1. U.S. Space Program
History
&
Highlights

2. The Beginning of Space

3. Space Program (Early History)
Sputnik I – launched by Soviet Union on October 4, 1957
World’s first artificial satellite (about the size of a basketball)
Start of the Space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R. space race.

4. U.S. Space Program (Early History)
First American satellite – Explorer 1 (launched 1/31/58)
Vanguard 1 – suppose to be first but not launched until March 1958
N.A.S.A. – was formed in October 1958

5. Humans In Space

6. U.S. Space Program (Mercury Missions)
April 1959 – Mercury 7 astronauts selected for the first flights.
Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, & Deke Slayton
January 1961 – Glenn, Grissom, & Shepard are selected to go up in the first three missions.
January Before man goes up, “Ham” the chimp makes a test flight in a Mercury space capsule. Successful!!
April 1961 – NASA selects Alan Shepard to be the first American in space.

7. U.S. Space Program (Mercury Missions)
Initiated in The goals were:
To orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth.
To investigate man’s ability to function in space.
To recover both man and spacecraft safely.
Before Alan Shepard’s flight – first human in space was Yuri Gargarin (Vostok 1) – 4/12/61

8. U.S. Space Program (Mercury Missions)
First U.S. Manned Space Flight – Alan Shepard 5/5/61 (suborbital flight – lasted 15 minutes)
2nd Manned Flight – Gus Grissom – 7/21/61 (suborbital flight – lasted 15 minutes)
3rd Manned Flight – John Glenn – 2/20/62 (first orbital flight – 3 orbits – lasted about 5 hours)
Three other successful missions – Slayton did not fly due to heart flutter found by doctors three months before scheduled flight.

9. Gemini DVD Clip

10. U.S. Space Program (Gemini Missions)
Was announced in 1962, and placed sets of two astronauts in 12 flights.
Goals of the mission were:
To subject man and equipment to space flight up to two weeks.
To rendezvous and dock with orbiting vehicles
To perfect methods of entering the atmosphere and landing at a pre-selected point on land. Landing method scratched in Landed in water.

11. U.S. Space Program (Gemini Missions)
Mission Facts:
Gus Grissom – flew on Gemini 3 and was first astronaut to fly in space twice.
Ed White – flew on Gemini 4 and was the first American to walk in space.
First rendezvous in space – Gemini 6 & 7 – December 1965

12. Apollo DVD Clip

13. U.S. Space Program (Apollo Missions)
The words of John F. Kennedy stated that by the end of the 1960’s, man would step foot on the moon.
Goals of the program were:
To establish the technology to meet other national interests in space.
To achieve preeminence in space for the United States.
To carry out a program of scientific exploration of the Moon.
To develop man’s capability to work in the lunar environment.

14. U.S. Space Program (Apollo Missions)
Mission Facts:
Apollo 1 – crew died in a flash fire on 1/27/67 (Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, & Roger Chaffee passed away.)
Apollo 8 – first humans to leave Earth’s gravity and orbit the moon.
Apollo 10 – did a full rehearsal for the Apollo 11 landing. Flew within 50,000 feet of the surface.

15. U.S. Space Program (Apollo Missions)
Apollo 11 – first humans to land on lunar surface. Landed 7/20/69
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, & Michael Collins
Armstrong – first human on moon. (“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”)
Six successful missions – only Apollo 13 did not reach the moon.

16. U.S. Space Program (Skylab Missions)
America’s first experimental space station.
Goals for the mission were:
Prove that humans could live and work in space for long periods
Expand our knowledge of solar astronomy beyond Earth.
One unmanned and three three-man crews totaled 171 days in space.

17. Space Shuttle DVD Clip

18. U.S. Space Program (Space Shuttle Missions)
Was conceived in early 1970’s to carry crews and supplies to an orbiting space station.
Sally Ride – first woman to go into space (Challenger – 1983)
Reusable craft that is made up of an orbiter, two solid rocket boosters, & an external fuel tank. Only external tank is reusable!!
Is made up of 20 million moving parts. If 99% of parts work, 200,000 parts have failed.
Takes off like a rocket, but lands like an airplane.

19. U.S. Space Program (Space Shuttle Missions)
Space Shuttle Orbiters
Enterprise – first orbiter (tester – not fly in space)
Columbia – first orbiter in space (4/12/81) Destroyed 2/1 03
Challenger – 2nd orbiter to fly (4/4/83) Destroyed 1/28/86
Discovery – 3rd orbiter to fly (8/30/84)
Atlantis – fourth orbiter to fly (10/3/85)
Endeavor – fifth orbiter to fly (replaced Challenger) (5/7/92)

20. U.S. Space Program (Space Shuttle Missions)
Each shuttle was designed for 100 missions.
Three remaining orbiters will be retired in 2010

21. U.S. Space Program (Space Station/Future Missions)
First mission to space station was 10/2000
Built to house both U.S. and foreign space travelers
After 2010, shuttles replaced by new Orion Capsule.