Space Exploration: Almanac (Space Exploration Reference Library)

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Space Exploration Almanac

Space Exploration Almanac Volume 1

Rob Nagel Sarah Hermsen, Project Editor

Space Exploration: Almanac Rob Nagel

Project Editor Sarah Hermsen

Imaging and Multimedia Dean Dauphinais, Lezlie Light, Dan Newell

Rights Acquisitions and Management Ann Taylor

Product Design Pamela Galbreath

©2005 Thomson Gale, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson and Star Logo are trademarks and Gale is a registered trademark used herein under license. For more information, contact: Thomson Gale 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Or you can visit our Internet site at http://www.gale.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means— graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

aping, Web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. For permission to use material from this product, submit your request via Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions, or you may download our Permissions Request form and submit your request by fax or mail to: Permissions Department Thomson Gale 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Permissions Hotline: 248-699-8006 or 800-877-4253, ext. 8006 Fax: 248-699-8074 or 800-762-4058

Composition Evi Seoud Manufacturing Rita Wimberley

Cover photographs reproduced by permission of © 2001 Brand X Pictures. All rights reserved.

While every effort has been made to ensure the reliability of the information presented in this publication, Thomson Gale does not guarantee the accuracy of the data contained herein. Thomson Gale accepts no payment for listing; and inclusion in the publication of any organization, agency, institution, publication, service, or individual does not imply endorsement by the editors or publisher. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nagel, Rob. Space exploration. Almanac / Rob Nagel ; Sarah Hermsen, project editor. p. cm. – (Space exploration reference library) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7876-9209-3 (set hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 0-7876-9210-7 (volume 1) – ISBN 0-7876-9211-5 (volume 2) 1. Astronautics–History–Encyclopedias, Juvenile. 2. Outer space–Exploration– History–Encyclopedias, Juvenile. I. Title. II. Series. TL788.N287 2004 629.4’09–dc22 2004015823

Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Reader’s Guide .

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Timeline of Events

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Words to Know .

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Research and Activity Ideas

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Volume 1 Chapter 1: Stars and Early Stargazers

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Chapter 2: Defining Order in the Universe .

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Chapter 3: Rocketry in Warfare .

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Chapter 4: Rocketry in Exploration .

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Chapter 5: Cold War .

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Chapter 6: Flying Into Space: The Race to Be First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 7: Manned Spaceflight Begins .

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Chapter 8: Project Apollo .

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Volume 2

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Chapter 9: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project .

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Chapter 10: Space Stations .

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Chapter 11: Space Shuttles .

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Chapter 12: Ground-based Observatories .

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Chapter 13: Space-based Observatories .

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Chapter 14: Space Probes.

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Where to Learn More .

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Index.

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Space Exploration: Almanac

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Reader’s Guide

F

ascinating and forbidding, space has drawn the attention of humans since before recorded history. People have looked outward, driven by curiosity about the vast universe that surrounds Earth. Unaware of the meaning of the bright lights in the night sky above them, ancient humans thought they saw patterns, images in the sky of things in the landscape around them. Slowly, humans came to realize that the lights in the sky had an effect on the workings of the planet around them. They sought to understand the movements of the Sun, the Moon, and the other, brighter objects. They wanted to know how those movements related to the changing seasons and the growth of crops.

Still, for centuries, humans did not understand what lay beyond the boundaries of Earth. In fact, with their limited vision, they saw a limited universe. Ancient astronomers relied on naked-eye observations to chart the positions of stars, planets, and the Sun. In the third century B.C.E., philosophers concluded that Earth was the center of the universe. A few dared to question this prevailing belief. In the face of overwhelming vii

opposition and ridicule, they persisted in trying to understand the truth. This belief ruled human affairs until the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, when scientists used the newly invented telescope to prove that the Sun is the center of Earth’s galaxy. Over time, with advances in science and technology, ancient beliefs were exposed as false. The universe ever widened with humans’ growing understanding of it. The dream to explore its vast reaches passed from nineteenth-century fiction writers to twentieth-century visionaries to present-day engineers and scientists, pilots, and astronauts. The quest to explore space intensified around the turn of the twentieth century. By that time, astronomers had built better observatories and perfected more powerful telescopes. Increasingly sophisticated technologies led to the discovery that the universe extends far beyond the Milky Way and holds even deeper mysteries, such as limitless galaxies and unexplained phenomena like black holes. Scientists, yearning to solve those mysteries, determined that one way to accomplish this goal was to penetrate space itself. Even before the twentieth century, people had discussed ways to travel into space. Among them were science fiction writers, whose fantasies inspired the visions of scientists. Science fiction became especially popular in the late nineteenth century, having a direct impact on early twentieth-century rocket engineers who invented the fuel-propellant rocket. Initially developed as a weapon of war, this new projectile could be launched a greater distance than any human-made object in history, and it eventually unlocked the door to space. From the mid-twentieth century until the turn of the twenty-first century, the fuel-propellant rocket made possible dramatic advances in space exploration. It was used to propel unmanned satellites and manned space capsules, space shuttles, and space stations. It launched an orbiting telescope that sent spectacular images of the universe back to Earth. During this era of intense optimism and innovation, often called the space age, people confidently went forth to conquer the distant regions of space that have intrigued humans since early times. They traveled to the Moon, probed previously uncharted realms, and contemplated trips to Mars. viii


Overcoming longstanding rivalries, nations embarked on international space ventures. Despite the seemingly unlimited technology at their command, research scientists, engineers, and astronauts encountered political maneuvering, lack of funds, aging spacecraft, and tragic accidents. As the world settled into the twenty-first century, space exploration faced an uncertain future. Yet, the ongoing exploration of space continued to represent the “final frontier” in the last great age of exploration. Space Exploration: Almanac chronicles the history of space exploration. It is intended as a brief historical overview of humanity’s quest to understand and to explore the universe, from those early stargazers to modern interplanetary missions of discovery.

Features The two-volume Space Exploration: Almanac presents, in fourteen chapters, key developments and milestones in the continuing history of space exploration. The focus ranges from ancient views of a Sun-centered universe to the scientific understanding of the laws of planetary motion and gravity, from the launching of the first artificial satellite to be placed in orbit around Earth to current robotic explorations of near and distant planets in the solar system. Also covered is the development of the first telescopes by men such as Hans Lippershey, who called his device a “looker” and thought it would be useful in war, and Galileo Galilei, who built his own device to look at the stars. The work also details the construction of great modern observatories, both on ground and in orbit around Earth, that can peer billions of light-years into space. Also examined is the development of rocketry, from thirteenth-century Chinese rockets used in warfare to the large multistage Saturn V rocket used to propel the Apollo astronauts to the Moon; the work of theorists and engineers Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert H. Goddard, and others; a discussion of the Cold War and its impact on space exploration; space missions such as the first lunar landing; and great tragedies including the explosions of U.S. space shuttles Challenger and Columbia as well as the Nedelin catastrophe, in which one hundred Soviet technicians were incinerated as they approached an unstable rocket that had failed to lift off in 1960. Reader’s Guide

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The chapters in Space Exploration: Almanac contain sidebar boxes that highlight people and events of special interest, and each chapter offers a list of additional sources that students can go to for more information. More than one hundred black-and-white photographs illustrate the material. Each volume begins with a timeline of important events in the history of space exploration, a “Words to Know” section that introduces students to difficult or unfamiliar terms, and a “Research and Activity Ideas” section. The two volumes conclude with a general bibliography and a subject index so students can easily find the people, places, and events discussed throughout Space Exploration: Almanac.

Space Exploration Reference Library Space Exploration: Almanac is only one component of the three-part Space Exploration Reference Library. The other two titles in this set are: • Space Exploration: Biographies captures the height of the space age in twenty-five entries that profile astronauts, scientists, theorists, writers, and spacecraft. Included are astronauts Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Mae Jemison, and Sally Ride; cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin; engineer Wernher von Braun; writer H. G. Wells; and the crew of the space shuttle Challenger. The volume also contains profiles of the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. Focusing on international contributions to the quest for knowledge about space, this volume takes readers on an adventure into the achievements and failures experienced by explorers of space. • Space Exploration: Primary Sources (one volume) captures the space age with full-text reprints and lengthy excerpts of seventeen documents that include science fiction, nonfiction, autobiography, official reports, articles, interviews, and speeches. Covering a span of more than one hundred years, these excerpts provide a wide range of perspectives on space exploration, from nineteenth-century speculations about space travel through twenty-first century plans for human flights to Mars. Included are excerpts from science fiction writer Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon; Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, which chronicles the story of America’s first astronauts; astronaut John Glenn’s memx


oirs; and president George W. Bush’s new vision of space exploration. • A cumulative index of all three titles in the Space Exploration Reference Library is also available.

Comments and Suggestions We welcome your comments on Space Exploration: Almanac and suggestions for other topics to consider. Please write: Editors, Space Exploration: Almanac, U•X•L, 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331-3535; call toll-free: 1-800-877-4253; fax to (248) 699-8097; or send e-mail via http://www.gale.com.

Reader’s Guide

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Timeline of Events

c. 3000 B.C.E. Sumerians produce the oldest known drawings of constellations as recurring designs on seals, vases, and gaming boards. c. 3000 B.C.E. Construction begins on Stonehenge. c. 700 B.C.E. Babylonians have already assembled extensive, relatively accurate records of celestial events, including charting the paths of planets and compiling observations of fixed stars. c. 550 B.C.E. Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras argues that Earth is round and develops an early system of cosmology to explain the nature and structure of the universe.

c. 3500 B.C.E. Beginnings of Sumerian civilization 4000 B.C.E.

c. 2680–2526 B.C.E. Building of the Great Pyramids near Giza, Egypt 3000 B.C.E.

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c. 370 B.C.E. Eudoxus of Cnidus develops a system to explain the motions of the planets based on spheres. c. 280 B.C.E. Greek mathematician and astronomer Aristarchus proposes that the planets, including Earth, revolve around the Sun. c. 240 B.C.E. Greek astronomer and geographer Eratosthenes calculates the circumference of Earth with remarkable accuracy from the angle of the Sun’s rays at separate points on the planet’s surface. c. 130 B.C.E. Greek astronomer Hipparchus develops the first accurate star map and star catalog covering about 850 stars, including a scale of magnitude to indicate the apparent brightness of the stars; it is the first time such a scale has been used. 140 C.E. Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy publishes his Earthcentered or geocentric theory of the solar system. c. 1000 The Maya build El Caracol, an observatory, in the city of Chichén Itzá.

44 B.C.E. Julius Caesar becomes Roman dictator for life and is then assassinated

1045

A Chinese government official publishes the Wu-ching Tsung-yao (Complete Compendium of Military Classics), which details the use of “fire arrows” launched by charges of gunpowder, the first true rockets.

1268

English philosopher and scientist Roger Bacon publishes a book on chemistry called Opus Majus (Great Work) in which he describes in detail the process of making gunpowder, becoming the first European to do so.

1543

Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus publishes his Sun-centered, or heliocentric, theory of the solar system.

150 Minutes and seconds first used 500 B.C.E.

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150 C.E.


950 Gunpowder invented 800 C.E.

1421 Mohammed I dies 1450 C.E.

November 1572 Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe discovers what later proves to be a supernova in the constellation of Cassiopeia. 1577

German armorer Leonhart Fronsperger writes a book on firearms in which he describes a device called a roget that uses a base of gunpowder wrapped tightly in paper. Historians believe this resulted in the modern word “rocket.”

c. late 1500s German fireworks maker Johann Schmidlap invents the step rocket, a primitive version of a multistage rocket. 1608

Dutch lens-grinder Hans Lippershey creates the first optical telescope.

1609

German astronomer Johannes Kepler publishes his first two laws of planetary motion.

1609

Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei develops his own telescope and uses it to discover four moons around Jupiter, craters on the Moon, and the Milky Way.

1633

Galileo is placed under house arrest for the rest of his life by the Catholic Church for advocating the heliocentric theory of the solar system.

1656

French poet and soldier Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac publishes a fantasy novel about a man who travels to the Moon in a device powered by exploding firecrackers.

1687

English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton publishes his three laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation in the much-acclaimed Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy).

1558 Elizabeth I begins her forty-five-year reign as queen of England 1550

1618 Thirty Years’ War begins 1600

1643 Louis XIV is crowned king of France 1650

Timeline of Events

1704 First encyclopedia published 1700

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1781

English astronomer William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus using a reflector telescope he had made.

1804

English artillery expert William Congreve develops the first ship-fired rockets.

1844

English inventor William Hale invents the stickless, spin-stabilized rocket.

1865

French writer Jules Verne publishes From the Earth to the Moon, the first of two novels he would write about traveling to the Moon.

1897

The Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, which houses the largest refractor telescope in the world, is completed.

1903

Russian scientist and rocket expert Konstantin Tsiolkovsky publishes an article titled “Exploration of the Universe with Reaction Machines,” in which he presents the basic formula that determines how rockets perform.

1923

German physicist Hermann Oberth publishes a ninety-two-page pamphlet titled Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (The Rocket into Interplanetary Space) in which he explains the mathematical theory of rocketry, speculates on the effects of spaceflight on the human body, and theorizes on the possibility of placing satellites in space.

March 16, 1926 American physicist and space pioneer Robert H. Goddard launches the world’s first liquidpropellant rocket. 1929

c. 1750 Industrial Revolution begins in England 1750

Using the Hooker Telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory in southern California, U.S. astronomer Edwin Hubble develops what comes to be known as Hubble’s law, which describes the rate of expansion of the universe.

1804 Napoléon Bonaparte is crowned emperor of France 1800

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1861–65 American Civil War 1850

1900 Human blood types discovered 1900

1930

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) sets the definitive boundaries of the eighty-eight recognized constellations.

September 8, 1944 Germany launches V-2 rockets, the first true ballistic missiles, to strike targets in Paris, France, and London, England. 1947

The 200-inch-diameter Hale Telescope becomes operational at the Palomar Observatory in southern California.

March 9, 1955 German-born American engineer Wernher von Braun appears on “Man in Space,” the first of three space-related television shows he and American movie producer Walt Disney create for American audiences. July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958 During this eighteenmonth period, known as the International Geophysical Year, more than ten thousand scientists and technicians representing sixty-seven countries engage in a comprehensive series of global geophysical activities. October 4, 1957 The Soviet Union launches the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, and the space age begins. January 31, 1958 Explorer 1, the United States’s first successful artificial satellite, is launched into space. March 17, 1958 The U.S. Navy launches the small, artificial satellite Vanguard 1. The oldest human-made object in space, it remains in orbit around Earth. October 1, 1958 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) begins work. January 2, 1959 The Soviet Union launches the space probe Luna 1, which becomes the first human-made object to escape Earth’s gravity.

1914–18 World War I

1920

1929 Great Depression begins

1930

1939–45 World War II 1940

Timeline of Events

1950 Korean War begins 1950

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April 9, 1959 NASA announces the selection of the first American astronauts—the Mercury 7 astronauts: M. Scott Carpenter, Leroy G. “Gordo” Cooper Jr., John Glenn, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Walter M. “Wally” Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton. September 13, 1959 The Soviet space probe Luna 2 becomes the first human-made object to land on the Moon when it makes a hard landing east of the Sea of Serenity. August 18, 1960 The United States launches Discoverer 14, its first spy satellite. October 23, 1960 More than one hundred Soviet technicians are incinerated when a rocket explodes on a launch pad. Known as the Nedelin catastrophe, it is the worst accident in the history of the Soviet space program. April 12, 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbits Earth aboard Vostok 1, becoming the first human in space. May 5, 1961 U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard makes a suborbital flight in the capsule Freedom 7, becoming the first American to fly into space. May 25, 1961 U.S. president John F. Kennedy announces the goal to land an American on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. February 20, 1962 U.S. astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to circle Earth when he makes three orbits in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft. August 27, 1962 Mariner 2 is launched into orbit, becoming the first interplanetary space probe. June 16, 1963 Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova rides aboard Vostok 6, becoming the first woman in space.

1957 U.S. Congress passes the Civil Rights Act

1954 Measles vaccine developed 1955

1958

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1961 Bay of Pigs invasion

1964 Supercomputer debuts

1961

1964

November 1, 1963 The world’s largest single radio telescope, at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, officially begins operation. March 18, 1965 During the Soviet Union’s Voskhod 2 orbital mission, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performs the first spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA). February 3, 1966 The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 soft-lands on the Moon and sends back to Earth the first images of the lunar surface. January 27, 1967 Three U.S. astronauts—Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Edward White—die of asphyxiation when a fire breaks out in the capsule of Apollo 1 during a practice session as it sits on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. April 24, 1967 Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov becomes the first fatality during an actual spaceflight when the parachute from Soyuz 1 fails to open and the capsule slams into the ground after reentry. December 24, 1968 Apollo 8, with three U.S. astronauts aboard, becomes the first manned spacecraft to enter orbit around the Moon. July 20, 1969 U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon. April 14, 1970 An oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 service module explodes while the craft is in space, putting the lives of the three U.S. astronauts onboard into serious jeopardy. December 14, 1970 U.S. astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt lift off from the Moon after having spent seventy-five hours on the surface. They are the last humans to have set foot on the Moon as of the early twenty-first century.

1965 Malcolm X assassinated 1965

1967

1969 CAT scan debuts

1971 Microprocessor introduced

1969

1971

Timeline of Events

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December 15, 1970 The Soviet space probe Venera 7 arrives at Venus, making the first-ever successful landing on another planet. April 19, 1971 The Soviet Union launches Salyut 1, the first human-made space station. November 13, 1971 The U.S. probe Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet when it enters orbit around Mars. January 5, 1972 U.S. president Richard M. Nixon announces the decision to develop a space shuttle. May 14, 1973 Skylab, the first and only U.S. space station, is launched. December 4, 1973 The U.S. space probe Pioneer 10 makes the first flyby of Jupiter. March 29, 1974 The U.S. space probe Mariner 10 makes the first of three flybys of Mercury. July 15 to 24, 1975 The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project is undertaken as an international docking mission between the United States and the Soviet Union. July 20, 1976 The lander of the U.S. space probe Viking 1 makes the first successful soft landing on Mars. September 17, 1976 The first space shuttle orbiter, known as OV-101, rolls out of an assembly facility in Palmdale, California. January 26, 1978 NASA launches the International Ultraviolet Explorer, considered the most successful UV satellite and perhaps the most productive astronomical telescope ever. July 11, 1979 Skylab falls into Earth’s atmosphere and burns up over the Indian Ocean.

1977 Star Wars is released

1973 U.S. troops pull out of Vietnam 1973

1975

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1977

1978 Test-tube baby born 1979

October 1979 The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, the world’s largest telescope dedicated solely to infrared astronomy, begins operation in Hawaii near the summit of Mauna Kea. November 12, 1980 The U.S. probe Voyager 1 makes a flyby of Saturn and sends back the first detailed photographs of the ringed planet. April 12, 1981 U.S. astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen fly the space shuttle Columbia on the first orbital flight of NASA’s new reusable spacecraft. June 18, 1983 U.S. astronaut Sally Ride becomes America’s first woman in space when she rides aboard the space shuttle Challenger. August 30, 1983 U.S. astronaut Guy Bluford flies aboard the space shuttle Challenger, becoming the first African American in space. January 25, 1984 U.S. president Ronald Reagan directs NASA to develop a permanently manned space station within a decade. January 28, 1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes seventy-three seconds after launch because of poorly sealing O-rings on the booster rocket, killing all seven astronauts aboard. February 20, 1986 The Soviet Union launches the core module of its new space station, Mir, into orbit. May 4, 1989 The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off carrying the Magellan probe, the first planetary explorer to be launched by a space shuttle. April 25, 1990 Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery deploy the Hubble Space Telescope.

1979–80 Fifty-two Americans are held hostage in Iran 1980

1983 U.S. invades Grenada 1983

1985 DNA fingerprinting developed

1989 Berlin Wall is destroyed 1986

Timeline of Events

1989

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April 7, 1991 The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory is placed into orbit by astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. December 1993 Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour complete repairs to the primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope. February 3, 1995 The space shuttle Discovery lifts off under the control of U.S. astronaut Eileen M. Collins, the first female pilot on a shuttle mission. December 2, 1995 The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is launched to study the Sun. December 7, 1995 The U.S. space probe Galileo goes into orbit around Jupiter, dropping a mini-probe to the planet’s surface. March 24, 1996 U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid begins her 188-day stay aboard Mir, a U.S. record for spaceflight endurance at that time. October 1996 The second of the twin 33-foot Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the world’s largest optical and infrared telescopes, begins science observations. The first began observations three years earlier. July 2, 1997 The U.S. space probe Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars and releases Sojourner, the first Martian rover. October 15, 1997 The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, bound for Saturn, is launched. January 6, 1998 NASA launches the Lunar Prospector probe to improve understanding of the origin, evolution, current state, and resources of the Moon. October 29, 1998 At age seventy-seven, U.S. senator John Glenn, one of the original Mercury astronauts, be-

1992 Los Angeles riots 1991

1993 Toni Morrison becomes the first African American to win the Nobel Prize in literature 1993

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1997 Mad cow disease discovered 1995

1997

comes the oldest astronaut to fly into space when he lifts off aboard the space shuttle Discovery. November 11, 1998 Russia launches Zarya, the control module and first piece of the International Space Station, into orbit. July 23, 1999 The Chandra X-ray Observatory is deployed from the space shuttle Columbia. February 21, 2001 The U.S. space probe NEAR Shoemaker becomes the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. March 23, 2001 After more than 86,000 orbits around Earth, Mir enters the atmosphere and breaks up into several large pieces and thousands of smaller ones. April 28, 2001 U.S. investment banker Dennis Tito, the world’s first space tourist, lifts off aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a week-long stay on the International Space Station. February 1, 2003 The space shuttle Columbia breaks apart in flames above Texas, sixteen minutes before it is supposed to touch down in Florida, because of damage to the shuttle’s thermal-protection tiles. All seven astronauts aboard are killed. June 2003 The Canadian Space Agency launches MOST, its first space telescope successfully launched into space and also the smallest space telescope in the world. August 25, 2003 NASA launches the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, subsequently renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope, the most sensitive instrument ever to look at the infrared spectrum in the universe. October 15, 2003 Astronaut Yang Liwei lifts off aboard the spacecraft Shenzhou 5, becoming the first Chinese to fly into space.

1998

1999 The first nonstop around-the-world balloon trip is made

2000 George W. Bush narrowly defeats Al Gore in controversial U.S. presidential election

2001 Terrorists attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon

1999

2000

2001

Timeline of Events

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January 14, 2004 U.S. president George W. Bush outlines a new course for U.S. space exploration, including plans to send future manned missions to the Moon and Mars. June 21, 2004 Civilian pilot Mike Melvill flies the rocket plane SpaceShipOne to an altitude of more than 62.5 miles, becoming the first person to pilot a privately built craft beyond the internationally recognized boundary of space. June 30, 2004 The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft becomes the first exploring vehicle to orbit Saturn.

2002 U.S. Justice Department launches investigation into the bankruptcy scandal involving energy giant Enron

2003 The United States declares war on Iraq

2002

2003

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2004

Words to Know

A Allies: Alliances of countries in military opposition to another group of nations. In World War II, the Allied powers included Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States. antimatter: Matter that is exactly the same as normal matter, but with the opposite spin and electrical charge. apogee: The point in the orbit of an artificial satellite or Moon that is farthest from Earth. artificial satellite: A human-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. asterism: A collection of stars within a constellation that forms an apparent pattern. astrology: The study of the supposed effects of celestial objects on the course of human affairs. astronautics: The science and technology of spaceflight. astronomy: The scientific study of the physical universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. xxv

atomic bomb: An explosive device whose violent power is due to the sudden release of energy resulting from the splitting of nuclei of a heavy chemical element (plutonium or uranium), a process called fission. aurora: A brilliant display of streamers, arcs, or bands of light visible in the night sky, chiefly in the polar regions. It is caused by electrically charged particles from the Sun that are drawn into the atmosphere by Earth’s magnetic field.

B ballistic missile: A missile that travels at a velocity less than what is needed to place it in orbit and that follows a curved path (trajectory) back to Earth’s surface once it has reached a given altitude. bends: A painful and sometimes fatal disorder caused by the formation of gas bubbles in the blood stream and tissues when a decrease in air pressure occurs too rapidly. big bang theory: The theory that explains the beginning of the universe as a tremendous explosion from a single point that occurred about thirteen billion years ago. Big Three: The trio of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and British prime minister Winston Churchill; also refers to the countries of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. binary star: A pair of stars orbiting around one another, linked by gravity. black hole: The remains of a massive star that has burned out its nuclear fuel and collapsed under tremendous gravitational force into a single point of infinite mass and gravity from which nothing escapes, not even light. Bolshevik: A member of the revolutionary political party of Russian workers and peasants that became the Communist Party after the Russian Revolution of 1917. brown dwarf: A small, cool, dark ball of matter that never completes the process of becoming a star.

C capitalism: An economic system in which property and businesses are privately owned. Prices, production, and distrixxvi


bution of goods are determined by competition in a market relatively free of government intervention. celestial mechanics: The scientific study of the influence of gravity on the motions of celestial bodies. celestial sphere: An imaginary sphere of gigantic radius with Earth located at its center. Cepheid variable: A pulsating star that can be used to measure distance in space. chromatic aberration: Blurred coloring of the edge of an image when visible light passes through a lens, caused by the bending of the different wavelengths of the light at different angles. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the two superpowers: the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats. Communism: A system of government in which the nation’s leaders are selected by a single political party that controls almost all aspects of society. Private ownership of property is eliminated and government directs all economic production. The goods produced and wealth accumulated are, in theory, shared relatively equally by all. All religious practices are banned. concave lens: A lens with a hollow bowl shape; it is thin in the middle and thick along the edges. constellation: One of eighty-eight recognized groups of stars that seems to make up a pattern or picture on the celestial sphere. convex lens: A lens with a bulging surface like the outer surface of a ball; it is thicker in the middle and thinner along the edges. corona: The outermost and hottest layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that extends out into space for millions of miles. cosmic radiation: High-energy radiation coming from all directions in space. Words to Know

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D dark matter: Virtually undetectable matter that does not emit or reflect light and that is thought to account for 90 percent of the mass of the universe, acting as a “cosmic glue” that holds together galaxies and clusters of galaxies. democracy: A system of government that allows multiple political parties. Members of the parties are elected to various government offices by popular vote of the people. détente: A relaxing of tensions between rival nations, marked by increased diplomatic, commercial, and cultural contact. docking system: Mechanical and electronic devices that work jointly to bring together and physically link two spacecraft in space.

E eclipse: The obscuring of one celestial object by another. ecliptic: The imaginary plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun. electromagnetic radiation: Radiation that transmits energy through the interaction of electricity and magnetism. electromagnetic spectrum: The entire range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. epicycle: A small secondary orbit incorrectly added to the planetary orbits by early astronomers to account for periods in which the planets appeared to move backward with respect to Earth. escape velocity: The minimum speed that an object, such as a rocket, must have in order to escape completely from the gravitational influence of a planet or a star. exhaust velocity: The speed at which the exhaust material leaves the nozzle of a rocket engine.

F flyby: A type of space mission in which the spacecraft passes close to its target but does not enter orbit around it or land on it.

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focus: The position at which rays of light from a lens converge to form a sharp image. force: A push or pull exerted on an object by an outside agent, producing an acceleration that changes the object’s state of motion.

G galaxy: A huge region of space that contains billions of stars, gas, dust, nebulae, and empty space all bound together by gravity. gamma rays: Short-wavelength, high-energy radiation formed either by the decay of radioactive elements or by nuclear reactions. geocentric model: The flawed theory that Earth is at the center of the solar system, with the Sun, the Moon, and the other planets revolving around it. Also known as the Ptolemaic model. geosynchronous orbit: An orbit in which a satellite revolves around Earth at the same rate at which Earth rotates on its axis; thus, the satellite remains positioned over the same location on Earth. gravity: The force of attraction between objects, the strength of which depends on the mass of each object and the distance between them. gunpowder: An explosive mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate.

H hard landing: The deliberate, destructive impact of a space vehicle on a predetermined celestial object. heliocentric model: The theory that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and all planets revolve around it. Also known as the Copernican model. heliosphere: The vast region permeated by charged particles flowing out from the Sun that surrounds the Sun and extends throughout the solar system. Hellenism: The culture, ideals, and pattern of life of ancient Greece. Words to Know

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hydrocarbon: A compound that contains only two elements, carbon and hydrogen. hydrogen bomb: A bomb more powerful than the atomic bomb that derives its explosive energy from a nuclear fusion reaction. hyperbaric chamber: A chamber where air pressure can be carefully controlled; used to acclimate divers, astronauts, and others gradually to changes in air pressure and air composition.

I inflationary theory: The theory that the universe underwent a period of rapid expansion immediately following the big bang. infrared radiation: Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths slightly longer than that of visible light. interferometer: A device that uses two or more telescopes to observe the same object at the same time in the same wavelength to increase angular resolution. interplanetary: Between or among planets. interplanetary medium: The space between planets including forms of energy and dust and gas. interstellar: Between or among the stars. interstellar medium: The gas and dust that exists in the space between stars. ionosphere: That part of Earth’s atmosphere that contains a high concentration of particles that have been ionized, or electrically charged, by solar radiation. These particles help reflect certain radio waves over great distances.

J jettison: To eject or discard.

L light-year: The distance light travels in the near vacuum of space in one year, about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers). xxx


liquid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which both the fuel and the oxidizing agent are in a liquid state.

M magnetic field: A field of force around the Sun and the planets generated by electrical charges. magnetism: A natural attractive energy of iron-based materials for other iron-based materials. magnetosphere: The region of space around a celestial object that is dominated by the object’s magnetic field. mass: The measure of the total amount of matter in an object. meteorite: A fragment of extraterrestrial material that makes it to the surface of a planet without burning up in the planet’s atmosphere. microgravity: A state where gravity is reduced to almost negligible levels, such as during spaceflight; commonly called weightlessness. micrometeorite: A very small meteorite or meteoritic particle with a diameter less than a 0.04 inch (1 millimeter). microwaves: Electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than infrared radiation but shorter than radio waves. moonlet: A small artificial or natural satellite.

N natural science: A science, such as biology, chemistry, or physics, that deals with the objects, occurrences, or laws of nature. neutron star: The extremely dense, compact, neutron-filled remains of a star following a supernova. nuclear fusion: The merging of two hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus, accompanied by a tremendous release of energy. Words to Know

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O observatory: A structure designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena. oxidizing agent: A substance that can readily burn or promote the burning of any flammable material. ozone layer: An atmospheric layer that contains a high proportion of ozone molecules that absorb incoming ultraviolet radiation.

P payload: Any cargo launched aboard a spacecraft, including astronauts, instruments, and equipment. perigee: The point in the orbit of an artificial satellite or Moon that is nearest to Earth. physical science: Any of the sciences—such as astronomy, chemistry, geology, and physics—that deal mainly with nonliving matter and energy. precession: The small wobbling motion Earth makes about its axis as it spins. probe: An unmanned spacecraft sent to explore the Moon, other celestial bodies, or outer space; some probes are programmed to return to Earth while others are not. propellant: The chemical mixture burned to produce thrust in rockets. pulsar: A rapidly spinning, blinking neutron star.

Q quasars: Extremely bright, star-like sources of radio waves that are found in remote areas of space and that are the oldest known objects in the universe.

R radiation: The emission and movement of waves of atomic particles through space or other media. radio waves: The longest form of electromagnetic radiation, measuring up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from peak to peak in the wave. xxxii


Red Scare: A great fear among U.S. citizens in the late 1940s and early 1950s that communist influences were infiltrating U.S. society and government and could eventually lead to the overthrow of the American democratic system. redshift: The shift of an object’s light spectrum toward the red end of the visible light range, which is an indication that the object is moving away from the observer. reflector telescope: A telescope that directs light from an opening at one end to a concave mirror at the far end, which reflects the light back to a smaller mirror that directs it to an eyepiece on the side of the telescope. refractor telescope: A telescope that directs light waves through a convex lens (the objective lens), which bends the waves and brings them to a focus at a concave lens (the eyepiece) that acts as a magnifying glass. retrofire: The firing of a spacecraft’s engine in the direction opposite to which the spacecraft is moving in order to cut its orbital speed. rover: A remote-controlled robotic vehicle.

S sidereal day: The time for one complete rotation of Earth on its axis relative to a particular star. soft landing: The slow-speed landing of a space vehicle on a celestial object to avoid damage to or the destruction of the vehicle. solar arrays: Groups of solar cells or other solar collectors arranged to capture energy from the Sun and use it to generate electrical power. solar day: The average time span from one noon to the next. solar flare: Temporary bright spot that explodes on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy. solar prominence: A tongue-like cloud of flaming gas projecting outward from the Sun’s surface. solar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from the Sun. Words to Know

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solid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which the fuel and the oxidizing agent exist in a solid state. solstice: Either of the two times during the year when the Sun, as seen from Earth, is farthest north or south of the equator; the solstices mark the beginning of the summer and winter seasons. space motion sickness: A condition similar to ordinary travel sickness, with symptoms that include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal disturbances, and fatigue. The precise cause of the condition is not fully understood, though most scientists agree the problem originates in the balance organs of the inner ear. space shuttle: A reusable winged spacecraft that transports astronauts and equipment into space and back. space station: A large orbiting structure designed for longterm human habitation in space. spacewalk: Technically known as an EVA, or extravehicular activity, an excursion outside a spacecraft or space station by an astronaut or cosmonaut wearing only a pressurized spacesuit and, possibly, some sort of maneuvering device. spectrograph: A device that separates light by wavelengths to produce a spectrum. splashdown: The landing of a manned spacecraft in the ocean. star: A hot, roughly spherical ball of gas that emits light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation as a result of nuclear fusion reactions in its core. stellar scintillation: The apparent twinkling of a star caused by the refraction of the star’s light as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere. stellar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from a star (like the solar wind, but from a star other than the Sun). sunspot: A cool area of magnetic disturbance that forms a dark blemish on the surface of the Sun. supernova: The massive explosion of a relatively large star at the end of its lifetime. xxxiv


T telescope: An instrument that gathers light or some other form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by distant sources, such as celestial bodies, and brings it to a focus. thrust: The forward force generated by a rocket.

U ultraviolet radiation: Electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength just shorter than the violet (shortest wavelength) end of the visible light spectrum. United Nations: An international organization, composed of most of the nations of the world, created in 1945 to preserve world peace and security.

V Van Allen belts: Two doughnut-shaped belts of high-energy charged particles trapped in Earth’s magnetic field.

X X rays: Electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength just shorter than ultraviolet radiation but longer than gamma rays that can penetrate solids and produce an electrical charge in gases.

Y Yalta Conference: A 1944 meeting between Allied leaders Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt in anticipation of an Allied victory in Europe over the Nazis during World War II (1939–45). The leaders discussed how to manage lands conquered by Germany, and Roosevelt and Churchill urged Stalin to enter the Soviet Union in the war against Japan.

Words to Know

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T

he following ideas and projects are intended to offer suggestions for complementing your classroom work on understanding various aspects of the history of space exploration: • Inventing Constellation Stories: Pick five modern constellations. Instead of the accepted images associated with those constellations, develop five new ones. The characters or objects could be modern or ancient, real or imagined. Create and write mythologies or stories about those new characters or objects. • Becoming Collins: In July 1969, Michael Collins circled the Moon for more than twenty-four hours alone in the Apollo 11 command module while his fellow U.S. astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, walked on the Moon. Research to find out what tasks Collins had to perform during his time alone in space. Then pretend you are Collins and write a journal entry for that time, recording your actions. Be sure to include your thoughts and observations about the experience, imagining what you see out of the module’s windows and what you are thinking about on your lonely voyage around the Moon. xxxvii

• Creating a Space Cartoon: Using imagination and artistic skills, create a newspaper cartoon about the flight of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, or the first manned spaceflight of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Before beginning the cartoon, determine whether it will appear in a Soviet or U.S. newspaper at the time. Remember that both events occurred during the height of the Cold War when both nations were trying to prove their superiority. Be sure to convey an emotion such as pride, fear, or surprise. Write a caption for the cartoon that captures the essential message or spirit of the cartoon. • Recording Oral Histories: Interview an individual, such as a relative or an acquaintance, who lived during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Find out what they thought about the early space race and the development of space exploration. Did their expectations come to pass? Develop questions ahead of time. Tape record the interview if possible or take careful notes. Transcribe the tapes or rewrite the notes into a clearly written story retelling the interview. • Reporting on the Lunar Landing: Research and read newspaper accounts of the first landing of humans on the Moon. Adopting the persona of a reporter, write an article of the event that would appear in your local newspaper. • Sending Animals into Space: Find out about the animals used in the early days of the Soviet and U.S. space programs. What kinds of animals were sent into space? What happened on their missions and what was learned that later helped manned missions sent into space? Write about your findings in a science article. • Using New Products from the Space Age: Products developed during the Apollo and later NASA projects are now common in daily life. From freeze-dried foods to cordless power tools, many of these have made life on Earth more convenient and comfortable. Research five commonly used products that were developed during the space program. Prepare a display showing how each product was used originally and how each one is used now. • Dodging Space Junk: The exploration of space has resulted not only in great discoveries and triumphs, but has left much “junk” floating in space, especially around xxxviii


Earth. Research to find out how much and what types of space junk are in orbit around the planet, then write a humorous story about the adventure of circling Earth in a spacecraft while trying to avoid all the junk. • Dieting in Space: Find out what types of food are served aboard the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Using a computer, create a database file. Design a database template that includes fields such as day (1, 2, 3, etc.), meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a possible snack), and the six major food groups (grain, vegetable, fruit, dairy, meat, and fats). Enter the information from the menus and determine which meals are balanced ones by searching for any empty fields in the food groups. Write a short report based on your findings, answering the following questions: Which food groups had the better selection of foods? Why is it important to maintain good health in space? How does a balanced diet promote good health? • Debating the Future of Space Exploration: With other students, form two or three groups and debate the future direction of NASA. Have each group take a different position on issues such as: Should the space shuttle be scrapped? If so, what, if anything, should replace it? Should the United States retain a presence on the International Space Station? Should the United States undertake voyages to the Moon and Mars? What should happen to space-based observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope?


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1 Stars and Early Stargazers

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n a calm and dry night, when the sky is clear and moonless, a person standing in a field or on a hill miles from any source of light may be able to see with the unaided eye as many as three thousand stars. A star, like the Sun at the center of the solar system, is a hot, roughly spherical ball of gas that emits light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation as a result of nuclear fusion reactions in its core. (Nuclear fusion is the merging of two hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus, accompanied by a tremendous release of energy.) One of the fundamental objects in the universe, stars are composed mostly of hydrogen, the simplest and lightest of all chemical elements. A large collection of stars, gas, dust, nebulae (clouds of dust and gas), and empty space all bound together by gravity is known as a galaxy. Galaxies are as plentiful in the universe as grains of sand on a beach. The universe contains billions of galaxies, and each galaxy contains billions of stars. The individual stars able to be seen with the unaided eye from the surface of Earth are all located in the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system. Best seen in the Northern 1

The star groups in the celestial sphere are called constellations. Seen here is the constellation of Orion. (© Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

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Hemisphere on clear and dark summer nights when it is almost directly overhead, the Milky Way appears as a fuzzy expanse of light stretching across the sky from one horizon to the other. Stars are not the only celestial objects that may be seen in the night sky. Planets, moons, meteors (commonly referred to as shooting stars), comets, and man-made objects such as weather and communication satellites and the International Space Station all move across the sky. The brightest of these man-made satellites are the International Space Station and, when they are in orbit, the space shuttles. Orbiting above the surface of Earth at an altitude of about 185 to 250 miles (300 to 400 kilometers), these satellites reflect sunlight. During the three or four minutes it takes them to move across the night sky, they briefly outshine the brightest stars. The Moon, Earth’s sole natural satellite (a celestial body orbiting another of a larger size), is the second-brightest object in the sky after the Sun, whose light it reflects. When it is full or nearly so, the Moon dominates the night sky, providing a gentle light. On average, it orbits Earth at a distance of 238,900 miles (384,390 kilometers). Measuring approximately 2,160 miles (3,475 kilometers) across, it is a little more than one-quarter of Earth’s diameter. Of any known planet and its satellite, only Pluto and its moon Charon are closer in size. There are nine planets in our solar system, and five of them—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter—may be seen from the surface of Earth with the unaided eye. Because of Mercury’s close orbit around the Sun (it never strays too far from the Sun in the sky), it is rarely visible. Of the remaining four, one is usually observable. Occasionally, all four may appear. Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, is the brightest planet in the night sky, far outshining all true stars. It is visible either above the western horizon just after sunset or above the eastern horizon just before sunrise, depending on the season. Because of this pattern, early astronomers referred to the planet as the “evening star” or the “morning star.” Only true stars generate light. Planets merely reflect the light of the star they orbit. Another difference between the two is that, as a rule, true stars seem to twinkle, but planets do not. This apparent twinkling is known technically as stellar Stars and Early Stargazers

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Words to Know Asterism: A collection of stars within a constellation that forms an apparent pattern. Celestial sphere: An imaginary sphere of gigantic radius with Earth located at its center.

Nuclear fusion: The merging of two hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus, accompanied by a tremendous release of energy. Precession: The small wobbling motion Earth makes about its axis as it spins.

Constellation: One of eighty-eight recognized groups of stars that seems to make up a pattern or picture on the celestial sphere.

Sidereal day: The time for one complete rotation of Earth on its axis relative to a particular star.

Electromagnetic radiation: Radiation that transmits energy through the interaction of electricity and magnetism.

Solar day: The average time span from one noon to the next.

Galaxy: A huge region of space that contains billions of stars, gas, dust, nebulae, and empty space all bound together by gravity. Light-year: The distance light travels in the near vacuum of space in one year, about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers).

Star: A hot, roughly spherical ball of gas that emits light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation as a result of nuclear fusion reactions in its core. Stellar scintillation: The apparent twinkling of a star caused by the refraction of the star’s light as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere.

scintillation (pronounced sin-till-AY-shun). Even though they may be millions of miles in diameter, stars seen in the night sky are so far away that their light reaches Earth as a single point of light. As that very narrow beam of light passes through Earth’s atmosphere, molecules and larger particles of matter moving in the atmosphere refract, or bend, that light many times and in random directions. To a stargazer on the ground, the star’s light appears to blink off and on many times per second. Since the observable planets are far closer to Earth, the turbulence in the atmosphere is not enough to affect the light they reflect, so their image appears steady. Light is perhaps the swiftest and most delicate form of energy found in nature. In the near vacuum of space, light trav4


The brightest star in the sky, after the Sun, is Sirius. Also known as the Dog Star, Sirius is located 8.6 light-years away from the Sun. (Photo Researchers, Inc.)

els at a speed slightly more than 186,000 miles (299,274 kilometers) per second. (In physics, a complete vacuum only exists when all matter is absent.) Because of the incredible vastness of space, astronomers and other scientists use the term light-year to refer to the distance light travels in the near vacuum of space in one year. Light-year is a measurement of distance, not time. Yet, the sky is a map of celestial history. The Sun is nearly 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from Earth, and its light takes just more than eight minutes to reach the planet. When a person on the surface of Earth looks at the Sun, that person sees how the Sun appeared eight minutes ago. Looking Stars and Early Stargazers

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at light in the sky is looking backward in time. The farther one looks out into space, the further one sees back in time. The star nearest to the Sun that may be seen with the unaided eye is in the Alpha Centauri (pronounced sen-TOR-ee) star system, located 4.3 light-years away. The brightest star in the sky, after the Sun, is Sirius (pronounced SEER-ee-us; from the Greek word meaning “scorching” or “searing”). Also known as the Dog Star, Sirius is located twice the distance as Alpha Centauri, 8.6 light-years away from the Sun. The most distant object that can be seen with the naked eye in the night sky is the Andromeda galaxy. The nearest galaxy to the Milky Way, it is located about 2.5 million lightyears away. The collective light from Andromeda’s more than 10 million stars has taken 25,000 centuries to reach Earth. What is seen in the present-day sky left that galaxy at a time when modern humans had not yet appeared on Earth and animals such as mastodons and saber-toothed tigers wandered over our planet.

Patterns in the sky Most of what humans know about the universe they have learned from observing the sky. Only recently have humans visited the Moon and sent probes to all of the other planets in the solar system except Pluto. Curiosity about one’s surroundings—extending from the natural world to the worlds beyond Earth—is an inborn human trait. Humans seek to know how the universe came into being, what objects exist in it, and what their place is in it. So it is true of the stars in the sky. To the human eye, stars seem to assemble themselves into groups that make up patterns or pictures on the celestial sphere, an imaginary landscape of gigantic radius with Earth located at its center. The poles and equator of the celestial sphere align with the poles and equator of Earth. All objects in the sky may be thought of as lying upon the sphere. (Technically, there is no such thing as a sky or a celestial sphere, only the void of space against which the stars and other celestial objects appear.) The star groups in the celestial sphere are called constellations, from the Latin words con, meaning “together,” and stella, meaning “star.” A collection of stars within a constel6


The individual stars able to be seen with the unaided eye from the surface of Earth are all located in the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

lation that forms an apparent pattern is known as an asterism. The Big Dipper, arguably the best-known grouping of stars, is not a constellation but an asterism. It forms part of the large constellation Ursa Major (the Large Bear). A constellation does not represent a scientific grouping of objects, and the stars in a constellation rarely have anything in common or exert any influence on one another; the grouping is merely arbitrary. Typically, stars lie very far apart in space. They simply appear close together in the sky as viewed from the surface of Earth. Present-day astronomers recognize eighty-eight constellations. These star groupings and the boundaries that separate Stars and Early Stargazers

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them, covering the entire celestial sphere, were fixed in 1930 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which unites astronomical societies from around the world. This organization has the recognized authority to name stars, planets, asteroids, and other celestial bodies and phenomena.

