1. 50 Years of Human Space Flight: 1961-2011
By Richard C. Cook
Author, Challenger Revealed
February 25 & 26, 2011
An Educational Program Created
for Roanoke Public Libraries,
Roanoke, VA
Developed as a public
service and not copyrighted.
Fair Use Doctrine claimed
for illustrations.

2. Man the Dreamer Leonardo da Vinci Space Station Drawing?
Jules Verne’s From the
Earth to the Moon
Early Chinese Rocket

3. The “Call of Space” Flash Gordon - 1934 Buck Rogers - 1928
Superman
The Day the Earth Stood Still

4. Dr. Robert Goddard ( )

5. German V-2 Rocket – WW II

6. Launched by the Soviet Union
First Earth-Orbiting Satellites
Sputnik 1
Launched by the Soviet Union
on October 4, 1957
Explorer 1
Launched by the U.S.
on January 31, 1958

7. National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958
DECLARATION OF POLICY AND PURPOSE
Sec. 102.  (a) The Congress hereby declares that it is the policy of the United States
that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind. (b) The Congress declares that the general welfare and security of the United States
require that adequate provision be made for aeronautical and space activities. The Congress
further declares that such activities shall be the responsibility of, and shall be directed by,
a civilian agency exercising control over aeronautical and space activities sponsored by
the United States, except that activities peculiar to or primarily associated with the development
of weapons systems, military operations, or the defense of the United States (including the
research and development necessary to make effective provision for the defense of the United
States) shall be the responsibility of, and shall be directed by, the Department of Defense;
and that determination as to which such agency has responsibility for and direction of any
such activity shall be made by the President in conformity with section 2471(e).
(c) The Congress declares that the general welfare of the United States requires that the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (as established by title II of this Act)
seek and encourage, to the maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of space.

8. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama
Johnson Space Center, Houston
Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland

9. Project Mercury 1959-1963 1st American Astronauts:
Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper,
John Glenn, Virgil “Gus” Grissom,
Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard,
Donald “Deke” Slayton
Trained at NASA’s
Langley Research Center,
Hampton, Virginia
20 unmanned launches,
followed by two suborbital
and four orbital manned flights

10. Mercury Spacecraft Mercury Capsule with Escape Tower Mercury Control
at Cape Canaveral,
Florida

11. The Soviet Union and the U.S.
Send Men to Space.
First Suborbital Flights
Alan Shepard
May 5, 1961
Yuri Gagarin
April 12, 1961

12. (After his flight, Ham lived in until the ripe old age of 26)
Oops. Almost Forgot!
Ham the Chimp beat both
men to space with a
January 31,1961
suborbital flight
(After his flight, Ham lived in
the National Zoo in
Washington, D.C.,
until the ripe old age of 26)

13. First American to Orbit the Earth
John Glenn
First American to Orbit the Earth
February 20, 1962
U.S. Senator
Astronaut
Oldest shuttle
astronaut – 1998
Age 77

14. First Woman in Space June 16, 1963 - Vostok 6 carries Soviet
cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first
woman in space, and orbits the earth 48 times.

15. Project Gemini 10 two-man flights in 1965-66
Preparation for lunar mission
Rendezvous and docking of capsules
First American spacewalks
Demonstrate endurance in zero-gravity

16. Tragedy Jan. 27, 1967: Gus Grissom, Ed White
and Roger Chaffee are killed
on the launch pad when a flash fire
engulfs their command module
during testing for the first Apollo/Saturn
mission. They are the first U.S.
astronauts to die in the line of duty.
April 24, 1967: Soviet cosmonaut
Vladimir Komarov dies when his Soyuz
capsule crash lands after a 13-orbit
mission.

17. Humanity Reaches for the Moon

18. The Apollo Program 1961-1975 Met President John F. Kennedy’s goal
of “landing a man on the moon and
returning him safely to the earth” by
the end of the decade.
12 men walked on the moon in
six landings.
Only spaceflight program to send men
beyond low earth orbit.
Utilized giant Saturn rocket developed by
Dr. Werner von Braun and his team
Included three Skylab missions and
one docking mission with Soviet Soyuz.

