THE SPACE AGE

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THE SPACE AGE
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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

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Satellites

• Natural satellite an object naturally occurring
  in orbit
• Artificial satellite an object put into orbit
  by human endeavour

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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

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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

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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

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Project SCORE

• Signal Communications Orbit Relay Equipment
• Worlds First communications satellite (USA)
• Launched December 18, 1958
• Relayed a Christmas message from President
  Eisenhower to the world

Atlas Missile used to launch SCORE
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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.

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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.

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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

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Humans in Space

• 23 days later, Alan Shepard entered space for the
  USA
• Sub-orbital mission Freedom7
• Less than 16min
• Altitude of 187km

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Humans in Space

• First American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn
• February 20, 1962
• Completed 3 orbits
• Friendship7

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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• Earths atmosphere is about 480km thick. About
  80 is within the first 16km. No definite end,
  just thins until it merges with outer space.
  Generally agreed that space starts about 95km
  above Earth.

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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

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Escaping Earth

• Minimum velocity required to remain in orbit is
  called orbital velocity.
• Velocity required to escape Earths gravity is
  about 40faster than orbital velocity. Escape
  velocity.

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Escaping Earth

• Launch vehicles have 2 or more sections (stages)
• Stage 1 must provide enough thrust (pushing
  force) to leave Earths surface
• After the 1st stage propellants are used up, it
  will fall away
• Then the 2nd stage fires. When its propellants
  are used up, it too will fall away.

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Returning to Earth

• Must slowdown!!!
• Small rockets used to redirect flights path into
  upper atmosphere
• Skimming the top of Earths atmosphere. air
  resistance.
• At end of their fall, parachutes slow it further
• Shuttles have wings that help land like airplane
  some early rockets landed in water