The most ancient science Astronomy is considered to be the most ancient science, and the naming of constellations dates back to early civilizations. It is quite probable that far before the beginning of recorded history, approximately six thousand years ago, ancient humans looked up into the sky and marveled at the stars and other celestial objects. Historians do not know who may have first visualized groupings of bright stars into shapes of beasts or gods or men. The oldest known drawings of constellations are recurring designs on seals, vases, and gaming boards that date from the Sumerian culture approximately 3000 B.C.E. The Sumerians were an ancient people who inhabited the southern portion of Mesopotamia, a region in southwest Asia that occupied the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in present-day Iraq. By the time of the ancient Greeks, most of the main constellations had been developed. Of the original forty-eight constellations indexed by Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy (pronounced TOL-uh-mee) in 140 C.E., all but one are still included in present-day catalogs. The one constellation no longer included, Argo Navis (the Argonaut’s Ship), was divided into three separate constellations by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1713–1762) in 1750: Carina (the Keel), Puppis (the Stern), and Vela (the Sails). When the IAU officially defined the eighty-eight constellations, it accepted these three in place of Argo Navis. Were it still recognized, Argo Navis would be the largest constellation in the night sky. Currently, Hydra (the Water Monster) claims that distinction. Cultures before the ancient Greeks—Babylonian, Egyptian, Sumerian—observed the night sky closely, noting its patterns, but the Greeks were the first to do so scientifically. What they learned from those previous cultures in the Near East they improved upon, then passed that information on to the Romans and later cultures. That is why many of the presentday names of constellations, signifying animals, mythological 8


characters, and inanimate objects, are Latin (having been translated from Greek). During the Middle Ages (c. 500– c. 1500) scientific inquiry was almost totally absent from Western Europe. During this period, the Muslim world underwent an explosion of knowledge like the one that occurred in ancient Greece. The Arabs put their mathematical knowledge to use in astronomy, greatly improving the stargazing equipment of the time. For this reason, many individual stars within present-day constellations have Arabic names, such as Altair in the constellation Aquila (pronounced ah-KEE-yah; the Eagle) and Deneb in Cygnus (pronounced SIG-nuss; the Swan). The patterns the stars form in the night sky look much the same in the present day as they did when the constellations were first developed a few thousand years ago. But the stars in the constellations are all moving in relation to the Sun, most with speeds of many miles per second. Because of their great distance from Earth, it will take thousands of years before significant changes may be seen in the star patterns. Regardless, they will all change. More than fifty thousand years ago, the stars in the handle of the Big Dipper, for example, appeared to create a pattern that was significantly less bent than it appears at present. And more than fifty thousand years from now, they will have moved to create a pattern that is significantly more bent.

Flying through space Humans look outward into space as they stand on a planet that flies through space at a speed of 66,000 miles (106,194 kilometers) per hour, spinning like a top at roughly 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) per hour at its midsection. And Earth is drawn along by the Sun, which itself is flying through space at more than 540,000 miles (868,860 kilometers) per hour. Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is slightly flattened at the poles and somewhat thicker at the equator. As it spins around its axis (an imaginary line connecting the North and South Poles), it wobbles like a spinning top slowing in speed. This slight wobbling motion is known as precession, and it is caused by the gravitational forces exerted on Earth by the Sun and the Moon. Earth’s axis is tilted up to 23.5 degrees relative to the plane of its elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit around the Sun. The axis remains tilted, but because of precession, it Stars and Early Stargazers

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slowly and continually moves over time, pointing in different directions along a circle that it gradually traces out on the celestial sphere. It takes roughly 26,000 years for Earth’s axis to complete one turn. In the present day, Earth’s axis is tilted in the direction of Polaris, a star in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Bear). Hence, Polaris is known as the North Star or the Pole Star. (People living in the Southern Hemisphere cannot see Polaris, and the southern night sky has no pole star of its own.) A few thousand years ago, when pyramids were being built in Egypt, Thuban in the constellation Draco (the Dragon) was the Pole Star. Approximately one thousand years from now, Alrai (also known as Gamma Cephi) in the constellation Cepheus (the King of Ethiopia) will become the next Pole Star. As the years pass, other stars will claim the title until Thuban will lie almost directly over the North Pole once again, some twentyone thousand years from now. It is only a fortunate circumstance that the bright star Polaris presently lies nearly above Earth’s North Pole. For many years in Earth’s past, there has been no Pole Star. For many years in its future, the same will be true. From an individual human’s perspective, though, the present-day Pole Star is a constant in the night sky. From sunset to sunrise, Polaris does not appear to move. It is the point around which the constellations and other stars wander. Like the Sun during the day, the constellations appear to move westward across the sky at night. In actuality, though, the stars in the constellations are stationary; it is the Earth that moves. As the planet rotates toward the east, stargazers are given the illusion that the stars are moving westward. As Earth rotates around its axis and revolves around the Sun, its whirling motions bring about day and night, the four seasons, and the passage of years. The time it takes Earth to rotate once around its axis is normally divided into twentyfour hours. This period is known as a solar day, which is the average time span from one noon to the next (normal days are counted from midnight to midnight). However, the actual time it takes Earth to complete one rotation around its axis in relation to any particular star in the sky is twenty-three hours, fifty-six minutes, and four seconds. This time period is known as a sidereal day (pronounced si-DEER-ee-ul; from the Latin word sidereus, meaning “starry”). 10


The almost four-minute difference between a solar day and a sidereal day occurs because of Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Over the course of one day, Earth travels about one degree along its orbit. In twenty-four hours, Earth’s direction toward the Sun changes by about one degree. Therefore, the planet has to turn an extra degree, nearly 361 degrees, in order to face the Sun once again at the same position. This makes the length of time for one solar day to be a little more than the true rotation rate of twenty-three hours, fifty-six minutes, and four seconds with respect to the background stars. As a result of this difference, a subtle change occurs with the passage of time. The stars appear to rise, cross the sky, and set four minutes earlier each night. Every fifteen days, they set one hour earlier. Within a matter of weeks, stars that initially were low over the western horizon during the early evening hours disappear entirely from view. Their places are taken by groups that a few weeks earlier were previously higher up in the sky at sundown. Gradually, all the stars shift westward while new stars move up from the eastern horizon. During the course of one year, each star completes a full circle around the sky, returning to its original position. The cycle then begins once again. Because of this yearly movement, most star patterns in the night sky are associated with specific seasons of the year. Evening stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere see Orion (pronounced oh-RYE-an; the Hunter) only during the cold winter months. In spring, those same stargazers have a view of Leo (the Lion). The summer sky is the sky of the summer triangle, formed by the stars Vega in Lyra (the Lyre), Altair in Aquila (the Eagle), and Deneb in Cygnus (the Swan). In autumn, the stars forming the Great Square of Pegasus (the Winged Horse) appear overhead. These particular constellations are tied to these seasons only in the present day. The precession of Earth’s axis gradually changes the location of stars on the celestial sphere. Over centuries, those changes are considerable. What ancient humans saw, what present-day humans see, and what future humans will see in the sky is not the same. For example, the origin of the phrase “dog days of summer” is tied to Sirius, the Dog Star, in the constellation Canis Major (the Large Dog). Ancient Egyptians and Greeks falsely believed that this Stars and Early Stargazers

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The Eighty-eight Constellations Latin name: English translation

Cetus: The Whale

Andromeda: The Daughter of Cassiopeia

Chamaeleon: The Chameleon

Antlia: The Air Pump

Circinus: The Pair of Compasses

Apus: The Bird of Paradise

Columba: The Dove

Aquarius: The Water Bearer

Coma Berenices: Berenice’s Hair

Aquila: The Eagle

Corona Australis: The Southern Crown

Ara: The Altar

Coronas Borealis: The Northern Crown

Aries: The Ram

Corvus: The Crow

Auriga: The Charioteer

Crater: The Cup

Boötes: The Herdsman

Crux: The Southern Cross

Caelum: The Chisel

Cygnus: The Swan

Camelopardalis: The Giraffe

Delphinus: The Dolphin

Cancer: The Crab

Dorado: The Swordfish

Canes Venatici: The Hunting Dogs

Draco: The Dragon

Canis Major: The Large Dog

Equuleus: The Colt

Canis Minor: The Small Dog

Eridanus: The River

Capricornus: The Sea Goat

Fornax: The Furnace

Carina: The Keel

Gemini: The Twins

Cassiopeia: The Queen of Ethiopia

Grus: The Crane

Centaurus: The Centaur

Hercules: The Son of Zeus

Cepheus: The King of Ethiopia

Horologium: The Clock

bright star added its heat to the Sun because, at that time in history, Sirius appeared to rise in the sky at dawn during the hottest part of the summer. Consequently, they called this period of hot and sultry weather “dog days” after the star. In the present day, however, Sirius rises earlier in the summer 12


Hydra: The Water Monster

Pisces: The Fishes

Hydrus: The Water Snake

Piscis Austrinus: The Southern Fish

Indus: The American Indian

Puppis: The Stern

Lacerta: The Lizard

Pyxis: The Mariner’s Compass

Leo: The Lion

Reticulum: The Net

Leo Minor: The Small Lion

Sagitta: The Arrow

Lepus: The Hare

Sagittarius: The Archer

Libra: The Scales

Scorpius: The Scorpion

Lupus: The Wolf

Sculptor: The Sculptor’s Workshop

Lynx: The Lynx

Scutum: The Shield

Lyra: The Lyre

Serpens: The Serpent

Mensa: The Table

Sextans: The Sextant

Microscopium: The Microscope

Taurus: The Bull

Monoceros: The Unicorn

Telescopium: The Telescope

Musca: The Fly

Triangulum: The Triangle

Norma: The Carpenter’s Square Octans: The Octant

Triangulum Australe: The Southern Triangle

Ophiuchus: The Serpent Holder

Tucana: The Toucan

Orion: The Hunter

Ursa Major: The Large Bear

Pavo: The Peacock

Ursa Minor: The Small Bear

Pegasus: The Winged Horse

Vela: The Sails

Perseus: The Hero

Virgo: The Virgin

Phoenix: The Firebird

Volans: The Flying Fish

Pictor: The Painter’s Easel

Vulpecula: The Little Fox

in the Northern Hemisphere than it did at that time. In the future, it will move out of the summer season altogether. It should be noted that while most constellations appear and disappear seasonally, a few are always in the night sky. These are specific to the night sky in either the Northern Stars and Early Stargazers

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Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, there are five constellations that do not dip below the horizon at any time of the year, but instead rotate around Polaris. The five are Cassiopeia (pronounced cass-eeoh-PEE-ah; the Queen of Ethiopia), Cepheus (the King of Ethiopia), Draco (the Dragon), Ursa Major (the Large Bear), and Ursa Minor (the Small Bear). Because they circle the pole, these constellations are known as circumpolar. In the Southern Hemisphere, there are three constellations that appear to rotate around an imaginary point in the sky called the South Celestial Pole, which is directly above the South Pole. The three southern circumpolar constellations are Carina (the Keel), Centaurus (the Centaur), and Crux (the Southern Cross).

Ancient views Stargazers that predated the ancient Egyptians and Greeks most likely found the night sky a combined source of fear, wonder, and mystery. When filled with storm clouds, the dark sky would be magically lit by ferocious lightning, followed by the booming echo of thunder. When clear, the sky would be filled either by the light of a large disc (the Moon) or by hundreds upon hundreds of small glowing dots (the stars) that seemed to twinkle and move throughout the course of the night. It is conceivable that humans thousands of years ago looked up at the dynamic and ever-changing sky and pondered the same philosophical questions asked by many in the present day: Why does all this exist? What does it mean? How is humankind a part of it? Archaeoastronomers (scientists who seek to understand how celestial observations were made a part of an ancient society’s religious customs, political life, and agricultural or hunting-gathering practices) believe that natural curiosity may have led ancient humans to note patterns in the sky. That curiosity has been one of the few constants running through human history. Using their imaginations, ancient stargazers traced the outlines of animals, people, and inanimate objects among the stars. They used these imaginary pictures to convey the importance of heroes and lessons of life through the stories they told. It is from these stories that the different constellations get their names. 14


While nearly every culture on Earth has seen patterns in the stars, very few have seen the same ones. This is somewhat true even today. For example, what stargazers in North America call the Big Dipper, their counterparts in England call the Plough (pronounced plow) and those in France call the Saucepan. Like the various constellations, the seven stars of this asterism have inspired many different stories throughout history. The Native American tribe Skidi Pawnee envisioned it as a stretcher on which a sick man was carried. To several other Native American tribes, the bowl of the Big Dipper was a bear and the stars in its handle represented hunters tracking the bear. To the ancient Maya in what is now present-day Central America, it was a mythological parrot. While early Egyptians thought it was the thigh and leg of a bull, ancient Chinese thought of it as a special chariot that carried the celestial bureaucrat on his rounds. At some point in the distant past, the recurring nature of the Sun, constellations, and perhaps even the planets gave ancient humans the impression of a cosmic order. Most ancient cultures formulated a cosmology, or an understanding of the formation and structure of the universe and how humans related to it. They developed a unifying vision of their universe, through which they provided myths to explain the natural and supernatural order of things. Some ancient cultures came to believe that gods, departed ancestors, or other forces inhabited the sky. While ancient humans worshipped these sky powers, they also came to believe that the powers could be used to serve human goals. If the Moon could be associated with important periods in the agricultural or hunting cycle, for example, it would be honored to ensure better food supplies. In fact, this desire to have the sky powers serve the needs of humans may have been the motivating factor for ancient cultures to engage in regular observations of the skies. Early farming societies were at the mercy of the seasons. In order to sustain a successful farming culture, it was necessary to find accurate ways of predicting when it was time to plant crops and when it was time to harvest them. At some point in history, ancient humans recognized patterns the Sun and stars made in the sky. The Sun, like the constellations, goes through a repeating pattern. It reaches its highest point in the sky on the first day of summer (summer solstice) and its lowest point Stars and Early Stargazers

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Many believe that Stonehenge, located in southwestern England, was used to observe positions of the Sun and the Moon. But the most popular theory about the astronomical function of Stonehenge is that it was a calendar of sorts, marking the summer solstice. (© Bob Krist/Corbis)

on the first day of winter (winter solstice). Making connections, ancient humans realized that the seasons repeated in the same cycles as much of what they saw in the sky. In order to predict the cycles of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets, early humans built elaborate structures to observe their movements in the sky. Although written records of ancient celestial observations have been lost to history, some of the physical signs of those activities remain, such as Stonehenge and El Caracol (pronounced ell kare-oh-SOL).

Stonehenge Perhaps the most well known of these early observation sites is Stonehenge, which is located on a plain in south16


western England about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the town of Salisbury. A complex grouping of massive standing stones, Stonehenge was built and rebuilt over three periods, most likely between the years 3000 B.C.E. and 1600 B.C.E. The builders of this ancient monument were probably ancient druids, an order of Welsh and British priests. Five thousand years of weather and vandalism have altered the structure significantly from its original form. It is believed that Stonehenge once comprised thirty blocks of gray sandstone, each standing about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) tall, arranged in a 97-footdiameter (29-meter-diameter) circle. Thirty smaller stone slabs lie horizontally on top of these stones, forming a continuous ring. A second, inner circle of stones enclosed a horseshoe-shaped group of stones. A partial outer ring and a few inner stones are presently all that remain. Many archaeologists (scientists who study the remains of ancient cultures) believe that Stonehenge served as a ceremonial or religious structure, but many astronomers and others believe it was used to observe positions of the Sun and the Moon. The most popular theory about the astronomical function of Stonehenge is that it was a calendar of sorts, marking the summer solstice. According to the theory, the solstice may be observed by an individual who stands at the center of the ring of stones and looks toward the northeast. Beyond the stones, framed by three segments of the circle, is a pillar called the Heel Stone. The top of this stone, which appears to line up with the distant horizon, is very close to the spot where the Sun’s first rays strike on the summer solstice. In addition to the solstice-marker idea, other theories abound. Some propose that numerous sets of stones line up not only with the Sun but also with the Moon at various times of the year. Unfortunately, there are too many unknowns to determine which, if any, of these theories is true.

El Caracol While some ancient observing sites were simple, others were much more complex. Astronomical observations figured greatly in the culture of the Maya, native people of Central America and southern Mexico. Between 700 and 1263, the Maya built what was perhaps the greatest of their cities, Chichén Itzá, on the northern Yucatan peninsula. Stars and Early Stargazers

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The observatory known as El Caracol was built by the Maya in Chichén Itzá, Mexico. The doors of the structure were almost precisely aligned to face significant positions of the Sun, the Moon, and the planet Venus. (© Charles and Josette Lenars/Corbis)

In addition to a government palace, impressive pyramids, and a school for the training of male and female priests, the city was home to an observatory known as El Caracol (“the snail”). A round building rising from a large square platform, 18


it featured a spiral stone staircase inside. Like several other important ceremonial buildings in Chichén Itzá, it was decorated with ornately carved and painted sculptures. The doors of the observatory were almost precisely aligned to face significant positions of the Sun, the Moon, and Venus throughout the year. Mayan life was dominated by the Sun and Venus, both of which the Maya connected to warfare. Venus, a fearful power, was also associated with sacrifice, fertility, rain, and maize (corn). Mayan writings have been interpreted to indicate that raids were undertaken during important Venus positions, such as its first appearance as the morning star or the evening star. These raids have come to be called star war events. Ancient manuscripts also suggest that the Maya had the ability to predict solar and lunar eclipses, accurate to within a day. (An eclipse is the obscuring of one celestial object by another. A solar eclipse is an eclipse of the Sun by the Moon. A lunar eclipse is an eclipse in which the Moon passes through the shadow of Earth.) Ancient astronomers were able to devise techniques through which they could predict the cycles and eclipses of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets as they moved across the sky. Some of their predictions were astoundingly accurate, to within hours of the original predictions. Archaeoastronomers have uncovered the importance of the stars and other celestial objects to ancient cultures: in the planting and harvesting of crops, in navigation on the open seas, in the telling of time, and in religious practices. For thousands of years, people have looked up to the stars to guide them in their daily lives. Ancient humans believed that Earth existed alone, surrounded by a sky filled with heroes and gods, myths and superstitions. In the third century B.C.E., a Greek astronomer and mathematician made the novel and daring suggestion that Earth revolved around the Sun. His ideas were discarded for fifteen centuries before a Polish astronomer showed the proper alignment of the solar system. In the centuries following, humans continued to explore the universe, both through astronomical observations and creative fiction. These early explorations would inspire twentiethcentury scientists and engineers to undertake humankind’s greatest adventure: spaceflight. Stars and Early Stargazers

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For More Information Books Asimov, Isaac. Astronomy in Ancient Times. Revised ed. Milwaukee, WI: Gareth Stevens, 1997. Aveni, Anthony. Stairways to the Stars: Skywatching in Three Great Ancient Cultures. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1997. Dickinson, Terence. Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 1987. Kerrod, Robin. The Book of Constellations: Discover the Secrets in the Stars. Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s, 2002. Krupp, E. C. Beyond the Blue Horizon: Myths and Legends of the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Planets. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Web Sites “Ancient Astronomy.” Pomona College Astronomy Department. http:// www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Ancients Could Have Used Stonehenge to Predict Lunar Eclipses.” Space Holding Corporation. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/ astronomy/stonehenge_eclipse_000119.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Constellations and Chandra Images.” Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/index. html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Curious About Astronomy? Ask an Astronomer.” Astronomy Department, Cornell University. http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/index.php (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Windows to the Universe.” University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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2 Defining Order in the Universe

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n the fourth century B.C.E., Greek culture spread across a vast area: from the lands bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea east across Asia Minor into India. Termed Hellenism, Greek culture and ideals blended with other cultures in these areas to produce what historians call the Hellenistic civilization. Greek theaters, temples, and libraries sprang up throughout the Mediterranean world. Greek language became the language of commerce and of intellectuals. Philosophy, art, and science flourished. Of these, science boasted the greatest advances and achievements. Hellenistic civilization held forth for roughly three centuries until Rome rose to power, absorbing Greek culture into its own. Never fully extinguished, Greek culture formed the basis of succeeding civilizations, including modern Western civilization.

One man was largely responsible for this transformation of the ancient world from North Africa to the Himalayan Mountains in northern India: Alexander the Great (356– 323 B.C.E.). At the age of twenty, he succeeded his father, Philip II (382–336 B.C.E.), as ruler of the ancient kingdom of Macedon, which compares roughly with the present-day country 21

Ancient Egyptian calendar, with zodiac signs etched in the outer circle, used by Greek scholars for astronomical research. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

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of Macedonia, located on the northern border of Greece. During Philip’s reign, the great ancient Greek city-states of Athens, Sparta, and Thebes had been brought under Macedonian rule. A conquering army was Philip’s greatest gift to Alexander. A fondness of Greek culture and education was his mother’s gift to her son; Alexander‘s mother arranged for the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) to tutor her son. She also encouraged Alexander’s beliefs in the ancient Greek gods and myths. Throughout his childhood, he read epic tales of Greek heroes and wanderers, tales that stayed with him for the rest of his life. Shortly after he assumed control of the Macedonian throne in 336 B.C.E., he began to march his army against neighboring tribes and, then, whole empires. Continually marching his army eastward, Alexander claimed more and more land, eventually ruling over a region that currently comprises more than twelve countries. No single king before him had conquered such a great tract of land. Historians and others are divided over the merits of Alexander’s actions. Some believe that he was motivated to unite West and East in a brotherhood of Greek culture. Others believe that he was nothing more than a brutal warrior whose sole aim was to gain power through conquest. His true motivation will never be known. What is undisputed is the significant cultural change Alexander’s actions brought about. Greek language and traditions spread eastward while Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Persian, and Hebrew traditions moved westward. Throughout his wideranging empire, he founded many cities, such as Alexandria in Egypt, and they became centers of Hellenistic culture. Stimulated by the vast amount of data collected by Alexander’s staff from cultures throughout his realm, Greek scientific achievements reached their height during this period. The greatest center of scientific investigation was Alexandria. It boasted a state-supported museum and library. The museum functioned like a university, the first the ancient world had ever known. Historical records indicate that literature, science, grammar, geography, and philosophy were taught there. It attracted many Greek scholars, poets, scientists, and philosophers. The library, probably part of the museum, accumulated as many as four hundred thousand scrolls and several thousand original works and copies. Both the Defining Order in the Universe

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Words to Know Astrology: The study of the supposed effects of celestial objects on the course of human affairs. Celestial mechanics: The scientific study of the influence of gravity on the motions of celestial bodies. Celestial sphere: An imaginary sphere of gigantic radius with Earth located at its center. Eclipse: The obscuring of one celestial object by another. Epicycle: A small secondary orbit incorrectly added to the planetary orbits by early astronomers to account for periods in which the planets appeared to move backward with respect to Earth. Geocentric model: The flawed theory that Earth is at the center of the so-

lar system, with the Sun, the Moon, and the other planets revolving around it. Also known as the Ptolemaic model. Gravity: The force of attraction between objects, the strength of which depends on the mass of each object and the distance between them. Heliocentric model: The theory that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and all planets revolve around it. Also known as the Copernican model. Hellenism: The culture, ideals, and pattern of life of ancient Greece. Precession: The small wobbling motion Earth makes about its axis as it spins. Supernova: The massive explosion of a relatively large star at the end of its lifetime.

museum and the library lasted for centuries. At the end of the fourth century C.E., many of the works in the library were burned after Christian Roman emperor Theodosius I (346– 395) ordered all pagan (nonreligious) items destroyed. The library was eventually completely destroyed in the mid-seventh century when the Muslim armies of Umar (c. 581–644), the caliph or Islamic ruler of Baghdad, overran Alexandria. In scholarly studies during Alexander’s time, factual observation became widely recognized as important. This was especially so in science, as it became separate from the study of philosophy and metaphysics (the philosophical study of being and knowing). The Greeks were unique among ancient civilizations in that they wanted to know why events occur. They 24


wanted explanations, not simply formulas. Through their work, ancient Greek astronomers helped form the foundation for modern astronomy. Many of their theories still stand today. In the centuries prior to Alexander the Great and Hellenistic civilization, Greek philosophers and scientists had developed a number of important astronomical ideas. Early Greek astronomers knew many of the geometrical relationships of the celestial bodies (stars and planets and other bodies of matter in the sky). Some of their observations and descriptions were accurate; others were not. Pythagoras (c. 580–c. 500 B.C.E.) is best known for his mathematical theorem (a mathematical statement whose truth can be proved on the basis of a given set of assumptions). He also argued that Earth was round and developed an early system of cosmology to explain the nature and structure of the Aristotle was perhaps the greatest philosopher in universe. In about 370 B.C.E., Eudoxus ancient Greece, but he incorrectly believed that Earth of Cnidus (pronounced NYE-duss) dewas at the center of the universe. (The Library of Congress) veloped a system to explain the motions of the planets based on spheres. He believed that Earth was a sphere that was at rest at its center. Around it, twenty-seven concentric spheres rotated. The exterior spheres carried the fixed stars, while the others carried the Sun, the Moon, and the five visible planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter). Aristotle incorporated this Earth-centered, or geocentric, model into his philosophic system. Perhaps the greatest philosopher in ancient Greece and one of the most influential thinkers in Western culture, he wrote about the movement of celestial bodies in his book De caelo (On the Heavens). Aristotle was aware that the Moon shines by reflecting light from the Sun. He was also aware of the spherical shape of Earth because of the circular shadow it cast on the Moon during an eclipse (the obscuring of one celestial object by another). HowDefining Order in the Universe

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ever, he was incorrect in his belief that Earth was at the center of the universe. He reasoned that if Earth orbited anything else, it would leave the Moon behind. Like other early natural philosophers, Aristotle used his five senses in combination with logic and reason to explain the workings of the universe. However, his preconceived notions got in the way. Aristotle incorrectly expanded upon Eudoxus’s spherical idea. He believed that within the celestial sphere was a set of fifty-five crystalline spheres that fit inside one another. He theorized that these spheres carried celestial objects at various speeds in a perfectly circular motion around Earth. He believed that the closest sphere to Earth, the smallest one, contained the Moon. The area below the area of the Moon had five components: earth, air, fire, water, and quintessence (a transparent element from which the spheres were formed). Aristotle thought that all celestial bodies were unchanging and flawless. He believed that Earth, with its imperfections, was an exception.

The Sun at the center With the rise of Hellenistic civilization, a few astronomers began making assertions based on scientific observation. They calculated the movement of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets with greater accuracy. One even challenged the view that the Sun revolved around Earth and that Earth was at the center of the movement of all celestial bodies. Aristarchus (pronounced ar-eh-STAR-kuss; c. 310–c. 230 was a Greek mathematician and astronomer. He was born on Samos, a Grecian island in the Aegean Sea off the western coast of Turkey. Hence, he is also known as Aristarchus of Samos. His writings do not survive in the present; what is known about his theories comes from the writings of others. He is credited as being the first astronomer to propose that the planets, including Earth, revolve around the Sun. This theory describing the structure of the solar system is known as the heliocentric, or Sun-centered model.

B.C.E.)

By observing the Moon as it moved through Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse (an eclipse in which the moon passes through the shadow of Earth). Aristarchus estimated that Earth’s diameter was three times as large as the Moon’s (it is actually four times as large). He also proposed that the Sun was much larger than the Moon and was twenty times 26


farther away from Earth than the Moon (it is actually almost four hundred times the distance). Finally, he theorized that the distance to the stars was enormous compared to the distance between Earth and the Sun. Although many of his mathematical calculations were incorrect, his reasoning was logical. Unfortunately, his theories were not well received, and the heliocentric model would not be proposed again for nearly two thousand years. An important Greek astronomer whose life overlapped that of Aristarchus was Eratosthenes (pronounced eh-rahTAHS-thuh-neez; c. 275–c. 195 B.C.E.). Born in Cyrene (present-day Shahhat, Libya), Eratosthenes was also a noted mathematician, historian, geographer, poet, and philosopher. In about 240 B.C.E., he was named the third director of the library at Alexandria. While at the library, he conducted an experiment. He knew that on the summer solstice (the longest day of the year), columns and other vertical structures in Syene (present-day Aswan, Egypt) cast no shadow at noon. However, they did in Alexandria. Assuming that the Sun was so far away that its rays were parallel when they struck Earth’s surface, Eratosthenes deduced that the surface of Earth must be curved. Knowing the physical distance between the two cities, he applied basic geometry to the differing shadow-lengths to determine that the distance represented seven degrees along the surface of the planet. He then computed the distance over 360 degrees, the entire surface of Earth. His calculation for the circumference of the planet, about 25,000 miles (40,225 kilometers), proved remarkably accurate, within 1 percent of the actual number. Eratosthenes also worked out a calendar that included leap years and created a catalog of 44 constellations and a list of 475 fixed stars. Hipparchus (190–120 B.C.E.) was another Greek astronomer who mapped the constellations. Although very little information about him remains, he is considered one of the most influential astronomers of ancient times. Most of what is known of Hipparchus comes from the Almagest of later Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy (pronounced TOL-uh-mee; c. 85–c. 160). He was born in Nicaea (pronounced ni-SEE-ah), a Greek-speaking city in Bithynia (present-day Iznik, Turkey), in the northwestern part of Asia Minor. Based on the calculations in his astronomical observations, he spent much of his life on the Greek island of Rhodes and in Alexandria. Defining Order in the Universe

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In 133 B.C.E., Hipparchus observed what he believed was a new star. He realized, however, that without an accurate star catalog, it was impossible to demonstrate that the star was indeed new. So he set about producing a complete sky map with a table of the positions of the stars. When finished, Hipparchus’s star catalog covered about 850 stars. Included in the catalog was a scale of magnitude to indicate the apparent brightness of the stars, the first time such a scale had been used. A refined version of Hipparchus’s scale, which numbers stars from one to six, from brightest to dimmest, is still used today. To aid him in his astronomical calculations, Hipparchus made use of the observations and knowledge accumulated over centuries by the Babylonians. Ancient Babylonians were greatly skilled in mathematics. In the field of astronomy, they assembled extensive, relatively accurate records of celestial events. By about 700 B.C.E., they had already charted the paths of planets and compiled observations of fixed stars. In comparing his own measurements of positions of stars with those of these earlier astronomers, Hipparchus discovered that there had been a systematic shift in the same direction in all of them. These discrepancies, he established, were the result of a shift in the position of the axis around which the stars seemed to rotate. In modern astronomy, this shift is called precession and is brought about by the small wobbling motion Earth makes about its axis as it spins. The spot to which the North Pole points in the sky (the north celestial pole) slowly and continually moves over time along a circle that is gradually traced out on the celestial sphere. It takes approximately 26,000 years for the circle to be completed. Hipparchus was the first to describe and to attempt to measure this phenomenon. He was, however, unable to explain its cause since he believed in the geocentric model of a motionless Earth at the center of a moving universe. Earth’s axis is not fixed. Like a slowly rotating toy top, the planet wobbles, and its axis traces a cone in space once every 26,000 years. This is known as precession. It is brought about by the combined gravitational tugs of the Sun and the Moon on Earth. Hipparchus also established some of the basic principles of trigonometry (an area of mathematics involving triangles; 28


26,000 years

19,500 years

13,000 years

6,500 years

present day

Earth spins about its axis like a top in slow motion, tracing the path of a cone. It completes one revolution every 26,000 years, a phenomena called precession.

It takes about 100,000 years to complete a cycle, from a circular orbit to an elliptical one and back.

The process of precession, which is caused by the gravitational forces exerted on Earth by the Sun and the Moon (Illustration by Accurate Art, Inc. The Gale Group)

trigonometric calculations use the relationships between the sides and angles of triangles to calculate position, distance, speed, and many other things); studied the lunar and solar eclipses to create a calendar based on a year containing 365.2467 days (roughly 6.5 minutes off from the true calendar); estimated the relative sizes of the Sun and the Moon; and calculated the distance to the Moon from Earth to be between fifty-nine and sixty-seven Earth radii (pronounced RAY-dee-eye; a distance using the radius of Earth as unit of measurement). This last computation is quite amazing, as the correct distance is about sixty Earth radii.

The Ptolemaic universe Hipparchus’s influence was important enough to cause several later scientists to refer to and summarize him. Most Defining Order in the Universe

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notable among these was Ptolemy. In fact, it is sometimes hard to tell when Ptolemy was following Hipparchus and when he was going beyond his work to present his own conclusions. Regardless, Ptolemy’s work became the standard textbook on astronomy for fourteen centuries. Present-day historians know very little about Ptolemy’s early life. They are not even sure whether he was Greek or Egyptian. Some believe he was descended from a Greek family living in Egypt; others are not so sure. It is believed that Ptolemais Hermii was born in Alexandria, Egypt. He later adopted the Latin version of his name, Claudius Ptolemaeus, and then finally shortened it to Ptolemy. It is by this name that he is known to history. Most of what is known about his adult life has been pieced together from information in his surviving written works. Nonetheless, he is considered one of the most influential Greek astronomers and geographers of ancient times. Ptolemy’s chief contribution to science is a series of books in which he compiled the knowledge of the ancient Greeks, his primary source being Hipparchus. That thirteen-volume work was originally titled He mathematike syntaxis (The Mathematical Compilation). When the work was translated into Arabic, it was renamed al-Majisti. Finally, when it was translated from Arabic into Latin, it was given the title by which it is known today, Almagest (The Greatest). With the Almagest, Ptolemy essentially retold Hipparchus’s version of the universe. He follows Hipparchus so closely that some accuse Ptolemy of taking credit for work that was not his own. Although the geocentric model of the solar system originated centuries before, Ptolemy’s work was extremely influential. Because of this, the geocentric model is also known as the Ptolemaic model or Ptolemaic universe. In Ptolemy’s version of the solar system, Earth was stationary at the center, with the Sun, the Moon, and the planets all traveling around it in a series of moving spheres or globes. The stars were fixed to the outermost sphere. Located beyond the sphere of the fixed stars was the prime mover, which rotated that sphere at a steady pace. The other spheres beneath it rotated in the opposite direction. In order from the fixed stars to Earth, Ptolemy believed that the spheres held Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. 30


The most serious problem with this theory was that it was not consistent with the observed movements of the planets. Their wanderings across the sky included zigzags and loops that simple rotation on invisible spheres could not explain. To make up for this inconsistency, Ptolemy developed a model in which the planets traveled on small, circular secondary orbits, which he called epicycles, while also moving around Earth on their larger spheres. These secondary orbits turned the planets’ neat circular paths into elaborate spiral or figure-eight patterns that accounted for the periods in which the planets appeared to move backward with respect to Earth. Despite flaws in Ptolemy’s theory— it reproduced the curlicues of planetary motion among the stars, though not exactly as astronomers observed them with the naked eye—it was held as truth until the mid-sixteenth century.

God and astronomy

In Ptolemy’s version of the solar system, Earth was stationary at the center, with the Sun, the Moon, and the planets all traveling around it in a series of moving spheres or globes. (The Library of Congress)

After the time of Ptolemy, there were very few advancements made in astronomy for centuries. Groups such as the Arabs tried to improve and update Ptolemy’s model of the solar system, but they achieved little progress. One reason that the Ptolemaic theory lasted so long is that the Roman Catholic Church encouraged and upheld the belief that Earth was at the center of everything that surrounded it. The Roman Empire came into being in 31 B.C.E. under the rule of Augustus (63 B.C.E.–14 C.E.). Ptolemy had lived under the empire and his ideas, like those of many Greek scientists, philosophers, and artists, were made a part of Roman culture. Like the Greeks, Romans practiced a form of religion that recognized many gods. Ceremonies and superstitions played a significant role in the daily lives of Romans. Omens from naDefining Order in the Universe

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ture often influenced the actions of leaders, and priests sought to understand the intent of the gods by observing the organs of slaughtered animals or the flight of birds. Over time, Roman religion began to lose favor among the people. As Roman society became more corrupt, its people felt the need to follow a religion that offered greater moral and spiritual assurances. Christianity arose in the first century C.E. when the disciples of the Jewish prophet Jesus of Nazareth (c. 6 B.C.E.– c. 26 C.E.) began to spread the message of his teachings. In the years after Jesus’ death, the disciples helped establish Christianity as a religion, and its membership grew and expanded into widespread areas. By the beginning of the fourth century, Christianity had grown so much in size and strength that it had to be either eliminated or accepted. Several Roman emperors tried to destroy the new religion and failed. In 313, Roman emperor Constantine I (285–337) embraced Christianity and ordered that the religion was to be tolerated throughout the empire. In 395, Emperor Theodosius (c. 346– 395) established Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Within a century, the Roman Empire collapsed because of political and social forces, but the Roman Catholic Church remained, growing ever stronger. It was the only church during the Middle Ages, the period in European history roughly between 400 and 1400. During this time, the Church was the supreme authority in an area that covered all of Western Europe, most of the Middle East, and parts of North Africa. The pope, head of the Church, was the world’s only elected monarch. He was considered God’s representative on Earth. This made it difficult for a secular (nonreligious) leader to oppose a pope who tried to meddle in the affairs of a state or nation. The pope could oppose secular law by declaring canon (religious) law to be above the law of the land. Wars and other actions by nations had to be authorized by the pope before they could be undertaken. The Ptolemaic, or geocentric, model of the solar system, backed by the Church, held sway until the time of the Renaissance (French for “rebirth”), which is generally defined as the years 1350 to 1600 when European people experienced the resurrection of classical Greek and Roman ideals that had 32


remained dormant since the collapse of the Roman Empire. A scientific revolution occurred as ancient Greek texts were given updated translations and interpretations. Renaissance scientists began to develop new theories that eventually replaced the Greek concepts that had dominated science for almost two thousand years. An even more important development was that scientists began asking how things happened in nature, whereas the ancients were mainly concerned with why things happened. This shift in thinking had a profound impact on all aspects of Renaissance life. By the end of the 1600s, science had replaced Christianity as the central focus of European civilization.

A revolution The scientific revolution in astronomy began with Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernik in Polish; 1473–1543). Born into a wealthy family in Poland, Copernicus received an excellent education while growing up. At the age of eighteen, he enrolled in the University of Cracow in his native Poland to study mathematics and painting. Five years later, he traveled to Italy where he studied astronomy, medicine, and religious law. Two events in 1500 influenced Copernicus’s direction in life: He attended a conference in Rome dealing with calendar reform and, on November 6 of that year, he witnessed a lunar eclipse. At the time, the tables of planetary positions that astronomers were using were very complex and inaccurate. Predicting the positions of the planets over long periods of time was haphazard at best, and the seasons were out of step with the position of the Sun. Copernicus soon realized that tables of planetary positions could be calculated much more easily and accurately if he made a controversial assertion (one that had not been attempted since the third century B.C.E.): The Sun, not Earth, was the center of the solar system, and the planets, including Earth, orbited the Sun. He also came to believe that Earth was a relatively small and unimportant component of the universe. In 1507, basing his calculations on a heliocentric model, Copernicus developed a much simpler table of planetary positions. According to the geocentric model proposed by the ancient Greeks, the other planets had to move in strange ways Defining Order in the Universe

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to account for their positions relative to Earth. From time to time, some of the planets were said to move in a backward direction. Copernicus explained that this reverse motion was merely an illusion; he said that it occurred because of the different lengths of the planets’ orbits. The orbits of the planets farther away from the Sun— Mars, Jupiter, Saturn—were longer than Earth’s. Copernicus explained that on its shorter path, Earth overtook these outer planets as it circled the Sun. Those planets closer to the Sun— Mercury and Venus—passed Earth as they sped along their shorter orbits. Copernicus made one mistake, though: He believed that the orbits of all of the planets were circular. They are not, and a century would pass before another astronomer would determine their correct shape. Five years after he developed his theory, Copernicus moved to the reThe scientific revolution in astronomy began with gion of Frauenburg where he served as Nicolaus Copernicus. He believed that the Sun, not a priest. While there, he wrote a book Earth, was the center of the solar system. explaining his theory, De Revolution(The Library of Congress) ibus Orbium Coelestium (Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres). Although he had his ideas on paper, Copernicus was very reluctant to make them public. He fully realized that his theory not only contradicted the Greek scientists, it went against the teachings of the Church, which placed a great importance on Earth’s role as the center of the known universe. Contradicting the Church could have severe consequences. Finally, in 1530, Copernicus allowed a summary of his ideas to circulate among other scholars. They were greatly impressed. He then waited another thirteen years to have the work published. Overseeing the publication of the book was a Lutheran minister named Andreas Osiander (1498–1552). The only problem was that the founder of Osiander’s denomination, Martin Luther (1483–1546), disagreed firmly 34


with Copernicus’s theory. To make it appear that Copernicus was not proposing that the solar system was Sun-centered, Osiander wrote a preface to the work stating that the heliocentric model was merely a concept used to calculate planetary positions. Osiander did not sign the preface, giving the impression that Copernicus had written it, thus contradicting his own findings. Suffering from a stroke and close to death, Copernicus could do nothing to defend himself once the book was published. It is said that he died only hours after seeing the first copy of the book. The book did not receive much attention for several reasons. First, the preface weakened the theory presented in the work. Second, the language of the book was very technical, able to be understood only by mathematicians. Third, only a few copies were printed, and those were very expensive. Despite this, the Roman Catholic Church placed the title on its list of banned books, where it remained for almost three hundred years.

Brahe’s observations Shortly after Copernicus’s death, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (pronounced TIE-ko BRAH-hay; 1564–1601) was born. Brahe made observations of planetary positions that were more accurate than any made by his predecessors, thereby changing observation methods. Although he never accepted Copernicus’s model of the solar system, his records were used by his assistant to disprove the geocentric model for good. Brahe was born into a family of great social standing. Like Copernicus, he received an excellent early education. When he was thirteen, Brahe entered the University of Copenhagen to study rhetoric (language) and philosophy. His uncle encouraged him to study law. Brahe, however, was fascinated by astronomy, an interest that arose when he witnessed an eclipse of the Sun in 1560. Afterward, he took courses in astronomy and mathematics and began observing the night sky. In August 1563, when he was not yet seventeen, Brahe made his first recorded observation, a close grouping of stars between the planets Jupiter and Saturn. This was the turning point of his career. Upset by the fact this event occurred a month before its predicted date, he began to buy astronomical Defining Order in the Universe

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instruments that would allow him to make very precise measurements so he could produce more accurate tables of data. In November 1572, Brahe noticed a new star in the constellation Cassiopeia. The star was so bright that it could be seen even in the daytime. Present-day astronomers know that what Brahe saw was not a new star at all, but a supernova, the massive explosion of a relatively large star at the end of its lifetime. Viewing the star led Brahe to conclude that Aristotle’s belief that the universe was perfect and unchanging, a view that had been accepted for centuries, was incorrect. However, Brahe needed to prove that this object was indeed a star and not a planet or comet. At the time, comets were thought to be phenomena in Earth’s atmosphere, like lightning. Traveling all over Europe, Brahe made observations of the star he had discovered. He found that its position did not shift relative to the other stars in the constellation. Brahe then concluded that the star was farther from Earth than the Moon and was certainly not a planet. He published his findings in a book, De nova stella (Concerning a New Star), demonstrating that change does occur in the universe. This caused an uproar in the religious community because it contradicted Aristotle’s theory of an unchanging universe. Impressed by Brahe’s work, Frederick II (1543–1588), the king of Denmark, provided Brahe with an annual income and gave him a small island called Hveen (present-day Ven) off the southwest coast of Sweden. There Brahe built a research observatory, the first real astronomical observatory in history, which he called Stjerneborg (Castle of the Stars). Brahe did not have the advantage of using a telescope (the first optical telescope was not invented until 1608) or other modern equipment, but he did have the finest instruments that were available at the time. Between 1576 and 1596, he made daily observations and recorded the positions of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets. He published very accurate solar tables, as well as the most precise and complete record of the positions of the planets up to that point in history. He also determined the length of the year to within one second. An event in 1577 caused Brahe to question both the geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system. He observed the elongated path of a bright comet. In both models of the solar system, the Sun and the planets were carried 36


around on spheres. Since the comet had crossed several planetary paths, Brahe concluded that the spheres could not exist. He then devised a new model in which the Sun and the Moon revolve around Earth and all the other planets revolve around the Sun. In this way, Brahe kept Earth at the center of the solar system, which went along with the beliefs of the Church. In 1596, Brahe moved to Prague to work for the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph II of Bohemia. There he took on Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) as an assistant. Worried that his brilliant young assistant would excel him, Brahe kept most of his findings to himself. Nonetheless, Kepler obtained enough of Brahe’s records after his death to devise laws of planetary motion and to help the heliocentric model of the solar system gain general acceptance.

Universal laws

German astronomer Johannes Kepler is noted for devising and proving the three laws of planetary motion. These laws have become known as Kepler’s laws. (New York Public Library Picture Collection)

Kepler was born in Weil, an area now part of southwestern Germany. At the age of seventeen, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in theology (the study of religion), then entered the master’s program at the Protestant-run University of Tübingen. While there, he studied mathematics and, soon after he graduated in 1591, was hired to teach mathematics at a high school in Austria. However, Kepler’s interests lay not in teaching but in astronomy and astrology (the study of the supposed effects of celestial objects on the course of human affairs). In 1596, he published a book in which he outlined the mystical relationship between objects in the solar system and geometric solid objects such as cubes and spheres. His Mysterium Cosmographicum (Mystery of the Universe) revealed his considerable knowledge of astronomy and brought him to the attention of Brahe. Defining Order in the Universe

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Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion I. The orbit of each planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. II. An imaginary line joining the planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times as the planet travels around the ellipse. III. The square of the time of each planet’s revolution is proportional to the cube of its mean (average) distance from the Sun.

After Brahe’s death, Kepler succeeded him as official imperial mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor. In this position, he had access to all of Brahe’s records, including his sightings of Mars. Brahe had spent years making accurate observations of Mars with the naked eye and had assigned Kepler the task of devising a theory of planetary motion using his observational data. The task would occupy the majority of Kepler’s time for the next twenty years.

The study of Mars proved to be extremely difficult. The circular orbit Kepler calculated did not agree exactly with Brahe’s observations. Never doubting the accuracy of his mentor’s notes, Kepler disregarded his own scheme and started again. Finally, he gave up on circles and epicycles and, out of desperation, assumed the planet followed an elliptical (oval) path. The results matched Brahe’s data perfectly. The discovery led Kepler to publish his first two laws of planetary motion in 1609. The first states that a planet orbits the Sun on an elliptical path, not one that was circular as Copernicus had believed. The second law states that a planet moves faster when closer to the Sun and slower when farther away. Kepler incorrectly thought that magnetism in the Sun was responsible for the variation. He finally added a third law ten years later. In 1619, he determined that the orbital period of a planet (its year) depends predictably upon its distance from the Sun. Kepler’s laws can be applied anywhere in the universe where planetary systems revolve around other stars. They can also be used to understand other basic systems, such as two stars that orbit each other closely.

