The Space Race Group Presentation

• Jeffrey Aaron Brookshire• Michelle Brown• Anthony Douglas• Paul McVeigh• Saud Queshi• Bradley Roberts• Jeremy Shaffer• Heather Smith

Early Rocketry

• Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)o No support from the science communityo Developed a series of sophisticated wind

tunnels, late 1890s o Conducted aerodynamic experiments on

various aircraft designs o Studied the stratosphere o Published books:

theoretical problems of using rocket engines issues of navigation reentry heating fuel needs

o Ideas of using oxygen and hydrogen as a fuel for space travel

o Finally gained support near the end of his lifetime

Early Rocketry

• Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945) o Worcester Polytechnic Institute of Clark University,1908

Graduate Studies Received his Doctorate Taught physics Conducted rocketry experiments

o 1914, two U.S. patents for liquid fueled rocket engines

o March 16th, 1926: Tested the first liquid fueled rocket o Designs were very primitive

set the path for future liquid fueled rocket success o Helped launch the first scientific payload in 1929 o Did not receive much credit during his lifetime

Early Rocketry

• Hermann Oberth (1884-1989)o Pursued studies in Astronautics o Conducted experiments to simulate

weightlessness o Worked out a design for a long-range liquid

fueled rocket o Published:

The Rocket into Interplanetary Space, 1923 mathematically explained how a rocket could

escape Earth’s gravitational pull using stages Ways to Space Flight, 1929

described the development of electric and ion propulsion

o Liquid-propellant rocket, patent in 1931 from the Romanian Patent Office

o Wernher von Braun was an assistant to Oberth

Testing• Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky

o Developed his own experimental methods o Built many wind tunnels in Russia o From experiments he derived:

a formula relating the rocket’s velocity at any moment, the fuel’s specific impulse and the rocket’s mass in initial and end time

the basic equation of rocket propulsion o Analysis of rocket behavior under zero gravityo Solved the problem of landing on planets lacking

atmosphereso Founded the theory of interplanetary navigationo Showed the possibility of reaching orbital

velocities and interplanetary flight o Studied the problems with Earth’s artificial

satelliteso Studied medical and biological issues with long

term space flight

Testing

• Robert Goddard o Assistant professor at Clark University, Worcester, in 1915 o Began experimenting the efficiency of rockets

Conservation of momentum Momentum measured equals the momentum burned Mass of rocket before and after firing gives the mass of the ejected gas Then the velocity could be deduced Knowing the mass and velocity the kinetic energy given to the gas found A specific amount of fuel is burned, Measured the heat given off, the total amount of

chemical energy converted to heat could be determined Findings are disappointing, only about 2% of the available energy contributed to the

speed of the jet o Experimented with various nozzle designs

Found the nozzle by Gustav DeLaval obtained efficiencies up to 63% o Experiments showed that rockets could work in a vacuum

It was possible to achieve escape velocity with a rocket Optimum efficiency would be produced from a multi-staged rocket

o Shared his results with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington he wanted support to build a rocket that could reach the high atmosphere 1917 the Smithsonian responded with a grant of $5000

o Launch of the first liquid fueled rocket on March 16th, 1926 in Worcester, MA

Space Race

The Cold War

• The Cold war was an era of conflict, tension and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. It started in mid-1940s and lasted till the early 1990s.

• One of the ways the two superpowers competed was the Space Race.

• The Space Race was initiated on October 4, 1957 by the Soviet Union, when they launched Sputnik 1.

• The launch caused a huge shock to the United States. It was through that the United States was no longer safe behind its ocean barriers. The Soviet Union could launch missiles directly on United States.

The Space Race

• On April 12, 1961 the Soviets launch another satellite, Sputnik 2. This time they were able to put a dog in orbit around the earth. The flight lasted for 1 hour and 48 minutes.

• The first step that the United States made in catching up to the Soviets was in the successful launch of Alan Shepard into space on May 5, 1961

• Then President Kennedy gave a speech on May 25, 1961 which challenged to travel to the moon by the end of the decade, congress fully funded NASA to get this accomplished.

