Going to the Moon

As of August 29, 2009, 505 individuals from 38 countries had

flown in space.

This is Rocket Science• First U.S. spy satellites, the Discoverer series

(1960-)• Designed to take photos, drop film canisters

for mid-air recovery.• Thirteen consecutive failures before success• Eventually evolved into standard U.S. space

intelligence systems• Spy satellites key in keeping peace during the

Cold War

The Soviets Press On

• Yuri Gagarin (one orbit) April 12, 1961• Gherman Titov, August 6-7, 1961, more

than 24 hours in orbit. • Andrian Nikolayev and Pavel Popovich,

1962; first two manned spacecraft to be simultaneously in orbit.

• This series of spacecraft was called Vostok (Russian for "east", connoting sunrise).

More Soviet Firsts

• In June, 1963, a second twin launch carried Valery Bykovsky and Valentina Tereshkova into orbit.

• Tereshkova became the first woman into space, and the last for two decades.

And Still More• In 1964 the Soviets launched the first of the

Voskhod (meaning "ascent") multi-person spacecraft.

• Three cosmonauts orbited on Voskhod 1 in 1964

• Two orbited on Voskhod 2 in 1965. One of these, Alexei Leonov, made the first space walk.

Project Mercury 1961-63• U.S. response: adapt a space capsule to an

existing missile. • The first series of U.S. manned space

missions was called Mercury. • Nobody had a clue what qualities would be

necessary to travel in space. • Military test pilots were chosen.• Two suborbital flights• Four orbital flights (3-22 orbits)

Project Gemini, 1965-66

• Two-man craft• Ten flights up to 14 days long• First (and only) U.S. rendezvous (Gemini 6

and 7)• First emergency landing, also first Pacific

landing (Gemini 8)• Altitude record (Gemini 11, 1370 km)

Russians to the Moon

• In 1959 Luna II became the first spacecraft to strike the Moon.

• In 1960, Luna III returned the first (very crude) pictures ever of the Moon’s far side.

• 1966-68: First lunar soft landing, lunar rover and sample-return mission.

Did the Russians ever have a serious manned lunar program?

• Critics: a myth to sustain NASA through the use of cold war hysteria.

• In early 1990’s artifacts from the supposedly nonexistent Soviet lunar program, including lunar spacesuits, went on sale at Sotheby's in New York.

Did the Russians ever have a serious manned lunar program?

• Several catastrophic explosions of the Soviet lunar rocket booster made it clear that they would not beat the U.S. to the moon.

• Failure probably due to cutting corners and false economizing (Dan Goldin, are you listening?)

Did the Russians ever have a serious manned lunar program?

• Author James Oberg calls continued denial of a Soviet lunar landing program a "cover-up".

Kennedy’s Challenge

• U.S. had 15 minutes’ experience in space when Kennedy proposed a race to the Moon.

• Reason: would require both sides to develop new technology

• Would be a level playing field

U.S. Robots to the Moon, 1963-68

• Ranger series: designed to impact the Moon, returning pictures on the way. – Only last three of nine worked, but results were

spectacular.• Surveyor soft-lander series; most of the

seven worked well. • Five Lunar Orbiter missions mapped almost

all of the Moon. • First pictures ever of the Earth rising above

the lunar horizon.

Tragedy for the Russians

• Vladimir Komarov, on Soyuz 1, 1967, was Russia's first two-time space traveler. In 1967

• His parachute failed on re-entry; first space traveler to be killed.

• Soyuz 11, 1971, lost pressurization on reentry; three-man crew died from lack of oxygen.

Tragedy at the Cape

• On January 26, 1967, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire.

• The Apollo Program was delayed for 18 months while equipment and procedures were redesigned.

Apollo Gets Off the Ground• Apollo 7, October 11, 1968, was first

launch of a manned Apollo capsule into orbit.

• Decision was made to reverse the order of the next two missions

• Apollo 8: lunar flyby and return. • Live broadcast from lunar orbit on

Christmas Eve, 1968.

More Rehearsals

• Apollo 9 in Earth orbit, was a test of the lunar module.

• Apollo 10, a return to the Moon, practiced maneuvering the lander in lunar orbit but did not touch down.

The Eagle Has Landed• At 4:17:41 P.M. (EDT) on July 20, 1969, an

estimated 500 million people watched worldwide as Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon, confirmed by the message: "Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

• 6-1/2 hours later, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon.

Houston, We’ve Had a Problem

• Apollo 12 landed near the site of the Surveyor 3 lunar lander as a test of pinpoint lunar navigation.

• Apollo 13: side of the lunar service module blew out halfway to the Moon and only heroic innovations on the ground and in space got the crew back.

Apollo Science

• Apollo 14: first to explore lunar highlands.• Apollo 15: first to use the lunar rover.• Apollo 16 made three rover expeditions

totaling 27 km. • Apollo 17 made three rover expeditions

lasting 22 hours and travelling 35 kilometers.

• Apollo astronauts John Young (10, 16), Eugene Cernan (10, 17), and Jim Lovell (8, 13) each made two lunar flights.

• No one has actually set foot on the Moon twice.

• September 2, 1970: Apollo 18-20 cancelled.• We just quit.

End of Apollo