A martyr for scientific truth A contemporary of Kepler was the Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei (pronounced ga-lih-LAY-oh galih-LAY-ee; 1564–1642), who is credited with establishing the 38


modern experimental method. Before Galileo, knowledge of the physical world that was advanced by scientists and thinkers was for the most part a matter of assumption and speculation. In contrast, Galileo introduced the practice of proving or disproving a scientific theory by conducting tests and observing the results. His desire to increase the precision of his observations led him to make the most revolutionary contribution to the field of astronomy. Born in Pisa, Italy, Galileo was the son of an eminent composer and musical theorist. He received his early education at a monastery near Florence, and in 1581 entered the University of Pisa to study medicine. After listening to a lecture on geometry one day, Galileo decided to switch fields and study mathematics. Although he had to leave college in 1585 because he had run out of money, Galileo continued his studies on his own. The following year, he published a paper on a device he designed to measure the density of objects by weighing them in water. With this work he became known throughout Italy’s scientific community. Over the next few years, he was hired at various universities to teach mathematics. While at his teaching posts, Galileo continued his research and made a number of important discoveries. Many sources credit Hans Lippershey (sometimes spelled Lipperhey; c. 1570–1619), a Dutch lens-grinder, with creating the first optical telescope in 1608. The following year, Galileo fabricated his own, making several improvements to Lippershey’s design. Made with two lenses, Galileo’s telescope was strong enough for astronomical viewing, magnifying objects thirty-two times their original size. Although by today’s standards, that level of magnification is not very impressive, Galileo was able to use his telescope to dispel a number of false assumptions about the solar system, revolutionizing astronomy. First, Galileo discovered that the surface of the Moon was bumpy and jagged, not smooth. He also discovered that the Milky Way, the galaxy of which our solar system is a part, was not a solid white band but a grouping of many stars. In addition, he observed dark spots on the Sun’s surface (sunspots) and the rings of Saturn. One of his most significant findings was the discovery of four moons in orbit around Jupiter. (These four moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—are known today as the Galilean moons.) This discovery convinced Defining Order in the Universe

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Galileo that the geocentric model of the solar system, in which everything revolves around Earth, was incorrect. In 1610 Galileo published his planetary discoveries in a small book titled Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger). Afterward, he arranged meetings with the pope and other Church officials to describe his findings. He hoped he would be able to convince them of the validity of the heliocentric model. As it turned out, the Church was quite unwilling to abandon its centuries-heldbelief about Earth’s place in the solar system. The Roman Catholic Church banned Copernicus’s book in 1616, declaring that the heliocentric model was “false and erroneous.” The Church also forbid Galileo to continue his support of Copernicus’s ideas. Hoping to have the order against the Copernican model revoked, Galileo traveled to Rome in 1624 to make his appeal to the newly elected pope, Urban VIII, but the pope refused. He did give Galileo permission, though, to write about the heliocentric model as long as he gave equal treatment to the Church-sanctioned geocentric model of the solar system.

Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei created his own telescope, and his findings revolutionized astronomy. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

Eight years later, Galileo published Dialogo Galilei linceo . . . sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo (Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World) about the geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system. In the work, he described the geocentric model in unconvincing terms. Any objections he did raise to the heliocentric model in the book were made to sound ridiculous. Clearly, Galileo did not represent the two equally. This marked a turning point in scientific and philosophical thought. Galileo was then brought before the Inquisition (the Church’s board that sought out and tried nonbelievers) and was found guilty of heresy, or promoting opinions in conflict 40


with those of the Church. Galileo’s book was banned, he was forbidden to publish anything else, and he was sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life. (More than three hundred years later, Pope John Paul II announced that the Church had erred in condemning Galileo’s beliefs.)

A falling apple By the time of Galileo’s death in 1642, the heliocentric model was being accepted as scientific fact. In spite of the Church’s narrow position, other scientists carried on Galileo’s cause. One of the most important was born the year Galileo died. Considered to be one of the most intelligent people who ever lived, Isaac Newton (1642–1727) was born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, on Christmas Day. After a slow start in Sir Isaac Newton radically changed society’s notion of school, he eventually rose from the the universe with his three laws of motion and law of bottom of his class to the top. At the universal gravitation. (The Library of Congress) age of nineteen, Newton enrolled in Trinity College at Cambridge where he studied the works of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo, among others. After graduating in 1665, he returned to work on his family’s farm. While at the farm, Newton saw an apple fall to the ground, and he began to ponder the force that was responsible for the action. He first figured that the apple fell because all matter attracts other matter. He then further theorized that the rate of the apple’s fall was directly proportional to the attractive force Earth exerted upon it. Then he made a daring hypothesis, suggesting that the force that pulled the apple was also responsible for keeping the Moon in orbit around Earth. Prior to this, that force (gravity) had been thought to work only on Earth. Newton surmised that it might also apply to orbiting bodies in space. Newton’s initial calculations to prove his Defining Order in the Universe

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Newton’s Three Laws of Motion

theory, however, came up short. Frustrated, he set aside his work on gravity for seventeen years.

In 1669, Newton returned to Cambridge to assume the Lucasian ProfesI. Every object persists in its state of rest or sorship of Mathematics. In 1684, a uniform motion in a straight line unless it is good friend of Newton’s, English ascompelled to change that state by forces imtronomer Edmond Halley (1656– pressed on it. 1742), convinced him to resume his II. The acceleration of an object is directly work on gravity. After three years of proportional to the net force acting on the obwork, during which time he received ject, is in the direction of the net force, and is financial support from Halley, Newton inversely proportional to the mass of the published his much-acclaimed object. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia MatheIII. Whenever one object exerts a force on matica (Mathematical Principles of Nata second object, the second object exerts an ural Philosophy). With this work, equal and opposite force on the first. Newton radically changed society’s notion of the universe and the interconnectedness of its components, much in the same way Copernicus had done with his heliocentric model. In his work, Newton laid out his three laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. He was the first scientist to apply the notion of gravity to orbiting bodies in space. He explained that gravity was the force that made planets remain in their orbits instead of falling away in a straight line. Planetary motion, he argued, is the result of movement along a straight line combined with the gravitational pull of the Sun. Newton’s three laws of motion explain interactions between objects. The first law holds that an object moving in a straight line at a constant speed will continue with that exact motion until an outside force disturbs it. The law also implies that an object at rest will remain so until another force acts upon it. The second law provides the mathematical calculation for how and why an object can be set into motion. If force is applied to an object, its velocity changes, meaning it speeds up or slows down. As the mass (total amount of matter) of the object increases, the resulting acceleration goes down in equal measure if the same force is applied. If the mass decreases, the resulting acceleration increases in kind. The famous third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. 42


Newton used these laws to develop the law of universal gravitation. This law states that the gravitational force between any two objects depends on the mass of each object and the distance between them. The greater each object’s mass, the stronger the pull, but the greater the distance between them, the weaker the pull. The strength of the gravitational force, in turn, directly affects the speed and shape of an object’s orbit. As strength increases, so do the orbital speed and the tightness of the orbit. Newton also added to Kepler’s elliptical orbit theory. Newton found that the orbits of objects going around the Sun could, in fact, be shaped many different ways. As a result of his work, the orbits of the planets and their moons could be calculated very precisely. Scientists since then have used Newton’s laws to predict new astronomical events. Comets and planets were eventually predicted and discovered through Newtonian or celestial mechanics, the scientific study of the influence of gravity on the motions of celestial bodies. His laws, which hold true for nearly every type of motion on Earth as well as throughout the universe, have been central to the development of space-traveling vehicles in the twentieth century.

For More Information Books Andronik, Catherine M. Copernicus: Founder of Modern Astronomy. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2002. Boerst, William J. Galileo Galilei and the Science of Motion. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 2003. Gleick, James. Isaac Newton. New York: Pantheon Books, 2003. Voelkel, James R. Johannes Kepler and the New Astronomy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Wills, Susan, and Steven R. Wills. Astronomy: Looking at the Stars. Minneapolis, MN: Oliver Press, 2001.

Web Sites “The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System.” Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee. http://csep10.phys.utk. edu/astr161/lect/retrograde/copernican.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). Defining Order in the Universe

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“The Galileo Project.” Rice University. http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/ Galileo/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Johannes Kepler: His Life, His Laws, and Times.” Ames Research Center, NASA. http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/johannes.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Tycho Brahe.” Rice University. http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/ People/tycho_brahe.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “The World of Isaac Newton.” Guided Educational Tours. http://www. kamsc.k12.mi.us/newton/newles.html#ml2-6 (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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3 Rocketry in Warfare

D

uring the War of 1812 (1812–1815), the armed conflict between the United States and England, a fierce battle was waged when sixteen English warships formed a semicircle around Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, and proceeded to attack the fort. The ships began bombing on September 13, 1814, and continued for the next twenty-four hours. Francis Scott Key (1779–1843), on a mission to rescue a fellow American held prisoner on one of the English ships, witnessed the battle as some eighteen hundred shells exploded in and around the fort, lighting up the night sky. When the shelling finally stopped, Key waited impatiently to learn how the fort had done. Fortunately few English rockets had hit their targets and instead burst in mid-air. At dawn, Key saw the American flag still flying defiantly over the fort, indicating that the American forces had prevailed. Inspired to convey his patriotic feelings about the battle, Key wrote a poem that contained the line “the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night, that the flag was still there.” In 1931, the U.S. Congress recognized this poem, which had been set to music and had become known as the “Star-Spangled Banner,” as the country’s national anthem. 45

Illustration of a War of 1812 battle at Fort McHenry, about which Francis Scott Key wrote the “Star-Spangled Banner.” (© Bettmann/Corbis)

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Those wayward rockets fired on Fort McHenry were not the first used in war. And their design certainly did not adhere to the strict mathematical formulas and laws of physics that are applied to the present-day science of rocketry. Historians believe that the use of rockets in war dates back at least to thirteenth-century China, if not a few centuries earlier. A case may even be made that human interest in rocketry precedes this early period by more than sixteen hundred years.

Early Greek creations Historians base this belief on the work of Roman writer Aulus Gellius (pronounced OW-lus JEL-ee-us), who lived during the second century C.E. He described how Greek scientist and mathematician Archytas, who lived in Tarentum in present-day southern Italy in the fourth century B.C.E., created a wooden pigeon that hung from wires and was propelled along by jets of steam that escaped from its tail. Historians do not believe that Archytas completely understood the actionreaction principle behind the bird’s movement, a scientific law that would not be defined until the seventeenth century. Archytas’s bird, it seems, was developed purely for amusement. More than four hundred years after Archytas, another Greek scientist, Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria, developed the aeolipile (pronounced aye-OH-lih-pile; Greek for “wind ball”). A hollow sphere or ball that rotated as a reaction to escaping steam, it is considered the first working steam engine, a precursor to the jet engine. The aeolipile consisted of a metal ball with two L-shaped tubes mounted on either side of the ball and pointing in opposite directions. Two pipes came up from the kettle and attached to the ball—one on one side, one on the other—holding it in place above the kettle. The kettle was filled with water that was heated by a fire below. As the heated water turned into steam, the steam traveled up the pipes and flowed into the ball. The steam then exited through the Lshaped tubes, causing the ball to rotate or spin. At the time, and for centuries afterward, the aeolipile, or Hero’s Engine (as it came to be called), was considered nothing but a toy. A steam engine designed for work was not realized until 1698 when English military engineer Thomas Savery (c. 1650–1715) patented a design for one. Rocketry in Warfare

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Black powder and fire arrows It is believed that ancient armies began hurling flammable or explosive weapons toward one another as early Force: A push or pull exerted on an object as 1000 B.C.E. At the time, fire pots by an outside agent, producing an acwere used to set fires. Fire pots were celeration that changes the object’s state simply pots containing flammable maof motion. terials like naphtha that were ignited Gunpowder: An explosive mixture of charand hurled by various devices. The first coal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate. chemical explosive was a mixture of Mass: The measure of the total amount of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate matter in an object. (or saltpeter). Initially known as black powder, it became known as gunpowThrust: The forward force generated by a der after the invention of the gun rocket. sometime in the thirteenth century. (Although its use in rockets preceded that in guns, black powder will hereafter be referred to as gunpowder for the sake of simplicity.)

Words to Know

Historians credit the Chinese with the invention of gunpowder. The earliest recorded mention of it comes from China late in the third century B.C.E. Bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder, or a simple mixture of it, were tossed into ceremonial fires during religious festivals in hopes that the noise of the explosion would frighten evil spirits. More than a few of these tubes may have been imperfectly sealed. Instead of bursting with an explosion, they simply went skittering out of the fire, propelled by the rapidly burning gunpowder. It is quite probable that upon seeing these flying tubes, some observer may have begun experiments to recreate the same effect as the bamboo tubes that leaked fire. From these bamboo tubes evolved other types of firecrackers, and for hundreds of years the Chinese used gunpowder to create them. Unsure of exact dates, historians believe the Chinese had adapted the use of gunpowder from firecrackers to fireworks by about 600 C.E. Certain writings from that time indicate that the Chinese used small explosive charges to send other explosive charges into the air for entertainment. There is no doubt that by the mid-eleventh century the Chinese were well acquainted with various uses of gunpow48


der. The Wu-ching Tsung-yao (Complete Compendium of Military Classics), a book published by a Chinese government official in 1045, contains many references to that subject. The work detailed the use of “fire arrows” not launched by bows but by charges of gunpowder. Although it is unknown precisely when they were developed, fire arrows launched by gunpowder are considered to be the first true rockets. These fire arrows were a simple form of a solid-propellant rocket (one that uses solid compounds as fuel). A tube, capped at one end, contained gunpowder. The other end was left open and the tube was attached to a long stick. When the powder was ignited, the rapid burning of the powder produced fire, smoke, and gas that escaped out the open end and produced a thrust. The stick acted as a simple Rocket launching with fire behind it. Early fire arrows guidance system that kept the rocket evolved into fireworks, which evolved into the use of headed in one general direction as it rockets and rocket explosions for warfare. (National flew through the air. The fire arrows Aeronautics and Space Administration) carried flammable materials or sometimes poison-coated heads. In a form more closely resembling modern rockets, the gunpowder tube was lengthened to the tip of the arrow and given a pointed nose, eliminating the need for a traditional arrowhead. The resulting fire arrow was quite similar in appearance to present-day fireworks. In its most elementary form, the fireworks rocket used throughout the world in displays and celebrations consists of four main components: a propellant or fuel that is ignited and burned to provide the necessary thrust to move the rocket, a hollow tube or chamber in which the propellant is burned, an igniter that is used to start the burning of the propellant, and an outlet or opening through which the gases created by the burning of the propellant are exhausted. Rocketry in Warfare

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The Exploding Chinese Official According to Chinese legend, around 1500 a local government official named Wan Hu dreamed of traveling into space. Obsessed with the stars, he sought to get closer to them. With the help of many assistants, he constructed a rocket-powered flying chair. Attached to the chair were two large kites, and fixed to the kites were forty-seven fire-arrow rockets. On the day of the flight, Wan Hu appeared and strapped himself to the chair. He then gave the command to light the rockets. Forty-seven rocket assistants, each armed with a torch, rushed forward to light the fuses, then rapidly retreated. In a moment, there was a tremendous bang accompanied by billowing clouds of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Wan Hu and his flying chair were gone. No one knows for sure what happened to Wan Hu. If the event really did take place, it is quite probable that many of the fire-arrow rockets exploded, blowing Wan Hu and his flying chair to pieces.

Exactly what caused a rocket to be propelled from one place to another probably made little difference to the Chinese (and others immediately after them). Rockets simply formed a fundamental part of Chinese military tactics. Rocketlike fire arrows were certainly used by the Chinese to repel Mongol invaders at the battle of Kaifung-fu in 1232. Quick to learn, the Mongols reportedly used gunpowderpropelled fire arrows in their effort to capture the Arab city of Baghdad in 1258. It is believed that by the end of the century, the armies of Japan, Korea, and India had acquired sufficient knowledge of gunpowder-propelled fire arrows to begin using them against the Mongols. The use of these weapons quickly spread throughout Asia and Europe.

Gunpowder and rocket advances

While fire arrows were blazing in battle, scientific papers on the subject of the preparation of gunpowder and its application in weaponry were being published in Europe. German theologian and scientist Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280) gave a recipe for making gunpowder in his book De mirabilibus mundi (On the Wonders of the World). However, English philosopher and scientist Roger Bacon (c. 1220–1292) was the first European to describe in detail the process of making gunpowder, which he did in his book on chemistry called Opus Majus (Great Work). Because of this, for many years historians incorrectly credited Bacon with the invention of the explosive mixture. Europeans had probably learned about gunpowder from travelers from the Middle East. By the beginning of the fourteenth century, gunpowder was used more often to make war

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than to make fireworks. The first firearms appeared sometime before 1300. The earliest historical depiction of a gun is in a manuscript dated 1326 showing a pear-shaped cannon firing an arrow. The term handgun was first used in the late fourteenth century. These early guns had a simple hole in a tube or barrel, called a touch-hole, where the powder inside the barrel was exposed. Touching either a burning wick or a redhot iron to the exposed gunpowder fired the gun, propelling a ball over varying distances. Military engineers then began to invent and refine designs for both guns and rockets. In the early fifteenth century, the scientific analysis of war rockets increased. In 1405 German engineer Konrad Kyser von Eichstadt wrote Bellifortis (War Fortifications), a military encyclopedia that described war rockets in use at the time. Just a few years later, the work of French chronicler and poet Jean Froissart outlined the design of tubelaunched military rockets, which promised more accurate flights. His design was the forerunner of the present-day bazooka. The French army, traditionally among the largest armies in Europe, was reported to have made extensive use of war rockets throughout the fifteenth century. In 1428, for example, French troops led by Joan of Arc (c. 1412–1431) supposedly used rockets in their successful and famous defense of the city of Orléans during the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) against the English. Over the following few centuries, there are reports of many rocket experiments and developments. In 1577 the German armorer Leonhart Fronsperger wrote a book on firearms that historians believe resulted in the modern word “rocket.” Fronsperger described a device called a roget that used a base of gunpowder wrapped tightly in paper. (Some sources say an Italian named Muratori used the word rochetta in 1379 to describe types of gunpowder-propelled fire arrows in use at that time. These sources state that this word was later translated into English as “rocket.”) Despite this work, there were few improvements in rockets and rocketry over this period. By the sixteenth century, the rocket saw less and less military use. Instead, it became used almost exclusively in fireworks. However, an important and noteworthy advancement in rocketry theory occurred in Rocketry in Warfare

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the sixteenth century. Conrad Haas (c. 1509–1579), who served as an artillery guard and commissioned officer of the Imperial Court of Vienna, compiled a 450-page manuscript between 1529 and 1569 in which he described the construction of a multistage rocket. He figured that as a rocket neared the end of its combustion, or process of burning, it would be carrying a great deal of dead weight. Haas noted that this problem could be overcome by designing a multistage rocket, with each stage falling away once it had burned all of its fuel. In addition to sketching designs for two- and three-stage rockets in his manuscript, Haas also described the use of stabilizing fins and liquid fuel. Haas’s theory of a multistage rocket was realized by German fireworks maker Johann Schmidlap in the late sixteenth century. He invented the French troops led by Joan of Arc supposedly used step rocket, a primitive version of a rockets in their successful and famous defense of the multistage rocket, to lift fireworks to city of Orléans during the Hundred Years War against higher altitudes before they exploded. the English. (© Bettmann/Corbis) He attached a small rocket on top of a larger one. When the large rocket burned out, its casing fell off and the smaller rocket fired, continuing on to a higher altitude before showering the sky with glowing cinders. Schmidlap’s idea is basic to all present-day rockets that travel into space.

“For every action . . .” One of the first written attempts to explain what causes a rocket to be propelled through the air appeared in 1540. In his practical manual of metallurgy (the science of extracting metals from their ores, refining them, and creating useful objects), De la pirotechnia (On Working with Fire), Italian metallurgist Vannoccio Biringuccio (1480–c. 1539) attributed the propulsive force of a rocket to a “strong wind.” He explained 52


that it developed when air, fire, and gunpowder were combined. What Biringuccio did not explain (and did not know) was how this “strong wind” that blew downward should cause the rocket to move upward. That explanation came almost one hundred and fifty years later when English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1642–1727) presented his three laws of motion to predict the interactions between objects. The laws relate all aspects of motion to basic causes: force and mass. Force is a push or pull exerted on an object by an outside agent, producing an acceleration that changes the object’s state of motion. Mass is the measure of the total amount of matter in an object. Newton’s third law directly addresses the reason why a rocket is propelled forward. It states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Another way of stating this is that when one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body exerts an equal and opposite force on the first body. Action and reaction are equal and opposite. This third law, a law of action-reaction, is useful in determining forces acting on an object by knowing the forces it exerts. In the case of a rocket, it burns fuel at a high temperature, exhausting hot gases created by the combustion of that fuel out of its open end. According to Newton’s third law, the force of the gases coming out of the rocket must be balanced by a force moving the rocket in the opposite direction. The rocket does not move upward or forward because the gases push against the ground or against the outside atmosphere. (If this were true, rockets would not work in the near vacuum of space.) The force that pushes the gases away from the rocket has a reaction, in the opposite direction, on the rocket. It is this force, known as thrust, that propels the rocket in the direction opposite that of the exhausted gases. Newton’s discoveries provided the classical physical basis for future generations of rocket theorists. During that same century, the work of Polish general and artillery expert Kazimierz Siemienowicz (c. 1600–c. 1651) helped further the intellectual understanding of rocketry. In 1650 he published Artis magnae artileria (Great Art of Artillery). In this work, which was used in Europe as a basic artillery manual for almost two hundred years, Siemienowicz outlined the construction, Rocketry in Warfare

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An early rocket constructed by Hamburg engineer Zucker, c. 1920. Rocket designs like this one were influenced by the rockets of the nineteenth century. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

production, and properties of rockets (for both military and civil purposes), including multistage rockets and rockets with triangular-shaped stabilizers. These advancements allowed rocket experimenters to construct ever-larger rockets. By early in the eighteenth century, rockets weighing 55 to 120 pounds (25 to 54.5 kilograms) were developed for military use. Haider (or Hyder) Ali (1722–1782), an Indian ruler, made the next major improvement in rocket design. His hammered-iron rocket was the first metal-body rocket. Because of its strong metal body, it could withstand higher internal pressure than earlier rockets. This enabled it to hold a larger powder charge, giving it a range of almost 1 mile (1.6 kilometers). Although this weapon still had no directional control, it was very effective against cavalry troops 54


if dozens of these rockets were fired in the air or sent skimming over the ground. English troops found this out, to their dismay, in the wars against India in the 1700s. (During this century, both England and France tried to increase trade and capture Indian wealth. By 1818 England had gained control over almost all of India.)

The Congreve rocket By the beginning of the nineteenth century, European military experts began to take a serious interest in rockets, if only because they, like many before them, found themselves on the receiving end of rocket warfare. The lessons on rocketry in India were not lost on the English, and especially on English artillery expert William Congreve (1777–1828), who set out to design rockets for use by the English military. Due to his efforts, gunpowder mixes and rocket construction were improved and standardized. The original Congreve rocket was a 3.5-inch (8.9-centimeter) diameter incendiary (flammable) rocket, using gunpowder, an iron case, and a 16-foot (4.9-meter) guide stick that was side-mounted on the warhead. Congreve went on to design eight different rocket sizes with ranges from 0.5 to 2 miles (0.8 to 3.2 kilometers). The range was set by the degree of elevation of the launching frame. Congreve rockets were used by the English during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15), wars waged by or against France under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821). They were used in an attack on Boulogne harbor in northern France in 1806. The following year, Congreve himself directed a rocket attack against Copenhagen, Denmark, in which approximately twenty-five thousand rockets were fired, leaving much of the city burned. And in the famous 1813 battle of Leipzig (also known as the Battle of the Nations), the English used Congreve rockets to bombard a village held by five battalions of French infantry. The success of these battles led the English army to create an official rocket brigade in 1818. Rockets had come to America during the War of 1812. In August 1814, at the battle of Bladensburg, less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Washington, D.C., a special English rocket squad, partially concealed in underbrush, fired rockets against the U.S. militia. The Americans hastily retreated, allowing the English to march directly to the capital, where they Rocketry in Warfare

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burned many of the public buildings. Less than a month later, Congreve rockets that were fired on Fort McHenry in Maryland inspired Francis Scott Key to compose what would become the country’s national anthem.

The stickless Hale rocket Even though Congreve’s work had increased the use of rockets, especially in battle, their accuracy had not improved much over the centuries. The devastating nature of war rockets was due not to their accuracy or power, but simply due to sheer numbers. During a typical battle, an army might fire thousands of rockets at the enemy. All over the world, rocket researchers experimented with ways to improve accuracy. In 1844, English inventor William Hale (1794–1870) greatly improved rocket design. He eliminated the cumbersome wooden guide stick on the Congreve rocket, which merely added weight and did little to help guide the rocket. In its place, he inserted three metal vanes in the exhaust nozzle. The vanes were slightly inclined so the escaping exhaust struck them, causing the rocket to spin along its axis much as a bullet or a football does in flight. This gave the rocket much more stability and greatly improved its accuracy. Because Hale’s rockets lacked a guide stick, they were called stickless or rotary rockets. Hale rockets became part of the American military arsenal during the Mexican War (1846–48), the conflict between the United States and Mexico over land claims in presentday southwestern United States. The U.S. Army’s first battalion of rocketeers—consisting of about one hundred and fifty men armed with about fifty rockets—was used against Mexican forces at the siege of the city of Veracruz in 1847. Later, rockets were used in the capture of the fortress of Chapultepec, which forced the surrender of Mexico City. As soon as the fighting in Mexico was over, the rocketeer battalion was disbanded and the remaining rockets were placed in storage. Hale rockets were used to a limited extent in the American Civil War (1861–62; war in the United States between the Union [North], which was opposed to slavery, and the Confederacy [South], which was in favor of slavery). On July 3, 56


1862, Confederate forces under the command of J. E. B. Stuart (1833–1864) fired rockets at Union soldiers commanded by George B. McClellan (1826–1885) at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia. The Confederates also placed rocket batteries in service in Texas in 1863. Union troops formed the New York Rocket Battalion, but its attempts to use rockets against enemy forces proved highly unsuccessful. The only other documented use of rockets during the war is at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1864. Union troops under Alexander Schimmelfennig used rockets to drive off Confederate picket boats and other vessels in the harbor. The use of rockets in war faded as the nineteenth century progressed. Advancements in cannon designs and artillery pieces produced far more effective weapons than the best rockets. Yet once more in history, rockets were set aside for use merely as entertainment. By the beginning of the next century, though, scientists and visionaries began to look at the rocket not as a weapon of war, but as a means to explore the reaches of space.

For More Information Books Baker, David. Spaceflight and Rocketry: A Chronology. New York: Facts on File, 1996. Fox, Mary Virginia. Rockets. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark Books, 1996. Miller, Ron. The History of Rockets. New York: Franklin Watts, 1999. Winter, Frank H. The First Golden Age of Rocketry: Congreve and Hale Rockets of the Nineteenth Century. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990.

Web Sites “How a Firework Rocket Works.” NASA Astronomical Data Center. http:// adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/adc/education/space_ex/firework.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Newton’s Laws of Motion.” NASA Glenn Learning Technologies Project. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/newton.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Newton’s Third Law of Motion.” Physics Classroom Tutorial, Glenbrook South High School. http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/ Class/newtlaws/u2l4a.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). Rocketry in Warfare

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“Rocketry Through the Ages: A Timeline of Rocket History.” Marshall Space Flight Center. http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/rocketry/index.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Rockets: History and Theory.” White Sands Missile Range. http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/FactSheets/rkhist.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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4 Rocketry in Exploration

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umans have wandered over the planet for nearly the past two million years. In a rapid global expansion, ancient humans migrated from the valleys of eastern Africa to the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, and crossed the Bering Sea land bridge and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Anthropologists (scientists who study the origin, behavior, and development of humans) believe that growing populations, which increased competition for food and space, may have been a factor in this spread. They believe that these ancient humans may have been motivated as well by a basic human impulse: curiosity. The desire to explore the landscape ahead and the sky above has been a part of human nature since before recorded history. Over the last few thousand years, many cultures and civilizations have undertaken major explorations, seeking out new land and adventures. The experiences gained through these journeys often enriched the civilizations, but did little to change their view of and approach to the world. According to historians, in the history of Western civilization (the modern culture of western Europe and North America), there have been three great periods or ages of exploration that have, indeed, shaped this civilization’s worldview. 59

Isaac Newton developed theories of gravitation and motion that dominated science for over 200 years. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

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The first age took place during the Renaissance, that period in Western civilization roughly between 1350 and 1600. It was an era of great artistic achievement, with a rediscovery of the arts, literature, philosophy, and science of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Around the beginning of the fifteenth century and continuing for the next few centuries, seafaring explorers from western Europe circumnavigated the globe, discovering new lands and redrawing maps of the world. The second age overlapped the first age slightly, as sixteenth-century European explorers (and those in the centuries following) began to travel over the newly found lands. On those continents—Africa and North and South America—they were exposed to radically different geographies and cultures. The third age, one that began in the twentieth century and is still ongoing, is the exploration of those regions uninhabited by humans: the planet’s poles, the oceans, and space. The exploration of space is far unlike the others that focus on a particular part of Earth. Space is what lies beyond Earth, and the discoveries made in its exploration have changed, and continue to change, the world’s view of itself.

Daydreams and fantastic voyages The dreams that led to the theories that resulted in the exploration of space find their roots in the seventeenth century. By this time in history, rockets had been used as fireworks and as weapons of war for centuries. French poet and soldier Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (pronounced de BERzher-ak; 1619–1655) imagined a different use for them. His 1656 fantasy novel Histoire comique des états et empires de la lune (Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon) presents an imaginary story about a man who travels to the Moon in a device powered by exploding firecrackers. Although Cyrano’s chief aim of the novel was to poke fun at the politics and politicians of his day, his fanciful tale inspired the space-travel dreams of other writers. Chief among these was French writer Jules Verne (1828– 1905). Although he was a popular literary figure during his lifetime, after his death Verne’s fiction drifted in and out of style. He wrote adventurous tales about soaring along in a balloon (Five Weeks in a Balloon, 1863), traveling underground toward the center of the planet (A Journey to the Center of the Rocketry in Exploration

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Words to Know Escape velocity: The minimum speed that an object, such as a rocket, must have in order to escape completely from the gravitational influence of a planet or a star. Exhaust velocity: The speed at which the exhaust material leaves the nozzle of a rocket engine. Gunpowder: An explosive mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate. Hydrocarbon: A compound that contains only two elements, carbon and hydrogen. Liquid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which both the fuel and the oxidizing agent are in a liquid state.

Mass: The measure of the total amount of matter in an object. Oxidizing agent: A substance that can readily burn or promote the burning of any flammable material. Propellant: The chemical mixture burned to produce thrust in rockets. Solid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which the fuel and the oxidizing agent exist in a solid state. Splashdown: The landing of a manned spacecraft in the ocean. Thrust: The forward force generated by a rocket.

Earth, 1864), and diving into the sea in a submarine (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, 1870). He also wrote about traveling to the Moon in two novels, From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and Around the Moon (1870). While the literary idea of space travel was not new, Verne dealt with it in a scientific manner. In the end, he created works that were astonishingly foretelling. He accurately predicted the location of the rocket launch site (Florida), the speed necessary for exiting Earth’s atmosphere, the use of a bullet-shaped capsule made of aluminum, weightlessness in space, the use of rockets to change orbit, and the splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. What technical errors there are in the novel (men in the spacecraft could never have survived a return to Earth traveling more than 100,000 miles [161,000 kilometers] per hour, for example) do not detract from the excitement and vision of the story. In fact, many original read62


ers believed that a time would soon come when parts of the novel, at least, would come true.

Founder of modern rocket theory One of those readers who believed that space travel could some day become a reality was Russian Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky (sometimes spelled Tsiolkovskiy or Tsiolkovskii; 1857–1935). He was born in the small village of Izhevskoye in the province of Ryazan almost exactly one hundred years before his country placed the world’s first artificial satellite in orbit. During his life, Tsiolkovsky developed the mathematics of rocketry and pioneered a number of ideas crucial to space travel. Included among these was the idea of multistage launch vehicles. Until he was about ten years of age, Tsiolkovsky led a childhood typical for the time. In 1867, however, he contracted scarlet fever, an infection characterized by a sore throat, fever, and a sandpaper-like rash on reddened skin. If left untreated, serious complications may develop from the infection. In Tsiolkovsky’s case, he went deaf. Unable to attend school, he studied on his own and soon developed an interest in science and mathematics. Although the family was poor, Tsiolkovsky’s father found the means to send his son to Moscow in 1873 so he could continue his studies. Despite the fact that he could not enroll formally in any university because of his deafness, Tsiolkovsky attended lectures and studied independently for three years. He then returned home where he continued to teach himself science, build models of all kinds of machines, and carry out original experiments with steam engines, pumps, and fans. At the age of twenty-two, Tsiolkovsky became a mathematics teacher in Kaluga, a city located about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of Moscow. During his free time, he carried on his experiments, though he soon realized that his strength lay not in laboratory work but in theoretical, or hypothetical, work. To that end, he began to write (and to try to publish) scientific papers on matters in which he was interested. In 1881 he wrote a paper titled “The Theory of Gases.” What was extraordinary about the work was that it outlined a theory very similar to one developed two decades Rocketry in Exploration

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earlier by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879). Considered to be the greatest theoretical physicist of the nineteenth century, Maxwell had established the kinetic theory of gases, which explains that heat results from the motion of molecules. Tsiolkovsky had arrived at his theory without having been familiar with Maxwell’s work or with any of the studies Maxwell had used as the basis for his work. Although the Russian Physico-Chemical Society, to which Tsiolkovsky sent his paper, decided that it did not qualify for publication, the society greatly admired his work and offered its support for his future research. Within a few years, Tsiolkovsky’s work earned him a membership in the society. By the mid-1880s, Tsiolkovsky had begun to think about heavier-than-air vehicles or crafts. In one of his first papers on the subject, he completed one of the earliest mathematical studies of the forces operating on the wings and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky developed the mathematics of body of an aircraft. This paper was folrocketry and pioneered a number of ideas crucial to lowed by other studies on the shape of space travel, including the idea of multistage launch aircraft, the design of wings, the use of vehicles. (© Bettmann/Corbis) internal combustion engines, and other important features of heavierthan-air machines. To determine the air friction (force resisting motion) acting upon an airplane traveling at certain speeds, Tsiolkovsky designed the first wind tunnel to be built in Russia. The wind tunnel, put into use in Kaluga in 1897, produced a stream of air that could be forced over aircraft bodies and wings of various size, shape, and design. In spite of these many achievements, Tsiolkovsky is probably best remembered for his accomplishments in the field of astronautics, or space travel. His interest in the subject arose when, as a teenager, he read the novels of Jules Verne. Then, during his three-year stay in Moscow, he began to ex64


Three different early rocket designs created by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. (Marshall Space Flight Center/NASA)

plore the subject in earnest. By the late 1870s, his ideas about spacecraft and space travel dealt with virtually every aspect of the subject. Near the end of that decade, for example, Tsiolkovsky designed an instrument to measure the effects of gravitational acceleration on the human body. Four years later, he outlined the mechanism by which a jet rocket could carry an object into space. In the early 1890s, he wrote about space travel to the Moon, other planets, and beyond. His 1895 essay, “Dreams of the Earth and Sky and the Effects of UniRocketry in Exploration

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versal Gravitation,” first set forth the concept of an artificial Earth satellite.

The rocket formula By 1898, Tsiolkovsky had outlined many of the basic concepts and mathematical formulas of space travel that scientists still use in the present day. His ideas were far more advanced than any other scientist working in the field at that time. In 1898 he worked out the basic formula that determines how rockets perform. The formula describes the fundamental relationship between the mass of a rocket, its velocity (speed) in space, and the exhaust velocity of the propellant, or the chemical mixture burned to produce thrust (the forward force) in rockets. That formula is now known as the rocket formula. Partially because of its highly technical nature, Tsiolkovsky did not try to publish the formula until 1903. A few months before the Wright brothers’ historic manned flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the formula and a few other theories of Tsiolkovsky’s appeared in an article titled “Exploration of the Universe with Reaction Machines” in the monthly Russian journal Nauchnoye Obozreniye (Science Review). Unfortunately for Tsiolkovsky, the journal also contained a political article that Russian authorities deemed revolutionary. They confiscated as many of the journals as they could, preventing Tsiolkovsky’s ideas from reaching other scientists, especially those outside of Russia. In the article, Tsiolkovsky proposed several unique, advanced ideas. One of the most important theories was that only reaction devices would function both within Earth’s atmosphere and in space. Rockets are reaction devices. They work by expelling hot gases at very high velocities (the action) that cause the rocket to move in the opposite direction (the reaction). This principle is based on the third law of motion, as defined by English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1642–1727). The law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Tsiolkovsky correctly theorized that a rocket body moves not because the burning gases push against the air, but because the gases exert pressure against the closed end of the rocket body. Therefore, it can move through the atmosphere, where there is air, and through the near vacuum of space, where there is none. In 66


fact, rockets operate more efficiently in space because there is no air resistance to slow them down. Tsiolkovsky also proposed that the gunpowder-propelled rockets in use at the time were not sufficient to carry a rocket into space. He went on to suggest different combinations of rocket propellants, especially the use of liquid fuels.

Liquid fuel No one before had proposed the idea of liquid-fuel rockets. At the time, all rockets used gunpowder (an explosive mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate) as their fuel. In a solid-fuel rocket, the propellant is a solid mixture of fuel and an oxidizing agent (a substance that can readily burn or promote the burning of any flammable material). In the case of gunpowder-propelled rockets, potassium nitrate is the oxidizing agent that burns charcoal, producing gases for propulsion. Solid-fuel rockets, such as a Fourth of July bottle rocket, have a simple construction with few parts. And they can develop great thrust. However, the drawback is that once the fuel is ignited, it cannot be shut down and will burn completely. Guiding or controlling the rocket is therefore difficult. A liquid-fuel rocket, on the other hand, is more controllable because the liquid fuel and the liquid oxidizing agent are separate. They are combined only at the moment when thrust is needed, and then they may be turned off. Liquid-fuel rockets are more complicated than solid-fuel rockets, but they are more efficient and powerful. One of the propellant combinations that Tsiolkovsky favored was liquid hydrogen (the fuel) and liquid oxygen (the oxidizing agent). When combined, the two produce a particularly high exhaust velocity, or the speed at which the exhaust material leaves the nozzle of a rocket engine. According to Tsiolkovsky’s rocket formula, this factor helps determine the maximum speed a spacecraft of a given mass can reach. However, at the time, scientists lacked the proper ability to handle and care for liquid hydrogen (it is difficult to store because it evaporates quickly). In its place, Tsiolkovsky recommended using a liquid hydrocarbon (compound that contains only two elements, carbon and hydrogen) such as acetylene or petroleum.

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Liquid-fuel rocket

Solid-fuel rocket

Solid explosive compound Alcohol

Liquid oxygen

Spark ignites core which burns from inside outward

Two fuels explode and burn upon contact

Illustration of liquid-fuel rocket and solid-fuel rocket. (The Gale Group)

In addition to the idea of liquid fuel, Tsiolkovsky also realized that the most efficient way to place rockets into space was to arrange them in packets, or “cosmic rocket trains,” as he called them. Today this idea is known as staging. Makers of fireworks had known about the concept of a multistage rocket since the sixteenth century, but Tsiolkovsky was the 68


first to analyze it in depth. In an article published in 1929, he concluded that a series of rocket engines fired one after another was the only feasible way to enable a spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity. Tsiolkovsky did not limit his space-travel ideas to rocket propulsion. He also addressed the difficulties that humans might face in space. To reduce the effects of acceleration on astronauts at takeoff, Tsiolkovsky proposed immersing them in water. He also believed that plants should be carried on board spacecraft to recycle oxygen and provide food for the astronauts. Unfortunately, Tsiolkovsky’s pioneering ideas were not taken seriously by the Russian government or the country’s scientific community. However, in 1917, following the Bolshevik Revolution that overthrew Russia’s czar, the new Communist government took a closer look at his work. In 1921 he was formally recognized for his accomplishments, receiving a lifetime pension from the government that allowed him to retire from teaching and devote himself fully to his studies. Of the more than five hundred articles and papers he wrote during his life, three-quarters were written after this time. Tsiolkovsky became a celebrated figure in the new Soviet Union. Part of the reason was due to his 1920 science-fiction novel Beyond the Planet Earth. The popular book was an attempt to depict what space travel and living in space would be like. In the work, Tsiolkovsky described for the first time a true space station (though he did not call it such), complete with a greenhouse, a laboratory, living quarters, a docking port for spacecraft, and an international crew of six. Although Tsiolkovsky did not live long enough to see humans travel into space, his ideas served as the foundation for the Soviet space program. In 1959 the Soviet unmanned probe Luna 3 took photographs of the far side of the Moon. To honor Tsiolkovsky, Soviet scientists named the largest crater in the photographs after him.

The father of modern rocketry While Tsiolkovsky is regarded as one of the founders of rocket theory, Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882–1945) is regarded as the father of the practical modern rocket. The AmerRocketry in Exploration

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ican physicist and space pioneer not only contributed to spaceflight theory but also engaged in the actual development of rockets. He is credited with launching the world’s first liquidpropellant rocket. He developed and patented a large number of innovations in rocket technology that were later used in the much larger rockets and missiles employed by the Germans during World War II (1939–45; war pitting Germany, Italy, and Japan against England, France, the Soviet Union, the United States, and other allies) and, thereafter, by the missile and space programs of the United States and the Soviet Union. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Goddard grew up a thin and sickly child. Like Tsiolkovsky, Goddard missed much school because of health problems, compensating with selfeducation. Another commonality between the two was an interest in American physicist and space pioneer Robert H. science fiction with its tales of space Goddard is regarded as the father of the practical travel. In addition to the writings of modern rocket. (The Library of Congress) Jules Verne, Goddard was influenced by the works of English writer H. G. Wells (1866–1946), specifically his classic 1898 novel about interplanetary conflict, The War of the Worlds. Goddard later recounted that he had become fascinated with the idea of space travel on an October day in 1899 when, having climbed a cherry tree behind his house to trim it, he stared out into the meadow and began daydreaming about spaceships and the possibility of traveling to Mars. From that point forward, Goddard’s ambition to develop a practical means of achieving spaceflight began to take shape. In 1908 he entered Worcester College in Massachusetts to study physics, then went on to the doctoral program in physics at Clark University, also in Worcester. After earning his doctorate in 1911, he became an honorary fellow in physics at Clark. Goddard would remain at Clark throughout 70


much of his academic career, which allowed him to take leaves of absence to pursue rocket research. He eventually became head of Clark’s physics department and director of the physical laboratories, obtaining the rank of full professor in 1934. While as a young physics graduate student, Goddard worked on rocket development and propulsion theories. By 1914 he had obtained a patent (government grant assuring the inventor exclusive rights) for the design of a two-stage powder rocket, followed by a patent for the design of a rocket that burned a mixture of solid and liquid fuel. These were the first of the eventual 214 patents that Goddard would be granted on the design of various components of rockets. Altogether, they cover the science of rocketry so thoroughly that it is impossible to design or to build a rocket in the present day without relying in some way on Goddard’s original designs and inventions. By 1916 Goddard believed that he had developed a means of propelling meteorological recording devices to heights previously unattainable, 100 to 200 miles (161 to 322 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. He applied for and was granted $5,000 by the Smithsonian Institution to conduct high-altitude tests. However, before he could complete the tests, the United States entered World War I (1914–18; war in which Great Britain, France, the United States, and their allies defeated Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies). Goddard and a number of other technicians temporarily moved to California to work for the U.S. Army developing rockets for use as weapons. One of their designs became the forerunner of the bazooka, a shoulder-mounted weapon that launches rockets. After the war, Goddard returned to his position at Clark. In 1919 he published the results of his solid-propellant rocket research in a report titled A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. In the document, which was full of equations and scientific language, Goddard not only explained the experiments he had conducted but laid the foundation for much of the early theory of modern rocketry. He argued that rockets could be used to explore Earth’s upper atmosphere. And he suggested that with a velocity of almost 7 miles (11 kilometers) per second, an object could escape the planet’s gravity. This figure has since become known as Earth’s escape velocity. Rocketry in Exploration

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Ridiculed by the press The report probably would have attracted little attention except for its final section, where Goddard suggested the possibility of using a rocket to send a small quantity of flash powder to the dark side of the Moon. Once ignited there, it could be viewed from Earth through telescopes, thereby proving that extreme altitude had been reached. Popular newspapers immediately singled out this one item about a flight to the Moon, ignoring the rest of Goddard’s scientific findings. A great majority of those who believed that spaceflight was either impractical or impossible ridiculed Goddard. The New York Times was especially harsh in its view of Goddard, referring to him as a dreamer who lacked scientific credentials. Such criticism forced Goddard, already a shy and solitary man, to become even more withdrawn and secretive. Despite this public humiliation, Goddard carried on his work in rocket development in his native state of Massachusetts for the next decade. Frustrated at the problems he encountered in using solid propellants, he came to the conclusion in 1921 that liquid propellants (specifically, gasoline and liquid oxygen) would make a more effective rocket fuel. Five years later, on March 16, 1926, he launched the world’s first liquid-propellant rocket from a hill in Auburn, Massachusetts. The small rocket only rose to an altitude of about 40 feet (12 meters) and reached a speed of about 60 miles (96 kilometers) per hour before its fuel was exhausted. Two-and-one-half seconds after takeoff, the rocket landed 184 feet (56 meters) from where it had been launched. Although the rocket failed to reach the altitude for which Goddard had hoped, it represented a significant beginning to the age of modern rocketry. Goddard’s work eventually attracted the attention of American aviator Charles A. Lindbergh (1902–1974), who arranged for a $50,000 grant for Goddard from the Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. Massachusetts was hardly an ideal location for launching noisy, fire-spewing rockets, so in 1930 Goddard obtained a large tract of land near Roswell, New Mexico, and set up the world’s first professional rocket test site. With his wife and some technical assistants, Goddard conducted a decade-long program of rocket experiments. 72


In the process, Goddard invented and patented a large number of innovations. He figured out simple and logical ways to cool the rocket engine: A cooling jacket was put around the combustion chamber, and the fuel was pumped through this before it was ignited. He also developed a device to keep a rocket steady in flight with guidance vanes, electrically controlled by a gyroscope. (A gyroscope is an instrument consisting of a frame supporting a disk or wheel that spins rapidly about an axis. Once a gyroscope is set spinning, no amount of tilting or turning will change the direction in which it is pointing.) Goddard also developed parachutes for the rockets so they can be recovered more easily, devised a number of instruments to measure a rocket’s performance, and searched for ways to make a more lightweight, streamlined rocket casing. He summarized all of these results and advances in 1936 in another classic study, LiquidPropellant Rocket Development. Goddard never succeeded, however, in putting all of these components together to create a rocket capable of reaching anything close to the height he had originally expected. The greatest altitude his rockets reached was an estimated 9,000 feet (2,743 meters) on March 26, 1937. That same year, Goddard learned that the Germans were working on secret military rockets. He had tried to convince the U.S. military to fund further research in rocketry, but they had refused, dismissing the idea as impractical and expensive. Toward the end of World War II, Germany in fact unleashed such rockets on Europe. German engineers who developed those rockets later pointed to Goddard as the source of their inspiration. Goddard stayed at his New Mexico testing center until the United States entered the war in 1941. He then relocated to the Naval Engineering Experimental Station at Annapolis, Maryland, where he worked on the development of a jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) device using liquid propellants to help shorten the launch distance required by heavy aircraft. Goddard died in 1945, still dreaming about the prospects of rocket-propelled spaceflight. He had been extremely disappointed that the U.S. government had never truly supported or recognized his work to any great degree. In part, this was due to Goddard’s desire to keep secret many of the technical details about his accomplishments. Rocketry in Exploration

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In 1959 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) named one of its major facilities the Goddard Space Flight Center in his honor. The following year, the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA awarded his widow and the Guggenheim Foundation one million dollars for the use of his patents.