USA vs. USSR

• While both sides were advancing in technology at the same time they had a few setbacks.

• USA: The first Apollo mission on January 27, 1967 was a tragic failure.

• USSR: 1967, a Soviet spacecraft, Soyuz 1 was landing and had control failure then crash landed. As for the passenger, Cosmonaut Komarov, he was unable to survive the crash.

The United States During the Space Race

• Attempts to launch a satelliteo “Folpnik” or

“Kaputnik”• Steps towards

ultimate goal: The Moono Mercury Programo Gemini Programo Apollo Program

The Soviet Union During the Space Race

• Successful Satellite Launches

• Vostok series of rockets

• Soyuz series or rockets

• Lunokhod unmanned robot vehicles

Winner of the Race

• On July 20, 1969 the crew of Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

• Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men on the Moon.

• Though the landing on the moon ended the Space Race, NASA and the Soviets continued to develop their space technology and began working on a project, Apollo-Soyuz which eased tensions between the two nations.

• The success of Apollo-Soyuz mission essentially put the Cold War on hold long enough for the two rival nations to prove that they could successfully work together.

First Time Space Achievements

Soviet Union Firsts

• Satellite• Dog in space• Man in space• Rendezvous• woman in space• Three man crew• Spacewalk

United States Firsts

• Sets endurance records• Leave Earth orbit• Orbit the moon• Land on the moon

• Space Race made people more fearful of the unknown

• The prospect of reaching the cosmos allowed peoples minds to wander

• During the Space Race UFO sightings increased dramatically

• Stories of abduction began to run rampant• As these new thoughts began to make news,

they caused the Sci-Fi era

• Since people were overly interested in space and what it may hold, authors like H.G. Wellsbegan writing about fantastic accounts of extra terrestrial activity.• H.G. Wells’ WAR OF THE WORLDS raised

people’s fears of alien invasion• More and more films and novels were being

written about aliens and outer space

• In Roswell, New Mexico an unidentified object crash landed inan open field in July 1947• Because of the new fears of outer

space, the Roswell incident exploded into fame• People feared that either the Soviet Union had

some part in the incident or the wreckage was of alien decent

• All of the questions rose because of the fears caused by the space race.

• The space race also contributedto Area 51’s nation wide famebecause of all of the secrets people began to wonder what went on there• Stories of alien corpse at Area 51 began getting

more frequent• Since the US was looking to get the upper hand

in space it was believed that the government held top secret UFO testing there

• As a result of the new interest in the cosmos the Sci-Fi era was born

• It’s impact on our culture is still visible today• Science Fiction is an extremely popular genre of

movie and television show• The Space Race is solely responsible for

creating extra terrestrial awareness, thus being the catalyst for what we know today as Science Fiction or Sci-Fi

Future• Teamwork• Dedication• Deadlines• The New Frontier:

Space• Relations with Russia

o Nowo Future

Future• “Today NASA is moving

forward with a new focus for the manned space program: to go out beyond earth orbit for purposes of human exploration and scientific discovery. The ISS is now a stepping stone on the way, rather then being the end of the line” (Griffin 1).

Summary of the Space Race

• A tough rivalry that ended with benefits for each side.

• Started on October 4, 1957.• Ended on July 20, 1969.• Both sides suffered casualties.• Many technological achievements were

made.

Works Cited

• Moon Race: U.S. Not Alone in Future Lunar Exploration http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/060426_international_moon.html

• The Space Race http://nebraskastudies.org/0900/frameset_reset.html?http://nebraskastudies.org/0900/stories/0901_0105.html

• Space Race Rekindled? Russia Shoots for Moon, Mars http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3550741&page=1

Works Cited Cont’d.

• The Cold War & Space Race Era http://www.vibrationdata.com/SpaceRace.htm

• Early Astronomy• http://faculty.erau.edu/ericksol/courses/sp

11/sp110_astro.html• Evolution of Space Flight• http://faculty.erau.edu/ericksol/courses/sp

11/sp110_history.html

Works Cited Cont’d.

• Basic Rocketry http://faculty.erau.edu/ericksol/courses/sp11/sp110_rocket.html

• Space Race http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race