Space...
It has been called "the last great frontier for Humanity"
since the technology began developing to take us there.
In the past 40 years, the scientific advances resulting
directly from the space programs of the United States
and the former Soviet Union have made life better
here on Earth.
Medical science, computer science, astrophysics,
astronomy, have all benefitted tremendously
from the continually evolving quest to establish
a permanent foothold for Humanity
in space.
In response to the Soviet successes in the late 1950's
in sending men into space, the United States launched
an ambitious space program under the auspices of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
with the goal of surpassing the Soviet advances and
staying in the forefront of the space race.
Some of the milestones in this endeavor:
(From the NASA website)
1957
Oct. 4th:
The Sputnik 1 was the first artificial
satellite successfully placed in orbit around the
Earth, launched by the Soviet Union.
The Russian word "Sputnik" means "companion"
("satellite" in the astronomical sense).
Nov. 3rd:
Sputnik 2 was the second spacecraft
launched into orbit and was the first biological
spacecraft, carrying the first being to travel to
outer space, a female part-Samoyed terrier named
Laika (Barker).
The mission provided scientists with the first data
on the behavior of a living organism in the space
environment.
1958
Jan. 31st:
Explorer 1 was the first successful U. S. spacecraft.
This capsule carried instrumentation for the study of
cosmic rays, micrometeorites,and for monitoring of the
satellite's temperature. It was the first spacecraft to
successfully detect the radiation trapped in the Earth's
magnetosphere, dubbed the Van Allen Radiation Belt (after
the principal investigator of the cosmic ray experiment on
Explorer 1, James A. Van Allen).
Mar. 17th:
Vanguard 1 was a small earth-orbiting satellite designed
to test the launch capabilities of a three-stage launch
vehicle and the effects of environment on a satellite and
its systems in Earth orbit. It also was used to obtain
geodetic measurements through orbit analysis.
1959
Jan. 2nd:
Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to reach the Moon, and
the first of a series of Soviet automatic interplanetary
stations sucessfully launched in the direction of the Moon.
The measurements obtained during this mission provided new
data on the Van Allen belt and outer space, including the
discovery that the Moon had no magnetic field and that a
solar wind, a strong flow of ionized plasma emmanating from
the Sun, streamed through interplanetary space.
Mar. 3rd:
The Pioneer 4 was the first US probe to escape from the
Earth's gravity. It carried a lunar radiation environment
experiment using a Geiger-Mueller tube detector and a lunar
photography experiment. It passed within 60,000 Km of the
moon's surface. However, Pioneer 4 did not come close enough
to trigger the photoelectric sensor. No lunar radiation was
detected. The craft was still in solar orbit as of 1969.
Oct 4th:
Luna 3, an automatic interplanetary station, was the third
spacecraft successfully launched to the Moon and the first
to return images of the lunar far side. It had an imaging
system with an automatic film processing unit. On
October 7, it took a series of 29 photographs over 40
minutes, covering 70% of the surface, that were developed
on-board the spacecraft. The photographs were scanned and
17 were radio transmitted to ground stations on October 18.
Through computer enhancement, a tentative atlas of the
lunar farside was produced. These first views showed
mountainous terrain, very different from the near side,
and two dark regions which were named Mare Moscovrae
(Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Dreams).
1962
Aug. 27th:
Mariner 2 was to fly by Venus and return data on the planet.
Discoveries included a slow retrograde rotation rate, hot
surface temperatures, high surface pressures, a mostly carbon
dioxide atmosphere, continuous cloud cover with a top
altitude of about 60 km, and no detectable magnetic field.
It was also shown that in interplanetary space the solar
wind streams continuously and the cosmic dust density is
much lower than the near-Earth region. Improved estimates
of Venus' mass and the value of the astronomical unit were
made. The last transmission from Mariner 2 was received on
3 January 1963 at 07:00 UT. It remains in heliocentric orbit.
(more to come)
DATELINE: 1984:
President Ronald Reagan announces the goal of an
international space station, which was later named
"Space Station Freedom."