One more founding father Along with Tsiolkovsky and Goddard, German physicist Hermann Oberth (1894–1989) is considered one of the founding fathers of modern rocketry and aeronautics. Like Tsiolkovsky, he was a theorist. Like Goddard, he was a builder and launcher of rockets. While his practical experiments in rocketry were few, he helped popularize the concept of spaceflight, not as science fiction but as reality. He is also credited with encouraging many talented scientists to enter the field of rocketry. Oberth was born in Hermannstadt, Transylvania (presentday Sibiu, Romania), then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since he grew up in the German-speaking part of Transylvania and became a German citizen later in life, Oberth is traditionally considered German. Much like Tsiolkovsky and Goddard, science-fiction novels fascinated Oberth. For him, two novels by Jules Verne— From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon—ignited his interest in space travel, something that would stay with him for the rest of this life. By the age of fourteen, he had already envisioned a rocket that could propel itself through space by expelling exhaust gases created by the burning of liquid fuel. Raised in an academic environment, Oberth enrolled in the University of Munich in 1912 to study medicine. His studies were interrupted by World War I, during which he served in a medical unit. After being wounded and spending two years in a hospital, Oberth returned to the university, but decided against studying medicine. Instead, obsessed with spaceflight, he switched to the study of physics. Over the next few years, he attended four different universities in Germany and Romania, finally finishing his coursework at the University of Heidelberg. In 1922 his doctoral dissertation, in which he described a liquid-propellant rocket, was rejected by the university for being too unconventional. 74


German physicist Hermann Oberth helped popularize the concept of spaceflight, not as science fiction but reality, by simplifying the science behind it. (AP/Wide World Photos)

However, Oberth published the work at his own expense the following year as a ninety-two-page pamphlet titled Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (The Rocket into Interplanetary Space). In the work, Oberth explained the mathematical theory of rocketry, speculated on the effects of spaceflight on the human body, and theorized on the possibility of placing satellites in space. A much-expanded version of the work was published in 1929 as Ways to Spaceflight. Written in a simplified language for a general audience, it received international acclaim and inspired many subsequent spaceflight pioneers. Rocketry in Exploration

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Work parallels that of Goddard In 1917 Oberth had proposed to the German War Department the development of liquid-fuel, long-range bombardment missiles (missiles that could be fired at and hit enemy targets located a distance away). The idea, which could have placed Oberth years ahead of Goddard in the launching of a liquid-fuel rocket, was rejected by the German military. Several years later, Oberth learned of the existence of Goddard’s A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes, but was unable to locate a copy in Germany. In 1922 Oberth had even written to Goddard to suggest that the development of liquid-fuel rockets should be an international endeavor. When Oberth published his 1923 work, he included a disclaimer stating that any similarities between his theories and those of Goddard’s were purely coincidental. The theories contained in Oberth’s work were in fact similar to those of Goddard, but he claimed to have engaged in extensive research on his own. He never admitted borrowing any of his ideas from Goddard. Whether or not this was true, Oberth’s work did much to stimulate interest in rocketry throughout Germany and Europe. A number of new rocket clubs sprang up all over Germany as rocket enthusiasts tried to translate Oberth’s theories into practical space vehicles. Oberth himself joined Verein für Raumschiffahrt (Society for Spaceship Travel) and became its president. He also became a mentor for many of the society’s young members, encouraging their efforts in rocketry. Among those young enthusiasts was Wernher von Braun (1912–1977), who would go on to play a key role in developing the technology to put a man on the Moon. Unlike the secretive Goddard, Oberth made every practical effort to publicize his work, which caught the attention of silent filmmaker Fritz Lang (1890–1976). After reading Oberth’s book in 1929, Lang decided to make a film about space travel titled Die Frau Im Mond (The Woman in the Moon). He hired Oberth to be the main technical advisor on the film and to construct a rocket that would be launched in a publicity stunt for the movie. Aided by von Braun, Oberth was able to construct and test a small rocket engine. Two days before the premiere of the film, it became apparent that the rocket would not be ready in time, so the project was abandoned. Despite 76


Wernher von Braun was the most famous rocket engineer of his time and a well-known promoter of spaceflight. (The Library of Congress)

this setback, the film went on to great success. Shortly afterward, Oberth returned to teaching in Transylvania. Throughout the 1930s, Oberth continued to teach and conduct liquid-fuel rocket experiments. His writings on topics such as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), extraterrestrial beings, and supernatural phenomena proved too radical for other scientists working in rocketry centers in Germany, and Oberth was essentially isolated. During World War II, he tried to reclaim his place at the forefront of rocket design and techRocketry in Exploration

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nology, but his efforts were thwarted. Von Braun hired Oberth to work on developing the V-2 rocket, but Oberth was never given an important position in the program. For the remainder of the war, he worked on the development of a solid-fuel, anti-aircraft rocket. In 1955 von Braun invited Oberth to work with him once again, this time on the U.S. Army’s ballistic missile project at the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama. There, Oberth worked on a number of rocket components. When it became clear that he would lose his German pension if he stayed in the United States too long (he had become a naturalized, or full, German citizen in 1941), Oberth returned to Germany in 1958 where he continued to write books on rocketry and space travel.

The rocket engineer of his time Perhaps Oberth’s greatest contribution to the history of spaceflight was his role as mentor and source of inspiration to Wernher von Braun, who would go on to become the most famous rocket engineer of his time and a well-known promoter of spaceflight. Teams under his direction designed the V-2 and Redstone missiles, as well as the Jupiter C, Juno, and Saturn launch vehicles that carried most of the early U.S. satellites and spacecraft beyond Earth’s atmosphere and ultimately to the Moon. The second of three sons born to a German baron, Magnus Alexander Maximilian von Braun, the future rocket engineer grew up in the east German town of Wirsitz (present-day Wyrzysk, Poland). Von Braun’s mother had a keen interest in biology and astronomy, and she helped inspire her son’s interest in spaceflight by exposing him to the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells and by giving him a telescope when he was a teenager. Initially a poor student, especially in mathematics, von Braun’s focus in life changed when he read Oberth’s classic 1923 work. It prompted the eleven-year-old von Braun to master the calculus and trigonometry he needed to understand the physics of rocketry. After earning a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and aircraft construction in 1932 from the Berlin-Charlottenburg Institute of Technology, 78


he went on to earn a doctorate in physics from the University of Berlin in 1934. While completing his studies, von Braun found time to become involved with Oberth and the Society for Spaceship Travel, conducting experiments on small, liquidfuel rockets. After the 1929 New York stock market crash, the world economic situation worsened. (The crash came about as the prices of stocks began to fall and people began to sell whatever stocks they owned. The more they sold, the more the prices fell. People’s fortunes, tied up in the stock market, were wiped out. Businesses and factories soon closed, and workers were laid off.) By the early 1930s, joblessness was on the rise in Germany, and many Germans began to listen to the powerful nationalistic message of Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) and his National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or the Nazi Party for short. In 1933 Hitler was named chancellor (head minister) of Germany, and he and the Nazis quickly strengthened their power by outlawing all other political parties.

The beginnings of the V-2 The Nazis also banned private research in rocket technology, halting the work of von Braun and his fellow rocket enthusiasts. Von Braun went to work for the German army at Kummersdorf near Berlin, where he conducted research leading to the development of rockets as military weapons. By 1935, his team at Kummersdorf, which soon grew to eighty people, had great success firing liquid-fuel engines. The following year, the group completed the preliminary design for the A-4, the forerunner of all later rockets and ballistic missiles. Perfecting the A-4’s fuel-injection system, mastering its aerodynamic (streamlined) properties, and developing its guidance system proved difficult for von Braun and his colleagues. The first successful launch of the A-4 did not take place until October 1942, after the team had moved its operations to Peenemünde, a town on the Baltic coast where the German military had constructed new facilities. Once it proved worthy, thousands of the renamed V-2 (Vengeance Weapon 2) rockets were ordered by the German military to be built by concentration camp prisoners. (Concentration camps were large, Nazi-run prisons where inmates were Rocketry in Exploration

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V-2: Rocket of Terror Germany’s V-2 rocket was an almost 50foot-long (15-meter-long) rocket powered by liquid fuel. Its warhead was packed with 2,000 pounds (908 kilograms) of explosives. The combined weight of the missile, the warhead, and the fuel was more than 27,000 pounds (12,258 kilograms). The rocket, which could fly at a maximum altitude of 55 miles (88 kilometers), had a range of 150 to 225 miles (241 to 362 kilometers). With a maximum speed greater than 3,000 miles (4,827 kilometers) per hour, more than four times the speed of sound, the V2 could not be heard by people on the ground before it landed. Military use of the V-2 took place on September 8, 1944, when it was first fired on Paris, France, and London, England. The rocket could be launched in any direction from a mobile platform and required only minor preparations at the firing site. Because development of the rocket had been rushed, however, many V-2s were defective. Up to 25 percent crashed immediately after launch. More than half of the rest disintegrated as they came back down to Earth.

German V-2 rocket tears through the clouds, 1947. (AP/Wide World Photos)

About 4,300 V-2s were launched before the end of the war, about one-third of them at Antwerp, Belgium. The rockets killed a total of about 15,000 people and injured perhaps 50,000 more. Because of their lack of accuracy, however, they had very limited military value. But they were certainly very successful in the terrorizing of civilians.

starved, abused, and forced to perform hard labor.) Although their accuracy proved limited, the rockets caused extensive damage to European targets and killed thousands of people. In the spring of 1944, von Braun was arrested by the Gestapo (Hitler’s secret police force) and accused of having a greater interest in developing the V-2 for space travel than for use as a weapon. He was briefly imprisoned in Stettin. In 1945, when it became obvious to von Braun that Germany was on 80


the verge of defeat in World War II, he began to make plans for the future. He organized the move of hundreds of his fellow rocket scientists from Peenemünde to Bavaria so they could surrender to American military forces. Subsequently, as part of a military operation called Project Paperclip, von Braun and more than one hundred other scientists went to Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas. They worked on rocket development for the U.S. Army, using captured V-2 rockets for high-altitude research at the nearby White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico. In 1950, von Braun and his team transferred to the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama, to begin work on the development of the Redstone medium-range ballistic missile. Put into use in 1958, the 70-foot-tall (21-meter-tall) Redstone was essentially an offshoot of the V-2, but featured several modifications, including an improved guidance system. It would eventually serve as the launch vehicle for the first U.S. suborbital (involving less than one orbit) flights in 1961. While work on the Redstone continued, von Braun was anxious to develop a rocket that could launch a satellite into orbit. To that end, he and the other scientists in Huntsville designed the Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missile. While the Redstone and the V-2 used liquid oxygen and an alcohol-water mixture as propellants, the Jupiter used liquid oxygen and kerosene. The Jupiter C, a modification of the original design, was a three-stage rocket capable of flying to a height of 680 miles (1,095 kilometers) and covering a distance of 3,300 miles (5,310 kilometers). In its third launch on August 8, 1957, the Jupiter C carried a nose cone (the front end of the vehicle), which became the first man-made object to be recovered from outer space. The following January, the Juno 1 (a modified Jupiter C) was used to launch America’s first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit. The success of that launch was tempered, however, by the fact that it came three months after the Soviet Union had launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to be placed into orbit around Earth.

To NASA and the Moon In 1960, control over von Braun and his entire rocketdevelopment team was transferred from the U.S. Army to the

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The Jupiter C was a three-stage rocket capable of flying to a height of 680 miles. In 1957 it carried a nose cone, which became the first manmade object to be recovered from outer space. (AP/Wide World Photos)

newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Von Braun was appointed director of NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, a position he held until February 1970. The first order he and his team received was to build the powerful Saturn family of rockets that would carry American astronauts into orbit around the Moon and land them safely on its surface. The success of this project would become von Braun’s greatest claim to fame. 82


The Saturn I and Ib were developmental rockets leading to the massive Saturn V that actually launched the astronauts of the Apollo program, beginning in 1968. The Saturn family of rockets was the first that did not originate from a military missile. The most powerful version, the Saturn V, was propelled by liquid oxygen and kerosene in its lower stage, and liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in its two upper stages. It measured 363 feet (111 meters) in height, 60 feet (18 meters) above the level of the Statue of Liberty. The first-stage portion of the rocket was the largest aluminum cylinder ever produced; its valves were as large as barrels and its fuel pumps larger than refrigerators. In addition to being an engineer, scientist, and project manager, von Braun played an important role as an advocate for spaceflight. He published numerous books and magazine articles, served as a consultant for television programs and films, and testified before the U.S. Congress. He was more than influential in spurring American efforts to conquer the frontier of space. In March 1970, NASA asked von Braun to move to Washington, D.C., to head its strategic planning office. Although he helped with the early stages of the space shuttle program, he felt that the U.S. government was no longer fully committed to space exploration. As a result, von Braun resigned from the agency on July 1, 1972.

For More Information Books Clary, David A. Rocket Man: Robert H. Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age. New York: Hyperion Press, 2003. Maurer, Richard. Rocket! How a Toy Launched the Space Age. New York: Knopf, 1995. Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin. Beyond the Planet Earth. Translated by Kenneth Syers. New York: Pergamon Press, 1960. Walters, Helen B. Hermann Oberth: Father of Space Travel. Introduction by Hermann Oberth. New York: Macmillan, 1962. Ward, Bob. Mr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2004. Rocketry in Exploration

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Web Sites “Biographical Sketch of Dr. Wernher Von Braun.” Marshall Space Flight Center. http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). Herman Oberth Raumfahrt Museum. http://www.oberth-museum.org/index _e.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “The Life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky.” Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics. http://www. informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “The Robert Hutchings Goddard Home Page.” Clark University. http:// www.clarku.edu/offices/library/archives/Goddard.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Tsiolkovsky.” Russian Space Web. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/ tsiolkovsky.html (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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5 Cold War

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s the mid-twentieth century unfolded, the desire to escape Earth’s atmosphere to explore space beyond reached a new height. This desire was initially stimulated by the lure of adventure and discovery. To know the unknown has been the strong force behind human exploration and endeavor. Over countless centuries, it has led humans to navigate the planet, mapping and understanding the land. And while discoveries still awaited humans on Earth, they began to look above to the stars and the other planets. Dreams of spaceflight were worked into theories that were placed into practice. Fantasy became a genuine possibility, and rockets were built. The first artificial satellite to orbit Earth was placed in its position in space in 1957. (An artificial satellite is a man-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite, such as the Moon.) From that point on, space became not an open frontier but a battleground, of sorts. The ancient motivating factors of adventure and discovery had been surpassed by a much stronger one: fear. The world in the mid-twentieth century was different than it had ever been 85

British prime minister Winston Churchill, left; U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, center; and Soviet Union marshal Joseph Stalin during the Yalta Conference. (The Library of Congress)

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before. World War II (1939–45; war in which Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the United States, and their allied forces defeated Germany, Italy, and Japan), the largest conflict the world had seen to date, had come to an end in the blinding flash of an atomic bomb. Yet, the end of this war did not signal the end of hostilities. A new war began, one that was fought both directly and indirectly. It was a war that influenced virtually every significant event or development in world affairs: political, military, economic, and cultural. It was a war about global domination and global destruction. It was called the Cold War (1945–91), and more than anything else, it started the race into space. By the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union had risen to the status of superpowers. (The Soviet Union, technically the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was a country made up of fifteen republics, the largest of which was Russia. In 1991 it became fifteen independent states.) These two extremely powerful nations dominated world politics. Their differing ideologies, or set of doctrines or beliefs, brought about a period of mutual fear and distrust that was termed the Cold War. The term comes from the title of a 1947 book by influential American essayist and editor Walter Lippmann (1889– 1974). Lippmann supposedly heard the term uttered by a presidential advisor during a congressional debate that same year. Unlike standard wars, the Cold War did not begin on a precise date. Nor was it a shooting war, at least not directly between the two superpowers. Consequently, historians debate when the Cold War began. It is agreed that various political events between 1945 and 1947 were crucial to the rise of the Cold War. The European powers at the end of World War II—France, Germany, Great Britain—had collapsed. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Soviet empires were thriving. The two country’s foreign policies, domestic priorities, economic decisions, and military strategies were all formulated in response to the war. It created an atmosphere of hostility and fear that would last for almost half a century.

The Bolsheviks and a revolution For the first true sign of hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union, historians rightfully look back to 1917. Cold War

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Words to Know Allies: Alliances of countries in military opposition to another group of nations. In World War II, the Allied powers included Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Atomic bomb: An explosive device whose violent explosive power is due to the sudden release of energy resulting from the splitting of nuclei of a heavy chemical element (plutonium or uranium), a process called fission. Big Three: The trio of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and British prime minister Winston Churchill; also refers to the countries of the United

States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. Bolshevik: A member of the revolutionary political party of Russian workers and peasants that became the Communist Party after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Capitalism: An economic system in which property and businesses are privately owned. Prices, production, and distribution of goods are determined by competition in a market relatively free of government intervention. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the democratic, capitalist

In November of that year, members of a rising political party known as the Bolsheviks (“those of the majority”) gained control of Russia through what historians now call the Russian Revolution. Prior to this, Russia had been ruled since the mid-sixteenth century by absolute monarchs known as czars (or tsars, the Russian form of the old Roman title of “Caesar”). Many czars had been ruthless, ruling with unlimited power. The last czar, Nicholas II (1868–1918), was an ineffective ruler who saw conditions in his country deteriorate. Major food shortages and other economic crises had resulted from Russia’s participation in World War I (1914–18; war in which Great Britain, France, the United States, and their allies defeated Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies). Tired of fighting and with little food to eat, Russians grew more and more unhappy with their government. Workers went on strike and even rioted for 88


United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats.

Hydrogen bomb: A bomb more powerful than the atomic bomb that derives its explosive energy from a nuclear fusion reaction.

Communism: A system of government in which the nation’s leaders are selected by a single political party that controls almost all aspects of society. Private ownership of property is eliminated and government directs all economic production. The goods produced and accumulated wealth are, in theory, shared relatively equally by all. All religious practices are banned.

Red Scare: A great fear among U.S. citizens in the late 1940s and early 1950s that communist influences were infiltrating U.S. society and government and could eventually lead to overthrow of the American democratic system.

Democracy: A system of government that allows multiple political parties. Members of the parties are elected to various government offices by popular vote of the people.

Yalta Conference: A 1944 meeting between Allied leaders Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt in anticipation of an Allied victory in Europe over the Nazis. The leaders discussed how to manage lands conquered by Germany, and Roosevelt and Churchill urged Stalin to enter the Soviet Union in the war against Japan.

more food. The military, also hungry, refused to shoot the workers when ordered to do so. The majority of Russians sought change, and so they supported the Bolsheviks in their attempt to overthrow the czar. The Bolsheviks supported the communist beliefs of Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir I. Lenin (1870–1924), who based his ideas on the economic and social theories of German political philosopher Karl Marx (1818–1883). Marx stressed that a free-enterprise capitalist economic system, characterized by private or corporate ownership of business without much government interference, such as that seen in the United States, was unstable because it produces wide gaps in wealth between industry owners and workers. He argued that this system would inevitably lead to worker uprisings and revolution. Marx believed that social classes and their accompanying problems would be eliminated if a society adopted a Cold War

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system in which workers owned industry and other means of production and shared equally in the wealth. In a communist government, such as one sought by Lenin and his followers, a single party controls nearly all aspects of society. Top members of the party select government leaders from among their own ranks. Under the communist system, the government directs all economic production. Private ownership of property and businesses is not allowed. Goods produced and all accumulated wealth are, in theory, shared relatively equally by all members of the society. Religious practices are not tolerated. In contrast, the U.S. system of government is democratic. In a democracy, citizens elect their government leaders to represent them. Multiple political parties represent differing political views. The United States operates under a capitalist economic system. This means that prices, production, Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir I. Lenin. Lenin and distribution of goods are deterheld the highest post in the Soviet government until his death in 1924, when Joseph Stalin assumed power. mined by competition in a market relatively free of government interference. Property and businesses are privately owned. Freedoms of speech, press, and religion are guaranteed.

Unfriendly relations Fearful of the rise of the Bolsheviks, the U.S. government under President Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) sent troops to Russia in 1918 in an attempt to restore the old government and order. That attempt was unsuccessful. The Bolsheviks (who changed their name to the Communist Party) were now in control. As leader of the Communists, Lenin immediately sought to end the war with Germany, and in March 1918, Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Although this unfair 90


treaty gave huge sections of Russia to Germany, Lenin convinced his people that it was necessary to end the war. Following this, Lenin’s government seized privately owned lands and gave them to the country’s peasants. It also gave workers control over factories. And to silence any political opposition, his government formed a secret police force. This was not enough to stop a civil war. Beginning in 1918, anticommunists (called “Whites”) formed armies to fight the communists (called “Reds”). Few lives had been lost in the November revolution, but thousands died in the civil war. Both sides committed acts of brutality, and the Russian land was devastated. But the Red Army, led by Lenin’s assistant Leon Trotsky (1879–1940), proved too much for the Whites, and by 1921 the civil war was over. The following year, the communists changed the name of the country to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), establishing the world’s first communist state.

Important Cold-War Figures Winston Churchill (1874–1965): British prime minister, 1940–45, 1951–55. Adolf Hitler (1889–1945): Nazi Party president, 1921–45; German leader, 1933–45. Vladimir I. Lenin (1870–1924): Leader of Russian Revolution, 1917; head of Soviet government, 1918–24; founder of Communist Party, 1919. Joseph R. McCarthy (1908–1957): U.S. senator, 1947–58. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945): U.S. president, 1933–45. Joseph Stalin (1879–1953): Soviet leader, 1924–53. Harry S. Truman (1884–1972): U.S. president, 1945–53.

Still, the United States refused to recognize the new government as the official government of the Soviet (formerly Russian) people. President Wilson thought that the Communist rule would not last long and that the Soviet people would not tolerate the loss of private property and individual freedoms. As Communist leaders worked to reshape their country’s economy, the United States began a waiting game, hoping that these leaders would fail. The unfriendly relations between the two countries would continue for the next twenty years, until an alliance during World War II would briefly bring them together. During the 1920s and 1930s, neither the capitalist United States nor the Communist Soviet Union was a world military power. Both countries isolated themselves from the political Cold War

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events in Europe and in other regions of the world. The United States wanted to avoid involvement in another European war, especially after the bitter conflict of World War I. The Atlantic Ocean seemed to offer a safe barrier against any foreign conflicts.

Fearful of the rise of the Bolsheviks, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson sent troops to Russia in 1918 in an attempt to restore the old government and order. That attempt was unsuccessful, and the Bolsheviks took control. (The Library of Congress)

Unfortunately, the newly created Soviet Union had no geographic buffer to protect it from land invasions. Historically, most military invasions of Russia had come from the west. Therefore, long before the Communist takeover, Russian leaders had traditionally sought new western territories to protect their country from future threats. Joseph Stalin (1879–1953), a Bolshevik who became head of the Soviet Union in 1924, wanted to avoid interaction with the capitalist governments in bordering Europe. Seeking security and eager to spread the communist philosophy, Stalin sought to expand Soviet influence in neighboring countries.

Various foreign leaders, however, criticized the Communists, which merely increased Soviet insecurities. The Soviets feared external foreign invasion and an internal West-supported revolution to take back the government from the Communists. During the 1920s, other countries viewed the Soviets’ Communist influence as a threat to international stability and routinely excluded Soviet leaders from international meetings and pacts. In November 1933, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) finally established formal diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. His decision to do so was spurred by economic needs that arose during the Great Depression (1929– 41), the worst financial crisis in American history. Despite this recognition, America remained quite hostile to the idea of Communism because Stalin’s suppression of (not allowing) 92


political, economic, and religious freedoms under the Communist regime offended fundamental American ideals.

Uneasy alliance The relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was further complicated in the 1930s by the rise to power of German dictator Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) and his Nazi Party. Seeking to gain more territory for Germany, Hitler began a military campaign to do so. As conditions in Europe worsened, Roosevelt tried to move the United States away from the isolated, neutral position it had maintained since the end of World War I. He wanted the United States to help Great Britain and other European countries resist Germany’s expansion. Stalin, on the other hand, wanted the Soviet Union to remain neutral, or impartial. To that end, he signed the NaziSoviet Non-Aggression Pact with Germany in August 1939. The agreement gave the Soviet Union control of eastern Poland, Moldavia, and the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Stalin hoped that this extra territory would provide security from future attacks while the capitalist countries fought among themselves. The following month, Germany invaded Poland, officially starting World War II (1939–45). The pact the Soviets signed with the Germans gave them less than two years of security: In June 1941, Germany violated the pact by launching a massive offensive against the Soviets. More than three million German troops pushed into the Soviet Union. By October, the German forces had reached the outskirts of Moscow, the Soviet capital. Two months later, the United States was drawn into the war when Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was an effort to cripple the U.S. Pacific fleet of ships and prevent U.S. intervention in Japan’s own expansion efforts. Three days later, Germany, an ally to Japan, also declared war on the United States. Finding themselves facing the same threat and recognizing that they needed to work together to defeat their common enemy, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain formed the Grand Alliance, referring to themselves as Cold War

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Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British prime minister Winston Churchill, at a friendly meeting in Tehran, Iran, in 1943. (AP/Wide World Photos)

the Allies. However, this alliance was not a true, well-formed partnership. Even under these shared circumstances, the Americans and the Soviets did not fully trust each other.

Tehran and Yalta and the Big Three The leaders of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain, who came to be known as the Big Three, had begun meeting during the war to design a postwar world. Roosevelt, Stalin, and British prime minister Winston Churchill (1874–1965) held friendly meetings, first in Tehran, Iran, in 1943, and then, in February 1945, in Yalta, a town on the Black Sea in the Ukrainian region of the Soviet Union. During this time, President Roosevelt tried hard to overlook differences with Stalin. Furthermore, in early discussions 94


Roosevelt had privately told Stalin that the Soviets could control Eastern Europe under their Communist government. Churchill was less willing to give up territory to the Soviet Union, particularly Poland. However, Stalin considered Poland crucial for protecting Moscow. He wanted to maintain the border established in his 1939 nonaggression agreement with Germany. Churchill relented at the Tehran meetings in exchange for British control over Greece. At the Yalta Conference, the Big Three discussed critical issues such as the Soviet entry into the war against Japan, the future of Eastern European governments, voting arrangements at the newly formed United Nations (UN; an international organization that was created to preserve world peace and security and was composed of most of the nations of the world), and a postwar government for Germany. With the outcome of the war with Japan in the western Pacific still uncertain at that time, the United States believed that it needed help from the Soviets. Therefore, Roosevelt was willing to overlook the growing Soviet influences in Eastern Europe, at least temporarily, if the Soviets would promise to attack Japan. To formalize their plan for postwar Europe, the three leaders signed the Declaration on Liberated Europe. Under this agreement, the Soviet Union would retain control of the eastern region of Poland. Poland’s western boundary was redrawn to include part of Germany; this change would displace the German population residing there. The agreement also stated that countries freed from German control would be allowed to hold free elections to establish their new governments. Nevertheless, many in the United States saw the Yalta agreements as a form of giving in. They felt that Roosevelt and Churchill had simply handed Eastern Europe to Stalin and his Communist influence. The delicate relationship between the three countries was threatened by the sudden death of Roosevelt from a stroke on April 12, 1945. Vice President Harry Truman (1884–1972) assumed the office of the U.S. presidency. Whereas Roosevelt had seemed to be trying to develop a friendly relationship with Stalin, the more blunt Truman would be harsher and more hostile in his dealings with the Soviet leader, who could be testy and ruthless in return. To the Soviets, Truman would become a threatening figure. He was also much less experienced in foreign affairs than Roosevelt and relied heavily on Cold War

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The world’s first successful detonation of an atomic bomb had occurred in 1945 at a test site in New Mexico. Less than a month later, the first atomic bomb was actually used in war. (National Archives and Records Administration)

his strongly anticommunist advisers. As a result, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of actions played a significant role in U.S.–Soviet relations from this time on. Despite their mistrust and political differences, the Allies prevailed on the battlefield, defeating Germany by the spring of 1945. When the war in Europe ended, U.S., Soviet, and British leaders met in Potsdam, Germany, near Berlin, in July 1945. Since the Big Three meeting in Yalta five months earlier, some changes had taken place. Perhaps the most important among these was that just before the start of the conference, the United States had successfully conducted its first atomic bomb test in secret in a remote New Mexico desert. 96


At the Potsdam Conference, Truman casually informed Stalin about the new weapon after a conference session. Stalin accepted the news so calmly that Truman believed that Stalin did not fully understand what he had been told. However, Stalin’s spies had already informed him of the U.S. effort to build an atomic bomb. After hearing Truman’s announcement, Stalin sent orders to immediately step up Soviet efforts to build an atomic bomb.

The Manhattan Project During the 1930s, scientists in both the United States and Germany had greatly expanded knowledge in the field of nuclear physics, the study of the structure and reactions of an atom. Late in 1938, nuclear physicists in Germany discovered nuclear fission. (Fission is the splitting of the nucleus of an atom; when the nucleus is split, a substantial amount of energy is released.) Aware of this discovery, German physicists who had left Germany to live and work in the United States because of Hitler and his racist politics feared the Germans could and would build powerful atomic bombs. In response, President Roosevelt established the Uranium Committee in 1939 as the first step toward the organized development of an atomic bomb in the United States. The Manhattan Project, the American program to develop the atomic bomb, began during 1942. The goal of the project was to build an atomic weapon before scientists in Germany or Japan did. Early in the morning of July 16, 1945, the world’s first successful detonation of an atomic bomb took place. The bomb, referred to by scientists as “the gadget” or “the thing,” exploded with the force of 21,000 tons of dynamite. A flash of light illuminated the landscape of the test site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, in an area called Jornada del Muerto (commonly translated as “Journey of the Dead”). The code name for the test was “Trinity.” Less than a month after that test in a New Mexico desert, the first atomic bomb was actually used in war. It was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, destroying the city, killing more than 80,000 people, and seriously injuring at least 100,000 more. Many of the injured would later die of burns and radiation exposure. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, with similar results. For all the horror Cold War

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ICBMs The science of rocketry became a military priority during World War II (1939–45). Some early rockets were used as terrorist weapons late in the war. After the war ended, scientists working in the German rocketry program were recruited by both the United States and the Soviet Union. From the late 1940s onward, both countries engaged in a frantic race to be the first to develop rockets capable of delivering atomic weaponry from domestic launch pads to strategic enemy sites. Both sides were quick to develop shortrange rockets. Although these were useful as tactical weapons on battlefields, they were not useful for attacking an enemy half the globe away. To do so, the Soviets were the first to produce the ICBM, or intercontinental ballistic missile. What aided the new concept of ICBMs was the old concept of staging, or developing a grouping of rocket engines that are fired successively. Initially, rockets require massive fuel supplies and engines in order to achieve liftoff. Once in flight, however, they require much less fuel and motor capability. Without staging, the fuel tanks and engines required for liftoff are simply added deadweight that limits the rocket’s range. Staging eliminates the deadweight. At liftoff,

A modified Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile. (© Reuters NewMedia Inc./Corbis)

all the heavy fuel and engine parts are attached to the rocket. Once liftoff is completed, these are jettisoned, or ejected. Another stage might have some fuel and motor capabilities for steering and speed adjustment. When the warhead is on course, directed at the target, this stage may also be discarded. What is left is a rapidly moving warhead, assisted in its descent only by gravity. This same technology eventually led to unmanned and manned rockets sent into space for peaceful purposes.

they caused, the bombs did achieve their objective. The Japanese leaders appealed for peace less than a week after the Nagasaki event. (Critics, however, charge that the end of the war was in sight and that the Japanese would have surrendered without the use of a devastating nuclear weapon.) 98


The beginning of the race When Truman mentioned to Stalin at Potsdam that the United States had a powerful new weapon, he did not realize that spies had been already reporting to Stalin regularly, making him well aware of the Manhattan Project. American officials no doubt hoped that U.S. possession of an atomic bomb would give them an advantage in postwar negotiations and make Stalin and the Soviets more manageable. Instead, Stalin accelerated the Soviets’ atomic bomb effort. The Soviets were successful, and on August 29, 1949, an atomic (plutonium) bomb, code-named “Joe-1,” was detonated at the Semipalatinuk Test Site in northeastern Kazakhstan. A few days later, the United States became aware of the test. A U.S. Air Force plane, on a weather mission over the North Pacific, encountered a very high radioactivity count. Analyzing the data, U.S. scientists realized that the Soviets had indeed detonated an atomic bomb. The world was stunned by the Soviets’ rapid atomic development. American experts immediately suspected theft of U.S. nuclear secrets, and, in fact, that was the case. In the months following the Soviet test, American scientists and politicians debated the development of a hydrogen bomb (Hbomb) based on nuclear fusion. (Nuclear fusion is the merging of two hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus, accompanied by a tremendous release of energy.) This type of bomb would be even more powerful than the atomic bomb. By late January 1950, Truman decided to build the hydrogen bomb in addition to smaller-scale, tactical atomic weapons. The Soviets had already chosen to develop an H-bomb, as well. The Soviet Union and the United States were now locked in an arms race, with each side trying to equal or outdo the military strength of the other. This further promoted the Cold War between the two countries: Neither could use its weapons without risking total destruction, but both continued the battle by building more powerful bombs. On November 1, 1952, on the tiny island of Enewetak, part of the western Pacific’s Marshall Islands, the United States detonated its first hydrogen bomb. It was 800 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, exploding with a force of 10.4 megatons (9,432,800 metric tons) of dynamite. Less than a year later, the Soviet Union successfully tested its first hydrogen Cold War

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The War of the Worlds In 1898, English writer H. G. Wells (1866– 1946) published what is possibly the most celebrated of his science-fiction novels, The War of the Worlds. Set in the late nineteenth century in southern England near London, the novel depicts the invasion of Earth by Martians, octopus-like creatures who possess superior technology. Within days, the Martian forces easily crush the best human defenses, and victory seems secure. However, with no natural defenses against bacteria on Earth, the Martians suddenly die in droves, ending the invasion. Many critics have interpreted the novel as an attack on social progress and on the social structure of English society at the time. On an October evening forty years later, U.S. director and actor Orson Welles (19151985) decided to present an updated version of the classic Wells novel on his radio program The Mercury Theatre on the Air. At the time, newspaper headlines and radio news broadcasts across the nation carried threats of a coming world war (what would eventually become World War II). Welles had told listeners the broadcast was fictional, but the drama he and his fellow actors presented was so convincing that of an estimated six million listeners, approximately one million believed that Martians had landed in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. Thousands of people fled in their cars, called friends and families to warn them, rushed to churches, guarded property with guns, and headed for Grover’s Mill to lend a hand in the defense against the Martians.

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Orson Welles broadcasting his radio show version of H.G. Wells’s science fiction novel The War of the Worlds. (AP/Wide World Photos)

The novel was updated yet one more time in 1953 with the release of a film version by U.S. film producer George Pal (1908–1980). This time the story was set in the 1950s in California, and the Martians faced more impressive weaponry, including an atomic bomb. However, the human weapons had no effect on the Martians, and all seemed lost until the Martians succumbed to the smallest of Earth’s creatures. U.S. audiences connected with the film’s focus on the invasion from technically superior enemies and the fear it generated. At the time, many in the United States were concerned about the possibility of an invasion from communist forces and of a nuclear war.


bomb. Although much smaller than the U.S. test bomb, it kept the Soviets in the race. Over the next few years, the United States and the Soviet Union kept pace with each other, building ever bigger and more powerful nuclear bombs. The Cold War and the thermonuclear race, referring to nuclear weapons that release atomic energy by joining hydrogen nuclei at high temperatures, had spiraled out of control. Although both the United States and the Soviet Union claimed that they did not want to use the H-bombs they created, the world could only watch and wait.

Fearing the spread of Communism World events in 1948 and 1949 had caused even further alarm in the United States. At the end of World War II, the Allies had divided Germany into four zones. Military troops from the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union each occupied one zone. The three Western powers soon allowed their zones to act as one economic and political unit; these three zones became known as West Germany. The Soviets placed their zone under a communist political system, and that zone became known as East Germany. Officials in West Germany and those in East Germany did little to cooperate with each other, and attempts to negotiate a peace treaty acceptable to all four powers failed. Like the whole of Germany, the capital city of Berlin had also been divided into sectors. The city was located deep within East Germany, the Soviet-controlled portion of the country. In the summer of 1948, hoping to force the Western powers out of Berlin, the Soviets blocked transportation routes running through East Germany so that the western sectors of the city could not receive supplies. The blockade lasted until May 1949. It took a massive airlift of supplies, which went on for almost a year, to break the blockade. For almost half a century afterward, West Germany and East Germany would become the focal point of the power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. Earlier in 1948, communists had seized control of the government of Czechoslovakia through violent force. Then, in the fall of 1949, communist forces under the leadership of Mao Zedong (1893–1976) proclaimed communist rule over mainland China, establishing the People’s Republic of China. Cold War

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With these communist advances and still others in Southeast Asia, it appeared that a massive wave of Communism was engulfing the world and would soon encircle the United States. The so-called Red Scare, or the fear of being taken over by the communists, quickly arose in the United States. Americans became obsessed with the fear of Communism, believing that it would gain strength in their country and eventually take over. They began to look with suspicion on revolutionary groups within the United States. To be labeled a “Red” was to be branded as a communist or a communist sympathizer. In this atmosphere of suspicion and fear, unfounded accusations of disloyalty to the U.S. government were strong and continued to grow stronger. At the center of the Red Scare was the House Un-American Activities Committee, a congressional committee established to investigate any individuals or groups it deemed to have possible communist ties. By 1950, U.S. citizens had become accustomed to their fellow citizens being questioned about their allegiance to America. Many had been falsely accused of having communist ties, sometimes by members of Congress or by leaders of organizations seeking to root out subversives (those who intend to overthrow or undermine a government secretly from within). The accused were generally considered guilty until proven innocent, and most of them lost their jobs and friends.

McCarthyism and a new deadly approach No one better illustrated the actions of this troubled time than Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (1908–1957), a Republican from Wisconsin. McCarthy went on a four-year witch-hunt, hoping to expose American communists. He manipulated the American public’s fear of Communism for his own political purposes (up to this point, his career in the U.S. Senate had been relatively uneventful). He made false accusations and claims to convince Americans that a massive communist conspiracy threatened to take over the country and to destroy their democratic way of life. The term “McCarthyism” came into use by 1950—and is still in use more than fifty years later. It describes a political attitude of intolerance or hostility toward potentially subversive groups. In the 1950s, McCarthyism was characterized by slander, false public accusations that damage the reputations of those accused. Although no one 102


U.S. senator Joseph R. McCarthy made false accusations and claims to convince Americans that a massive communist conspiracy threatened to take over the country. (AP/Wide World Photos)

was actually charged with spying or subversion, hundreds of federal employees lost their jobs. Caught in the mess were some of the top political analysts who monitored China and the Soviet Union, people who were needed for developing an informed foreign policy. McCarthy’s accusations eventually went too far. He declared that the U.S. Army’s base at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, harbored a communist spy ring. No evidence was ever found. Ultimately, in the spring of 1954, McCarthy’s long stream of unjustified attacks was brought to an end when a U.S. Army lawyer publicly exposed the lack of evidence behind McCarthy’s claims. Recognizing that his behavior from Cold War

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1950 to 1954 had been highly dishonorable, the U.S. Senate then voted to censure, or officially reprimand, McCarthy. Despite the end of McCarthy’s career, his influence carried on. The same year that the senator was censured, the U.S. government announced a new military strategy in the fight against Communism. In response to communist aggression of any kind, the United States would retaliate with a massive nuclear attack. This strategy, in which the U.S. reaction would be potentially much harsher than the original aggression, was designed to prevent war by threatening the worst kind of war. Any aggressor would pay heavily for even minor hostile actions. Prior to this, the U.S. government had favored a policy that called for military responses to be at the same general level as the hostile action. In a race now for military superiority, both the United States and the Soviet Union proceeded to build up their nuclear weapons and aircraft to carry those weapons. Rocket technology had begun to advance after World War II through the work of German-born American engineer Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) and other scientists and engineers, both in the United States and the Soviet Union. Scientific data, while desired, was not the primary purpose of this advancing technology. Both governments were interested in rocketry as an aid to the development of a more advanced generation of weapons. By the mid-1950s, rockets had been developed that could carry warheads from one continent to another. Now, no geographical boundaries—even large oceans—could protect a country from outside attack. Everyone was vulnerable and scared. The United States and the Soviet Union, seeking to project their military might anywhere in the world, began to look beyond the world. Some politicians and military leaders believed that if they could control the space above, they could easily control the ground below. The American public firmly believed that their country was more technologically advanced, but that notion was proven wrong by the sound of radio signals sent back to Earth from an artificial satellite in October 1957. In launching Sputnik 1, the Soviet Union had beaten the United States into space. In the Cold War, it had scored a propaganda (information spread to further one’s own cause) victory. Many 104


Americans felt that if the Soviets could put a satellite into space, they could place nuclear weapons there, as well. Fear gripped the nation, but it was just the beginning of the race into space.

For More Information Books Collier, Christopher. The United States in the Cold War. New York: Benchmark Books/Marshall Cavendish, 2002. Isaacs, Jeremy, and Taylor Downing. Cold War: An Illustrated History, 1945–1991. New York: Little, Brown, 1998. Kort, Michael G. The Cold War. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 1994. Sibley, Katherine A. S. The Cold War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Smith, Joseph. The Cold War: 1945–1991. Second ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1998.

Web Sites The Atomic Archive. AJ Software & Multimedia. http://www.atomicarchive. com/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Cold War.” CNN Interactive. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Cold War History: 1949–1989.” U.S. Air Force Museum. http://www. wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/coldwar/cw.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). The Cold War Museum. http://www.coldwar.org/index.html (accessed on August 19,2004).

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6 Flying into Space: The Race to Be First

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lthough the race into space was driven in great measure by the Cold War (the prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the United States and the Soviet Union), the thrill of adventure and thirst for scientific knowledge still played strong roles in that race. These driving factors helped secure public support for humankind’s greatest undertaking at a time when many thought the world would end at any moment under a sudden onslaught of nuclear weapons. Prior to World War II (1939–45), tales of space travel were limited to novels and short stories in which science was more on the level of invention and fantasy. Luckily, the books of French writer Jules Verne (1828–1905), who is considered the father of science fiction, contained enough credible science to inspire a generation of future scientists and engineers to apply pure science to the idea of space travel. Following the war, science fiction experienced a great popularity boom. As the country came to terms with the atomic age (the present age, characterized by the development and use of nuclear energy) and began to speculate about the pos-

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Illustration from Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon, a book that inspired future scientists and engineers to apply science to the idea of space travel. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

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Words to Know Artificial satellite: A man-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. Aurora: A brilliant display of streamers, arcs, or bands of light visible in the night sky, chiefly in the polar regions. It is caused by electrically charged particles from the Sun that are drawn into the atmosphere by Earth’s magnetic field. Ballistic missile: A missile that travels at a velocity less than what is needed to place it in orbit and that follows a curved path (trajectory) back to Earth’s surface once it has reached a given altitude. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist So-

viet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats. Electromagnetic radiation: Radiation that transmits energy through the interaction of electricity and magnetism. Gamma rays: Short-wavelength, highenergy radiation formed either by the decay of radioactive elements or by nuclear reactions. Interstellar: Between or among the stars. Ionosphere: That part of Earth’s atmosphere that contains a high concentration of particles that have been ionized, or electrically charged, by solar radiation. These particles help reflect certain radio waves over great distances. Magnetism: A natural attractive energy of iron based-materials for other ironbased materials.

sibility of space travel, fictional accounts of alien creatures from other worlds became believable enough to interest general readers. In their works, science-fiction writers predicted the state of future societies on Earth, explored the consequences of interstellar (between or among the stars) travel, and imagined the forms of life on other planets. Hollywood joined in, turning out films that played upon Americans’ fear of invasion during the unsettling times of the Cold War. The Thing (1951), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), When Worlds Collide (1951), and The War of the Worlds (1953) were all big108


Meteorite: A fragment of extraterrestrial material that makes it to the surface of a planet without burning up in the planet’s atmosphere. Micrometeorite: A very small meteorite or meteoritic particle with a diameter less than 0.04 inch (1 millimeter). Natural science: A science, such as biology, chemistry, or physics, that deals with the objects, occurrences, or laws of nature. Physical science: Any of the sciences, such as astronomy, chemistry, geology, and physics, that deal mainly with nonliving matter and energy. Radiation: The emission and movement of waves of atomic particles through space or other media. Radio waves: The longest form of electromagnetic radiation, measuring up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from peak to peak in the wave. Solar flare: Temporary bright spot that explodes on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy.