19. How They Got There Saturn 5 Rocket Command Module Lunar Module (LEM)
Lunar Rover

20. Man on the Moon: Apollo 11 Launched July 16, 1969 Landed July 20, 1969
Neil Armstrong
Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin
Michael Collins
On the Moon
In Flight
Recovery

21. Lunar Adventure Earthrise Mission Control A Big Rock Apollo 13 Rescue
Golf Course
Apollo-Soyuz Docking Mission

22. Early Unmanned Spacecraft
Corona
Spy Satellite
1964 – Mariner-Mars
1961 – Telstar 1
1977 – Viking 1&2
to Jupiter & Saturn
1965 – Soviet Venus 3
1975 – Viking 1&2 to Mars

23. cosmonauts die on rentry
Soviet Space Stations
1971 – Salyut 1
1982 – Salyut 7
Soviet cosmonauts
set duration record of
211 days
June 29, 1971 – 3 Soviet
cosmonauts die on rentry
after visiting Salyut 1
Mir

24. Space Shuttle Approved by President Nixon on January 5, 1972.
World’s first reusable spacecraft, as well as
largest, most complex, and most expensive.
Nine years to develop, with first launch of
Columbia taking place on April 12, 1981.
Designed as “space truck” to carry all U.S.
scientific, military, and commercial payloads,
a highly radical policy that changed after
Challenger disaster.
Confined to low earth orbit – miles
with longer-distance rockets in payload bay.
Seven-person crew.
133 missions have been flown to date with two
catastrophic failures.
Scheduled to be terminated with last flight
in June 2011.

25. Shuttle Components Orbiter External Tank Solid Rocket Boosters
Upper and lower passenger decks
Powered by liquid hydrogen/oxygen
World’s only spacecraft to land on
a runway
Large payload bay with robotic arm
for cargo
External Tank
153.8 feet long
Contains hydrogen & oxygen for main engines
Manufactured in New Orleans and
shipped by barge to Florida
Discarded in flight and breaks up
over Indian Ocean
Covered with lightweight insulating foam
Solid Rocket Boosters
Segments shipped from Utah by rail and
joined at Kennedy Space Center (field joints)
Solid ammonium perchlorate/aluminum fuel
with explosive igniter
Burn for first two minutes of flight
Parachute to ocean after flight and are reused

26. Thermal Protection System (TPS) First Use of Solid-Fuel
Cutting Edge
Space Shuttle
Main Engines (SSMEs)
Runway Landings
Flight Computer System
Thermal Protection System (TPS)
First Use of Solid-Fuel
Rockets in Manned
Spaceflight

27. Space Shuttle Liftoff July 4, 1982, President Reagan
declares shuttle “operational” at
landing of Columbia, Edwards AB, Calif.
Sally Ride, First U.S. woman
In space, STS-7, Challenger,
June 18, 1983
November 28, 1983 – Columbia
1st launch of German-built Spacelab
January 24, 1985 – Discovery
First classified Department of Defense
space shuttle mission

28. thermal tiles had to be replaced shutdown 5 min. into flight
Anomalies
Solid Rocket Booster
O-ring charring first
appears on STS-2
December 1984 – Challenger
flight cancelled when 3,800
thermal tiles had to be replaced
January 24-27, 1985
Discovery: Five SRB
O-rings damaged in
during “freeze of the
century”
July 29, 1985 – Challenger
Premature Main Engine
shutdown 5 min. into flight

29. Challenger Disaster January 28, 1986
Challenger broke up 73 seconds into flight.
All seven astronauts died.
Due to Teacher-in-Space Christa McAuliffe,
most-watched launch since moon landing.
Cold weather weakened Solid Rocket Booster
o-ring joint which failed at ignition.
Morton-Thiokol engineers opposed launch but
were overruled by company management
acting under pressure from NASA.
Crew had no escape system or early warning
capability.
Investigations concluded that NASA should
have grounded shuttle due to seriousness of
o-ring joint problems.
Investigations cited launch schedule pressures.

30. Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident
Chairman William Rogers
Former Sec. of State
Vice-Chairman
Neil Armstrong
Commission Member
Sally Ride
Commission Member
Richard Feynman
Richard Cook
described O-ring
“budget threats”
Roger Boisjoly
of Morton Thiokol
explained how he and
other engineers
opposed launch
Allan Mcdonald of
Morton Thiokol
refused to sign
document approving
launch
Astronaut John Young
testified on launch
schedule pressures

31. The Shuttle Returns to Flight
September 29, 1988 – Discovery
First post-Challenger launch
April 24, 1990 – Discovery
Hubble Space Telescope
October 6, 1990
Ulysses Solar Mission
June 27, Atlantis
First shuttle docking with
Russian Mir
May 27, 1999 – Discovery
First servicing mission for
International Space Station
May 7, First flight
of Endeavor orbiter

32. Hubble Views the Universe
Omega Nebula
N90 Star-Forming Region
Crab Nebula
Galaxies in Deep Space
Sombrero Galaxy
Spiral Galaxy

33. International Space Station
ISS project began in 1994 with 1st module launched
by Russia in 1998.
Operated jointly by NASA, Russian Federal Space
Agency, European Space Agency, Japanese
Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Canadian
Space Agency.
Continuously occupied since October 31, 2000.
Used only for peaceful purposes.
Visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from
15 nations.
Most expensive project in human history.
Serviced by manned Soyuz and Shuttle spacecraft
and unmapped Russian, European, and Japanese
vehicles.
Contains 14 separate pressurized modules.
Solar-powered with photovoltaic arrays.
Visible to the naked eye.
Purposes are scientific research, enhancing
human performance and health in space, earth
weather observation, education, and furthering
international cooperation.

