Moon exploration could be all but marveled until October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union did the impossible and launched Sputnik 1 to orbit Earth, this was a huge success. Sputnik 1 was a small, nearly useless satellite, but it had started the Space Race, and one of the biggest leaps for humanity. We have been nearly oblivious to what has happened in the space race, including why the race to the moon became big and fast at that, what other smaller successes were, and what the Apollo program was like.
The Moon and the Space Race blew up around the mid 1900’s, but it wasn't just Sputnik that started the space race, it was a mess of proposals, orders, and challenges. The space race started during the Cold War, when the US and the Soviet Union …show more content…
The space race didn't stop after the US landed a man on the moon, but it did lose a lot of interest. NASA put it’s first probe on the moon in 1962, named the Ranger 1. This was a huge step for the US and the next step for landing a man on the moon. The Ranger missions were kamikaze missions; they were to go to the moon, and crash. But their overall goal was to find future landing sites. The Soviets were the first country to overcome the moon’s harsh terrain and hurdles with the smooth landing of Luna 9. The Soviets struck again the same year with the Luna 10: the first spacecraft to orbit the moon. The space probes called the Surveyors, were the first NASA crafts to perform controlled landings on the moon. These probes also surveyed the land. And different from the Luna missions. The probes also collected dirt and soil samples. In 1966 and 1967, NASA launched lunar orbiters to try and picture most of the moon's surface. They ended up launching 5 orbiters and pictured 99% of the moon's surface. This was the most pictures taken of the moon in one try. NASA was also able to find several eligible landing sites. The SMART-1 craft, launched by the Europeans, orbited the moon for two years from 2004-2006, it was to help look for future landing sites. Japan launched the Selene spacecraft to the moon in 2007, the goal was to map the water ice and …show more content…
The main problem faced was that we needed a spacecraft that could take off, go to the moon, and then return with safe Astronauts. So engineers designed a spacecraft with 3 modules. The command module, the lunar module, and the service module. The Apollo program was the third United States human spaceflight program carried out by NASA. This was the first program to put humans on the moon from 1969 to 1972. The first manned flight of the Apollo program was in 1968, which was cutting close to President Kennedy’s goal and proposal. But sure enough, NASA broke through on the Apollo 11 Mission when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their lunar module on July 20th in 1969. They walked on the surface while Michael Collins remained in orbit. All three landed safely back on earth on July 24th. After Apollo 11, five more Apollo missions landed astronauts on the moon. These missions ended in 1972 and 12 men walked on the moon throughout the missions. The Apollo program succeeded in achieving its goal of a manned lunar landing despite the major set back of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a pre-launch test. The only other Apollo mission that didn't go it as planned was Apollo 13, when landing on the moon was prevented by an oxygen tank explosion on the way. Overall, Apollo set many several human spaceflight milestones. The program stands alone in
The Moon and the Space Race blew up around the mid 1900’s, but it wasn't just Sputnik that started the space race, it was a mess of proposals, orders, and challenges. The space race started during the Cold War, when the US and the Soviet Union …show more content…
The space race didn't stop after the US landed a man on the moon, but it did lose a lot of interest. NASA put it’s first probe on the moon in 1962, named the Ranger 1. This was a huge step for the US and the next step for landing a man on the moon. The Ranger missions were kamikaze missions; they were to go to the moon, and crash. But their overall goal was to find future landing sites. The Soviets were the first country to overcome the moon’s harsh terrain and hurdles with the smooth landing of Luna 9. The Soviets struck again the same year with the Luna 10: the first spacecraft to orbit the moon. The space probes called the Surveyors, were the first NASA crafts to perform controlled landings on the moon. These probes also surveyed the land. And different from the Luna missions. The probes also collected dirt and soil samples. In 1966 and 1967, NASA launched lunar orbiters to try and picture most of the moon's surface. They ended up launching 5 orbiters and pictured 99% of the moon's surface. This was the most pictures taken of the moon in one try. NASA was also able to find several eligible landing sites. The SMART-1 craft, launched by the Europeans, orbited the moon for two years from 2004-2006, it was to help look for future landing sites. Japan launched the Selene spacecraft to the moon in 2007, the goal was to map the water ice and …show more content…
The main problem faced was that we needed a spacecraft that could take off, go to the moon, and then return with safe Astronauts. So engineers designed a spacecraft with 3 modules. The command module, the lunar module, and the service module. The Apollo program was the third United States human spaceflight program carried out by NASA. This was the first program to put humans on the moon from 1969 to 1972. The first manned flight of the Apollo program was in 1968, which was cutting close to President Kennedy’s goal and proposal. But sure enough, NASA broke through on the Apollo 11 Mission when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their lunar module on July 20th in 1969. They walked on the surface while Michael Collins remained in orbit. All three landed safely back on earth on July 24th. After Apollo 11, five more Apollo missions landed astronauts on the moon. These missions ended in 1972 and 12 men walked on the moon throughout the missions. The Apollo program succeeded in achieving its goal of a manned lunar landing despite the major set back of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a pre-launch test. The only other Apollo mission that didn't go it as planned was Apollo 13, when landing on the moon was prevented by an oxygen tank explosion on the way. Overall, Apollo set many several human spaceflight milestones. The program stands alone in