Solar prominence: A tongue-like cloud of flaming gas projecting outward from the Sun’s surface. Solar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from the Sun. Splashdown: The landing of a manned spacecraft in the ocean. Sunspot: A cool area of magnetic disturbance that forms a dark blemish on the surface of the Sun. Ultraviolet radiation: Electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength just shorter than the violet (shortest wavelength) end of the visible light spectrum. Van Allen belts: Two doughnut-shaped belts of high-energy charged particles trapped in Earth’s magnetic field. X rays: Electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength just shorter than ultraviolet radiation but longer than gamma rays that can penetrate solids and produce an electrical charge in gases.

budget science-fiction movies that were highly successful. Still, it was all fiction, whether conceived on a typewriter or a Hollywood lot. One man was greatly responsible for helping to change Americans’ vision of spaceflight from entertainment to one of scientific endeavor. German-born American engineer Wernher von Braun (1912–1977), who had helped develop rockets for the German army during World War II, was working for the U.S. Army at the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama, when the 1950s began. At that time, he and his team Flying into Space: The Race to Be First

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of scientists and engineers were working on the development of ballistic missiles, ones that would eventually serve to launch the first U.S. capsules into space. Von Braun, however, was more than a brilliant engineer. He was a charming figure who, through his speeches and writings, drew people enthusiastically to his ideas. This was clearly evident in 1952 when many leading experts on astronautics and rocketry gathered in San Antonio, Texas, for a conference titled “Physics and Medicine of the Upper Atmosphere.” Von Braun’s enthusiasm for and expertise on the subject of space travel impressed many at the conference. His name was quickly brought to the editors of Collier’s, a popular weekly magazine of the time. A week after the conference, von Braun and other spaceflight visionaries and artists sat down with the magazine’s editors to develop a series of articles for Collier’s that would outline for the general public the scientific, medical, and legal aspects of space travel. Beginning with the March 22, 1952, issue of the magazine, this team of scientists and artists produced articles for eight beautifully illustrated issues that laid out in great detail aspects of space travel ranging from the first piloted rockets to a mission to Mars. With its readership numbering almost four million, the magazine helped spark widespread public interest in rocketry and space travel. By 1952 there were already more than fifteen million television sets in the United States, and von Braun quickly realized that he could reach an even larger audience through this new medium. He joined forces with American movie producer Walt Disney (1901–1966) to create three space-related television shows. Von Braun not only served as the main technical advisor on the shows, he also made on-camera appearances during them, giving brief lectures on the scientific and mechanical aspects of space travel. Dramatic animated sequences produced by Disney filled out the shows, illustrating von Braun’s ideas. The first show, “Man in Space,” aired on March 9, 1955. This was followed later that year by “Man and the Moon.” The final show, “Mars and Beyond,” aired on December 4, 1957. It was estimated that more than forty million Americans watched the Disney “science factual” series. Television critics at the time responded favorably to all three 110


shows, recognizing the contributions that von Braun and the other technical advisors made to the series.

International Geophysical Year

Collier’s Space Flight Series March 22, 1952: “Man Will Conquer Space Soon” (a collection of eight articles)

October 18, 1952: “Man on the Moon: At the same time that von Braun The Journey” and “Inside the Moon Ship” was popularizing the notion of space October 25, 1952: “Man on the Moon: travel, scientists around the world were The Exploration” and “Inside the Lunar Base” preparing for the largest and most important international scientific effort February 28, 1953: “World’s First Space to that date. Between July 1, 1957, and Suit” December 31, 1958, more than ten March 7, 1953: “Testing the Men in Space” thousand scientists and technicians representing sixty-seven countries enMarch 14, 1953: “How Man Will Meet gaged in a comprehensive series of Emergency in Space” global geophysical activities. This June 27, 1953: “Baby Space Station” eighteen-month period became known April 30, 1954: “Can We Get to Mars?” as the International Geophysical Year and “Is There Life on Mars?” (IGY). During this period, physical scientists across the planet participated in a multitude of cooperative research programs, sharing the data they gathered about Earth, the atmosphere, and the Sun. Some of the topics covered in the programs included investigations of gravity, latitude and longitude determinations, meteorology (the study of weather), oceanography (the study of the oceans), solar (Sun) activity, and the upper atmosphere. In connection with research of the upper atmosphere, the United States and the Soviet Union sought to develop an orbiting satellite program. This would eventually result in the launch of the first artificial Earth satellites, signaling the beginning of space exploration.

International cooperation in science had begun much earlier, in the 1830s, with networks of scientists organized by German mathematician and astronomer Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) to make geomagnetic (magnetism of Earth) observations and by English astronomer and mathematician Sir John William Lubbock (1803–1865) to make tidal observations. Almost forty years later, Austro-Hungarian naval officer Karl Weyprecht (1838–1881) inspired a collaborative, international Flying into Space: The Race to Be First

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This map shows existing and proposed observation stations of the twelve nations undertaking scientific work in Antarctica during the 1957–58 International Geophysical Year. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

effort to research polar regions. German arctic explorer Georg von Neumayer (1826–1909) carried forth Weyprecht’s ideas, helping found the first International Polar Year (IPY), which was held in 1882–83. Scientists and military men from twelve countries—the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States—manned twelve stations in the Arctic and two in the Antarctic. They conducted observations of atmospheric electricity, auroral phenomena (stretches of light appearing in the night sky, caused by electrically charged particles from the Sun), geomagnetism, ice structure and motion, meteorology, and ocean currents and tides. Fifty years later, a second IPY (1932–33) was held. Forty 112


countries participated in Arctic research, largely in the fields of magnetism, meteorology, and radio science. In 1950 American physicist and engineer Lloyd Berkner (1905–1967) proposed that another IPY be held in 1957–58, only twenty-five years after the previous one. What led him to make this proposal were the rapid advances in the science of geophysics (the study of Earth’s physical character) and the need to restore the international network of scientists that had been ruptured by World War II. Berkner referred his proposal to the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), a nongovernmental organization founded in 1931 to bring together natural scientists in international scientific endeavor. In 1952, the ICSU accepted Berkner’s proposal, broadening it to include a study not just of the polar region but of the entire Earth. Thus, the renamed IGY replaced its predecessors’ limited programs with those that would focus on the whole planet. The 1957–58 year was selected for the IGY because scientists hoped to coordinate worldwide observations during the high point of sunspot activity. A sunspot is a cool area of magnetic disturbance that forms a dark blemish on the surface of the Sun. Sunspot activity generally follows an eleven-year cycle from the time when the number of sunspots is at a maximum to the next. Accompanying the variations in sunspot number are corresponding changes in solar prominences (tongue-like clouds of flaming gas projecting outward from the Sun’s surface) and solar flares (temporary bright spots that explode on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy). An increase in all of these solar activities increases the solar wind (electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from the Sun) and other ejected matter. This, in turn, increases the appearances of auroras in Earth’s atmosphere and also causes radio communication interference. There were many achievements of the IGY, but one of the most prominent was the eventual setting aside of Antarctica as a nonmilitary region to be used for international scientific purposes alone. The IGY was the first worldwide scientific effort to involve Antarctica, with twelve nations maintaining sixty-five stations on the southern continent. The IGY activities in Antarctica contributed significantly to knowledge not only of Antarctica itself, but also of the physical character of Flying into Space: The Race to Be First

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Earth and its weather, the ionosphere, and outer space. (The ionosphere is that part of Earth’s atmosphere that contains a high concentration of particles that have been ionized or electrically charged by solar radiation. These particles help reflect certain radio waves over great distances.) The international program of allowing all nations working in Antarctica to place scientific stations anywhere led directly to the eventual formulation and success of the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Since then, Antarctica has become a base for collecting meteorological data, including information on the presence and effects of moisture, carbon dioxide, and electrified particles on the atmosphere. Perhaps the greatest scientific achievement of the IGY was the discovery of the Van Allen belts by a rocket-launched satellite. In 1955 American astrophysicist (scientist who studies the physical properties of celestial bodies) James Van Allen (1914–) and several other American scientists had developed proposals for the launch of a scientific satellite as part of the research program during the IGY. Van Allen had predicted that a layer or layers of radiation existed in Earth’s upper atmosphere. To prove the existence of such radiation, Van Allen proposed equipping an artificial satellite with a radiation detector, among other instruments. On January 31, 1958, the U.S. Army launched Explorer 1, the United States’s first successful artificial satellite to be placed into space. The detector aboard the satellite found two rings of charged particles encircling Earth at a distance beginning about 400 miles (644 kilometers) above the planet’s surface. The charged particles spiral around the lines of Earth’s magnetic field (the area of the planet affected by magnetic force). They extend away from Earth’s equator and shuffle back and forth between the two magnetic poles. These particles are believed to originate in periodic solar flares. Carried by the solar wind, they become trapped by Earth’s magnetic field, and are believed to be responsible for the northern and southern polar auroras.

The Soviets lead the way with Sputnik In 1955 the Soviet Union had begun construction of the Baikonur Space Center in the desert in present-day Kazakhstan near the town of Tyuratam. One of the top priorities at the new base was the A-1, the first intercontinental ballistic mis114


The launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik 1 in 1957 marked the first time humans were able to send an object successfully beyond Earth’s atmosphere. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

sile (ICBM; a ballistic missile is one that follows a free-fall path back to the surface of Earth once it has reached a given altitude). Launched on August 3, 1957, the A-1 missile traveled a distance of 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers), thus laying the foundation for the first artificial satellite. On September 18, 1957, the Soviet Union announced its intention to launch a satellite as part of its IGY efforts, but withheld the name, Sputnik, the Russian word for “satellite.” The world learned the name of that satellite when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. That date stands as one of the greatest in history because it marked the first time humans were able to send an object successfully beyond Earth’s atmosphere. It also marked the beginning of the space age. Sputnik 1 was a steel ball that measured 23 inches (58 centimeters) in diameter and weighed 184 pounds (83.5 kilograms). Flying into Space: The Race to Be First

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Attached to its surface were four flexible antennae ranging in length from 79 to 94 inches (201 to 238 centimeters). The satellite was designed to transmit radio signals on two frequencies and gather valuable information about the ionosphere and space temperatures. It circled Earth in ninety-five minutes along an elliptical orbit; its altitude varied from about 140 to 560 miles (225 to 900 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. Sputnik 1 made approximately four thousand trips around Earth before gradually losing altitude and disintegrating as it reentered denser atmosphere on January 4, 1958. Both the A-1 and Sputnik were designed by the Soviet Union’s premier space engineer, Sergei Korolev (1907–1966). Not much was known about Korolev in the West, and envious Americans simply called him the “Chief Designer.” His name became publicly known only after his death. Korolev, who had been imprisoned twice during the harsh rule of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin (1879–1953), was the moving force behind the Soviet space program. As early as 1953, he had proposed to the Soviet government the development of an artificial satellite, arguing that it would serve as a powerful public demonstration of the Soviet Union’s intercontinental ballistic missile capability. A year later, he put forth even more ambitious plans for larger satellites, recoverable satellites, manned rockets, and an orbital space station. All of these plans were eventually realized. Korolev was indeed right that Sputnik 1 would serve as a powerful public demonstration. It caught the world’s attention: Many were impressed with the Soviet Union’s scientific accomplishment, especially since much of the country had been devastated by the Stalinist dictatorship and World War II. The reaction in the United States, however, was one of fear. The launch had occurred at the height of the Cold War, and Americans saw it as a major victory for their enemies. On the night of October 4, as they looked to the darkened sky above, Americans heard on their radios the transmitted signal from Sputnik 1, what the Associated Press later called the “deep beepbeep.” The sound, like a chirp, lasted three-tenths of a second. It was then followed by a pause of three-tenths of a second. The repeated signal was heard until the satellite passed out of range of the United States. Fearing that the Soviets’ ability to launch satellites could translate into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that 116


could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the United States, the American public demanded answers as to why the United States had fallen behind in the space race. A congressional investigation was opened to determine an answer. Before one could be found, however, the Soviets launched Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. It surpassed the relatively simple technology of Sputnik 1. It was much bigger, weighing 1,120 pounds (508 kilograms), and it flew at a much higher altitude. More impressively, the spacecraft carried a passenger, a female dog named Laika. The flight was intended to test the possibility of sending humans into space. Laika suffered no ill effects from weightlessness and was able to move about and eat food. The Soviets did not plan for the satellite’s safe reentry to Earth, however, and Laika died after only a week in space when the batteries that operated her life-support system ran down and the capsule air ran out. Sputnik 2 stayed in orbit for 162 days before it disintegrated in Earth’s atmosphere in April 1958. Sputnik 3, the last in the initial Sputnik series, was launched on May 15, 1958. It weighed 2,924 pounds (1,327 kilograms) and was powered by solar panels embedded around the base of its main body. It carried a large array of instruments to measure Earth’s ionosphere and other atmospheric properties. The other Sputnik spacecraft differed from these first three in that they served as test vehicles for later Soviet manned flights. They carried into orbit a variety of animals, including dogs, rats, and mice. Sputnik 7 and 8 were launched as Venus probes. • Sputnik 4: Launched May 15, 1960. Completed many orbits. Planned reentry failed, and the craft burned up after 844 days in space. • Sputnik 5: Launched August 19, 1960. Completed seventeen orbits. Craft carried two dogs, twelve mice, two rats, and fruit flies. Reentry and recovery were successful. • Sputnik 6: Launched December 1, 1960. Completed seventeen orbits. Craft carried two dogs, mice, insects, and plants. Reentry was too steep, and the craft burned up. • Sputnik 7: Launched February 7, 1961. After being placed into Earth’s orbit, a probe was to be launched toward a landing on Venus, but ignition failed. The craft remained in Earth’s orbit. Flying into Space: The Race to Be First

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• Sputnik 8: Launched February 12, 1961. After being placed into Earth’s orbit, a probe (known as Venera 1) was launched toward Venus. Seven days after launch, contact with the probe was lost. One month later, Venera 1 passed within 62,100 miles (100,000 kilometers) of Venus, then went into orbit around the Sun. • Sputnik 9: Launched March 9, 1961. Completed one orbit. The craft carried a dog, mice, and a mannequin. Reentry and recovery were successful. • Sputnik 10: Launched March 25, 1961. Completed one orbit. The craft carried a dog and a mannequin. Reentry and recovery were successful.

The fumbling first stages of the U.S. space program With the launch of Sputnik 1 in late 1957, pressure was on the United States to place an artificial satellite into orbit around Earth. Like their Soviet counterparts, U.S. military officials and scientists had been working on the development of such a satellite for a number of years. The U.S. Department of Defense was initially in charge of the U.S. satellite program. It oversaw the efforts of both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy, which were locked in an intense rivalry to develop a satellite program. U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) wanted the satellite launching to be a civilian (nonmilitary) undertaking, one that would demonstrate the peaceful applications of rockets. The U.S. Army’s launch vehicle was based on the Redstone, which had been developed primarily as a military rocket. Because of this, the U.S. Navy was chosen to lead the project that became known as Vanguard. When the Soviet Union launched its spacecraft, it did so in secrecy, never announcing the events to the world until it was certain that they were successful. In order to dramatize the fact that it was a free society, the United States decided to launch its first satellite in full view of the press and foreign observers. On December 6, 1957, two months after the launch of Sputnik 1, the first Vanguard rocket sat on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Two seconds after liftoff, when the rocket was less than 5 feet (1.5 meters) off the ground, its fuel tanks ruptured, and the rocket burst into a ball of smoke and 118


The Price of Propaganda In October 1960 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) was preparing to make a big speech at the United Nations bragging about the superiority of his country’s Communist system. However, in the previous weeks, two Soviet Mars probes, Marsnik 1 and 2, had been lost during launch. Needing fuel for his propaganda (the spread of information or ideas to promote a certain organization or cause), Khrushchev angrily insisted that a third probe be hurriedly prepared to launch. He appointed Mitrofan Nedelin (1902–1960), commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, to oversee the success of the launch on October 23, the day before Khrushchev’s planned speech. When the countdown reached zero on the day of the launch, the huge SS-6 rocket did not ignite. Disobeying all safety regulations concerning rocket misfires, Nedelin sent technicians out to work on the rocket. Sergei Korolev (1907–1966), the brains behind the Soviet space program, argued with Nedelin about sending the technicians out to perform maintenance on the unstable space vehicle. Disregarding Korolev’s protests, Nedelin took his entire staff to the rocket as the technicians were inspecting it. Korolev and the rocket’s chief designer, Mikhail Yangel, went into a blast shelter to have a cigarette when the rocket suddenly exploded. Instantly, Nedelin, his staff, and

Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. (AP/Wide World Photos)

more than one hundred technicians were incinerated in the worst accident in the history of the Soviet space program. It has come to be known as the Nedelin catastrophe. Rather than admit that such an event occurred, the Soviet press at the time claimed that Nedelin was killed in an aircraft accident. About once every month after the accident, the obituaries of three or four space technicians appeared in the press. It took thirty months for all the technicians to be officially recognized as dead. Such was the secrecy of the Soviet space program in its early years.


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flames. Immediately afterward, nicknames such as “Flopnik” and “Kaputnik” were bestowed on the U.S. space program. This failure prompted the Department of Defense to give the go-ahead to the U.S. Army’s Project Orbiter, headed by German-born American engineer Wernher von Braun. The U.S. Navy attempted a second Vanguard launch in early February 1958. This one also failed. Fifty-seven seconds after liftoff, the rocket veered off course and broke apart. Finally, on March 17, 1958, Vanguard 1 lifted off successfully (the previous Vanguard satellites were known as 1A and 1B). The satellite was so tiny—it weighed only about 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms) and measured only 6 inches (15 centimeters) in diameter—that Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev (pronounced KROOSH-chev; 1894–1971) dismissed it as a “grapefruit.” Its size, however, was deceptive. Vanguard 1 provided a wealth of scientific information the Soviet satellites could not. Analysis of its orbital motion around the planet proved that Earth is not round, but bulges slightly in the middle. The satellite corrected ideas about the atmosphere’s density at high altitudes and improved the accuracy of world maps. Its two radio transmitters, which also functioned as temperature gauges, continued to transmit for seven years before falling silent. Despite the fact that it no longer transmits information, the satellite continues to serve the scientific community. Ground-based tracking of the satellite provides data concerning the effects of the Sun, the Moon, and Earth’s atmosphere on satellite orbits. The oldest human-made object in space, it is expected to orbit Earth for more than two hundred years. The next four Vanguard attempts to reach orbit failed, but Vanguard 2 was successfully launched on February 17, 1959. It was the world’s first weather satellite, designed to measure the amount of sunlight reflected by Earth’s surface and the distribution of clouds. It operated in orbit for eighteen days. After two more launch failures, the last launch of a Vanguard rocket ended in triumph, placing Vanguard 3 in orbit on September 18, 1959. The 100-pound (45-kilogram) satellite monitored solar radiation and mapped Earth’s magnetic field, especially the lower edge of the Van Allen belts. It was also the first U.S. spacecraft to study micrometeorites, very small meteorites or meteoritic particles with a diameter of less than 0.04 inch (1 millimeter). 120


Vanguard rocket exploding on launch pad, 1957. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)


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Success with Explorer After the disastrous launch attempt of the first Vanguard rocket, von Braun and his team scrambled to place the first U.S. satellite into orbit. By January 31, 1958, they were ready. On the launch pad at Cape Canaveral stood a modified Jupiter C rocket called the Juno 1. (The Jupiter originally had been designed as an intermediate-range ballistic missile. The C version, a three-stage rocket modified from that design, was capable of flying to a height of 680 miles [1,095 kilometers].) On top of the Juno 1 was perched Explorer 1. A bullet-shaped satellite, it was about 6.5 feet (2 meters) long and weighed only 31 pounds (14 kilograms). Almost one-third of its weight, 11 pounds (5 kilograms), was made up of scientific instruments. Among those instruments was one designed by American astrophysicist James Van Allen, which was essentially a Geiger counter to measure radiation encircling Earth. Explorer 1 flew higher in space than either of the two Sputnik satellites. Its looping orbit took it as close to Earth as 220 miles (354 kilometers) and as far away as 1,563 miles (2,515 kilometers). It completed one orbit almost every 115 minutes. While in orbit, the instruments it carried would quit working at certain times, then they would mysteriously start again. Van Allen correctly deduced from this pattern the existence of radiation belts around the planet (Explorer 3, launched on March 26, 1958, confirmed the existence of the belts). This important discovery allowed all future satellite designers to compensate for the radiation hazards the belts pose to spacecraft by including radiation-hardened components and special shielding in the craft. Explorer 1 continued to transmit data back to Earth until February 28, 1959. It then stayed in orbit until March 31, 1970. After more than 58,000 orbits, it entered Earth’s atmosphere and burned up. With the accomplishment of this mission, the United States began an exploration program using probes to gather information in space. More than eighty U.S. and cooperative international scientific space missions have been part of the much-celebrated and still-ongoing Explorer program. It is the longest-running of all U.S. space programs. Only four of the missions in the series have been deemed unsuccessful. Explorer satellites have gathered information and made impressive discoveries about items such as the shape of Earth’s gravity field, the solar wind, and the properties of micrometeoroids 122


Explorer 1, the first American artificial satellite, is launched by a Juno 1 rocket in 1958. (© Bettmann/Corbis)


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America’s First Spy Satellite While most Americans were alarmed by the launch of Sputnik 1, U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) and certain members of his administration were not. In fact, they welcomed the launch, for it opened space to anyone who could place an object in orbit. An object that Eisenhower and a few other U.S. government officials wanted in orbit was a spy satellite to track the activities of the Soviet Union and other foes. The spy satellite program, which had been in development since the early 1950s, was named CORONA. The aim of the program was to photograph areas of the Soviet

Union for various analytical purposes, from evaluating the country’s military strength to estimating the size of its grain production. CORONA was later expanded to include photographs of China and other countries from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. The spy satellites carried film in canisters that were returned to Earth in heatresistant capsules for development and evaluation. While parachuting back to the planet’s surface, the capsules were recovered in midair by an aircraft towing a trapeze-like snare. The capsules were also

raining down on Earth. These missions have also investigated ultraviolet radiation, gamma radiation, and X rays from the solar system and the universe beyond. Some Explorer spacecraft have even traveled to other planets, and some have monitored the Sun. Missions in the Explorer program are planned through 2009.

The birth of NASA After the shock of Sputnik and the relief generated by the launch of Explorer 1, there was a drive to establish a national space program in the United States. However, no one in the government could agree on which agency should take over that program. Most government officials thought that the Department of Defense would be the logical choice, since the branches of the military, especially the U.S. Army, had been involved with building and testing rockets since World War II. But the Eisenhower administration decided that a new agency, a civilian one, should be organized to lead the effort into space. On July 29, 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, creating the Na124


designed to float if the midair recovery failed and they splashed into the ocean. The first attempt to launch a CORONA satellite, under the cover name Discoverer, failed on January 21, 1959. The next eleven attempts also ended in failure. Although Discoverer 13 achieved orbit, it did not carry a camera, so it wasn’t until the launch of Discoverer 14 on August 18, 1960, that CORONA was finally successful. More than one hundred spy satellites were placed in orbit before the final CORONA mission was launched on May 25, 1972. During the life of the program, the spy satellites mapped 750 million square miles (1.94 billion square kilometers) of Earth’s sur-

face, mostly in the Soviet Union and China. The satellites proved beyond a doubt that the Soviets’ missile force was far fewer in number than the American public had feared. This fact, however, was hidden from the American public for years. On February 22, 1995, President Bill Clinton (1946–) signed an order declassifying CORONA, the first time the United States released a significant amount of information about its spy satellite program. A side benefit of the CORONA program was that its recovery system helped NASA develop a means to retrieve its early astronauts and spacecraft upon splashdown, or the landing of a spacecraft in water.

tional Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on October 1, 1958, as an arm of the U.S. government. The law called for NASA to be dedicated to peaceful exploration and the development of new technology. Its stated purpose was to lead “the expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space,” as well as to explore commercial uses of space, such as the placement of communication satellites. NASA absorbed the former National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which had been formed in 1915 when aviation was still new. The U.S. Congress had created NACA to “supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solutions.” At the time NASA came into being, NACA comprised eight thousand employees and three major research laboratories: Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, and the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. T. Keith Glennan (1905–1995), who had been appointed NASA’s first administrator, was quick to incorporate into NASA several organizations involved in space exploration Flying into Space: The Race to Be First

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NASA administrator T. Keith Glennan and deputy administrator Dr. Hugh L. Dryden display models of the ten rockets NASA planned to build during the 1960s. (© Dean Conger/Corbis)

projects from other federal agencies. He envisioned a practical scientific program of space exploration that could be conducted over a long period. He created the Goddard Space Flight Center, named after American physicist and space pioneer Robert Goddard (1882–1945), from part of the U.S. Navy’s research laboratory. He also gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which had been managed by the California Institute of Technology for the U.S. Army. And in 1960 he coordinated the transfer to NASA of the U.S. Army’s ballistic missile agency in Huntsville, Alabama, where Wernher von Braun’s team of engineers and scientists were engaged in the development of large rockets. It was renamed the Marshall Space Flight Center. Just five days after NASA had officially begun operations, Glennan was given a briefing on plans to send a manned satel126


lite into space. He decided quickly to carry out those plans, approving Project Mercury, the United States’s first human spaceflight program. The project was given the highest government priority so it could obtain the money, the special equipment, and the skilled individuals it needed to place the first U.S. astronaut into space.

For More Information Books Aaseng, Nathan. The Space Race. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2001. Bille, Matt, and Erika Lishock. The First Space Race: Launching the World’s First Satellites. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004. Bilstein, Roger E. Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915–1990. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989. Dickson, Paul. Sputnik: The Shock of the Century. New York: Walker, 2001. Sullivan, Walter. Assault on the Unknown: The International Geophysical Year. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961.

Web Sites “Celebrating NASA’s Fortieth Anniversary 1858–1998: Pioneering the Future.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Policy and Plans. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/40thann/ 40home.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Explorer Series of Spacecraft.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Policy and Plans. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/ History/explorer.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “International Geophysical Year.” The National Academies. http://www7. nationalacademies.org/archives/igy.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Sputnik: The Fortieth Anniversary.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Policy and Plans. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/ pao/History/sputnik/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Vanguard.” Naval Center for Space Technology and U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. http://ncst-www.nrl.navy.mil/NCSTOrigin/Vanguard.html (accessed on August 19, 2004).


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7 Manned Spaceflight Begins

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stronautics is the science and technology of spaceflight. It is derived from the Greek words astro, meaning “star,” and nautes, meaning “sailor.” A person who travels into space is known as an astronaut in the United States and in those countries that form the European Space Agency or ESA. (The ESA, created in 1962 as the European Space Research Organization, is a multinational organization dedicated to the exploration of space. Headquartered in Paris, France, it is composed of fifteen member states: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.) An astronaut employed by the Russian Aviation and Space Agency is known as a cosmonaut, the Anglicized form of the Russian kosmonavt. Chinese astronauts are known in the West as taikonauts, after tai kong, the Chinese word for “space.” In China, all astronauts, cosmonauts, and taikonauts are referred to as yuhangyuan, meaning “space traveler.”

The idea of human “space travelers” had been envisioned long before all these words had been coined. At the end of the nineteenth century, Russian scientist and rocket 128

Astronaut Edward H. White was the first American to step outside of his spacecraft. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

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Words to Know Apogee: The point in the orbit of an artificial satellite or the Moon that is farthest from Earth. Artificial satellite: A man-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. Astronautics: The science and technology of spaceflight. Ballistic missile: A missile that travels at a velocity less than what is needed to place it in orbit and that follows a curved path (trajectory) back to

Earth’s surface once it has reached a given altitude. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats. Payload: Any cargo launched aboard a spacecraft, including astronauts, instruments, and equipment. Perigee: The point in the orbit of an artificial satellite or the Moon that is nearest to Earth.

expert Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935), often referred to as the “father of astronautics,” had theorized the construction of a rocket that utilized liquid fuel and was capable of carrying humans into space. German physicist Hermann Oberth (1894–1989) echoed this belief in 1923. Some historians report that Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir I. Lenin (1870–1924) was a firm believer in astronautics, predicting a time when a Soviet man would make the journey into space. Indeed, in the race into space between the United States and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s, the Soviets would achieve many “firsts” beyond the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to be placed in orbit around Earth. The space programs of both countries benefited from the knowledge and hard work of German scientists who had created the V-2 rocket during World War II (1939–45). The V-2 was the first long-range ballistic missile, a type of missile that travels at a velocity less than what is needed to place it in or130


Probe: An unmanned spacecraft sent to explore the Moon, other celestial bodies, or outer space; some probes are programmed to return to Earth while others are not. Retrofire: The firing of a spacecraft’s engine in the direction opposite to which the spacecraft is moving in order to cut its orbital speed. Solar flare: Temporary bright spot that explodes on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy. Space motion sickness: A condition similar to ordinary travel sickness, with symptoms that include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, gastroin-

testinal disturbances, and fatigue. The precise cause of the condition is not fully understood, though most scientists agree the problem originates in the balance organs of the inner ear. Spacewalk: Technically known as an EVA, or extravehicular activity, an excursion outside a spacecraft or space station by an astronaut or cosmonaut wearing only a pressurized spacesuit and, possibly, some sort of maneuvering device. Splashdown: The landing of a manned spacecraft in the ocean. Thrust: The forward force generated by a rocket.

bit and that follows a curved path, or trajectory, back to Earth’s surface once it has reached a given altitude. After the war, spurred on by the fear of the Cold War (the prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the United States and the Soviet Union), these scientists worked to develop rockets for both countries to explore space and to spy on one another. The main difference between the two was that Soviet rockets were designed to carry large payloads (cargo carried aboard the craft, including astronauts and equipment), while those of the United States were designed to be smaller and more efficient. During this time of the Cold War, space became the new battlefield: The United States and the Soviet Union competed to dominate outer space just as they fought for supremacy on Earth. A country’s scientific gains were looked upon as proof of the superiority of its way of life. With the launching of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union dramatically demonstrated to the world the success of its larger Manned Spaceflight Begins

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rocket development program. Over the next four years, it continued to show the world the way into space: Soviet spaceships were the first to carry live animals into space and return them safely to Earth, to reach the Moon and photograph its far side, and to orbit the Sun. Americans reacted with panic to this start of the space age. They realized that the United States was no longer the top scientific and technical country in the world, and out of this realization came the frantic quest for the technology to overcome the country’s perceived slow start. One month after the launch of Sputnik 1, U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) spoke on television from the Oval Office of the White House. He tried to explain to the American people why the United States had failed to become the first country to launch a satellite into outer space, and he reassured them that the country still retained its military superiority. After his television appearance, Eisenhower acted quickly to move the United States forward in the space race. He appointed a White House science advisor and supported the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In addition, he signed the National Defense Education Act, which encouraged the study of science in schools. While the Soviet Union clearly led the race into space, the United States also scored significant scientific progress. On January 31, 1958, the United States launched its first satellite successfully into Earth’s orbit. It was called Explorer 1. In December of that year, the United States launched what was then the largest object ever—an Atlas rocket, the nation’s first intercontinental ballistic missile—into space. The orbiting rocket and its payload were known as known as Project SCORE (Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Experiment). Included in the payload was an audiotape machine that broadcast messages, including a fifty-eight-word prerecorded Christmas message from President Eisenhower. The day after the launch, people all over the world were astonished to hear the president’s voice broadcast from space. The result of the project was unquestionably a major scientific breakthrough: It proved that active communications satellites could provide a means of transmitting messages of all types from one point to any other on Earth. 132


Vostok and the first human in space Soon after the Soviet Union and the United States had successfully launched unmanned artificial satellites into space, they both set about developing programs to put a human into space. This had been the goal all along. Although competition between the two superpowers spurred space exploration, scientific inquiry and the sense of adventure sustained it. The desire to send a human into space and return that person safely back to Earth had been a dream for decades, and both countries worked feverishly to turn it into an engineering reality. In the process, a new type of hero would be created: the astronaut/cosmonaut. In the end, a Soviet would be the first to wear the “hero” label. After the launch of the first three Sputnik satellites, the Soviets conducted a number of unmanned missions to test the worthiness of the capsule needed to carry a person. They also experimented with the reentry and recovery method to be used. In the West, these test flights were known as Sputnik 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10, but in the Soviet Union, they were KorablSputnik 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The tests were initially unsuccessful: The first spacecraft had been unable to return to Earth, but the second successfully did so. The reentry of the third craft was too steep, however, killing the two dogs and other animals on board. The program was then shut down for three months while the spacecraft was redesigned. With the successful launches and recoveries of the final missions, Soviet engineers and scientists made the decision to go ahead with manned flight. Vostok, Russian for “East,” was the name chosen for the first Soviet manned spaceflight program. The rocket used to launch the spacecraft into orbit was essentially the same rocket that had launched the first three Sputnik satellites, but with an additional upper stage powered by a single engine. The combined stages could launch a payload of just more than 10,355 pounds (4,700 kilograms) into low Earth orbit. The spacecraft itself was small and relatively simple: The spherical, 7.5-foot-diameter (2.3-meter-diameter) cabin was large enough to accommodate only one cosmonaut. That person sat in an ejection seat (an emergency escape seat for launching an occupant out and away from an aircraft), which could be used if an emergency arose during launch and which was activated after reentry. Also inside the cabin were cameras, a Manned Spaceflight Begins

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The Soviet rocket that in 1961 boosted Vostok 1 into space with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on board. The spaceship itself is in the very top portion of this rocket. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

space-to-ground radio, a control panel, life-support equipment, food, and water. Three viewing portholes allowed the cosmonaut to look out into space. The entire outside of the cabin was coated with a material that protected it from heat during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Communication an134


tennae extended from the top of the cabin. The instrument module, containing a small rocket and thrusters, was strapped to the cabin with steel bands. Clustered around it were round bottles of nitrogen and oxygen for life support. The cosmonaut chosen to ride aboard Vostok 1, becoming the first human in space, was Yuri A. Gagarin (1934–1968). He had been born in the village of Klushino in the Gzhatsk district of the swampy Smolensk region west of the Soviet capital of Moscow. His parents were collective farmers. (In the 1930s, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin [1879–1953] had ordered all private farms placed under government control. Peasant farmers were forced to work on what were now called collective farms. The government decided what would be grown, how much of it, and what the farmers would be paid for their work.) Neither of his parents had much formal education, but they worked hard to ensure that Gagarin received one. In 1957 he entered the Soviet air force and became a fighter pilot. Inspired by the success of the early Soviet space program, Gagarin was chosen to be among the first group of cosmonauts. After a series of increasingly rigorous physical and mental exercises, he was selected from among several other contenders to be the first cosmonaut in space. Soviet leaders, especially Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev (pronounced KROOSH-chev; 1894–1971), believed that Gagarin represented the Soviet ideal of the worker who rose through the ranks on merit alone. His outstanding personal traits and physical capabilities made him an attractive figure, and Soviet leaders wanted to project that to the world. On April 12, 1961, Vostok 1 was launched with Gagarin on board. The entire world was awestruck at the realization that human spaceflight, which had been merely a dream for decades, had finally been accomplished. Gagarin’s historymaking flight lasted only 108 minutes. During its single-orbit flight around planet Earth at a speed of 17,015 miles (27,400 kilometers) per hour, the spacecraft reached an apogee of 203 miles (327 kilometers) and a perigee of 112 miles (181 kilometers). (Artificial satellites and the Moon do not move on orbits that are circular, but ones that are elliptical, or ovalshaped. At one end of the ellipse, the satellite or the Moon reaches its greatest separation from Earth. This point is known as apogee, pronounced AP-eh-gee. At the other end of the ellipse, the satellite or the Moon makes its closest approach to Manned Spaceflight Begins

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Earth. This point is known as perigee, pronounced PAIR-eh-gee.) While in flight, Gagarin reported that all was well and described the view through the spacecraft’s portholes. After the flight, he stated that he had easily seen the outlines of continents, islands, and rivers. He also described the brightness of stars and the delicateness of Earth’s atmosphere, which he thought resembled a blue halo. As his spacecraft orbited the planet, Gagarin had no control over it. Since little was known at the time how humans would react to conditions in space, Soviet engineers had decided to “lock out” the cosmonaut from the controls. In the case of an emergency, the cosmonaut could gain control only if he punched in, on a set of buttons, a combination contained in a sealed envelope. Luckily, no emergency arose in orbit, and Vostok 1 was guided to a Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first human in successful reentry by radio signals from space. Riding in Vostok 1, he traveled once around the Earth. Gagarin ejected from the capplanet and then parachuted back to Earth. sule at a height of approximately (© Bettmann/Corbis) 23,000 feet (7,000 meters). He parachuted safely to Earth, where he landed in a field that was located southeast of Moscow, some 995 miles (1,600 kilometers) from the launch site. The cosmonaut instantly became a worldwide celebrity, touring widely to promote the Soviet achievement. Despite the fact that it was labeled a huge success, Gagarin’s flight nearly had been a disaster. Not until a few decades after the flight did the world learn that his spacecraft had spun dangerously out of control when it began to reenter Earth’s atmosphere. The dizzying spin lasted ten minutes, and the craft stabilized somewhat only after Gagarin’s capsule separated from the rocket. Gagarin was then able to eject from the craft and land safely. The capsule came down separately, dangling from its own parachute. (For many years, the Soviets had also kept secret the fact that Gagarin had ejected from 136


his capsule. They did so because of regulations set down by the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI). An international organization founded in 1905 with the basic aim of furthering aeronautical and astronautical activities worldwide, the FAI required the pilot to return in his craft in order for the flight to be recognized as a valid world record.)

Vostok Firsts First human in space: Yuri Gagarin, Vostok 1 First day-long spaceflight: Vostok 2 First human to experience space motion sickness: Gherman Titov, Vostok 2

First human to sleep in space: Gherman In spite of the secrecy and lies, the Titov, Vostok 2 Soviet Union had surged ahead of the First simultaneous flight of two manned United States in the space race. It could spacecraft: Vostok 3 and 4 not be disputed that the flight of VosFirst ship-to-ship communications in tok 1 was an important milestone in space: Vostok 3 and 4 the contest for superiority in space exploration. U.S. president John F. First woman in space: Valentina Kennedy (1917–1963) was quick to recTereshkova, Vostok 6 ognize it as such. He congratulated the First civilian in space: Valentina Tereshkova, Soviet Union on a victory that would Vostok 6 be beneficial to all nations, and he urged international cooperation in the effort to explore space. At the same time, he pressured the U.S. space program to increase its efforts. Just six weeks after the success of Vostok 1, Kennedy delivered a speech to the U.S. Congress in which he promised that the United States would land an astronaut on the Moon by the end of that decade. When he had campaigned for the presidency, Kennedy did so on the promise to close the arms gap between the Soviet Union and the United States. With this speech, he now promised to close the space exploration gap.

More Soviet firsts The call to put the United States in the lead in the race into space would not be realized until later in the decade. The Vostok program continued to push ahead. Four months after the launch of Vostok 1, Vostok 2 lifted off with cosmonaut Gherman Titov (1935–2000), Yuri Gagarin’s backup pilot, aboard. The craft, which launched on August 7, stayed in orbit for twenty-five hours and eighteen minutes, far longer than Manned Spaceflight Begins

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Vostok 1. The reason it did so was that its landing had to be made at a time when the spacecraft was over Soviet territory. As Earth rotated, the Soviet Union moved away from its position along Vostok 2’s orbit. It was under the path of the spacecraft only within five hours of the spacecraft’s launch or after twenty-four hours (a complete rotation of Earth). Since one of the objectives of the flight was to investigate the ability of a human to work during a prolonged period of weightlessness, the decision was made to extend the flight as long as possible. During the craft’s third orbit, Titov ate some food. Later, he took manual control of the craft, changing its altitude. After ten hours in space, Titov tried to sleep, but was unable to do so because he had become nauseous. It was the first time a human had experienced space motion sickness. He soon recovered, however, and fell asleep for seven hours. He awoke before his craft made an almost perfect reentry and landing. Vostok 3 and 4 were launched from the same launch pad one day apart in August 1962, marking the first simultaneous flight of two manned spacecraft. Their orbits were so accurate that the two vessels came within 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) of each other. They could not come any closer because the spacecraft lacked steering abilities. The two cosmonauts, Andrian Nikolayev (1929–) in Vostok 3 and Pavel Popovich (1930–) in Vostok 4, communicated with each other via radio, the first ship-to-ship communications in space. After remaining close for three hours, the two craft drifted apart on their separate orbits. On August 15, after circling Earth for nearly four days, the two Vostoks simultaneously reentered Earth’s atmosphere. They landed just a few minutes apart. The Soviets repeated this double-launch maneuver on June 14 and 16, 1963, with the last two spacecraft in the Vostok series, numbers 5 and 6. The cosmonaut aboard Vostok 5, Valery Bykovsky (1934–), set a new space endurance record for a solo flight when his craft remained in space for five days, completing eighty-one orbits. This record remains to the present day. Originally, the spacecraft was scheduled to stay in orbit for eight days, but elevated levels of solar flare activity forced an early end to the mission. (Solar flares are temporary bright spots that explode on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy that can upset electrical systems

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on spacecraft.) While in orbit, Vostok 5 and 6 came within three miles (five kilometers) of each other, and Bykovsky was able to establish radio contact with his fellow cosmonaut. That cosmonaut was Valentina Tereshkova (1937–), the first woman and first civilian in space. She had joined the Soviet space program in 1961 when Soviet space officials were seeking women to become cosmonauts. Out of more than four hundred applicants, only Tereshkova and four other women were chosen to undergo flight training in the Soviet air force and rigorous exercises in preparation for the weightlessness they would experience in space. After fifteen months of training, Tereshkova was chosen for the landmark flight. During her nearly Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was the first three days in space, she completed woman and first civilian in space. (© Hulton-Deutsch forty-eight orbits of Earth before her Collection/Corbis) craft reentered the planet’s atmosphere and landed safely. Nineteen years would pass before another female cosmonaut, Svetlana Savitskaya (1948–), flew into space. The United States would not send its first female astronaut, Sally Ride (1951–), into space until two decades after Tereshkova’s flight.

Project Mercury: America’s answer As the Soviets were racking up space firsts, the United States did not sit idly by. Only one year and three days after Sputnik 1 opened the space age, the newly formed NASA began Project Mercury, the United States’s first manned space program. The objectives of this program, which saw six piloted missions between 1961 and 1963, were specific: • To orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth; • To investigate man’s ability to function in space; and • To recover both man and spacecraft safely. Manned Spaceflight Begins

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Mercury Thirteen Aerospace physician Randolph Lovelace (1929–) was director of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, clinic where the Mercury astronauts had undergone their physical examinations. He was curious to know if women could measure up to the same rigorous tests that the astronauts had completed. He believed that they could. Along with Jacqueline Cochran (1910–1980), the first American woman pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound (the rate at which sound waves travel, approximately 750 miles [1,207 kilometers] per hour), he arranged for such tests to take place. Twenty-six women were invited to Lovelace’s clinic in early 1961. The requirements for the candidates were that they had to be a qualified jet pilot with a minimum of 1,500 flight-hours experience, hold a college degree, be under forty years old and under 71 inches (180 centimeters) in height, and be in excellent physical condition. After initial tests were completed, the list was trimmed from the original twentysix to thirteen. These highly qualified women became known as the Mercury Thirteen.

In many of the tests, the women not only measured up to the men, but surpassed them. NASA, however, was unwilling to place them in the official training program, maintaining that astronauts had to come from the ranks of military jet pilots. Discrimination and sexism were the main reasons behind NASA’s decision. One of the Mercury Thirteen, Jane Hart (1920–1961), was the wife of a U.S. senator. He helped arrange congressional hearings on the matter in July 1962. Despite the publicity of these hearings, both NASA and members of Congress would not budge on their discriminatory views. After three days, the hearings were canceled. Interestingly, the furor over the Mercury Thirteen may have opened the door for Valentina Tereshkova to become the first woman in space. Soviet officials had heard about the U.S. female group and its testing. Obsessed with being first in the space race, the Soviets pushed for the flight of a Soviet woman into space. Eleven months after the U.S. congressional hearings on the Mercury Thirteen, Tereshkova lifted off on her historic flight.

Although the Mercury flights were brief, totaling fifty-four hours in space, they led the way to the longer, more complex Gemini flights of the mid-1960s and the Apollo lunar landings at the end of that decade. The first Americans to venture into space were drawn from a group of 110 military pilots chosen for their flight test experience and because they met certain physical requirements: 140


The maximum age for a Mercury astronaut candidate was set at 40, the maximum height at 71 inches (180 centimeters), and the maximum weight at 180 pounds (82 kilograms). Another requirement was that candidates had to have a college education. This prevented U.S. Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager (1923–), considered by many to have been America’s premier test pilot, from applying to the program. Like their Soviet counterparts, the astronaut candidates had to undergo rigorous physical examinations and tests. From a whittled-down list of thirty-two candidates, NASA chose the final seven. On April 9, 1959, those astronauts selected for Project Mercury were presented to the nation. Known as the Mercury Seven, they were: M. Scott Carpenter (1925–), L. Gordon Cooper Jr. (1927–), John Glenn Jr. (1921–), Virgil “Gus” Grissom (1926–1967), Walter Schirra Jr. (1935–), Alan Shepard Jr. (1923–2001), and Donald “Deke” Slayton (1924–1993). Six of these seven eventually flew Mercury missions (Deke Slayton was removed from flight status due to an irregular heartbeat; he was restored to flight status in 1972). The Mercury capsule was bell-shaped, 9.5 feet (2.9 meters) in height, and slightly more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter. It was so small that it could accommodate only one astronaut at a time. Inside were 120 controls, 55 electrical switches, 30 fuses, and 35 mechanical levers. Each astronaut entered through a small hatch in the side of the capsule and sat on a chair that had been specifically shaped to fit his body. The control panel was situated directly in front of the astronaut. Early capsules had two small round portholes, but following complaints from the astronauts about the lack of visibility, NASA engineers replaced these portholes with a large rectangular window. The base of the capsule was enclosed in a heat shield, designed to withstand what was a scorching ride back through Earth’s atmosphere. Held at the center of the heat shield by metal straps were three solid-fuel retrorockets, which were fired in quick succession to bring the craft out of orbit and ready for reentry. Just before landing, the heat shield gave way to an inflated cushion to soften the impact at splashdown. (Unlike Soviet capsules that parachuted to the ground, U.S. capsules parachuted into the ocean.) At the top of the capsule were the main and reserve (backup) parachutes that sprang free to slow the capsule’s descent. Manned Spaceflight Begins

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The launch of Friendship 7, on February 20, 1962 was the first American manned orbital spaceflight. Piloted by astronaut John Glenn, the flight lasted almost five hours. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

The first two Mercury capsules were carried aloft by modified Redstone rockets. The Redstone, which had its first launch in August 1953, was the first operational U.S. ballistic missile. The version that carried Mercury astronauts into space was known as the Mercury-Redstone. The remaining Mercury capsules sat atop Mercury-Atlas rockets, which were modified versions of the powerful Atlas. The initial stage of Project Mercury consisted of seven suborbital flights, ones that did not reach the height necessary 142


to go into orbit. Five of these were successful. The two that were not either veered off course or exploded. Two of these initial seven flights carried a monkey to test the cabin environment. After this came four orbital test flights, two of which went as planned. Before sending a man into space, NASA officials wanted to make sure the rocket and capsule were trustworthy, so they conducted a final test flight in January 1961. Aboard was a chimpanzee named Ham. After he was carried into suborbital flight and returned unharmed, NASA officials deemed Mercury ready for a human pilot. It was a major milestone for the U.S. space program, but the delay caused by the additional test flight allowed the Soviets the opportunity to send the first human into space a mere four months later.