34. Columbia Disaster February 1, 2003
Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana
during reentry at the end of a 17-day flight.
All seven crew members died.
Cause was determined to be a briefcase-sized
piece of foam that fell from the External Tank
onto the Orbiter at 66,000 feet after liftoff and
damaged the leading edge of the left wing.
Engineers suspected damage during the flight but
NASA’s managers took no action and crew was
not told.
Tiles had been damaged in previous flights but
not fatally. “Foam shedding” had become an
acceptable occurrence.
Investigating board was highly critical of NASA’s
decision-making and risk assessment processes.
After the Columbia disaster the shuttle was idle
for two years while safety improvements were
made.

35. Fallen Shuttle Astronauts
Challenger Crew
Front Row:
Michael Smith, Frances “Dick” Scobee,
Ronald McNair
Back Row:
Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe,
Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik
Columbia Crew
Front Row:
Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, William McCool
Back Row:
David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson,
Ll Ramon

36. Unmanned U.S. Flights Continue to Explore the Solar System
June 1997 NEAR (Near Earth
Asteroid Rendezvous) lands
on Eros in Feb. 2001
1990 – Magellan Venus
radar mapping mission
Galileo
Jupiter probe
Mars
Global Surveyor
October Launch of
Cassini/Huygens to Saturn;
lands on Titan 2005

37. What Lies Beyond? Voyager 1 & 2 to leave solar system
and transmit data until 2020
New Horizons expected to reach
Pluto in 2015 Then leave solar system
Wikipedia: “Each Voyager space probe carries a gold-plated audio-visual disc
in the event that either spacecraft is ever found by intelligent life-forms from other
planetary systems. The discs carry photos of the Earth and its life forms, a range of
scientific information, spoken greetings from the people (e.g. the Secretary-General
of the United Nations and the President of the United States, and the children of the
Planet Earth) and a medley, ‘Sounds of Earth,’ that includes the sounds of whales,
a baby crying, waves breaking on a shore, and a variety of music.”

38. Earth’s Magnetosphere
Studying Earth Changes from Space
Tracking Sunspots
Hurricane Gordon
Changes in
Earth’s Magnetosphere
Shrinking Ice & Snow Cover

39. China Becomes the Third Nation to Launch Men into Space
Yang Liwei, first
Chinese astronaut
January 2001 Chinese launch of Shenzhou
spacecraft carrying a monkey, dog, and rabbit.
Shenzhou means “divine vessel.” On October 15, 2003, Shenzhou 5 placed first
man from China into orbit.
Six have flown to date.
Shanzhou Re-entry Capsule

40. Race Back to the Moon ? Chandrayaan 1, Indian lunar flight confirms
water on moon, October 2008
U.S. planned moon landing announced for 2019
Indian manned mission Chandrayaan 3 planned
for 2015
Planned Indian and Japanese manned
moon landings
Planned Chinese manned moon landing
2025 – Planned Russian manned moon landing
followed by permanent lunar base

41. Military Satellite Photo
Military Uses of Space
Military Satellite Photo
of the Eiffel Tower
Space operations conducted by all modern nations for
communications, surveillance, and navigation.
Weapons can be delivered through space by ICBMs.
Outer Space Treaty dating to 1966 bans deployment of
nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction
in space.
Only the Soviet Union has used manned military space
stations.
President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative –
“Star Wars” program began to use shuttle as weapons
testing platform with lasers and particle beams.
Use of shuttle for military missions discontinued
during Clinton administration.
Military “black budgets” have potential for secret
military space programs.
Military commanders of major nations have declared
intent to wage war from and in space in future.
Tactical Military Satellite Dish

42. Proposed Next Step: The Constellation Fleet…but…
Aries crew launch vehicle
with resusable solid rocket
and LOX upper stage
Orion crew exploration vehicle
to shuttle four-person crew between
low earth orbit, space station, and moon
Altair lunar lander that docks with Orion in low orbit then flies toward moon
Lunar Outpost – a base at the
Moon’s south pole where the Mars Orion
mission would be configured

43. Constellation on the Way Out?
On February 1, 2010, the Obama administration
canceled the Constellation program.
At an April 2010 Space Conference in Florida,
President Obama proposed continuing development
of the Orion capsule, but initially using it as an
escape capsule for the ISS.
Development of new deep space vehicles would
be postponed.
Private companies such as SpaceX are lobbying to
build NASA’s next manned launch vehicle.
Congress has mandated that NASA build a new
rocket from existing components.
Thousands of jobs are scheduled to be
eliminated when the shuttle is retired in 2011.

