenstein, USA Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and Commander of the STS-49 mission. “Despite excellent training and preparation, in the end, we relied on the most basic tool we had to get the job done – the human hand.”

Another major scientific accomplishment launched from the Shuttle Program is the Hubble Space Telescope. The crew of STS-31 placed the first major optical telescope into space in May 1990. Since that time, Hubble has provided the United States space program with deep and clear views of the universe. These images provide astronomers and scientists a look at not only our own solar system, but also new galaxies. During its 18 years of operation Hubble has been serviced by three Shuttle missions with the fourth and final scheduled for next year. Astronauts will perform vital testing and replace hardware to enhance Hubble’s scientific capability and extend the life of the telescope.

 “The Hubble Space Telescope and the Shuttle missions to support it are some of the most important scientific accomplishments of the space program,” said Loren Shriver, USA’s Vice President of Engineering and Integration and Commander of STS-31. “It is easy to be amazed at the images that Hubble has provided us. The knowledge and vision that Americans have gained provides the Shuttle Program with a great sense of pride and honor.”

In January 1984, President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address called for NASA to enter into yet another era of space exploration with the establishment of a space station.

The Space Station brings together 15 partners, including the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the member nations of the European Space Agency.

The first two elements of the Space Station, the Zarya and Unity modules, were launched in 1998, and permanent habitation began when the Expedition 1 crew arrived on November 2, 2000. A total of 17 expeditions have visited the orbiting outpost, and 26 Shuttle missions have flown to the Station.

American’s space program has accomplished amazing activities involving the Space Shuttle and ISS. NASA astronauts have conducted 78 EVAs from the ISS. One historical EVA involved astronaut Scott Parazynski during the 2007 STS-120 mission. The seven hour and 19 minute EVA took place after one of the ISS’s solar arrays was damaged while being relocated to the far end of the main truss. Parazyniski’s spacewalk to 165 feet down the truss and 90 feet up to the damage took him farther from the ISS than had even been accomplished ever before.

A recent success took place during the May 2008 STS-124 mission with the delivery of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s station laboratory main segment. The module, named Kibo, or Hope, measured 14.4 feet in diameter and 36.7 feet long, barely fitting inside the Shuttle’s payload bay. Kibo is the largest laboratory element of the ISS and is the second component of Japan’s laboratory complex to fly to the Station; the first was launched in March on Shuttle mission STS-123.

Reviewing the exciting accomplishments of the past always leads us to the present. USA employees continue to work toward safely flying out the Shuttle program, completing the ISS and, at the same time, keeping an innovative look into another new era of space exploration.

NASA’s space exploration program seeks to return humans to the moon by 2020. For the first time since the Apollo era, new human-rated rockets and crewed capsules are being designed. NASA and its contractors are already at work developing Ares I hardware and software systems. Using the best of the technologies and experiences from the Apollo and Space Shuttle propulsion systems and decades of experience, Ares I will carry crewed missions back to the moon.

America’s next generation of astronauts will travel to the moon on board NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle. Orion, capable of carrying crew and cargo into space, is only one of the elements of the Constellation Program. Taking its shape from the capsules of the past, Orion will take full advantage of the technologies of today and the future.

“NASA’s first 50 years have broadened our knowledge of our planet, solar system, universe and even ourselves,” Covey said. “Much has been accomplished, but there is still so much more that we can achieve. We are beginning the next era of space exploration and discovery, and I believe NASA’s next 50 years will be even more enlightening and exciting.”

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