Shepard’s Freedom 7 The first Mercury manned flight was made on May 5, 1961, by Alan Shepard. He had named his capsule Freedom 7. All the other Mercury astronauts named their capsules, as well, and all added 7 to the name to acknowledge the teamwork of their fellow astronauts in the program. Although Shepard’s suborbital flight lasted only fifteen minutes, it proved that a U.S. astronaut could survive and work comfortably in space. It also demonstrated to the forty-five million Americans watching on television that the United States was now in the space race. Freedom 7 reached an altitude no higher than 116 miles (186 kilometers) and traveled a distance of only 303 miles (485 kilometers) away from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. During his short time in space, Shepard maneuvered his small spacecraft using hand controllers that were connected to small thrusters. Traveling at a maximum speed of 5,146 miles (8,234 kilometers) per hour, he found the ride smoother than expected. He experienced five minutes of weightlessness before Freedom 7 parachuted safely into the Atlantic Ocean. The next suborbital flight was made on July 24, 1961, by Gus Grissom in his Liberty Bell 7 capsule. His fight was essentially a repeat of Shepard’s. Liberty Bell 7 had a few minor improvements over Freedom 7, including easier-to-use hand controllers and an explosive side hatch, which the astronauts had requested to provide an easier escape in case of an emergency. The only problem with the fifteen-minute flight came Manned Spaceflight Begins

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when the capsule parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas. While Grissom waited inside the floating capsule to be picked up by helicopter rescue teams, the explosive bolts holding the side hatch in place unexpectedly blew. The tiny spacecraft filled with seawater and sank. Grissom, luckily, was pulled from the ocean unharmed after four minutes in the water. Despite the accident, NASA officials decided that no more suborbital flights were needed before a manned orbital flight should be attempted. After nearly one month of delayed launches, a U.S. astronaut finally went into orbit in space on February 20, 1962. The flight of John Glenn and his Friendship 7 capsule lasted four hours and fifty-five minutes. He was the first American to see a sunrise and a sunset from space. From an altitude of 162 miles (261 kilometers), he observed coastlines during the daylight portions of his mission; at night he easily saw the Australian city of Perth, the residents of which had turned on their lights for his flight. His launch had been so perfect that NASA officials initially cleared Glenn for seven orbits. As time elapsed during the flight, however, various malfunctions cut the mission back to fewer orbits. After his first orbit, Glenn was forced to take manual control of his craft when the automatic controls malfunctioned. On his final orbit, NASA engineers on the ground received a signal indicating that Friendship 7’s heat shield had come loose. This meant that when he entered Earth’s atmosphere, both he and his spacecraft would burn up. To prevent this, Glenn was instructed not to release the retrorockets at the center of the heat shield in an attempt to keep it attached to the capsule. As he descended though the atmosphere, flaming pieces of metal flew past the window in his capsule. Glenn thought that his shield was burning up and breaking away, but the flaming material was simply the retrorocket package. In the end, the signal that the heat shield had been loose was false, and Friendship 7 splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. Glenn returned to Earth a national hero, having met Project Mercury’s primary objectives. Scott Carpenter’s Aurora 7 flight on May 24, 1962, was similar to Glenn’s in its duration and number of orbits. However, the aim of his mission was on science. Carpenter spent most of his time performing scientific experiments such as counting stars, photographing sites on Earth, and recording 144


U.S. president John F. Kennedy congratulates astronaut Alan Shepard, who made the first Mercury manned flight on May 5, 1961. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

how fluids react in a weightless environment. He also ate an entire meal in space, the first American astronaut to do so. Carpenter was so busy and had to work so quickly that he accidentally flipped switches that fired the craft’s thrusters, wasting valuable fuel. On his final orbit, Carpenter unintentionally bumped his hand against the inside wall of the cabin and solved a mystery from the previous flight: The resulting bright shower of particles outside the capsule, what Glenn had called “fireflies,” turned out to be ice particles shaken loose from the capsule’s exterior. Because of his busy schedule and because Manned Spaceflight Begins

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he had been distracted watching the fireflies, Carpenter overshot his planned reentry mark, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean 250 miles (400 kilometers) off target. He was never selected for another spaceflight. On October 3, 1962, Wally Schirra flew into space aboard Sigma 7 (named for the engineering symbol meaning “summation”). The six-orbit mission lasted nine hours and thirteen minutes. After Carpenter’s somewhat flawed mission, NASA officials had decided to move the emphasis on the Mercury flights back to engineering. Schirra’s aim was to test the Mercury capsule. He saved as much fuel as possible during the flight, drifting during many of his orbits. Schirra found time to take photographs, exercise with a bungee-cord device, and broadcast the first live message from a U.S. spacecraft to radio and television listeners on Earth. Schirra also made the first splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, manually steering his capsule to a landing within 4.3 miles (7 kilometers) of the recovery carrier. Schirra’s flight, which was the highest flight of the Mercury program with an apogee of 176 miles (283 kilometers), showed that an astronaut could fly a capsule for at least a day. The end of Project Mercury came with the May 15, 1963, launch of Gordon Cooper and his Faith 7 capsule. His flight was a marathon: Cooper orbited Earth twenty-two times, spending slightly more than thirty-four hours in space. While in orbit, he released a six-inch (fifteen-centimeter) sphere with flashing lights (the first satellite deployed from a spacecraft), took photographs, ate, drank, and slept. At the end of the flight, the automatic flight systems failed, forcing Cooper to take manual control of the craft. He aligned the craft perfectly for its retrofire (the firing of the spacecraft’s engines in the direction opposite to which the spacecraft is moving in order to cut its orbital speed), reentered the atmosphere, and landed within sight of the recovery carrier. NASA officials were so pleased with Cooper’s successful flight that they canceled a planned seventh Mercury flight and pressed on with the next program: the two-man Project Gemini.

The Soviets first, again Following President Kennedy’s call to place a U.S. astronaut on the Moon before the end of the 1960s, NASA engi146


neers and officials proceeded to work on a program that would accomplish such a lofty goal. That program, which had already been established in July 1960, was known as Project Apollo. After the first two Mercury flights, however, NASA officials recognized that the leap from putting a man in orbit to putting one on the Moon was too great to overcome. The technology and the procedures had yet to be developed and tested. Three issues had to be addressed: the ability of spacecraft to rendezvous (or meet up and dock with each other) in space, the ability of astronauts to work in space outside a spacecraft, and the ability of humans to function over extended periods in space. To bridge that gap, NASA officials devised an interim program to train astronauts in the various tasks required to travel to the Moon and safely back. That program, Project Gemini, was initiated in January 1962. As its name suggests, Gemini was to feature a two-man crew, a space-exploration first. The launch of the first manned Gemini flight was scheduled for the fall of 1964, but it was delayed until the spring of 1965. In the meantime, the Soviet Union once again upstaged the United States in the space race, launching its own multiseat spacecraft. Beginning in 1962, the Soviets had begun developing their own lunar (Moon) landing project, called Soyuz (Russian for “Union”). As they met with delay after delay, Soviet engineers and officials realized that they, too, would need an intermediate program to bridge the technology between Vostok and Soyuz. Additional pressure to develop a workable project came from Soviet premier Khrushchev. Well aware of Project Gemini, Khrushchev vowed not to let the rival United States achieve a space first by placing two astronauts in orbit in one craft. So Soviet engineers developed a stopgap spacecraft in the Soviet space program. A stopgap spacecraft is an improvised substitute craft, one that is quickly developed to fill the gap between two planned series of spacecraft. That spacecraft was Voskhod (Russian for “Sunrise”). Voskhod was hurriedly adapted from Vostok. Hence, it was small and relatively simple in design, its capsule consisting of a cabin and an instrument module. In the Vostok craft, there had been an ejection seat built for one cosmonaut that could be used for a quick escape in the event of an emergency Manned Spaceflight Begins

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Aleksei Leonov turning a somersault at the end of the tether that connected him to the orbiting Voskhod 2 spacecraft, during the first human spacewalk, 1965. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

during launch or landing. In Voskhod, that seat was removed and replaced with couches on which the cosmonauts would sit. If two cosmonauts occupied the capsule, they could wear spacesuits. If three cosmonauts squeezed in, there would be no room for them to wear spacesuits. Safety was given second consideration, and the program was fraught with risk. The Voskhod capsule included an extendable tunnel for a cosmonaut to attempt a spacewalk if required on the mission. Achieving the first spacewalk, or EVA (extravehicular activity), was the main purpose of the program, besides beating the U.S. program to put the first multiperson crew in orbit. Because the ejection seats had been removed, Soviet engineers outfitted the craft with a retrorocket and a large parachute so the cosmonauts could land in the spacecraft rather than having 148


to bail out. The retrorocket would prevent injury by reducing the capsule’s velocity to 6.5 feet (2 meters) per second. Following one unmanned test flight, Voskhod 1 was launched on October 12, 1964. Three cosmonauts occupied the craft: pilot Vladimir Komarov (1927–1967), physician Boris Yegorov (1937–1994), and spacecraft engineer Konstantin Feoktistov (1927–), who had earned his place by playing a key role in the design of Vostok and its transformation into Voskhod. This spaceflight was the first one to carry more than one human into space and the first one in which the occupants on board did not wear spacesuits. The crew reportedly carried out medical experiments during the craft’s one day in space, although details of the tests were never revealed. Launched on March 18, 1965, Voskhod 2 with cosmonauts Aleksei Leonov (1934–) and Pavel Belyayev (1925–1970) was a much more memorable mission. It set yet another space milestone for the Soviets as Leonov became the first human ever to attempt an EVA. On the spacecraft’s second orbit, Leonov donned a white spacesuit and an oxygen-tank backpack and exited Voskhod 2. He floated 17.5 feet (5.3 meters) away from the spacecraft—the total length of his safety tether—and took photographs of the spacecraft and Earth. At the end of his twelve-minute EVA, Leonov discovered that his spacesuit had ballooned out in places, making it impossible for him to fit back through the airlock into the capsule. After a few intense and desperate moments, he solved the problem by releasing air from the suit. Eight minutes later, he was safe inside the spacecraft. This was not the only mishap that plagued the Voskhod 2 mission. As Leonov and Belyayev were preparing to return to Earth, they found that the automatic reentry features of the spacecraft did not work. Belyayev had to perform a manual reentry procedure after one more orbit. The procedure worked, but when the cosmonauts landed, they found themselves in a remote and snow-covered region of the Ural Mountains, about 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers) off course. The cosmonauts spent a cold night in the woods among wolves before they were located and rescued by the Soviet Air Force. This was the final Voskhod mission. A third mission, in which two cosmonauts were to remain in space for up to two weeks, had been planned, but it was promptly cancelled. By Manned Spaceflight Begins

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that time, the Soviets had decided to concentrate their efforts on the Soyuz program to send cosmonauts to the Moon.

Gemini: The second phase Although the Soviet Union had bested the United States in the space race yet again, they had done so dangerously. The United States adopted a more methodical approach in its quest to the Moon, one that did not disregard safety rules in order to achieve goals. Project Gemini, though not as pioneering as Project Mercury nor as exciting as the coming Project Apollo, was a critical part of that quest. Like Project Mercury’s, its major objectives were clear: • To subject man and equipment to spaceflight up to two weeks in duration; • To rendezvous and dock with orbiting vehicles and to maneuver the docked combination by using the target vehicle’s propulsion system; • To perfect methods of entering the atmosphere and landing at a preselected point on land. (The goal of landing on land was cancelled in 1964.) The Gemini spacecraft was an improvement on Mercury in both size and capability. The two-seater capsule measured 19 feet (5.8 meters) in length and 9.8 feet (3 meters) in diameter. At approximately 8,380 pounds (3,800 kilograms), it weighed almost twice that of the Mercury capsule. Ironically, it seemed more cramped, having only 50 percent more cabin space for twice as many people. Ejection seats were added, as well as storage space for the longer flights. While Mercury had been able only to change its direction in space, Gemini had to become the first fully maneuverable U.S. manned spacecraft. To rendezvous with another spacecraft, Gemini would have to move forward, backward, and sideways in its orbital path, and even change orbits. To calculate complicated rendezvous maneuvers and reentry and landing procedures, the first onboard computers were installed. Project Gemini saw the launch of twelve spacecraft between April 1964 and November 1966. The first two, made in April 1964 and the following January, were unpiloted flights. The brief first flight was made to check the compatibility be150


Space is Now Open for Business On June 21, 2004, high above the Mojave Desert in California, space history was made. Veteran civilian pilot Mike Melvill flew the rocket plane SpaceShipOne to an altitude of more than 62.5 miles (100 kilometers), the internationally recognized boundary of space. By doing so, he became the first person to pilot a privately built craft into space and earned his astronaut status. SpaceShipOne had been designed by aviation engineer Burt Rutan, with funding provided by billionaire Paul Allen, a cofounder of Microsoft Corporation. The pair hoped the craft would earn them the Ansari X Prize, a competition to build a privately owned vehicle capable of transporting three people into space twice in two weeks. The winner of the prize would receive ten million dollars. They also hoped the success of the craft would open space travel to ordinary people who could afford to pay for the once-in-a-lifetime journey. On its historic flight, the squid-shaped SpaceShipOne was carried to an altitude of

50,000 feet (15,240 meters), attached to the belly of plane called the White Knight. Released from the plane, Melvill then fired the rocket of SpaceShipOne, which burns a combination of rubber and nitrous oxide (a colorless gas composed of nitrogen and oxygen), to soar nearly 270,000 feet (82,300 meters) higher. On its climb, the craft reached a maximum speed of Mach 3, or about 1,900 miles (3,060 kilometers) per hour at that altitude. During its ascent, the craft unexpectedly rolled 90 degrees to the left, but Melvill was able to correct the problem. He discovered the craft’s trim controls, movable surfaces on the craft’s wings that are supposed to help balance lift and drag, had a malfunctioning motor. After switching to backup controls, Melvill was able to control the craft. On its descent, at an altitude of about 80,000 feet (24,385 meters), SpaceShipOne changed its wing and tail configuration to that of a glider, and Melvill sailed the craft in for a smooth landing in the desert.

tween the spacecraft and the Titan II rocket (the modified form of a large ICBM). The second flight was undertaken to test the spacecraft’s launch and reentry systems. When all systems appeared to function normally, the decision was made to begin manned flights. The first piloted Gemini flight was launched on March 23, 1965. Aboard Gemini 3 were astronauts Gus Grissom (the first man to fly into space twice) and John W. Young (1930–). The mission’s primary goal was to test the new, maneuverable Gemini spacecraft. In space, the astronauts fired thrusters to Manned Spaceflight Begins

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move their spacecraft from one orbit to another, among other movements needed for upcoming rendezvous and docking missions. Unlike Mercury capsules, Gemini capsules were designed to land on their side, suspended at two points from a parachute. But during the descent, when the astronauts threw a switch to shift the capsule to its landing position, they were thrown forward with such force that Grissom’s faceplate cracked. Still, the first test of the two-seat Gemini spacecraft had been a success. Gemini 4, considered the first long-duration U.S. spaceflight, was also the first mission to be directed from Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, instead of the Mission Control Center at Cape Canaveral. It was also a highly publicized flight. Its June 3, 1965, launch was broadcast to twelve European nations and watched by millions of people. The plan for astronauts James A McDivitt (1929–) and Edward H. White II (1930–1967) during their fourday, sixty-two-orbit mission was to fly in formation with the spent second stage of the Titan II booster in orbit. On their first attempt, however, the astronauts learned something about the complication of orbital rendezvous. Thrusting toward their target, they found that they only moved farther away. They finally gave up after using nearly half of their fuel. (On later rendezvous missions, a spacecraft chasing another in orbit would first drop to a lower, faster orbit before rising again.) The highlight of the mission was White’s twenty-twominute EVA, the first ever for an American. Tied to a 25-foot (7.6-meter) tether while orbiting Earth at 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) per hour, White floated through space while McDivitt took photographs. Like its predecessor, Gemini IV missed its intended landing point by a wide margin, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean some 50 miles (80 kilometers) off target. Gemini 5 was the longest U.S. manned spaceflight to date. Astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. (1930–1999) were launched aboard the spacecraft from Cape Canaveral on August 21, 1965. Their eight-day flight showed that astronauts could endure weightlessness for roughly the time needed to fly to the Moon and back. While in orbit, Cooper and Conrad took high-resolution photographs for the U.S. Department of Defense, but problems with the craft’s fuel cells and maneuvering system forced the cancellation of sev152


eral other experiments. The astronauts found themselves marking time in orbit, and Conrad later remarked that he wished he had brought along a book. Splashdown problems continued to plague Project Gemini as a computer error during retrofire placed Gemini 5 a little more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from its recovery ship. Gemini 6, with astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford (1930–), was originally scheduled to launch on October 26, 1965, but the launch was canceled. The primary reason for their mission was to rendezvous with an unmanned vehicle in space, but that vehicle had exploded six minutes after it had launched. Their mission was then changed to rendezvous with Gemini 7, which lifted off on December 4, 1965. On December 12, Gemini 6 was again positioned for launch. When the countdown reached zero, the engines fired, and then shut down. Schirra noted no rocket movement and elected not to eject the crew from the vehicle. Had he done so, a hatch on the capsule would have exploded free and the astronauts would have been ejected a few hundred feet from the capsule. His action, which saved the capsule from being damaged and saved the astronauts from possibly being injured, also saved the mission. Three days later, Gemini 6 finally flew into space to rendezvous with Gemini 7 before it was scheduled to return to Earth. Once in orbit, the two spacecraft rendezvoused (a first in spaceflight history), coming within 1 foot (0.3 meter) of each other, but never touching, for a period of about three hours. Gemini 6 then maneuvered away, and the two spacecraft flew in formation about 30 miles (48 kilometers) apart for more than twenty hours. After that, Gemini 6 returned to Earth, splashing down just seven miles (eleven kilometers) from its intended target. Gemini 7, carrying astronauts Frank Borman (1928–) and James A. Lovell Jr. (1928–), remained in space for three more days, bringing its total time in space to almost fourteen days. It would prove to be the longest Gemini flight. Borman and Lovell conducted the most experiments, twenty, of any Gemini mission, including studies of nutrition in space. The astronauts also evaluated a new, lightweight spacesuit, which proved uncomfortable if worn for a long time in Gemini’s hot, cramped quarters. Most important, they showed that Manned Spaceflight Begins

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astronauts could withstand an extended period of time in space without lasting physical problems, satisfying Project Gemini’s first objective.

Success, then disaster The second major objective of the Gemini program was completed less than six hours after the launch of Gemini 8 on March 16, 1966. Astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930–) brought the spacecraft to within 3 feet (0.9 meter) of a prelaunched Agena rocket (an unmanned rocket developed by the U.S. Air Force to launch satellites into space), then slowly docked with it. This marked the first orbital docking ever. What followed, however, was nearly a disaster. The capsule, still docked to the Agena, began spinning out of control. Never having faced this situation in simulation, Armstrong and fellow astronaut David R. Scott (1932–) undocked from the Agena. The problem, however, was not the rocket, but a stuck orbital thruster on the spacecraft. Gemini 8 began to tumble even faster, at the dizzying rate of one revolution per second. The astronauts were nearing unconsciousness when, as a last-ditch measure, Armstrong shut down the orbital thrusters and turned on the capsule’s reentry control thrusters. The move steadied the craft, but used up so much fuel the mission had to be cut short. Ten hours after launch, Gemini 8 made an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean. The two astronauts were still nauseated after splashdown, suffering from severe space motion sickness. Scott was disappointed, as well: He had missed out on a planned spacewalk. Gemini 9 was plagued with problems even before it lifted off. The mission was to be flown by astronauts Elliot M. See Jr. (1927–1966) and Charles A. Bassett II (1931–1966), but four months before launch they were killed in a plane crash while flying to the factory where the spaceship was being built. The backup crew, astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene A. Cernan (1934–), were then tapped for the docking mission. NASA tried to launch an Agena rocket on May 17, 1966, but the rocket exploded on takeoff. This time NASA had a backup plan. A specially designed docking target (Augmented Target Docking Adapter, or ATDA) was launched on June 1 for the rendezvous in space. Then a computer failure forced a twoday postponement of the launching of Gemini 9. Meanwhile, 154


two shields on the ATDA had failed to come off when expected. After Gemini 9 finally lifted off on June 3, 1966, it could not dock successfully with the ATDA. However, the crew did complete several rendezvous maneuvers. Later in the flight, Cernan went on a one-hour-and-forty–six-minute EVA that turned into a horrendous experience. He had trouble staying in one place in space and tended to float away from the spacecraft, held in place only by his tether. His spacesuit could not handle the body heat and sweat that he generated, and his visor steamed up. Unable to see, Cernan accidentally snagged an antenna on the capsule, which caused several tears in the outer layer of his spacesuit, and he was forced to return to the spacecraft without trying out a new jet-powered backpack. He also had trouble getting back into Gemini 9 because his spacesuit had stiffened. Luckily, reentry and splashdown were routine for this three-day mission. In contrast, Gemini 10 was a smooth operation. NASA launched an Agena rocket on July 18, 1966, followed the same day by the spacecraft with astronauts John Young and Michael Collins (1930–) aboard. They docked with the Agena, then boosted the combined craft to a higher orbit of 475 miles (765 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, a new record for manned altitude. They later rendezvoused with the drifting Agena left over from the aborted Gemini 8 flight. With no electricity on board the second Agena, the rendezvous was accomplished with eyes only, no radar. After the rendezvous, Collins spacewalked over to the dormant Agena at the end of a 50-foot (15.24-meter) tether, becoming the first person to meet another spacecraft in orbit. Gemini 10 had an uneventful landing, splashing down within sight of the recovery ship. Gemini 11’s flight plan was to be similar to that of Gemini 10, but with one major exception: a rendezvous and docking immediately after reaching orbit. This procedure would mirror what would have to be done after a takeoff from the Moon. Astronauts Pete Conrad and Richard F. Gordon Jr. (1929–) lifted off on September 12, 1966, shortly after their Agena rocket was launched. They completed a docking maneuver on the first orbit, eighty-five minutes after launch. Gordon then attempted an EVA that had to be cut short because he became exhausted and his helmet fogged up. The mated spacecraft were then boosted to an orbit as high as 850 miles (1,368 kilometers) above Earth, high enough for the astronauts to see Manned Spaceflight Begins

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China Claims Its Place in Space In the race for space, it was a contest of two: the United States and the Soviet Union. For more than four decades, the two held the distinction of being the only countries to have sent manned spacecraft into orbit. Astronauts from other countries flew into space during that period, but always aboard a vehicle that bore the markings of these two nations (in 1991 the Soviet Union dissolved into Russia and other nations). That two-nation hold was broken in the fall of 2003 when China became the third nation to send a human into space. On October 15, 2003, the Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou 5 lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the western Gobi Desert. Aboard was thirty-eight-year-old astronaut (taikonaut) Yang Liwei, a former air force pilot who was chosen from a group of fourteen candidates for the mission. The Shenzhou (Chinese for “Divine Vessel”) spacecraft measures 28 feet (8.55 meters) in length, 9.2 feet (2.8 meters) in diameter, and 17,000 pounds (7,800 kilo-

grams) in weight. It is powered by four solar panels. It consists of three modules that separate during flight: The orbital module, mounted in the nose, provides living space for the astronauts and contains scientific or military equipment. It separates before retrofire and remains in orbit after the crew returns to Earth. The reentry capsule, which can carry three or four astronauts, is mounted in the center. After retrofire is completed, it separates from the service module. After reentry, the capsule floats to the ground beneath a single parachute. Just before landing, the heat shield is jettisoned and small rockets fire for a soft landing. The propulsion module, mounted below the reentry capsule, contains the main spacecraft electronics and environmental systems, and the liquid-propellant rocket system that allows the spacecraft to maneuver in orbit and to return to Earth. This module has four main engines at its base. Once it separates from the reentry capsule after retrofire, it burns up in the atmosphere.

Earth as a globe. The new manned altitude record that was set was not broken until Apollo 8 headed for the Moon. A second EVA for Gordon went more smoothly: He even fell asleep while floating halfway out of the hatch. Conrad and Gordon also conducted a gravity experiment by connecting the two vessels with a tether (which Gordon had attached during his second EVA), then allowing them to rotate slowly around each other. Instruments on board Gemini 11 registered some gravity by showing that the astronauts were not quite weightless. The almost three-day mission ended with the first totally automatic, 156


slowed, and at some points stopped, its developing space program. In the early 1970s, a secret program to send a man into space arose, but it was soon canceled. In 1992, China renewed its ambition to explore space and developed a new program to send a man into orbit. At the end of 1999, it launched an unmanned spacecraft, the first of four that would be sent up before the historic 2003 liftoff.

Yang Liwei, astronaut of China’s first manned spaceflight. (© Zhang Tongsheng/Xinhua Photo/Corbis)

Like those of the United States and the Soviet Union, China’s space program had its beginnings in the 1950s. Plans to send up the country’s first satellite were presented to government officials in 1958. However, various social conditions and events in China

Yang’s flight aboard Shenzhou 5 lasted 21.5 hours, during which time he completed fourteen orbits around Earth. China’s space program is linked to its military, so few details were released about Yang’s mission in orbit. After reentering Earth’s atmosphere, his capsule made a safe landing on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Shortly after the successful mission, China announced that it was training astronauts for a second manned mission, one that would likely include a crew of two. No date was given for its launch. The country also stated that it had plans to send a probe to orbit the Moon and to build its own manned space station, both by 2020.

computer-controlled reentry, which brought Gemini 11 down to a landing only 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) from its recovery ship. The final mission of the project, Gemini 12, had only minor glitches. Astronauts James Lovell and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. (1930–) took off on November 11, 1966, ninety minutes after their Agena rocket. Docking between the two craft was done manually because of a radar malfunction, but all went well. In preparation for his EVAs, Aldrin had trained underwater to simulate the effects of weightlessness. NASA techManned Spaceflight Begins

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nicians had also attached improved restraints to the outside of the capsule, so an astronaut could move about without constantly fighting not to float away. Both the training and restraints proved invaluable. During three EVAs totaling a record five hours and thirty minutes, Aldrin completed twenty assigned tasks, such as plugging and unplugging connectors, screwing and unscrewing bolts, and manipulating hooks and rings. He displayed no stress and proved that a trained astronaut could work easily and efficiently outside of the spacecraft. After almost four days in flight, Gemini 12 splashed down just a little more than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from its recovery area. Ten piloted Gemini missions had left the launch pads of Cape Canaveral, Florida, in less than twenty months. Despite problems both great and small on virtually all of them, the project had achieved its goals. Astronauts had shown that they could live and work in space, and techniques such as orbital rendezvous and docking had become routine. Indeed, it seemed that spaceflight itself had become routine. Five days before the launch of the last Gemini, NASA had sent a probe (an unmanned spacecraft sent to explore the Moon, other celestial bodies, or outer space) to scout out landing sites on the Moon. All that remained was to put a man on its surface.

For More Information Books Catchpole, John. Project Mercury: NASA’s First Manned Space Programme. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Hall, Rex, and David J. Shayler. The Rocket Men: Vostok and Voskhod, the First Soviet Manned Spaceflights. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Schefter, James. The Race: The Complete True Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon. New York: Doubleday, 1999. Shayler, David J. Gemini: Steps to the Moon. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1979.

Web Sites “Kennedy Space Center: Gemini Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/gemini/gemini.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). 158


“Kennedy Space Center: Mercury Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/mercury/mercury.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). “The Race for Space: The Soviet Space Program.” University of Minnesota. http://www1.umn.edu/scitech/assign/space/vostok_intro1.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). Russian/USSR Spacecrafts. http://space.kursknet.ru/cosmos/english/ machines/m_rus.sht (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Space Race.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. http://www. nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal114/gal114.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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8 Project Apollo

“N

ow it is time to take longer strides—time for a great new American enterprise—time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth. . . . I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.” With these words, spoken before a joint session of the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy (1917– 1963) declared to the world the bold intention of the United States in its space race with the Soviet Union (present-day Russia). That race, which had officially begun with the launch of the Soviet unmanned artificial satellite Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, was a contest for superiority in space. It paralleled the Cold War, the prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the two superpowers: the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The race would go on for almost two decades. 160

Astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin climbing down the ladder of Apollo 11 and onto the surface of the Moon on July 20, 1969. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

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For several years at the beginning of the space race, the Soviet Union held the undisputed lead. Even as the United States launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958, the Soviets continued with ever more impressive accomplishments, particularly in the area of lunar (Moon) exploration. On January 2, 1959, the Soviets launched the space probe Luna 1. The probe was supposed to have reached the Moon, but a failure of its control system caused it to miss the Moon by about 3,730 miles (6,000 kilometers). Nonetheless, it was the first human-made object to reach escape velocity, which is the minimum speed that an object, such as a rocket, must have in order to escape completely from the gravitational influence of a planet or a star. Over the next twenty-seven years, a series of twenty-four Luna space probes thoroughly explored the Moon and space around it. These probes accomplished a number of firsts, including orbiting, photographing, and landing on the Moon. Two Luna probes even deployed rovers (remote-controlled robotic vehicles) on the Moon, which crossed its surface and analyzed soil composition. But the goal of the space race was to put a human in space. In fact, that had been a dream of spaceflight visionaries for decades. The Soviets were the first to achieve this goal, sending Yuri Gagarin in a single-orbit flight around Earth aboard Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. The United States matched the accomplishment of putting a man in space when astronaut Alan Shepard lifted off aboard Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961. Three weeks after Shepard’s short suborbital (less than an orbit) flight, President Kennedy committed the nation to place a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. This bold commitment, made before a U.S. astronaut had even completed one orbit, would bring together the nation in an effort to surpass the Soviets in space achievement. Both the United States and the Soviet Union worked to develop and perfect the necessary measures for a manned lunar mission. Among the countless tasks and procedures that had to be learned and mastered were how to rendezvous (meet up) and dock two spacecraft in orbit, to provide life support for astronauts (called cosmonauts in the Soviet Union) for up to two weeks in space, to train astronauts to deal with prolonged periods of weightlessness, and to determine the level 162


of radiation in space that astronauts could endure. In the United States, the program intended to accomplish this preliminary work was known as Project Gemini. The first flight of the newly designed two-person Gemini capsule came on March 23, 1965, with astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom (1926– 1967) and John W. Young (1930–) on board. But the United States had been upstaged by the Soviet Union, which had sent three cosmonauts on a daylong flight on October 12, 1964, on Voskhod 1. Voskhod was the Soviet spacecraft hurriedly designed to beat the Gemini program. On the second Voskhod mission, launched March 18, 1965, cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov (1934–) made the first spacewalk, or EVA (extravehicular activity). It would be almost a week later before the first manned Gemini flight lifted off from the launch pad. The goal of placing humans on the Moon was made not so much in the interest of science but of national prestige. In the space race in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union had bested the United States many times. But in the actual race to the Moon, the United States would claim the prize of superiority. The manned space program that landed astronauts on the Moon and brought them safely back to Earth, fulfilling Kennedy’s promise, was Project Apollo. It was an endeavor that firmly established the United States’s technological supremacy over its rival nations.

Words to Know Artificial satellite: A man-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats. Escape velocity: The minimum speed that an object, such as a rocket, must have in order to escape completely from the gravitational influence of a planet or a star. Jettison: To eject or discard. Mass: The measure of the total amount of matter in an object. Probe: An unmanned spacecraft sent to explore the Moon, other celestial bodies, or outer space; some probes are programmed to return to Earth while others are not. Rover: A remote-controlled robotic vehicle. Spacewalk: Technically known as an EVA, or extravehicular activity, an excursion outside a spacecraft or space station by an astronaut or cosmonaut wearing only a pressurized spacesuit and, possibly, some sort of maneuvering device. Thrust: The forward force generated by a rocket.

On July 29, 1960, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Project Apollo

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President John F. Kennedy, speaking before a joint session of the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961. (AP/Wide World Photos)

(NASA) had proposed a plan to develop a three-man spacecraft, to be known as Apollo, that could operate in low Earth or circumlunar (around the Moon) orbit. But with Kennedy’s 1961 speech, the focus of Apollo shifted. The program would become one of the great triumphs of modern technology. Of its eleven manned missions, six would land on the Moon. Each one extended the range and scope of lunar exploration. In 1972 the program came to a conclusion, and with it ended the first and only wave of human exploration of the Moon to date. The total cost for the program was about twenty-five billion dollars at the time. Only the building of the Panama Canal between 1904 and 1914 rivaled it as the largest nonmilitary technological endeavor ever undertaken by the United States. The details surrounding the Soviet manned lunar program were not as well known as those of Apollo. In fact, Soviet of164


The rocket-powered X-15. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

ficials at the time denied that they were trying to get to the Moon at all. Only after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s did many facts about the program emerge. The Soviets did, indeed, work hard to beat the United States to the Moon. Those efforts were originally focused on the manned Soyuz (Russian for “Union”) program, conceived by the Soviet Union’s premier space engineer, Sergei Korolev (1907–1966), in 1961. However, that plan was abandoned in favor of a more powerful spacecraft for flights to the Moon. The Soyuz program was scaled back to a single series of spacecrafts that would be used for Earth-orbiting missions. In 1965 the Soviets began work on a spacecraft called L-1 that was supposed to carry two cosmonauts on a loop around the Moon. Shortly afterward, they began work on a program called L-3, the aim of which was a manned lunar landing mission. Included in the program were designs for a lunar orbiter and lunar lander. The success of the program depended heavily on the development of a large rocket known as the N-1. The 345-foot Project Apollo

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The X-15: To the Edge of Space The X-15 was a rocket-powered aircraft designed to reach hypersonic flight and altitudes at the edge of space. Hypersonic flight is achieved at speeds at or above Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound (the rate at which sound waves travel, approximately 750 miles [1,207 kilometers] per hour). Flight at altitudes of 250,000 feet (76,200 meters) and above requires an aircraft that is also a spacecraft that can operate in nearvacuum conditions. (A complete vacuum exists only when all matter is absent.) The X-15 was a joint research program of NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and North American Aviation. Under the program, three aircraft were built. Between June 8, 1959, and October 24, 1968, those aircraft completed 199 flights, providing important data on thermal heating, control, and stability at extremely high speeds, and on atmospheric reentry. Much of the program’s work laid the foundation for the successful development of the Space Shuttle. The airplane, which measured 52.5 feet (16 meters) in length and had a wingspan

of 22 feet (6.7 meters), had an internal frame of titanium and stainless steel. Its skin, made from an alloy of chrome and nickel, could withstand temperatures up to 1200°F (650°C). It was launched from under the wing of a converted B-52 bomber at an altitude of 44,950 feet (13,700 meters). It then ignited its liquid-propellant engine. For high-speed flights, the X-15 flew as a conventional airplane, using aerodynamic controls. For high-altitude flights, it flew at a steep angle until its fuel was spent, then coasted up for two to three more minutes. The X-15s set aircraft speed and altitude records that stand to the present. On October 3, 1967, an X-15 pilot reached a speed of Mach 6.72 or 4,535 miles (7,297 kilometers) per hour, the fastest aircraft flight in history. On August 22, 1963, an X-15 pilot made the highest flight by a winged aircraft other than the Space Shuttle: 354,200 feet (107,960 meters) or 67 miles (108 kilometers). Because they had achieved an altitude higher than 50 miles (80 kilometers), eight X-15 test pilots qualified as astronauts.

(105-meter) rocket was made up of three stages, which contained a total of forty-two engines. However, repeated equipment failures hampered both the L-1 and the L-3 programs. Four successive tests of the N-1 were all failures. The second test, in July 1969, was especially crippling to the program. The rocket shut down eighteen seconds after liftoff, fell onto the launch pad, and exploded. This accident destroyed the launch site and any hope that the Soviets could reach the Moon ahead of the United States. The fact 166


that the Soviet Union was not as technologically advanced as the United States put it at a loss in the most complex undertaking ever attempted by humans. And the unexpected death of Korolev in January 1966 unraveled what had once been a strong Soviet space program.

Apollo spacecraft The Apollo spacecraft was made up of three sections: the Command Module, the Service Module, and the Lunar Module. Those Apollo spacecraft involved in Earth-orbiting missions were launched by Saturn IB rockets; those on lunar missions were launched atop larger Saturn V rockets. All liftoffs were made from launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center (renamed in 1963 from the original Launch Operations Center) at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Command Module (CM) was a cone-shaped capsule that measured 10.5 feet (3.2 meters) in height and 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) in diameter at its base. At launch, it weighed slightly more than 13,000 pounds (5,900 kilograms). The CM served as the crew’s quarters as well the control center. The astronauts sat three abreast in the CM, with the pilot in the center couch. Food, water, clothing, waste management, and other equipment were packed into bays that lined the walls of the craft. Five windows, two of which were located at the forward end, were used for general observation and during docking procedures. The CM was the only part of the Apollo spacecraft built to withstand the heat of reentry. Attached at the base of the CM was the Service Module (SM), which was shaped like a cylinder. It measured 24.6 feet (7.5 meters) in length and 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) in diameter. Contained within it were the spacecraft’s oxygen supply, propulsion system, and other systems. For most of the EarthMoon trip, the CM and the SM were linked; they were simply called the Command and Service Module (CSM). The Lunar Module (LM) was the only part of the Apollo spacecraft that actually carried astronauts to and from the Moon’s surface. It was the first manned spacecraft designed to fly solely outside of Earth’s atmosphere in space. Because there is no air in space, its designers did not have to worry about creating a spacecraft that would be shaped in a way in which air could move easily around it. The LM was a twoProject Apollo

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stage vehicle consisting of a descent (dropping down, declining) stage and an ascent (rising) stage. Its total height measured almost 22 feet (6.7 meters). More than two-thirds of the LM’s total weight of 32,000 pounds (14,500 kilograms) was carried in its descent stage. This stage contained the main engines, propellants, and landing gear (four legs) used to land the LM on the lunar surface. It also housed a water tank and other equipment. Once on the surface, the descent stage served as a launch pad for the ascent stage, which was equipped with its own engine. The ascent stage contained a cockpit housing the astronauts and navigation, guidance, control, communications, life support, and electrical power systems. Since the vessel was too small to house bunks, or beds, the astronauts had to rest on the floor anchored by pulleys and straps. There were three windows and two hatches on the sides of the ascent stage. The hatches allowed the astronauts to transfer between the LM and the CM and to exit to the Moon’s surface via a ladder. While on the surface, the astronauts always left the hatch slightly ajar.

The Apollo spacecraft mounted atop the giant Saturn V, the largest and powerful rocket ever developed. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

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The launch vehicle that boosted the Apollo spacecraft from the surface of Earth to the Moon was the giant Saturn V rocket. It was the largest and most powerful rocket ever developed. It was so large that it had to be assembled away from the launch pad and transported there. Three million components made up the Saturn V, not including the Apollo spacecraft. The largest was a fuel tank measuring

33 feet (10 meters) by 60 feet (18 meters). The smallest was a diode (electronic device that allows current to flow in only one direction) smaller than a pinhead. A fueled Saturn V weighed more than 6 million pounds (2.7 million kilograms) at liftoff, and stood more than 360 feet (110 meters) high with the Apollo spacecraft on top. In comparison, the Statue of Liberty on its base stands 305 feet (94 meters) high. Saturn V was one of a series of Saturn rockets developed by Germanborn American engineer Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) and his colleagues. Von Braun had come to work for the U.S. government at the end of World War II (1939–45), then for NASA in 1960. Just prior to Saturn, von Braun had created the Redstone rocket, which was used in the first two U.S. manned spaceflights, the Mercury missions of 1961. The Saturn series included two The different sections of the Apollo Saturn V rocket, rockets besides the Saturn V. They were left, and three-man Apollo spacecraft. (National Aeronautics the Saturn I and the Saturn IB. The Satand Space Administration) urn I measured about 180 feet (55 meters) in height; the Saturn IB about 224 feet (68 meters). Both measured almost 22 feet (6.7 meters) in diameter at their base. Neither proved to have sufficient thrust to send the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon, which led to the development of the much more powerful Saturn V. Three stages composed the Saturn V: the S-IC, SII, and SIVB. The S-IC, the first stage, measured 138 feet (42 meters) in height and 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter. It was powered by five engines, each the size of a two-and-a-half-ton truck. Each engine used 6,000 pounds (2,724 kilograms) of the kerosene/liquid oxygen propellant per second. The five engines developed a total thrust of 7.6 million pounds (33.8 million Newtons; a Newton is the official metric unit of measure Project Apollo

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of force, roughly equal to one-quarter pound). They burned for 160 seconds, by which time the vessel had reached a height of 38 miles (61 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. The rockets then ceased to burn and the stage detached from the rest of the vessel, dropping into the Atlantic Ocean about 397 miles (640 kilometers) away from Cape Canaveral. The SII, the second stage, then took over. It measured 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter, but was only 81 feet (25 meters) in height. Five engines, with the combined power of thirty diesel locomotives, propelled it upward. They fired for 365 seconds, driving the Apollo spacecraft to a speed of 15,710 miles (25,300 kilometers) per hour. Once the vessel had reached about 115 miles (185 kilometers) above ground, this stage separated from the craft and dropped in the Atlantic Ocean about 2,484 miles (6,000 kilometers) from the launch site. The S-IVB, the third and final stage of the rocket, was nearly the same height as the second stage, but only about half as wide. Its single engine fired twice: The first burn, immediately after the second stage separated, lasted for 142 seconds and carried Apollo into a 118-mile (190-kilometer) orbit at a speed of 17,510 miles (28,200 kilometers) per hour. After two or three orbits, the engine fired again for 345 seconds to place Apollo on a path to the Moon at a speed of 24,840 miles (40,000 kilometers) per hour. After separating, the stage fired its engine one last time, using up its remaining fuel to send the stage into deep space or on a collision course with the Moon, depending on the mission. The connecting link between the top of the S-IVB and the bottom of the CSM was the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA). It housed the LM. When the S-IVB separated, the panels of the SLA were jettisoned, or ejected, exposing the LM. The CSM then turned around in space and docked with the LM. The spacecraft’s engine then fired to rotate the docked CSM-LM and send it to the Moon on the correct path. Once the spacecraft was in orbit around the Moon, two astronauts from the CSM entered the LM through joined hatches at the top of both, and the two vessels parted. While the LM descended to the Moon’s surface, the CSM remained in orbit, piloted by one astronaut who communicated with space officials on Earth and maintained a watch over the mission in case an emergency launch had to be made. When the 170


ascent stage of the LM lifted off from the Moon, it rendezvoused (joined) with the CSM in lunar orbit. After its crew reentered the CSM, the LM was released from the CSM to crash on the Moon. The CSM then made the return trip to Earth. Before entering Earth’s atmosphere, the SM was jettisoned, and the CM fell through the atmosphere at an initial speed of 25,000 miles (40,225 kilometers) per hour, protected by its heat shield. At 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) above the planet’s surface, three parachutes contained in the top of the CM opened and the craft splashed safely into the Pacific Ocean. Once rescued, the astronauts were then held in quarantine (isolation) for three weeks to ensure that they did not bring back any diseases or bacteria from the Moon and space.