44. Explosive Chemical Rockets? – There Must Be a Better Way !
Magnetoplasma Rocket: An electro-magnetic thruster that
uses radio waves to ionize and heat a propellant and magnetic
fields to accelerate the resulting plasma and generate thrust.
Developed by Costa Rican scientist and former astronaut
Frankliln Chang-Diaz for testing on the International Space Station.
But it will be useable only after it has already been carried into space.
Space elevator: Involves traveling along a fixed structure
instead of using rocket powered launch systems.
The concept refers to a cable that reaches from the surface
of the earth on or near the equator to a platform in geostationary
orbit and a counterweight outside the geostationary orbit.
Discussion of a space elevator dates to 1895 when Konstantin
Tsiolokovsky proposed a free-standing "Tsiolkovsky" tower
reaching from the surface of earth. Its use is limited by the
height of the platform.
Magnetic Levitation: A superconductor cooled to an extremely
low temperature is repelled by a magnetic field and made to levitate,
the Meisner Effect. This is the principle behind the mag-lev train,
whereby an extremely heavy train filled with cargo and passengers
can travel at speeds over 100 mph on a track it never even touches.
The mag-lev train actually floats a centimeter above the track in
seeming defiance of the law of gravity. Animals such as frogs have
been levitated in the laboratory. But can it get us off earth?

45. How About Nuclear Fusion Rockets?
A fusion rocket would be driven by nuclear fusion power. Recent developments
indicate this technology may be able to provide terrestrial based power
within 30 years. For space flight, the main advantage of fusion would be
the very high specific impulse, the main disadvantage being the probable large
mass of the reactor. In addition, a fusion rocket may produce less radiation
than a fission rocket, reducing the mass needed for shielding.

46. Even More Exotic Antigravity
Even though many scientists resist the idea that antigravity
could exist, it has become the most promising field of theoretical
research for out-of-the-box propulsion applications.
Faster than Light?
American researcher Peter Grandics has stated that, “Time is
found to be a derivative of gravitation that appears at right
angles to magnetism” and proposes methods for time
warping that could be used for faster-than-light spacecraft
Design.
Wormholes
A wormhole is a theoretical shortcut through spacetime,
potentially able to be crossed by space travelers. The
Schwarzschild wormhole consists of a black hole, a white
hole, and two universes connected at their horizons by a
wormhole. In the film Contact, Dr. Eleanor Arroway travels to
the star system Vega through a series of wormholes.

47. Space in the Popular Imagination
Star Wars
Star Trek
Close Encounters
of the Third Kind
1977
Independence Day
X – Files
E.T
Contact

48. Are We Alone? The Search for UFOs and ETs
SETI, or Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, is a generic term for a variety
of scientific attempts to contact intelligent life elsewhere in the universe through
electromagnetic transmissions, including NASA-funded studies.
UFO-like objects have been reported throughout history, including ancient Rome
and medieval times.
In 1968, Science & Mechanics magazine published detailed accounts of UFO
phenomena from the Air Force’s Project Blue Book files; Air Force terminated the
project in 1970; U.S. government denies any knowledge of UFOs.
Former astronauts Gordon Cooper and Edgar Mitchell say ETs are real. Mitchell
says that he was briefed on UFO/ET contacts while at NASA.
Officials from the U.N., the British Royal Society, the Vatican, and many other
institutions back the search for extraterrestrial life.
Military officers, pilots, and government officials from many countries have
reliably and extensively documented UFO sightings; they do exist. What they are
and who flies them are unknown.

49. The space program has contributed to this in two significant ways:
Results of Space Exploration
The world in which we live would have been inconceivable a century ago.
The space program has contributed to this in two significant ways:
Global Vision
Technology

50. Our Future in Space
--and on Earth--
Is Up to Us

51. But whoever you are or wherever you are,
it’s up to you
to decide how
to serve others

52. Thank You! To Roanoke Public Libraries and
Mr. River Laker for inviting me and
being so creative in facilitating the
program.
To my hard-working laptop for being so cooperative.
To my wife Karen for putting up with my long silences while
working on the presentation.
To my mom, who has encouraged me for 64 of her 88 years.
To the men and women around the world who have taken
part in 50 years of manned space flight.
To all ETs, wherever you are.
But most important - to all of you who came to participate –
you are a great audience!