Dual disaster By 1967 both the United States and the Soviet Union were ready to begin projects that would send the first humans to the Moon. Under Project Apollo, three unmanned test missions had already been flown. The first launch of Apollo was designated AS-201 (“AS” stood for “Apollo-Saturn”). It was a suborbital flight of the Saturn IB on February 26, 1966. The second test, AS-203, followed on July 5, and the third, AS-202, on August 25. The first manned mission was scheduled for liftoff in February 1967. In the years prior to this, nineteen astronauts had flown into space aboard Mercury and Gemini spacecraft without a mishap. Seven of those nineteen had even flown twice. The Soviets had sent ten men and one woman into space aboard Vostok and Voskhod spacecraft, and all had returned safely. This all changed in 1967: Both sides suffered horrible disasters that set each country’s space program back eighteen months. Astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom (1926–1967), Roger Chaffee (1935–1967), and Edward H. White II (1930–1967) had been selected to fly on the first Apollo manned spaceflight. The purpose of the mission, known as AS-204, was to test the Command Module to make sure its systems would function properly in space. On January 27, 1967, the three astronauts entered the capsule at 1:00 P.M. to run a preflight launch simulation. The newly designed double hatch to the capsule was sealed, and the capsule was pressurized with 100 Project Apollo

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The burned Command Module of Apollo 1 the day after the fire that took the lives of astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Edward H. White II. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

percent oxygen. This hatch had replaced the one found on the Mercury and Gemini capsules, which could be quickly released with explosive bolts. It would take 90 seconds to release the new six-bolt hatch. For hours, the crew ran simulation tests. Finally, just after 6:30 P.M., Chaffee announced almost casually that he smelled fire. Seconds later, Grissom yelled that a fire was 172


spreading through the capsule. The astronauts tried desperately to open the hatch, but within a few moments they were dead. Technicians who were nearby had tried to save the astronauts, but it took them six minutes to open the hatch. It was later discovered that the temperature inside the capsule had soared to 1,000°F (538°C), splitting open the capsule’s belly. An autopsy revealed that the astronauts had died within seconds, mostly from smoke inhalation. Although NASA officials knew that an accident would probably occur at some point during the space program, they never expected it to happen when the spacecraft was on the ground. The investigation of the accident, which resulted in a fourteen-volume report issued in April 1967, concluded that it could have been prevented. The report stated that the most likely cause of the fire was an electrical spark from a poorly insulated wire under Grissom’s seat. In the oxygen-pure atmosphere in the capsule, the fire quickly raged out of control. The report also found many examples of low–quality workmanship, substandard manufacturing procedures, and a general neglect for safety measures. Grissom had warned NASA that the spacecraft was badly designed. He had even hung a lemon from the CM one week before he was killed inside it. To honor the three dead astronauts, NASA renamed the mission Apollo 1. The agency also delayed another launch in the lunar-landing program for a year and a half, during which time more than fifteen hundred modifications were made to the CM. This included reinstalling a quick-release escape hatch. Almost three months after the Apollo 1 disaster, the Soviets launched their Soyuz program. Its beginning would be as tragic. The Soyuz spacecraft was made up of three sections: an orbital module; a descent module; and a compartment containing instruments, engines, and fuel. For most of the mission, the crew remained in the orbital module. This could be depressurized to form an airlock, so cosmonauts could exit to perform an EVA (spacewalk). For the ride back to Earth, the crew occupied the descent module, which had a heat shield. This was the only part of the spacecraft to reenter Earth’s atmosphere. Soyuz 1 lifted off in the very early morning of April 23, 1967. Although Soviet officials had announced the launching Project Apollo

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in advance, the first time they had done so, scanty details of the mission were released. Once in orbit, Soyuz 1 was to have served as a docking target for Soyuz 2 and its crew of three cosmonauts. After docking, two cosmonauts from Soyuz 2 were to have transferred to Soyuz 1 to join cosmonaut Vladimir M. Komarov (1927–1967) for the return trip to Earth. But Soyuz 2 was never launched because Soyuz 1 was plagued by problems immediately after it achieved orbit. One solar panel failed to unfold, leading to a shortage of power for the spacecraft’s systems. On its thirteenth orbit, its stabilizers failed, and the spacecraft went into an uncontrolled spin. Various other equipment failed as well, including the onboard computer system. Komarov tried twice to reenter without success. The third attempt at reentry was successful, but the main parachute would not deploy and the reserve chute became tangled. The descent module slammed into a field at an estimated 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour, instantly killing Komarov, the first fatality during an actual spaceflight. Later inspection of the Soyuz 2 showed the same problem with its parachute, which would have doomed its three cosmonauts if the launch had proceeded as planned. In the wake of the tragedy, the Soviet space program shut down for eighteen months before another manned launch took place. That delay, coupled with the dramatic failure of the N-1 rocket, dashed any hopes of a Soviet Moon landing before the end of the decade.

Back on track After the Apollo 1 fire, NASA decided that the next three Apollo missions should be unmanned. Their purpose was to test the powerful new Saturn V rocket, the LM, and a variety of new safety features. Finally, on October 11, 1968, Apollo 7 sat on the launch pad, ready for liftoff. Commanding this Earth-orbital mission devoted to testing the functionality and livability of the CSM for more than ten days in orbit was Walter Schirra Jr. (1935–), the only astronaut to fly Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. Joining him were astronauts Donn F. Eisele (1930–1987) and R. Walter Cunningham (1932–). Since it carried no LM, Apollo 7 used the Saturn IB rocket (all subsequent missions used the giant Saturn V). The Apollo hardware and all mission operations worked without any sig174


Space Exploration Fatalities January 27, 1967: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee die in a fire in the command module of Apollo 1 during a ground test at Kennedy Space Center. April 24, 1967: Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when the main parachute of Soyuz 1 fails to open and the spacecraft crashes on its return to Earth. June 29, 1971: Cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev die thirty minutes before the landing of Soyuz 11 because a faulty valve depressurizes the spacecraft. January 28, 1986: The space shuttle Challenger explodes seventy-three seconds after launch because of poorly sealing O-rings on

the booster rocket, killing all seven astronauts aboard: Francis “Dick” Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair, Gregory B. Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first teacher in space. February 1, 2003: The space shuttle Columbia breaks apart in flames above Texas, sixteen minutes before it is supposed to touch down in Florida, because of damage to the shuttle’s thermal-protection tiles. All seven astronauts aboard are killed: William McCool, Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon, who was the first Israeli astronaut.

nificant problems. The Service Propulsion System (SPS), the important engine that would place Apollo in and out of lunar orbit, made eight nearly perfect firings. Even though Apollo’s larger cabin was more comfortable than Gemini’s, the days in orbit took their toll on the astronauts. The food was bad and all three developed colds, but their successful mission was a confidence-builder. The Soviets tried to keep pace by launching the unmanned Soyuz 2 on October 25, 1968, and Soyuz 3 the next day, piloted by cosmonaut Georgi T. Beregovoi (1921–1995). His three-day mission involved rendezvous attempts with Soyuz 2, what was to have been the goal of the ill-fated Soyuz 1. Beregovoi was able to maneuver his spacecraft to within three feet (one meter) of the other craft, but was unable to complete the docking after three attempts. Eventually, almost all of the maneuvering fuel was expended and the mission had to be abandoned. Yuri A. Gagarin (1934–1968), who had become the first man in space when he flew aboard Vostok 1 in 1961, was to Project Apollo

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Apollo 8 crewmembers James A. Lovell Jr., William A. Anders, and Frank Borman. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

have been the pilot on Soyuz 3. He was killed, however, in a plane crash while training for this mission.

First Moon orbit Apollo 8, launched on December 21, 1968, was a major mission. Aboard were astronauts Frank Borman (1928–) and James A. Lovell Jr. (1928–), both of whom had flown on Gemini 7. Rounding out the crew was astronaut William A. Anders (1933–). At about three hours into the mission, they refired 176


the Saturn V’s fourth stage and left Earth orbit, the first humans to do so. Everything worked perfectly. Apollo 8 entered lunar orbit on the morning of December 24. For the next twenty hours, the astronauts circled the Moon, taking photographs and scouting future landing sites. They also made two television transmissions, sending Christmas wishes to viewers back on Earth. While in orbit around the Moon, they photographed Earth rising over the lunar horizon. This famous photograph is known as “Earthrise.” The mission ended with a perfect reentry and splashdown on December 27. Proving that it had the ability to navigate to and from the Moon, Apollo 8 gave a tremendous boost to the entire Apollo program. The Soviets received a boost to their space program just a few weeks later when Soyuz 4 and 5 docked in space. It marked the first time two manned spacecraft had docked. Soyuz 4, piloted by cosmonaut Vladimir A. Shatalov (1927–), had lifted off on January 14, 1969. The next day, Soyuz 5 had launched with cosmonauts Boris V. Volynov (1934–), Aleksei S. Yeliseyev (1934–), and Yevgeny Khrunov (1933–2000) aboard. While the craft were docked, Yeliseyev and Khrunov performed an EVA, only the second Soviet spacewalk. After having been docked for more than four hours, the two crafts separated and reentered Earth’s atmosphere for a successful landing. Yeliseyev and Khrunov, who had transferred from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4 before the spacecrafts had parted, became the first humans to return to Earth in a craft other than the one in which they had left. Apollo 9, launched on March 3, 1969, was the first flight of all three main Apollo vehicles: the Saturn V, the CSM, and the LM. For ten days, the astronauts on board—James A McDivitt (1929–), David R. Scott (1932–), and Russell L. Schweickart (1935–)—put all three Apollo vehicles through their paces in Earth’s orbit. They docked, undocked, and then redocked the LM with the CSM, just as astronauts would do in lunar orbit. Schweickart and Scott also performed an EVA, during which Schweickart checked out the new Apollo spacesuit, the first to have its own life support system rather than being dependent on an umbilical connection to the spacecraft. The successful mission proved that the Apollo machines were up to the task of orbital rendezvous and docking. The final rehearsal for the first manned lunar landing was the flight of Apollo 10, which lifted off on May 18, 1969. The Project Apollo

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astronauts on board, Thomas P. Stafford (1930–), Eugene A. Cernan (1934–), and John W. Young (1930–), had all flown on Gemini missions. Once in orbit around the Moon, Stafford and Cernan transferred to the LM, undocked it from the CSM, and flew it to within nine miles (fourteen kilometers) of the proposed lunar landing site in the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility area. Because of an incorrectly placed switch, the astronauts had to take manual control of the LM in order to rendezvous and dock with the CSM. They were successful.

Reaching the goal The mission that finally put a human on the Moon was Apollo 11. The spacecraft lifted off on July 16, 1969, with astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930–), Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. (1930–), and Michael Collins (1930–) aboard. For the flight, the CM was named Columbia, and the LM was named Eagle. Once in lunar orbit, the pair separated with Collins remaining aboard Columbia and Armstrong and Aldrin aboard the Eagle. On July 20, with less than thirty seconds’ worth of fuel left, Armstrong piloted the Eagle to a successful touchdown in the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong announced the arrival to mission control: “Houston, the Eagle has landed.” About six hours later, the two astronauts donned spacesuits. Armstrong was first to come out of the LM, placing a camera on its ladder. On touching the Moon’s surface, he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” About onethird of the planet’s population watched the historic event on television as it happened. (The Soviet Union and China refused to broadcast the event.) Aldrin then joined Armstrong about one hour later, and the two collected Moon rocks and dust, took photographs, and set up various experiments, including a laser reflector and a solar wind detector. They also received a telephone call from U.S. president Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994), the longestdistance phone call in history. Armstrong and Aldrin spent two-and-a-half hours on the lunar surface, then returned to the LM for some needed sleep. After more than twenty-one hours on the lunar surface, they returned to lunar orbit and docked with Columbia, bringing forty-six pounds (twenty-one kilograms) of lunar samples with them. On the Moon they left behind scientific instruments, an American flag, and other 178


mementos. One was a plaque bearing the inscription: “Here men from planet Earth / first set foot upon the Moon / July 1969, A.D. / We came in peace for all mankind.” Between October 11 and 13, 1969, the Soviets launched three Soyuz missions involving a total of seven cosmonauts: Georgi S. Shonin (1935–1997) and Valeri Kubasov (1935–) aboard Soyuz 6; Anatoli V. Filipchenko (1928–), Vladislav N. Volkov (1935–), and Viktor V. Gorbatko (1934–) aboard Soyuz 7; and Shatalov and Yeliseyev aboard Soyuz 8. The joint mission that saw all three spacecraft in orbit together at the same time was to have involved the docking of Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8, with Soyuz 6 filming the operation from nearby. The docking procedure was never completed because of equipment failures, but the three vessels did rendezvous. There is still some question about why the Soviets embarked on this particular mission. Some think that they had abandoned the Moon race after the disaster of Soyuz 1 and their problems with docking craft. They may have switched plans then to build a space station. The mission may have been a way to use up some hardware, to perform scientific experiments, and to keep a Soviet presence in the space race. Over the next three years, five more Apollo missions landed twelve more U.S. astronauts on the Moon. Apollo 12, the second manned lunar landing mission, lifted off on November 14, 1969. On board were Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. (1930–1999), Richard F. Gordon Jr. (1929–), and Alan L. Bean (1932–). Conrad and Bean landed their LM (Intrepid) in an area called the Ocean of Storms. During their two moonwalks, the astronauts set up scientific experiments, took core samples of lunar soil, and visited Surveyor 3, a U.S. probe that had softlanded on the lunar surface on April 20, 1967. They then took off from the Moon and docked with the CSM. For the first time, the LM was fired back toward the Moon after it was abandoned. It crashed into the surface at a speed of more than 4,975 miles (8,000 kilometers) per hour. The resulting moonquake (vibrations on the Moon) registered on instruments left behind on the surface, which provided valuable information about the Moon’s interior. The most striking discovery of the Apollo 12 mission was life on the Moon. In a piece of insulation on Surveyor 3 the astronauts brought back, scientists discovered a colony of bacteria that had managed to survive nineteen months of extreme temperatures, dryness, and the Project Apollo

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Food Aboard Apollo Food taken on spaceflights must be lightweight, compact, and nutritious. It has to be kept for long periods without refrigeration. Most food for the Apollo missions was preserved through a process known as freeze-drying. Prior to packaging, a food was quick-frozen and then placed into a vacuum chamber. The vacuum removed all moisture from the food. It was then packaged while still in the vacuum chamber. The process helped the food keep its flavor and nutritional qualities almost indefinitely. Some of the Apollo food, cereal and cookie cubes, for example, was eaten without preparation. Other food had to have water added through a nozzle at the end of the package of food. On early Apollo flights, the food was then squeezed into an astronaut’s mouth through a flat tube stored in the package. On later flights, the food packages were sealed with a pressure-type plastic zipper. Once the zipper was opened, the astronaut was then able to eat the food with a spoon. Each astronaut meal was individually wrapped and labeled. A variety of foods were offered to the Apollo astronauts, providing them with 2,500 or more calories per

Space food from Apollo 11. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

day. Some of the foods consumed on Apollo were coffee, sausage patties, cornflakes, scrambled eggs, cheese crackers, beef sandwiches, chocolate pudding, tuna salad, peanut butter, beef pot roast, spaghetti, and frankfurters. During the Apollo 11 mission, the astronauts ate two meals: Meal A consisted of bacon squares, peaches, sugar cookie cubes, coffee, and a pineapplegrapefruit drink. Meal B included beef stew, cream of chicken soup, date fruitcake, grape

near-vacuum of the Moon’s environment. It is generally accepted that the organisms originally came from Earth.

A tragedy averted Apollo 13, which carried astronauts James Lovell, John L. Swigert Jr. (1931–1982), and Fred W. Haise Jr. (1933–), was in180


tended to be the third lunar landing. It launched on April 11, 1970. About fifty-six hours into the mission and most of the way to the Moon, one of the spacecraft’s two oxygen tanks exploded, causing the other one to fail, also. The normal supply of electricity, light, and water to the CM (Odyssey) was gone. The only solution for the crew, who were now about 200,000 miles (321,800 kilometers) from Earth, was to abort their planned lunar landing, swing around the Moon, and return back to Earth. Since the CM was almost completely unlivable, the three astronauts had to squeeze into the LM (Aquarius) for most of the return journey. The four-day return trip, during which temperatures in the LM were near freezing, was uncomfortable and tense. Relying on advice from experts on Earth and their own ingenuity and stamina, the crew returned safely to Earth. The near-tragedy delayed the Apollo program almost a year. Apollo 14 finally launched on January 31, 1971, with astronauts Alan Shepard Jr. (1923–2001), Edgar D. Mitchell (1930–), and Stuart A. Roosa (1933–1994). During two moonwalks totaling nearly nine-and-a-half hours, Shepard and Mitchell collected rock and soil samples, and set up a communications antenna and a color television camera. They walked about 2.2 miles (3.5 kilometers) across the lunar surface, using a handcart to transport their tools and samples. While on the surface, Shepard hit the first golf shots on the Moon. He struck one ball about 590 feet (180 meters) and another about twice as far. The Apollo 14 astronauts were the last lunar explorers to be quarantined after their safe return from the Moon. NASA officials decided after this mission that quarantine procedures were no longer necessary since no lunar microorganisms had ever been detected after the return of any lunar flight. Apollo 15, which lifted off on July 26, 1971, was the first of the longer, expedition-style lunar landing missions. It was also the first mission to carry and deploy the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), a 460-pound (210-kilogram) electric, carlike vehicle with four-wheel drive. The rover allowed the astronauts to travel much farther, 17 miles (27 kilometers), and collect more samples than on previous missions. In three moonwalks totaling more than eighteen hours, astronauts David R. Scott (1932–) and James B. Irwin (1930–1991) collected 170 pounds (77 kilograms) of lunar samples and Project Apollo

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conducted various experiments. One of those was to illustrate the hypothesis of Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei (pronounced ga-lih-LAY-oh ga-lih-LAY-ee; 1564–1642) that all objects, when unaffected by air drag, would fall at the same speed regardless of their mass. Scott dropped his lunar hammer and a falcon feather; both landed on the lunar surface at the same time, proving Galileo right. The two astronauts spent a total of almost sixty-seven hours on the Moon. On the way back to Earth, astronaut Alfred M. Worden (1932–), who had orbited the Moon in the CSM while his crewmates walked on its surface, conducted the first EVA between Earth and the Moon to retrieve film from the side of the spacecraft. A malfunction in the main propulsion system of the CSM as it orbited the Moon nearly caused the lunar landing of Apollo 16 to be scrubbed, or cancelled, but luckily the problem was fixed. The mission, which launched on April 16, 1972, with astronauts John Young, Thomas K. Mattingly II (1936–), and Charles M. Duke Jr. (1935–), was the first to visit a highland region of the Moon. Young and Duke ultimately spent three days exploring the Descartes highland region, while Mattingly circled overhead in the CSM. Their collection of rock and soil samples included a 25-pound (11.35-kilogram) chunk that was the largest single rock returned by the Apollo astronauts. Young and Duke also conducted performance tests with the LRV, traveling more than 17 miles (27 kilometers) and at one time getting up to a top speed of 13 miles (21 kilometers) per hour. The last Apollo mission to the Moon, Apollo 17, was a mission of records. It was the first nighttime liftoff of an Apollo spacecraft, launching at 12:33 A.M., December 7, 1972. The crew, which was led by Apollo veteran Eugene Cernan, included astronauts Ronald E. Evans (1933–1990) and Harrison H. Schmitt (1935–), who was a geologist and the first scientistastronaut. While Evans orbited the Moon in the America, Cernan and Schmitt descended to the lunar surface aboard Challenger. Once there, they roamed for 22 miles (35 kilometers) through the Taurus-Littrow Valley of the Sea of Serenity in their LRV. Their moonwalks, totaling more than twentytwo hours, were the longest total excursion time on the Moon. They collected a record 243 pounds (110 kilograms) of lunar rock and soil samples. By the time Cernan and Schmitt lifted off to rejoin Evans in the CSM, they had spent seventy-five 182


Apollo 17 was the first nighttime liftoff of an Apollo spacecraft. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

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hours on the lunar surface, the longest lunar stay by an Apollo crew. And Evans had completed a record 75 lunar orbits over a period of 147 hours and 48 minutes. On the lunar surface, the astronauts had left behind a plaque attached to Challenger that read: “Here man completed his first / explorations of the Moon / December 1972, A.D. / May the spirit of peace in which we came / be reflected in the lives of all mankind.” The splashdown and recovery of the Apollo 17 crew on December 19, 1972, marked the end of the Apollo lunar program. The planned missions of Apollo 18, 19, and 20 had already been cancelled in 1970 because of an economic recession (a period of extended economic decline) and lessening public interest in trips to the Moon. The success of Project Apollo had made spaceflight appear almost ordinary. The minds of many Americans were focused on what seemed to be more pressing concerns: the Vietnam War (1954–1975), racial discrimination, urban unrest, and a troubled economy. Although Apollo spacecraft would be used for missions over the next few years, NASA turned its attention to the development of reusable space shuttles and unmanned space probes to explore the rest of the solar system. To the present day, the Moon remains the only celestial body to have been visited by humans.

For More Information Books Chaikin, Andrew L. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. New York: Penguin, 1998. Collins, Michael. Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2001. Hall, Rex D., and David J. Shayler. Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft. New York: Springer Verlag, 2003. Murray, Charles. Apollo: The Race to the Moon. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989. Reynolds, David. Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon. New York: Harcourt, 2002.

Web Sites “The Apollo Program.” NASA History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ office/pao/History/apollo.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). 184


“Kennedy Space Center: Apollo Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/apollo/apollo.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). “One Giant Leap.” CNN Interactive. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/ apollo/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs.” Seattle University. http://www.seattleu.edu/artsci/history/us1945/docs/j052561. htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). Soyuz Spacecraft. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz.html (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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Where to Learn More

Books Aaseng, Nathan. The Space Race. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2001. Andronik, Catherine M. Copernicus: Founder of Modern Astronomy. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2002. Asimov, Isaac. Astronomy in Ancient Times. Revised ed. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 1997. Aveni, Anthony. Stairways to the Stars: Skywatching in Three Great Ancient Cultures. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1997. Baker, David. Spaceflight and Rocketry: A Chronology. New York: Facts on File, 1996. Benson, Michael. Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes. New York: Abrams, 2003. Bille, Matt, and Erika Lishock. The First Space Race: Launching the World’s First Satellites. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2004. Bilstein, Roger E. Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915–1990. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989. Boerst, William J. Galileo Galilei and the Science of Motion. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 2003. xliii

Bredeson, Carmen. NASA Planetary Spacecraft: Galileo, Magellan, Pathfinder, and Voyager. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2000. Caprara, Giovanni. Living in Space: From Science Fiction to the International Space Station. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2000. Catchpole, John. Project Mercury: NASA’s First Manned Space Programme. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Chaikin, Andrew L. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. New York: Penguin, 1998. Christianson, Gale E. Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebulae. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Clary, David A. Rocket Man: Robert H. Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age. New York: Hyperion Press, 2003. Cole, Michael D. The Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster: From First Liftoff to Tragic Final Flight. Revised ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2003. Collins, Michael. Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2001. Davies, John K. Astronomy from Space: The Design and Operation of Orbiting Observatories. Second ed. New York: Wiley, 1997. Dickinson, Terence. Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 1987. Dickson, Paul. Sputnik: The Shock of the Century. New York: Walker, 2001. Ezell, Edward Clinton, and Linda Neuman Ezell. The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1978. Florence, Ronald. The Perfect Machine: Building the Palomar Telescope. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Fox, Mary Virginia. Rockets. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark Books, 1996. Gleick, James. Isaac Newton. New York: Pantheon Books, 2003. Hall, Rex, and David J. Shayler. The Rocket Men: Vostok and Voskhod, the First Soviet Manned Spaceflights. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Hall, Rex D., and David J. Shayler. Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft. New York: Springer Verlag, 2003. Hamilton, John. The Viking Missions to Mars. Edina, MN: Abdo and Daughters Publishing, 1998. Harland, David M. The MIR Space Station: A Precursor to Space Colonization. New York: Wiley, 1997. Harland, David M., and John E. Catchpole. Creating the International Space Station. New York: Springer Verlag, 2002. xliv


Holden, Henry M. The Tragedy of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Berkeley Heights, NJ: MyReportLinks.com, 2004. Jenkins, Dennis R. Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System. Third ed. Cape Canaveral, FL: D. R. Jenkins, 2001. Kerrod, Robin. The Book of Constellations: Discover the Secrets in the Stars. Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s, 2002. Kerrod, Robin. Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2003. Kluger, Jeffrey. Moon Hunters: NASA’s Remarkable Expeditions to the Ends of the Solar System. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001. Kraemer, Robert S. Beyond the Moon: A Golden Age of Planetary Exploration, 1971–1978. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000. Krupp, E. C. Beyond the Blue Horizon: Myths and Legends of the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Planets. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Launius, Roger D. Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. Maurer, Richard. Rocket! How a Toy Launched the Space Age. New York: Knopf, 1995. Miller, Ron. The History of Rockets. New York: Franklin Watts, 1999. Murray, Charles. Apollo: The Race to the Moon. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989. Naeye, Robert. Signals from Space: The Chandra X-ray Observatory. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2001. Orr, Tamra B. The Telescope. New York: Franklin Watts, 2004. Panek, Richard. Seeing and Believing: How the Telescope Opened Our Eyes and Minds to the Heavens. New York: Penguin, 1999. Parker, Barry R. Stairway to the Stars: The Story of the World’s Largest Observatory. New York: Perseus Publishing, 2001. Reichhardt, Tony, ed. Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years—The Astronauts’ Experiences in Their Own Words. New York: DK Publishing, 2002. Reynolds, David. Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon. New York: Harcourt, 2002. Ride, Sally. To Space and Back. New York: HarperCollins, 1986. Shayler, David J. Gemini: Steps to the Moon. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Shayler, David J. Skylab: America’s Space Station. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Sherman, Josepha. Deep Space Observation Satellites. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2003. Where to Learn More

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Sibley, Katherine A. S. The Cold War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Slayton, Donald K., with Michael Cassutt. Deke! An Autobiography. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. Sullivan, Walter. Assault on the Unknown: The International Geophysical Year. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961. Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin. Beyond the Planet Earth. Translated by Kenneth Syers. New York: Pergamon Press, 1960. Voelkel, James R. Johannes Kepler and the New Astronomy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Walters, Helen B. Hermann Oberth: Father of Space Travel. Introduction by Hermann Oberth. New York: Macmillan, 1962. Ward, Bob. Mr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2004. Wills, Susan, and Steven R. Wills. Astronomy: Looking at the Stars. Minneapolis, MN: Oliver Press, 2001. Winter, Frank H. The First Golden Age of Rocketry: Congreve and Hale Rockets of the Nineteenth Century. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990. Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1979.

Web Sites “Ancient Astronomy.” Pomona College Astronomy Department. http:// www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Ancients Could Have Used Stonehenge to Predict Lunar Eclipses.” Space.com. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/ stonehenge_eclipse_000119.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo Program.” NASA History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ office/pao/History/apollo.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo Soyuz Test Project.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http:// www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/astp/astp.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/astp/ index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/ASTP/SP24. htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Biographical Sketch of Dr. Wernher Von Braun.” Marshall Space Flight Center. http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). xlvi


“Cassini-Huygens: Mission to Saturn and Titan.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index. cfm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “CGRO Science Support Center.” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. http:// cossc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Chandra X-ray Observatory.” Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. http://chandra.harvard.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Cold War.” CNN Interactive. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). The Cold War Museum. http://www.coldwar.org/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System.” Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee. http://csep10.phys.utk. edu/astr161/lect/retrograde/copernican.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Curious About Astronomy? Ask an Astronomer.” Astronomy Department, Cornell University. http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/index.php (accessed on September 17, 2004). European Space Agency. http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Explorer Series of Spacecraft.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Policy and Plans. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/ History/explorer.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Galileo: Journey to Jupiter.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Hubble Project.” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. http://hubble. nasa.gov/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). HubbleSite. http://www.hubblesite.org/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “International Geophysical Year.” The National Academies. http://www7. nationalacademies.org/archives/igy.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “International Space Station.” Boeing. http://www.boeing.com/defense space/space/spacestation/flash.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “International Space Station.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Kennedy Space Center: Apollo Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/apollo/apollo.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). Where to Learn More

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“Kennedy Space Center: Gemini Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/gemini/gemini.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Kennedy Space Center: Mercury Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/mercury/mercury.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky.” Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics. http://www. informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Living and Working in Space.” NASA Spacelink. http://spacelink. nasa.gov/NASA.Projects/Human.Exploration.and.Development.of. Space/Living.and.Working.In.Space/.index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Mars Exploration Rover Mission.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). Mir. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). Mount Wilson Observatory. http://www.mtwilson.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “NASA: Robotic Explorers.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/roboticexplorers/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). NASA’s History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/index. html (accessed on September 17, 2004). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.nasa.gov/ home/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). National Radio Astronomy Observatory. http://www.nrao.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Newton’s Laws of Motion.” NASA Glenn Learning Technologies Project. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/newton.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Newton’s Third Law of Motion.” Physics Classroom Tutorial, Glenbrook South High School. http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/ newtlaws/u2l4a.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “One Giant Leap.” CNN Interactive. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/ apollo/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Paranal Observatory.” European Southern Observatory. http://www.eso. org/paranal/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Project Apollo-Soyuz Drawings and Technical Diagrams.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa. gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/astp/apol_soyuz.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). xlviii


“The Race for Space: The Soviet Space Program.” University of Minnesota. http://www1.umn.edu/scitech/assign/space/vostok_intro1.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Remembering Columbia STS-107.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://history.nasa.gov/columbia/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Rocketry Through the Ages: A Timeline of Rocket History.” Marshall Space Flight Center. http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/rocketry/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Rockets: History and Theory.” White Sands Missile Range. http://www. wsmr.army.mil/pao/FactSheets/rkhist.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). Russian Aviation and Space Agency. http://www.rosaviakosmos.ru/english/ eindex.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). Russian/USSR spacecrafts. http://space.kursknet.ru/cosmos/english/ machines/m_rus.sht (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Skylab.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/ kscpao/history/skylab/skylab.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). Soyuz Spacecraft. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Space Race.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. http://www. nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal114/gal114.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Space Shuttle.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ shuttle/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Space Shuttle Mission Chronology.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http:// www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/chrontoc.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Spitzer Space Telescope.” California Institute of Technology. http://www. spitzer.caltech.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Sputnik: The Fortieth Anniversary.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Policy and Plans. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ office/pao/History/sputnik/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Tsiolkovsky.” Russian Space Web. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/ tsiolkovsky.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. http://www.oosa.unvienna. org/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Vanguard.” Naval Center for Space Technology and U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. http://ncst-www.nrl.navy.mil/NCSTOrigin/Vanguard.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Voyager: The Interstellar Mission.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). Where to Learn More

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“Windows to the Universe.” University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). W. M. Keck Observatory. http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004).

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Space Exploration Almanac Volume 2

Rob Nagel Sarah Hermsen, Project Editor

Space Exploration: Almanac Rob Nagel


Imaging and Multimedia Dean Dauphinais, Lezlie Light, Dan Newell

Rights Acquisitions and Management Ann Taylor



aping, Web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. For permission to use material from this product, submit your request via Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions, or you may download our Permissions Request form and submit your request by fax or mail to: Permissions Department Thomson Gale 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Permissions Hotline: 248-699-8006 or 800-877-4253, ext. 8006 Fax: 248-699-8074 or 800-762-4058


Cover photographs reproduced by permission of © 2001 Brand X Pictures. All rights reserved.


Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nagel, Rob. Space exploration. Almanac / Rob Nagel ; Sarah Hermsen, project editor. p. cm. – (Space exploration reference library) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7876-9209-3 (set hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 0-7876-9210-7 (volume 1) – ISBN 0-7876-9211-5 (volume 2) 1. Astronautics–History–Encyclopedias, Juvenile. 2. Outer space–Exploration– History–Encyclopedias, Juvenile. I. Title. II. Series. TL788.N287 2004 629.4’09–dc22 2004015823


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Reader’s Guide .

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Volume 1 Chapter 1: Stars and Early Stargazers

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Chapter 9: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project .

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Chapter 10: Space Stations .

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Still, for centuries, humans did not understand what lay beyond the boundaries of Earth. In fact, with their limited vision, they saw a limited universe. Ancient astronomers relied on naked-eye observations to chart the positions of stars, planets, and the Sun. In the third century B.C.E., philosophers concluded that Earth was the center of the universe. A few dared to question this prevailing belief. In the face of overwhelming vii

opposition and ridicule, they persisted in trying to understand the truth. This belief ruled human affairs until the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, when scientists used the newly invented telescope to prove that the Sun is the center of Earth’s galaxy. Over time, with advances in science and technology, ancient beliefs were exposed as false. The universe ever widened with humans’ growing understanding of it. The dream to explore its vast reaches passed from nineteenth-century fiction writers to twentieth-century visionaries to present-day engineers and scientists, pilots, and astronauts. The quest to explore space intensified around the turn of the twentieth century. By that time, astronomers had built better observatories and perfected more powerful telescopes. Increasingly sophisticated technologies led to the discovery that the universe extends far beyond the Milky Way and holds even deeper mysteries, such as limitless galaxies and unexplained phenomena like black holes. Scientists, yearning to solve those mysteries, determined that one way to accomplish this goal was to penetrate space itself. Even before the twentieth century, people had discussed ways to travel into space. Among them were science fiction writers, whose fantasies inspired the visions of scientists. Science fiction became especially popular in the late nineteenth century, having a direct impact on early twentieth-century rocket engineers who invented the fuel-propellant rocket. Initially developed as a weapon of war, this new projectile could be launched a greater distance than any human-made object in history, and it eventually unlocked the door to space. From the mid-twentieth century until the turn of the twenty-first century, the fuel-propellant rocket made possible dramatic advances in space exploration. It was used to propel unmanned satellites and manned space capsules, space shuttles, and space stations. It launched an orbiting telescope that sent spectacular images of the universe back to Earth. During this era of intense optimism and innovation, often called the space age, people confidently went forth to conquer the distant regions of space that have intrigued humans since early times. They traveled to the Moon, probed previously uncharted realms, and contemplated trips to Mars. viii


Overcoming longstanding rivalries, nations embarked on international space ventures. Despite the seemingly unlimited technology at their command, research scientists, engineers, and astronauts encountered political maneuvering, lack of funds, aging spacecraft, and tragic accidents. As the world settled into the twenty-first century, space exploration faced an uncertain future. Yet, the ongoing exploration of space continued to represent the “final frontier” in the last great age of exploration. Space Exploration: Almanac chronicles the history of space exploration. It is intended as a brief historical overview of humanity’s quest to understand and to explore the universe, from those early stargazers to modern interplanetary missions of discovery.

Features The two-volume Space Exploration: Almanac presents, in fourteen chapters, key developments and milestones in the continuing history of space exploration. The focus ranges from ancient views of a Sun-centered universe to the scientific understanding of the laws of planetary motion and gravity, from the launching of the first artificial satellite to be placed in orbit around Earth to current robotic explorations of near and distant planets in the solar system. Also covered is the development of the first telescopes by men such as Hans Lippershey, who called his device a “looker” and thought it would be useful in war, and Galileo Galilei, who built his own device to look at the stars. The work also details the construction of great modern observatories, both on ground and in orbit around Earth, that can peer billions of light-years into space. Also examined is the development of rocketry, from thirteenth-century Chinese rockets used in warfare to the large multistage Saturn V rocket used to propel the Apollo astronauts to the Moon; the work of theorists and engineers Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert H. Goddard, and others; a discussion of the Cold War and its impact on space exploration; space missions such as the first lunar landing; and great tragedies including the explosions of U.S. space shuttles Challenger and Columbia as well as the Nedelin catastrophe, in which one hundred Soviet technicians were incinerated as they approached an unstable rocket that had failed to lift off in 1960. Reader’s Guide

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The chapters in Space Exploration: Almanac contain sidebar boxes that highlight people and events of special interest, and each chapter offers a list of additional sources that students can go to for more information. More than one hundred black-and-white photographs illustrate the material. Each volume begins with a timeline of important events in the history of space exploration, a “Words to Know” section that introduces students to difficult or unfamiliar terms, and a “Research and Activity Ideas” section. The two volumes conclude with a general bibliography and a subject index so students can easily find the people, places, and events discussed throughout Space Exploration: Almanac.

Space Exploration Reference Library Space Exploration: Almanac is only one component of the three-part Space Exploration Reference Library. The other two titles in this set are: • Space Exploration: Biographies captures the height of the space age in twenty-five entries that profile astronauts, scientists, theorists, writers, and spacecraft. Included are astronauts Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Mae Jemison, and Sally Ride; cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin; engineer Wernher von Braun; writer H. G. Wells; and the crew of the space shuttle Challenger. The volume also contains profiles of the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. Focusing on international contributions to the quest for knowledge about space, this volume takes readers on an adventure into the achievements and failures experienced by explorers of space. • Space Exploration: Primary Sources (one volume) captures the space age with full-text reprints and lengthy excerpts of seventeen documents that include science fiction, nonfiction, autobiography, official reports, articles, interviews, and speeches. Covering a span of more than one hundred years, these excerpts provide a wide range of perspectives on space exploration, from nineteenth-century speculations about space travel through twenty-first century plans for human flights to Mars. Included are excerpts from science fiction writer Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon; Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, which chronicles the story of America’s first astronauts; astronaut John Glenn’s memx


oirs; and president George W. Bush’s new vision of space exploration. • A cumulative index of all three titles in the Space Exploration Reference Library is also available.

Comments and Suggestions We welcome your comments on Space Exploration: Almanac and suggestions for other topics to consider. Please write: Editors, Space Exploration: Almanac, U•X•L, 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331-3535; call toll-free: 1-800-877-4253; fax to (248) 699-8097; or send e-mail via http://www.gale.com.

Reader’s Guide

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Timeline of Events




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1923






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1930




March 9, 1955 German-born American engineer Wernher von Braun appears on “Man in Space,” the first of three space-related television shows he and American movie producer Walt Disney create for American audiences. July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958 During this eighteenmonth period, known as the International Geophysical Year, more than ten thousand scientists and technicians representing sixty-seven countries engage in a comprehensive series of global geophysical activities. October 4, 1957 The Soviet Union launches the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, and the space age begins. January 31, 1958 Explorer 1, the United States’s first successful artificial satellite, is launched into space. March 17, 1958 The U.S. Navy launches the small, artificial satellite Vanguard 1. The oldest human-made object in space, it remains in orbit around Earth. October 1, 1958 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) begins work. January 2, 1959 The Soviet Union launches the space probe Luna 1, which becomes the first human-made object to escape Earth’s gravity.


1920


1930


Timeline of Events


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April 9, 1959 NASA announces the selection of the first American astronauts—the Mercury 7 astronauts: M. Scott Carpenter, Leroy G. “Gordo” Cooper Jr., John Glenn, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Walter M. “Wally” Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton. September 13, 1959 The Soviet space probe Luna 2 becomes the first human-made object to land on the Moon when it makes a hard landing east of the Sea of Serenity. August 18, 1960 The United States launches Discoverer 14, its first spy satellite. October 23, 1960 More than one hundred Soviet technicians are incinerated when a rocket explodes on a launch pad. Known as the Nedelin catastrophe, it is the worst accident in the history of the Soviet space program. April 12, 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbits Earth aboard Vostok 1, becoming the first human in space. May 5, 1961 U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard makes a suborbital flight in the capsule Freedom 7, becoming the first American to fly into space. May 25, 1961 U.S. president John F. Kennedy announces the goal to land an American on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. February 20, 1962 U.S. astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to circle Earth when he makes three orbits in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft. August 27, 1962 Mariner 2 is launched into orbit, becoming the first interplanetary space probe. June 16, 1963 Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova rides aboard Vostok 6, becoming the first woman in space.



1958

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1961

1964

November 1, 1963 The world’s largest single radio telescope, at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, officially begins operation. March 18, 1965 During the Soviet Union’s Voskhod 2 orbital mission, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performs the first spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA). February 3, 1966 The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 soft-lands on the Moon and sends back to Earth the first images of the lunar surface. January 27, 1967 Three U.S. astronauts—Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Edward White—die of asphyxiation when a fire breaks out in the capsule of Apollo 1 during a practice session as it sits on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. April 24, 1967 Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov becomes the first fatality during an actual spaceflight when the parachute from Soyuz 1 fails to open and the capsule slams into the ground after reentry. December 24, 1968 Apollo 8, with three U.S. astronauts aboard, becomes the first manned spacecraft to enter orbit around the Moon. July 20, 1969 U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon. April 14, 1970 An oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 service module explodes while the craft is in space, putting the lives of the three U.S. astronauts onboard into serious jeopardy. December 14, 1970 U.S. astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt lift off from the Moon after having spent seventy-five hours on the surface. They are the last humans to have set foot on the Moon as of the early twenty-first century.


1967


1971 Microprocessor introduced

1969

1971

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December 15, 1970 The Soviet space probe Venera 7 arrives at Venus, making the first-ever successful landing on another planet. April 19, 1971 The Soviet Union launches Salyut 1, the first human-made space station. November 13, 1971 The U.S. probe Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet when it enters orbit around Mars. January 5, 1972 U.S. president Richard M. Nixon announces the decision to develop a space shuttle. May 14, 1973 Skylab, the first and only U.S. space station, is launched. December 4, 1973 The U.S. space probe Pioneer 10 makes the first flyby of Jupiter. March 29, 1974 The U.S. space probe Mariner 10 makes the first of three flybys of Mercury. July 15 to 24, 1975 The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project is undertaken as an international docking mission between the United States and the Soviet Union. July 20, 1976 The lander of the U.S. space probe Viking 1 makes the first successful soft landing on Mars. September 17, 1976 The first space shuttle orbiter, known as OV-101, rolls out of an assembly facility in Palmdale, California. January 26, 1978 NASA launches the International Ultraviolet Explorer, considered the most successful UV satellite and perhaps the most productive astronomical telescope ever. July 11, 1979 Skylab falls into Earth’s atmosphere and burns up over the Indian Ocean.



1975

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1977


October 1979 The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, the world’s largest telescope dedicated solely to infrared astronomy, begins operation in Hawaii near the summit of Mauna Kea. November 12, 1980 The U.S. probe Voyager 1 makes a flyby of Saturn and sends back the first detailed photographs of the ringed planet. April 12, 1981 U.S. astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen fly the space shuttle Columbia on the first orbital flight of NASA’s new reusable spacecraft. June 18, 1983 U.S. astronaut Sally Ride becomes America’s first woman in space when she rides aboard the space shuttle Challenger. August 30, 1983 U.S. astronaut Guy Bluford flies aboard the space shuttle Challenger, becoming the first African American in space. January 25, 1984 U.S. president Ronald Reagan directs NASA to develop a permanently manned space station within a decade. January 28, 1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes seventy-three seconds after launch because of poorly sealing O-rings on the booster rocket, killing all seven astronauts aboard. February 20, 1986 The Soviet Union launches the core module of its new space station, Mir, into orbit. May 4, 1989 The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off carrying the Magellan probe, the first planetary explorer to be launched by a space shuttle. April 25, 1990 Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery deploy the Hubble Space Telescope.





Timeline of Events

1989

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April 7, 1991 The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory is placed into orbit by astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. December 1993 Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour complete repairs to the primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope. February 3, 1995 The space shuttle Discovery lifts off under the control of U.S. astronaut Eileen M. Collins, the first female pilot on a shuttle mission. December 2, 1995 The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is launched to study the Sun. December 7, 1995 The U.S. space probe Galileo goes into orbit around Jupiter, dropping a mini-probe to the planet’s surface. March 24, 1996 U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid begins her 188-day stay aboard Mir, a U.S. record for spaceflight endurance at that time. October 1996 The second of the twin 33-foot Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the world’s largest optical and infrared telescopes, begins science observations. The first began observations three years earlier. July 2, 1997 The U.S. space probe Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars and releases Sojourner, the first Martian rover. October 15, 1997 The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, bound for Saturn, is launched. January 6, 1998 NASA launches the Lunar Prospector probe to improve understanding of the origin, evolution, current state, and resources of the Moon. October 29, 1998 At age seventy-seven, U.S. senator John Glenn, one of the original Mercury astronauts, be-


1993 Toni Morrison becomes the first African American to win the Nobel Prize in literature 1993

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1997

comes the oldest astronaut to fly into space when he lifts off aboard the space shuttle Discovery. November 11, 1998 Russia launches Zarya, the control module and first piece of the International Space Station, into orbit. July 23, 1999 The Chandra X-ray Observatory is deployed from the space shuttle Columbia. February 21, 2001 The U.S. space probe NEAR Shoemaker becomes the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. March 23, 2001 After more than 86,000 orbits around Earth, Mir enters the atmosphere and breaks up into several large pieces and thousands of smaller ones. April 28, 2001 U.S. investment banker Dennis Tito, the world’s first space tourist, lifts off aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a week-long stay on the International Space Station. February 1, 2003 The space shuttle Columbia breaks apart in flames above Texas, sixteen minutes before it is supposed to touch down in Florida, because of damage to the shuttle’s thermal-protection tiles. All seven astronauts aboard are killed. June 2003 The Canadian Space Agency launches MOST, its first space telescope successfully launched into space and also the smallest space telescope in the world. August 25, 2003 NASA launches the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, subsequently renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope, the most sensitive instrument ever to look at the infrared spectrum in the universe. October 15, 2003 Astronaut Yang Liwei lifts off aboard the spacecraft Shenzhou 5, becoming the first Chinese to fly into space.

1998




1999

2000

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Timeline of Events

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2003 The United States declares war on Iraq

2002

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2004

Words to Know

A Allies: Alliances of countries in military opposition to another group of nations. In World War II, the Allied powers included Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States. antimatter: Matter that is exactly the same as normal matter, but with the opposite spin and electrical charge. apogee: The point in the orbit of an artificial satellite or Moon that is farthest from Earth. artificial satellite: A human-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. asterism: A collection of stars within a constellation that forms an apparent pattern. astrology: The study of the supposed effects of celestial objects on the course of human affairs. astronautics: The science and technology of spaceflight. astronomy: The scientific study of the physical universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. xxv

atomic bomb: An explosive device whose violent power is due to the sudden release of energy resulting from the splitting of nuclei of a heavy chemical element (plutonium or uranium), a process called fission. aurora: A brilliant display of streamers, arcs, or bands of light visible in the night sky, chiefly in the polar regions. It is caused by electrically charged particles from the Sun that are drawn into the atmosphere by Earth’s magnetic field.


C capitalism: An economic system in which property and businesses are privately owned. Prices, production, and distrixxvi


bution of goods are determined by competition in a market relatively free of government intervention. celestial mechanics: The scientific study of the influence of gravity on the motions of celestial bodies. celestial sphere: An imaginary sphere of gigantic radius with Earth located at its center. Cepheid variable: A pulsating star that can be used to measure distance in space. chromatic aberration: Blurred coloring of the edge of an image when visible light passes through a lens, caused by the bending of the different wavelengths of the light at different angles. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the two superpowers: the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats. Communism: A system of government in which the nation’s leaders are selected by a single political party that controls almost all aspects of society. Private ownership of property is eliminated and government directs all economic production. The goods produced and wealth accumulated are, in theory, shared relatively equally by all. All religious practices are banned. concave lens: A lens with a hollow bowl shape; it is thin in the middle and thick along the edges. constellation: One of eighty-eight recognized groups of stars that seems to make up a pattern or picture on the celestial sphere. convex lens: A lens with a bulging surface like the outer surface of a ball; it is thicker in the middle and thinner along the edges. corona: The outermost and hottest layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that extends out into space for millions of miles. cosmic radiation: High-energy radiation coming from all directions in space. Words to Know

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F flyby: A type of space mission in which the spacecraft passes close to its target but does not enter orbit around it or land on it.

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focus: The position at which rays of light from a lens converge to form a sharp image. force: A push or pull exerted on an object by an outside agent, producing an acceleration that changes the object’s state of motion.



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L light-year: The distance light travels in the near vacuum of space in one year, about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers). xxx


liquid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which both the fuel and the oxidizing agent are in a liquid state.


N natural science: A science, such as biology, chemistry, or physics, that deals with the objects, occurrences, or laws of nature. neutron star: The extremely dense, compact, neutron-filled remains of a star following a supernova. nuclear fusion: The merging of two hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus, accompanied by a tremendous release of energy. Words to Know

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O observatory: A structure designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena. oxidizing agent: A substance that can readily burn or promote the burning of any flammable material. ozone layer: An atmospheric layer that contains a high proportion of ozone molecules that absorb incoming ultraviolet radiation.



R radiation: The emission and movement of waves of atomic particles through space or other media. radio waves: The longest form of electromagnetic radiation, measuring up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from peak to peak in the wave. xxxii


Red Scare: A great fear among U.S. citizens in the late 1940s and early 1950s that communist influences were infiltrating U.S. society and government and could eventually lead to the overthrow of the American democratic system. redshift: The shift of an object’s light spectrum toward the red end of the visible light range, which is an indication that the object is moving away from the observer. reflector telescope: A telescope that directs light from an opening at one end to a concave mirror at the far end, which reflects the light back to a smaller mirror that directs it to an eyepiece on the side of the telescope. refractor telescope: A telescope that directs light waves through a convex lens (the objective lens), which bends the waves and brings them to a focus at a concave lens (the eyepiece) that acts as a magnifying glass. retrofire: The firing of a spacecraft’s engine in the direction opposite to which the spacecraft is moving in order to cut its orbital speed. rover: A remote-controlled robotic vehicle.

S sidereal day: The time for one complete rotation of Earth on its axis relative to a particular star. soft landing: The slow-speed landing of a space vehicle on a celestial object to avoid damage to or the destruction of the vehicle. solar arrays: Groups of solar cells or other solar collectors arranged to capture energy from the Sun and use it to generate electrical power. solar day: The average time span from one noon to the next. solar flare: Temporary bright spot that explodes on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy. solar prominence: A tongue-like cloud of flaming gas projecting outward from the Sun’s surface. solar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from the Sun. Words to Know

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solid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which the fuel and the oxidizing agent exist in a solid state. solstice: Either of the two times during the year when the Sun, as seen from Earth, is farthest north or south of the equator; the solstices mark the beginning of the summer and winter seasons. space motion sickness: A condition similar to ordinary travel sickness, with symptoms that include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal disturbances, and fatigue. The precise cause of the condition is not fully understood, though most scientists agree the problem originates in the balance organs of the inner ear. space shuttle: A reusable winged spacecraft that transports astronauts and equipment into space and back. space station: A large orbiting structure designed for longterm human habitation in space. spacewalk: Technically known as an EVA, or extravehicular activity, an excursion outside a spacecraft or space station by an astronaut or cosmonaut wearing only a pressurized spacesuit and, possibly, some sort of maneuvering device. spectrograph: A device that separates light by wavelengths to produce a spectrum. splashdown: The landing of a manned spacecraft in the ocean. star: A hot, roughly spherical ball of gas that emits light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation as a result of nuclear fusion reactions in its core. stellar scintillation: The apparent twinkling of a star caused by the refraction of the star’s light as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere. stellar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from a star (like the solar wind, but from a star other than the Sun). sunspot: A cool area of magnetic disturbance that forms a dark blemish on the surface of the Sun. supernova: The massive explosion of a relatively large star at the end of its lifetime. xxxiv


T telescope: An instrument that gathers light or some other form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by distant sources, such as celestial bodies, and brings it to a focus. thrust: The forward force generated by a rocket.





Words to Know

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T

he following ideas and projects are intended to offer suggestions for complementing your classroom work on understanding various aspects of the history of space exploration: • Inventing Constellation Stories: Pick five modern constellations. Instead of the accepted images associated with those constellations, develop five new ones. The characters or objects could be modern or ancient, real or imagined. Create and write mythologies or stories about those new characters or objects. • Becoming Collins: In July 1969, Michael Collins circled the Moon for more than twenty-four hours alone in the Apollo 11 command module while his fellow U.S. astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, walked on the Moon. Research to find out what tasks Collins had to perform during his time alone in space. Then pretend you are Collins and write a journal entry for that time, recording your actions. Be sure to include your thoughts and observations about the experience, imagining what you see out of the module’s windows and what you are thinking about on your lonely voyage around the Moon. xxxvii

• Creating a Space Cartoon: Using imagination and artistic skills, create a newspaper cartoon about the flight of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, or the first manned spaceflight of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Before beginning the cartoon, determine whether it will appear in a Soviet or U.S. newspaper at the time. Remember that both events occurred during the height of the Cold War when both nations were trying to prove their superiority. Be sure to convey an emotion such as pride, fear, or surprise. Write a caption for the cartoon that captures the essential message or spirit of the cartoon. • Recording Oral Histories: Interview an individual, such as a relative or an acquaintance, who lived during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Find out what they thought about the early space race and the development of space exploration. Did their expectations come to pass? Develop questions ahead of time. Tape record the interview if possible or take careful notes. Transcribe the tapes or rewrite the notes into a clearly written story retelling the interview. • Reporting on the Lunar Landing: Research and read newspaper accounts of the first landing of humans on the Moon. Adopting the persona of a reporter, write an article of the event that would appear in your local newspaper. • Sending Animals into Space: Find out about the animals used in the early days of the Soviet and U.S. space programs. What kinds of animals were sent into space? What happened on their missions and what was learned that later helped manned missions sent into space? Write about your findings in a science article. • Using New Products from the Space Age: Products developed during the Apollo and later NASA projects are now common in daily life. From freeze-dried foods to cordless power tools, many of these have made life on Earth more convenient and comfortable. Research five commonly used products that were developed during the space program. Prepare a display showing how each product was used originally and how each one is used now. • Dodging Space Junk: The exploration of space has resulted not only in great discoveries and triumphs, but has left much “junk” floating in space, especially around xxxviii


Earth. Research to find out how much and what types of space junk are in orbit around the planet, then write a humorous story about the adventure of circling Earth in a spacecraft while trying to avoid all the junk. • Dieting in Space: Find out what types of food are served aboard the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Using a computer, create a database file. Design a database template that includes fields such as day (1, 2, 3, etc.), meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a possible snack), and the six major food groups (grain, vegetable, fruit, dairy, meat, and fats). Enter the information from the menus and determine which meals are balanced ones by searching for any empty fields in the food groups. Write a short report based on your findings, answering the following questions: Which food groups had the better selection of foods? Why is it important to maintain good health in space? How does a balanced diet promote good health? • Debating the Future of Space Exploration: With other students, form two or three groups and debate the future direction of NASA. Have each group take a different position on issues such as: Should the space shuttle be scrapped? If so, what, if anything, should replace it? Should the United States retain a presence on the International Space Station? Should the United States undertake voyages to the Moon and Mars? What should happen to space-based observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope?


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9 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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he mid-1950s was a time marked by both scientific and political fervor. The eighteen-month period between July 1, 1957, and December 31, 1958, was known as the International Geophysical Year (IGY). During this period, international cooperation in science peaked. More than ten thousand scientists and technicians representing sixty-seven countries participated in a multitude of cooperative research programs and activities aimed at gathering data about Earth, its atmosphere, and the Sun. Both the United States and the Soviet Union (present-day Russia) used the focus on upper-atmosphere research during the IGY to develop orbiting artificial satellites. Out of this focus would come each country’s eventual space program. While there was cooperation in the scientific world, there was conflict in the political one. World politics was dominated by the differing political ideologies (set of doctrines or beliefs) of the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The mistrust between these two extremely powerful nations had grown after the end of World War II (1939–45). It gave rise to an atmosphere of hostility and fear 187

Various sections of the Apollo-Soyuz spacecrafts, showing astronauts positioned inside. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

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that enveloped the planet. Virtually every significant event or development in world affairs—political, military, economic, and cultural—was directed in response to the unstable relationship between the superpowers. The relationship became a war, mostly of words, about global domination and global destruction. Known as the Cold War, it would last for almost half a century. Against the background of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union (present-day Russia) engaged in a seemingly bitter race for supremacy in space for more than twelve years. That race began in earnest when the Soviet Union launched the first unmanned artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit around Earth on October 4, 1957. The United States’s first success came early the following year when Explorer 1 was launched on February 1, 1958. Over the next few years, the Soviets continued to set new space records: Six more Sputniks, each one larger than the first, were launched into Earth’s orbit between 1958 and 1961. In 1959 the Soviets sent three Luna probes to the Moon: Luna 1 was the first probe to fly past the Moon, Luna 2 was the first to hit the Moon, and Luna 3 was the first to photograph the Moon’s far side. Then on April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin (1934–1968) flew aboard Vostok 1. His historic 108minute flight marked the first time a human had traveled in space. The United States caught up a month later when Alan Shepard Jr. (1923–2001) made a suborbital (less than a full orbit) flight in the Mercury capsule Friendship 7. Once manned spaceflight had been achieved, the Soviet Union and the United States battled to be the first to put a man on the Moon. In this part of the race, the United States was not in a position where it had to play catch-up: Neither country initially had a rocket powerful enough to complete such a mission. To get to the Moon required, among other technological advances, the development of a super-rocket. In this, the United States succeeded with the Saturn V. The Soviet Union’s N-1 never rose above Earth’s atmosphere. As millions watched on television, two U.S. astronauts, Neil Armstrong (1930–) and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. (1930–), stepped onto the surface of the Moon on July 20, 1969. Many back on Earth believed that this moment, when humans first set foot on another celestial body, signaled the end of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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Words to Know Artificial satellite: A man-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. Bends: A painful and sometimes fatal disorder caused by the formation of gas bubbles in the bloodstream and tissues when a decrease in air pressure occurs too rapidly. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats. Corona: The outermost and hottest layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that extends out into space for millions of miles.

Hyperbaric chamber: A chamber where air pressure can be carefully controlled; used to acclimate divers, astronauts, and others gradually to changes in air pressure and air composition. Solar arrays: Groups of solar cells or other solar collectors arranged to capture energy from the Sun and use it to generate electrical power. Space shuttle: A reusable winged spacecraft that transports astronauts and equipment into space and back. Space station: A large orbiting structure designed for long-term human habitation in space.

Détente: A relaxing of tensions between rival nations, marked by increased diplomatic, commercial, and cultural contact.

Spacewalk: Technically known as an EVA, or extravehicular activity, an excursion outside a spacecraft or space station by an astronaut or cosmonaut wearing only a pressurized spacesuit and, possibly, some sort of maneuvering device.

Docking system: Mechanical and electronic devices that work jointly to bring together and physically link two spacecraft in space.

United Nations: An international organization, composed of most of the nations of the world, created in 1945 to preserve world peace and security.

space race with the United States emerging victorious. Others believed that victory had already been sealed when Apollo 8 went into orbit around the Moon in December 1968, demonstrating that the distance between Earth and the Moon could 190


The race into space began when the Soviet Union launched the first unmanned artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit around Earth on October 4, 1957. (AP/Wide World Photos)

be easily navigated by humans. These incredible achievements in human history, though, had come at a price: Beyond the millions of dollars spent by both sides, seven astronauts and at least two cosmonauts died in training exercises or on missions. (Because of the secrecy in which the Soviets conducted their space program, it is unknown exactly how many early cosmonauts may have perished.) After the success of Project Apollo (the U.S. lunar-landing program), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) faced an uncertain future. The Moon had been conquered, but manned missions to other bodies in the solar system, such as Mars, were decades away, if they were even possible. Plans for reusable space shuttles and an orbiting space station had been developed, but public interest in space exploration had dwindled. The space race had been more political than scientific, and the U.S. public has never had great Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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enthusiasm for purely scientific endeavors. Instead, public attention was focused on rising social problems and an increasingly unpopular war in Vietnam. Due to poor economic conditions in the country, NASA’s funding declined, severely limiting the activities and projects it could undertake. The Soviets, meanwhile, carried out a hoax after they lost the race to the Moon. They claimed they had never been in the race to begin with. The Soviet manned lunar programs were made public only after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The Soviets had two huge secret projects designed to win the moon race. The aim of the L-1 project was to send a Soviet crew around the Moon before a U.S. crew, using a stripped-down Soyuz spacecraft. The aim of the L-3 project was to land a crew of cosmonauts on the Moon before a crew of U.S. astronauts. Because of equipment malfunctions, both projects were failures. After quietly giving up their quest to put a cosmonaut on the Moon, the Soviets shifted their focus to other types of space exploration. This included the development of a series of space stations. On April 19, 1971, they launched Salyut 1, the world’s first space station. Three days later, Soyuz 10 was launched on the first mission to the station. The spacecraft, which carried three cosmonauts, was unable to dock with Salyut 1 for an unexplained reason and returned to Earth. Another attempt to dock was then made by Soyuz 11, which lifted off on June 6, 1971. After successfully docking, the three cosmonauts—Georgi Dobrovolski (1928–1971), Vladislav Volkov (1935–1971), and Viktor Patsayev (1933–1971)—spent twenty-four days testing the space station’s systems and conducting biomedical and other scientific work. Then tragedy struck. As Soyuz 11 undocked from Salyut 1, a valve on the spacecraft that was supposed to equalize pressure inside the capsule in the final moments before landing was jolted open. It remained open during reentry, allowing all of the air in the capsule to escape. When Soviet officials opened the capsule after it had landed, they found that all three cosmonauts had suffocated to death. After this disaster, the Soviets decided to scrap Salyut 1. They programmed it to reenter Earth’s atmosphere on October 11, 1971. Six months after it had lifted off into space, the space station was incinerated. 192


The Soviet Soyuz 11 rocket successfully launched, but tragically all three cosmonauts onboard died when a valve jolted open and the spacecraft lost cabin pressure. (AP/Wide World Photos)

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United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs The United Nations (UN) office responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space is known as the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). It serves as the secretariat or department for the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the UN’s only committee dealing exclusively with international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. In 2004 there were sixty-five member states in the committee, making it one of the largest committees in the UN. UNOOSA, located in the UN office in Vienna, Austria, prepares and distributes reports and publications on various fields of space science, technology applications, and international space law. It works to improve the use of space science and technology for the economic and social development of all nations, particularly developing countries. It also maintains the Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space.

As both the Soviet and U.S. space programs set about recovering from tragedy and a loss of direction, the idea of setting aside political differences and cooperating on the exploration of space seemed proper and necessary. It was not a new idea. In 1959 the United Nations (UN; an international organization, composed of most of the nations of the world, created in 1945 to preserve world peace and security) had set up a permanent committee to review and encourage international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space and to study legal problems arising from its exploration. It is known as the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Certain officials from each of the competing space programs desired closer relations, but the Soviet and U.S. governments remained highly suspicious of each other. The political walls between them remained high. Nonetheless, communication between NASA and its Soviet counterpart continued throughout the 1960s. Then a thaw came.

Détente From 1969 through 1975, the United States and the Soviet Union established policies promoting détente between them. Détente (pronounced day-TONT; French for “lessening of tensions”) marked a relaxing of tensions between the rival nations, represented by increased diplomatic, commercial, and cultural contact. It emerged as part of the cyclical pattern of Cold War history, in which periods of relative calm followed periods of bitter superpower conflict. Western and Eastern European countries also experienced a détente and better cooperation during this period. Consistent contact and communication between the United States and the Soviet Union was perhaps the single 194


greatest achievement of détente. The détente period is also significant because it marked the beginning of improved relations between the United States and Communist China. Recognizing that China and the United States could become allies pushed the Soviets toward détente. These positive changes were bright spots at a time when the United States seemed all but consumed by the challenge of removing itself from the Vietnam War (1954–75). Vietnam had come under French colonial rule in the late nineteenth century. In 1954 Communist forces led by Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969) defeated the French and Vietnam was then temporarily divided in two, pending general elections to bring about national reunification. North Vietnam continued under Communist leadership, while South Vietnam aligned itself with the United States. Soon, Communist forces from North Vietnam (Viet Cong) launched attacks against the South with the purpose of unifying the two Vietnams under Communist rule. U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) propped up the South Vietnamese government with substantial economic and military aid. His successor as president, John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), expanded that commitment, broadening the U.S. military role because he believed that Ho Chi Minh and his forces were part of a general Communist expansion around the world. Like most Americans, he believed that the Communist governments of the Soviet Union and China controlled North Vietnam. Kennedy vowed not to lose Vietnam to the Communists. Beginning in early 1965, U.S. combat troops were introduced in growing numbers into Vietnam, and the war escalated. By 1970 the Vietnam War had become the single greatest political controversy in the United States. The war, supported by very few U.S. international allies, had eroded confidence in U.S. power at home and abroad. The enormous financial and human cost of the war to the United States (more than 110 billion dollars at the time and more than 58,000 lives and 300,000 casualties) jeopardized the readiness of U.S. military forces. The huge expense of the war fueled inflation (the continuing rise in the general price of goods and services because of an overabundance of available money) and threatened to send the nation into a recession (a period of extended economic decline). In the United States, opposition to the war increased steadily, dividing the public and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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straining the relationship between U.S. president Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994) and the U.S. Congress. President Nixon had been elected in 1968 in part because he hinted that he had a plan to end the war and withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam. In fact, he had no such plan. Nixon considered immediate withdrawal from Vietnam impossible. Such a drastic move might trigger a political backlash from U.S. supporters of the war, impairing Nixon’s ability to draft domestic legislation and negotiate with foreign powers, especially the Soviet Union. Nixon was keenly interested in improving relations between the United States and the Communist powers of the Soviet Union and China. However, he did not take the lead in détente. That movement actually came from Europe, spurred on by French president Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) and West German chancellor Willy Brandt (1913–1992). Disgusted by the war in Vietnam, de Gaulle condemned the United States as a reckless world power. Both he and Brandt sought to open communications with the governments of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In doing so, they achieved major improvements in East-West relations. In part to prevent the Europeans from undermining the United States’s leadership in the world, Nixon and his national security advisor, Henry A. Kissinger (1923–), pursued détente. They also hoped to use improved relations to gain the assistance of the Soviet Union and China in bringing an end to the widely unpopular Vietnam War without a humiliating defeat for the United States.

The first cooperative venture in space Détente opened the door for a cooperative space mission. In March 1970 President Nixon declared international cooperation a prime objective of NASA. On October 24 of that year, a U.S. delegation led by NASA deputy administrator George Low (1926–1984) met with Soviet officials in Moscow (the Soviet capital) to begin talks on the development of a common docking system that would allow each country to rescue the other’s space travelers. Negotiations for a joint endeavor in space continued over the next nineteen months until Nixon made a highly publicized visit to Moscow in May 1972. The primary purpose of the trip was to sign the Strategic Arms 196


U.S. president Richard Nixon, at left, and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev exchange copies of the signed nuclear arms race treaty, 1972. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

Limitation Treaty (SALT), which was designed to slow the nuclear arms race, limiting the number of offensive missiles each side had. As part of that accord, Nixon and Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin (1904–1980) signed the “Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes.” In addition to the first in-orbit manned space mission, the five-year agreement called for a wide range of continuing cooperative activities in such areas as space meteorology, space biology and medicine, the study of the natural environment from space, and the exploration of near-Earth space. That mission, known officially as the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP; the Soviets referred to it as the Soyuz-Apollo Test Project), was designed mainly to develop space-based Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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rescue techniques needed by both manned space programs. Science experiments would be conducted in space once the two spacecraft had docked. Mastering the logistics of such a joint space operation would help pave the way for future joint ventures involving space shuttles and space stations. On January 30, 1973, NASA introduced the crew that would fly the ASTP Apollo spacecraft (unofficially designated Apollo 18): Thomas P. Stafford (1930–), Vance Brand (1931–), and Donald “Deke” Slayton (1924–1993). Stafford was a veteran astronaut who had flown aboard Gemini 6, Gemini 9, and Apollo 7. Brand was a rookie astronaut, having flown on no previous missions. While Slayton had never flown on a space mission, he was hardly a novice. In 1959 he had been selected as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts. He had been assigned to fly the second Mercury orbital mission, but NASA doctors discovered that he had an irregular heartbeat and grounded him. He stayed with NASA to supervise the astronaut corps, eventually as director of flight crew operations. It was his job to decide who would fly aboard missions into space. In 1972, after having overcome his heart problem, he was restored to flight status. When Slayton finally flew into space, he had been an astronaut for sixteen years. Five months after the Apollo crew had been chosen, the Soviets announced that cosmonauts Aleksei Leonov (1934–) and Valeri Kubasov (1935–) would fly aboard Soyuz 19. Leonov already had a marked history in spaceflight: In March 1965, while orbiting Earth aboard Voskhod 2, he performed the first spacewalk, or EVA (extravehicular activity). He had also been selected to command the first Soviet manned mission to orbit the Moon, had it been attempted. Kubasov had flown in space as a member of the Soyuz 6 crew in 1969. For the mission, the two crews trained together in Houston, Texas, and in Moscow. Part of the training involved learning each other’s language. This proved a bit difficult. The astronauts and cosmonauts agreed to talk to their respective mission controllers in their native language; communication between the crews would consist of simple words, gestures, and sign language. The Houston and Moscow mission control centers also learned to work together. Meanwhile, U.S. and Soviet engineers worked to make the ASTP spacecraft compatible. 198


The Apollo-Soyuz crew (left to right): Donald Slayton, Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand, Aleksei Leonov, and Valeri Kubasov. (AP/Wide World Photos)

Both a common docking unit and a Docking Module (DM) had to be built. The docking unit, the Androgynous Peripheral Docking System (APDS), was based on a U.S. design. Unlike previous docking units used in space, the APDS could play both passive and active roles in docking. In the active role, motors on the APDS both extended and retracted the unit. Spade-shaped guides aligned the APDS units on the two spacecraft so latches could hook them together. In the Apollo APDS, shock absorbers softened the impact; on the Soyuz APDS, a gear system performed the same function. Once the ships were docked, the active APDS then retracted to lock the ships together and create an airtight seal. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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The DM, built by the United States, allowed movement between the incompatible Apollo and Soyuz atmospheres by acting as a hyperbaric chamber, a compartment where air pressure can be carefully controlled. Apollo had a low-pressure, high-oxygen atmosphere, whereas Soyuz had an atmosphere that replicated Earth’s (an oxygen-nitrogen mixture at three time the pressure in Apollo). If the cosmonauts had transferred directly from Soyuz 19 to the Apollo capsule without the DM, they would have suffered from the bends, a painful and sometimes fatal disorder caused by the formation of gas bubbles in the blood stream and tissues when a decrease in air pressure occurs too rapidly. The 4,432-pound (2,010-kilogram) DM included an Apollo-type docking unit on one end and the APDS docking unit on the other. It was launched underneath the Apollo spacecraft, on top of the two-stage Saturn IB rocket. (Apollo missions to the Moon were launched on larger Saturn V rockets.) The ASTP Apollo spacecraft was a stripped-down Apollo lunar spacecraft. In keeping with its short-duration, Earth-orbital mission, it carried few supplies and little propellant. At roughly 28,000 pounds (12,710 kilograms), it was the lightest Apollo spacecraft ever flown. Modifications to the Soyuz spacecraft included replacing the standard Soyuz docking system (designed for docking with Salyut space stations) with the Soviet APDS, adding electricitygenerating solar arrays (groups of solar cells or other solar collectors arranged to capture energy from the Sun and use it to generate electrical power), and making upgrades to the lifesupport systems so the cosmonauts could host the visiting astronauts.

The historic mission In the time previous to this historic international space mission, the United States had sent thirty-four men into space on the twenty-seven manned missions comprising the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. A number of those astronauts flew on two or more missions. Only one astronaut, Walter Schirra (1935–), flew in all three programs. The Soviet Union had sent thirty-three men and one woman into space on the twenty-six missions comprising its Vostok, Voskhod, 200


and Soyuz programs. Like their U.S. counterparts, a number of the cosmonauts flew on more than one mission. However, no cosmonaut flew in all three programs. On July 15, 1975, Soyuz 19 lifted off flawlessly from a launch pad at the Baikonur Space Center in the desert in present-day Kazakhstan. About seven hours later, ASTP Apollo lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Shortly after achieving orbit, the Apollo spacecraft turned around and docked with the DM in the separated second stage of the Saturn IB. The astronauts then maneuvered the spacecraft, which was traveling at a speed of approximately 17,480 miles (28,125 kilometers) per hour, into a proper orbit so it could rendezvous with Soyuz 19. After chasing down the Soyuz spacecraft, ASTP Apollo rendezvoused and docked with it at 12:10 P.M. EDT on July 17. The docking, in which the Apollo APDS played the active role, was flawless. Stafford and Slayton then entered the DM, closing the hatch to the Apollo spacecraft behind them. They adjusted the air pressure inside, raising it to meet the cabin pressure inside Soyuz 19, which the cosmonauts had lowered slightly before docking. As the joined spacecraft passed over the French city of Metz, Stafford opened the hatch that led into the Soyuz spacecraft. With applause from both mission control centers in the background, the two commanders, Stafford and Leonov, shook hands. It was an event that was broadcast live on global television. Over the next two days, the two crews conducted four transfers between their spacecraft. During these, much attention was given to television coverage and symbolism. The astronauts and cosmonauts shared a meal, heard greetings from U.S. president Gerald R. Ford (1913–) and Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982), and exchanged plaques, flags, certificates, and other gifts. Leonov and Kubasov gave the U.S. public a television tour of their spacecraft, and the astronauts did the same for a Soviet audience. Although science was of secondary importance during the mission, the crews did conduct twenty-seven experiments during the entire mission, some jointly and the rest independently. After having been docked for forty-four hours, the two spacecraft separated. The ASTP Apollo then maneuvered between Soyuz 19 and the Sun, creating an artificial solar eclipse Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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Ceremonial Items Carried Aboard the ASTP Mission The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the first cooperative international manned spaceflight. To mark the historic event, the U.S. astronauts aboard the Apollo spacecraft and the Soviet cosmonauts aboard the Soyuz spacecraft carried into space and exchanged a number of items, including: U.S. and U.S.S.R. flags (for exchange): The astronauts and cosmonauts carried five small flags from their respective nations that they exchanged with each other. The national flags symbolized the contribution made by many people from across the United States and Soviet Union. U.S. and U.S.S.R. flags (not for exchange): The astronauts and cosmonauts

also carried one large flag and five small flags from their respective nations that they did not exchange, but retained to symbolize the role that each nation played in the first international manned spaceflight. United Nations flag: The cosmonauts carried aloft a large United Nations flag, which was then returned to Earth by the astronauts. It symbolized the contribution to this and other cooperative space projects made by people from many nations and the common goal of exploring space peacefully for the benefit of all people. Commemorative medallions: The astronauts and cosmonauts each carried two halves of two individual medallions with crossed flags and docked spacecraft. They

when viewed from the Soyuz spacecraft. This allowed the cosmonauts to photograph the Sun’s corona, the outermost and hottest layer of the solar atmosphere that extends out into space for millions of miles. After this experiment, the Apollo spacecraft moved toward Soyuz 19 for redocking. This time, the Soyuz spacecraft was the prime maneuvering vehicle and its APDS the active docking unit. Once again, docking was successful. After three hours, the spacecraft undocked for a second and final time. After conducting a few more joint experiments, ASTP Apollo and Soyuz 19 went their separate ways. The Soviet craft remained in orbit for one-and-a-half more days, conducting experiments. It then reentered Earth’s atmosphere on July 21, landing safely in present-day Kazakhstan. 202


exchanged one of the halves in order to form the full medallions, permanent symbols of the first international human spaceflight. ASTP medallions: The astronauts gave the cosmonauts silver medallions in commemoration of their participation in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Tree seeds: The astronauts and cosmonauts exchanged tree seeds from their respective countries, which each nation could plant as a living and growing monument to the first cooperative human spaceflight. FAI certificate of docking: The two crews carried aboard four copies of the International Aeronautical Federation (in French, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale; FAI) certificate of docking. The FAI has been the certifying agency for world air and space records since 1905. The certifi-

cate officially recorded the first docking between spacecraft from two nations. “Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes”: The two crews carried aboard six copies of the 1972 agreement signed by U.S. president Richard M. Nixon and Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin, in which both nations made a commitment to conduct the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and a wide range of continuing cooperative activities. Lead-gold alloy: The two crews each brought aboard pieces of gold and lead, which they then melted and mixed in an electric furnace aboard the docking module. The unifor y (mixture of two unlike metals) was a new substance that symbolized the success of the nations in putting aside their differences to work together in space.

An almost tragic ending Although the ASTP mission had realistically come to an end, the Apollo astronauts remained in space for another three days to conduct Earth observation studies and other experiments. On July 24, the astronauts donned their spacesuits, jettisoned the DM, and then prepared the craft for reentry. While the Apollo capsule was speeding through Earth’s atmosphere, Brand forgot to operate the two switches that would automatically release the parachutes and shut down the thrusters. When the initial chute failed to come out, Brand was forced to hit the switch that opened it manually, causing the spacecraft to swing. The thrusters fired to correct the craft’s swinging motion. Stafford noticed this and shut down the thrusters manually. However, during the thirty seconds that the thrusters were on, a mixture of toxic propellants from the thrusters had entered the cabin through a pressure relief valve. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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Illustration of the midair docking of Apollo spacecraft (left) with a Soyuz spacecraft, high above Earth. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Despite the choking gas fumes in the cabin, Brand was able to deploy the main parachutes, and the craft splashed down hard into the Pacific Ocean 4.5 miles (7.3 kilometers) from its recovery ship, turning upside down in the water. Brand was unconscious, and Stafford and Slayton nearly so. Stafford managed to place an oxygen mask over Brand’s face, and he began to regain consciousness. Once the capsule righted itself, Stafford opened a valve to allow outside air into the cabin, and the remaining fumes disappeared. After they were rescued, the astronauts remained in a hospital for two weeks. Doctors discovered that the fast-acting gas had actually blistered their lungs. They also discovered a small lesion, or dis204


eased area, on Slayton’s left lung. After it was surgically removed, doctors determined that it was not cancerous. However, if the lesion had been discovered before the start of the mission, Slayton probably would have been denied his time in space. Although the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project ended up a onetime-only event, it created a sense of goodwill for a time that exceeded the simple “handshake in space” that was its most visible symbol. Aside from its political significance, the mission resulted in a number of technical developments, including a common docking system that would be used in various forms on future missions into space. NASA considered a second ASTP mission in 1977, but worried that it would interfere with the developing space shuttle program. The “Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes” was renewed in 1977, but the spirit of détente that had made ASTP possible evaporated following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. ASTP Apollo was the last U.S. manned spaceflight that used a traditional rocket booster. It was also the last U.S. manned spaceflight until the first space shuttle launched in 1981.

For More Information Books Ezell, Edward Clinton, and Linda Neuman Ezell. The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1978. Froehlich, Walter. Apollo Soyuz. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1976. Slayton, Donald K., with Michael Cassutt. Deke! An Autobiography. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.

Web Sites “Apollo-Soyuz: A Giant Leap in Cooperation.” CNN Interactive. http:// www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/07/17/apollo.soyuz/index.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/astp/ index.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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“The Apollo Soyuz Test Project.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http:// www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/astp/astp.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/ASTP/SP24. htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: Joint Mission in Space.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal114/ SpaceRace/sec500/sec520.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). “The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq. nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4209/toc.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Project Apollo-Soyuz Drawings and Technical Diagrams.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa. gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/astp/apol_soyuz.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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10 Space Stations

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ess than two decades after the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, lifted off into orbit on October 4, 1957, U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts were living and working in space stations hundred of miles above Earth’s surface. The scientific foundations of such orbital outposts had been laid down almost seventy years previous; the dream of living in space had been imagined more than a century before. A space station is a large orbiting structure designed for long-term human habitation in space. The first space station was a diversion, of sorts, from the space race, the contest to achieve superiority in spaceflight between the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union (presentday Russia). By the end of the 1960s, after the United States had placed astronauts on the Moon, the Soviet Union quietly gave up its quest of a manned lunar (moon) landing and shifted its focus instead to the launching of the first space station. In the last two-and-one-half decades of the twentieth century, a number of space stations were placed into Earth orbit, mostly by the Soviets. Although originally envisioned as a way station for piloted missions to the Moon and beyond (where 207

U.S. space station Skylab was placed into orbit on May 14, 1973. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

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they could stop to refuel or take on additional cargo), these vessels far surpassed that goal. They were, for the most part, orbiting laboratories in which groups of men and women carried out important scientific experiments and acted as subjects themselves in tests of the long-term effects of space on the human body. American writer Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909), who was also an ordained Unitarian minister, is regarded as the first person to have put the idea of a space station into print. During his writing career, he wrote hundreds of pieces, including sermons, biographies, novels, and essays. Even within such forms as the short story, Hale produced a wide range of fiction, in various settings, for both children and adults. In the development of the genre of science fiction, he is considered a key figure, primarily on the strength of his story “The Brick Moon,” which was originally published in 1869 in the Atlantic Monthly. In the story, the character Frederic Ingham assembles a crew to build a 200-foot (61-meter) diameter sphere out of bricks that will serve as a fixed landmark for navigators on the seas. The sphere was to be launched into an orbit 4,000 miles (6,436 kilometers) high. At that height, navigators would see it from the surface of the planet as a bright star, much like the North Star. However, an accident causes the premature launching of the sphere and thirty-seven workers are thrown into space inside of the artificial moon. Once in orbit, they soon adapt well to their new life. The fantastic idea of a space station was given a scientific grounding in the work of Russian scientist and rocket expert Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935). Often referred to as the “father of astronautics,” Tsiolkovsky had outlined by the beginning of the twentieth century many of the basic concepts and mathematical formulas of space travel that scientists still use in the present day. Like Hale, Tsiolkovsky used fiction to introduce his vision of a space station, but his story was simply a means to depict for a general audience what space travel and living in space would be like. In his 1920 science-fiction novel, Beyond the Planet Earth, Tsiolkovsky described for the first time a true space station, though he did not call it such. With living quarters for an international crew of six, the station featured a laboratory, a greenhouse, and a docking port for spacecraft. Space Stations

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Words to Know Artificial satellite: A man-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. Microgravity: A state where gravity is reduced to almost negligible levels, such as during spaceflight; commonly called weightlessness. Solar flare: Temporary bright spot that explodes on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy. Space motion sickness: A condition similar to ordinary travel sickness, with symptoms including loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal disturbances, and fatigue. The precise

cause of the condition is not fully understood, though most scientists agree that the problem originates in the balance organs of the inner ear. Space station: A large orbiting structure designed for long-term human habitation in space. Spacewalk: Technically known as an EVA, or extravehicular activity, an excursion outside a spacecraft or space station by an astronaut or cosmonaut wearing only a pressurized spacesuit and, possibly, some sort of maneuvering device. Sunspot: A cool area of magnetic disturbance that forms a dark blemish on the surface of the Sun.

The term “space station” was coined by another space visionary, German physicist Hermann Oberth (1894–1989). Like Tsiolkovsky, Oberth was a theorist. Although his practical experiments in rocketry were few, he helped popularize the concept of spaceflight as reality. In 1923 he published his recently rejected doctoral dissertation (a lengthy written statement on particular subject) as a nintey-two-page pamphlet titled Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (The Rocket into Interplanetary Space). The work was filled with calculations and even a design for a 115-foot-tall (35-meter-tall) bullet-shaped rocket with four large fins. Oberth also put forth the idea of a human expedition to Mars with an orbiting refueling station to be used as a staging point, or an area in which participants in a new mission are gathered and readied, for the voyage. 210


Six years later, Slovenian rocket engineer Herman Potocnik (1892–1929) published Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums: Der Raketen-motor (The Problem of Space Travel: The Rocket Motor). In the work, written under the pseudonym Hermann Noordung, he gave a detailed description of an orbiting space station shaped like a giant wheel that slowly rotated to produce artificial gravity. His nearly 100-foot-diameter (30meter-diameter) station used solar mirrors to power a steam turbine that generated electrical power. The design included a donut-shaped structure for living quarters and an astronomical observation station. Potocnik addressed the problems of weightlessness, space communications, maintaining a livable environment for the crew, and extravehicular activities (EVAs) or spacewalks. Potocnik’s idea was expanded upon in the 1950s by German-born American engineer Wernher von Braun (1912– 1977), who worked for the U.S. Army at the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama. Not only was von Braun a strong advocate of space exploration, he was a charismatic figure who drew people enthusiastically to his ideas and vision. Beginning in 1952 he worked with the popular Collier’s magazine on a series of articles on space projects such as large rockets, lunar missions, and an orbiting space station. He then served as technical advisor on three television shows produced by Walt Disney Studios that, among other scientific and mechanical aspects of space travel, featured images of a wheellike space station that served many purposes: as a laboratory, as an Earth-observation post, and as the launching point for missions to the Moon and Mars. Von Braun’s vision was soon adopted by officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), who thought that a space station would be the best support for a wide range of space activities. The bold call by U.S. president John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) in 1961 to place a U.S. astronaut on the Moon and return him safely to Earth before the end of the 1960s, however, interrupted that plan. At the time, the race to beat the Soviets to the Moon was far more important than establishing a permanent presence in space. NASA had hoped to return to its focus on a space station, and in 1969, the same year Apollo 11 astronauts walked on the Moon, it did. Plans had already been drawn up for a Space Stations

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On April 19, 1971, the Soviets launched Salyut 1, the first humanmade space station. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

proposed one-hundred-person space station that was to be completed by 1975. It was to have served as a laboratory for scientific experiments and as a base for nuclear-powered spacecraft designed to carry people and supplies to and from an 212


outpost on the Moon. NASA officials quickly realized, however, that the cost of building and supplying the station using conventional rockets would be far too expensive. What was needed were reusable spacecraft that could be used over and over again to ferry people and supplies to and from the station. And so NASA began work on those spacecraft, the space shuttles.

Salyut: The first space stations Meanwhile, space engineers in the Soviet Union were transforming Tsiolkovsky’s dreams into reality. On April 19, 1971, the Soviets launched Salyut 1, the first human-made space station. The Salyut (Russian for “Salute”) program was a series of seven space stations launched over a period of eleven years. The purpose of the program was to make human presence in space routine and continuous. The stations could not be resupplied, so they had limited lifetimes in orbit. Astronauts from a variety of countries flew to the orbiting stations aboard Soyuz spacecraft. Salyut 1 was a small station that could accommodate three cosmonauts for three to four weeks. It was shaped like a tube that was thinner in some parts than others, measuring 47 feet (14 meters) in length and 13 feet (4 meters) in diameter at its widest point. It weighed more than 25 tons (23 metric tons). Providing the station with power were four solar panels, which extended from its body like propellers. The station contained a work compartment and control center, a propulsion system, sanitation facilities, and a room for experiments. Cosmonauts entered the station through a dock at one end. Three days after the launch of the station, Soyuz 10 lifted off on the first mission to Salyut 1. However, the three cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 10 could not successfully dock their spacecraft with the station and were forced to return to Earth. A second attempt to dock was then made by Soyuz 11, which carried cosmonauts Georgi Dobrovolski (1928–1971), Vladislav Volkov (1935–1971), and Viktor Patsayev (1933– 1971) into space on June 6, 1971. The three cosmonauts successfully docked, then spent twenty-four days testing the space station’s systems and conducting experiments. Their mission, however, ended in tragedy. During reentry, a pressure valve on the spacecraft remained open, allowing the air inside the Space Stations

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capsule to escape. The crew suffocated to death. The Soviets then abandoned Salyut 1 on October 11, 1971, allowing it to reenter Earth’s atmosphere where it burned up. The six subsequent Salyut space stations met with mixed success. Three of these—Salyut 2, Salyut 3, and Salyut 5—were military missions. These Salyuts were similar in design to the civilian Salyuts, but somewhat smaller, with only two solar panels. They also contained an unmanned capsule that could return to Earth material such as film or other sensitive information. All cosmonauts on missions to these stations were military pilots. Salyut 2, the cover name of the highly secret Almaz military space station, was placed in orbit on April 3, 1973. The station quickly ran into trouble. Two days after launch, its flight control system failed and it lost pressure, making it uninhabitable for humans. The cause of the massive failure was likely due to metal fragments piercing the station when the discarded Proton rocket that had placed it in orbit later exploded nearby. No attempt was made to send a crew to the station, which eventually burned up in the planet’s atmosphere. A second Almaz, under the name Salyut 3, was launched on June 25, 1974. Cosmonauts Pavel Popovich (1930–) and Yuri Artyukhin (1930–1998) reached the station aboard Soyuz 14, docking with it on July 3. They spent two weeks on the station, conducting military tasks and various biomedical experiments. The follow-up crew lifted off aboard Soyuz 15 on August 26. A disaster nearly occurred when a failure of the spacecraft’s rendezvous system caused it to approach the station at the frightening speed of 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour. Luckily, the spacecraft was off target and the crew was able to abort the mission, returning safely to Earth. The day before Salyut 3 reentered the atmosphere on January 25, 1975, trials of an onboard aircraft cannon were conducted. A target satellite was destroyed in the successful test. Salyut 4, a nonmilitary space station, lifted off on December 26, 1974. Two weeks later, the crew of Soyuz 17, cosmonauts Georgi Grechko (1931–) and Aleksei Gubarev (1931–), entered the station for a month-long stay. They conducted mostly astronomical experiments, making observations of the Sun, Earth, and the planets. The second crew destined for the 214


Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Aksenov and Yuri Malyshev relax before their mission to Soyuz 6. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

station never made it. Their spacecraft malfunctioned before they reached orbit, and they were forced to make an emergency landing in Siberia. A new crew aboard Soyuz 18 lifted off for the station on May 24, 1975. Cosmonauts Pyotr Klimuk (1942–) and Vitali Sevastyanov (1935–) stayed on board Salyut 4 for sixty-three days, setting a new space endurance record. In November of that year, an unmanned Soyuz spacecraft docked automatically with the station, remaining attached for three months. This demonstrated that supply Space Stations

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missions to future space stations could be successful. Salyut 4 reentered Earth’s atmosphere on February 3, 1977. The final Almaz military space station, Salyut 5, was launched on June 22, 1976. Three crews lifted off to serve aboard the station, but only two, those on Soyuz 21 and Soyuz 24, successfully docked and boarded for lengthy stays. The crew launched aboard Soyuz 23 never docked because of a failure of their craft’s rendezvous system. Little is known of the activities of the two crews that served aboard Salyut 5. It is known that cosmonauts Boris Volynov (1934–) and Vitali Zholobov (1937–), who flew on Soyuz 21, had to cut short their stay on the station because they suffered from physical and psychological problems. Zholobov, in particular, was affected by intense space motion sickness and homesickness. Salyut 5 reentered Earth’s atmosphere on August 8, 1977. Salyut 6, which launched on September 29, 1977, marked a turning point in space station design and technology. Although it resembled previous Salyut stations in overall design, it featured a second docking port in the rear, which allowed two spacecraft to dock with the station at the same time. An unmanned cargo spacecraft, known as Progress, could also dock at the second port, delivering fuel to the station’s propellent tanks. Between 1977 and 1982, Salyut 6 hosted five long-duration crews and eleven short-term crews, including cosmonauts from countries that were politically allied with the Soviet Union. Czech cosmonaut Vladimir Remek (1948–), who flew to the station aboard Soyuz 28 (the third mission to dock with the station), was the first person launched into space who was not a citizen of either the United States or the Soviet Union. The very first long-duration crew on the station stayed ninety-six days in orbit. The longest stay on Salyut 6, made in 1980 by Soyuz 35 cosmonauts Leonid Popov (1945–) and Valeri Ryumin (1939–), lasted 185 days. The five long-duration crews occupied the station for a total of 671 days. When Salyut 6 finally reentered Earth’s atmosphere on July 29, 1982, Salyut 7 had already been in orbit for three months. Launched on April 19, 1982, it stayed aloft for four years and two months, playing host to ten crews that consisted of six resident crews and four visiting ones (including French and Indian cosmonauts). A total of twenty-two cosmonauts visited the station, five of them twice and one three times. At any one 216


time, two to six cosmonauts lived aboard Salyut 7. Cosmonauts Leonid Kizim (1941–), Vladimir Solovyov (1946–), and Oleg Atkov (1949–) spent 237 days on the station in 1984, the longest stay by any crew. While on board, they conducted experiments in astronomy and space manufacturing. Atkov, the first medical doctor to spend more than two days in space, also studied the effects of space travel on the human body. Solovyov made six EVAs during the mission to repair the station. Salyut 7 burned up in the planet’s atmosphere on February 7, 1991.

A U.S. experiment Skylab was the only space station ever operated solely by the United States. It had sprung from the desire of NASA for a program that could apply hardware developed for Apollo lunar missions to other manned spaceflight objectives. The space agency thus approved an experimental manned Earthorbiting laboratory as the program to follow Apollo. NASA officials hoped it would be the forerunner of a real space station. The laboratory was to be created inside the third stage of a Saturn V, the large rocket used to send Apollo spacecraft into orbit. Two laboratories were built, but before the first was ever launched, it was evident that cuts to NASA’s budget due to the high cost of the Vietnam War (1954–75) and social programs would prevent the second from ever going into space. The total cost of the space station program was less than three billion dollars at the time. (In comparison, the total cost for the Apollo program was about twenty-five billion dollars; the Vietnam War cost the country more than 110 billion dollars and more than 58,000 lives.) Skylab was placed into orbit on May 14, 1973, by the Saturn V, the last time that giant launcher was used. In orbit, the station was 118 feet (36 meters) long and weighed nearly 100 tons (91 metric tons) when an Apollo spacecraft was docked to it. The livable area of the station, known as the Orbital Workshop (OWS), was a cylinder 48 feet (17 meters) in length and 22 feet (6.7 meters) in diameter. Its volume, slightly more than 9,993 cubic feet (283 cubic meters), was about the same as that of a small house. It was divided into two levels separated by an open metal floor or grid into which the astronauts’ cleated shoes could be locked. The upper floor had storage lockers and a large empty volume for conducting experiments, plus Space Stations

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two scientific airlocks, one pointing down at Earth, the other toward the Sun. The lower floor had compartmented “rooms” with conditions that were far more comfortable than those of Apollo spacecraft: a dining room table placed beside a large window, a kitchen area with a freezer containing seventy-two different food selections and an oven of sorts, three bedrooms, a work area, and a shower and private bathroom customdesigned for use in the microgravity (very little gravity; near weightlessness) aboard the station. For example, the toilet had a seat belt to prevent the user from floating off. Exercise equipment, including a stationary bicycle, was also provided to help the astronauts combat the loss of muscle tone caused by an extended stay in space. The only drawback to exercising in the station was that sweat floated off the astronauts’ bodies in slimy puddles. Astronauts had to catch these puddles with a towel before they landed on a control panel or other piece of equipment, possibly causing harm. The largest piece of scientific equipment, attached to one end of the Orbital Workshop, was the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM). The solar observatory was used to study the Sun with no interference from Earth’s atmosphere. The ATM had its own electricity-generating solar panels. Skylab also had an airlock module for EVAs that were required for repairs, experiment deployments, and routine changing of film in the ATM. The Apollo spacecraft that brought the astronauts to the station remained attached to the station’s multiple docking adapter while the astronauts were on board. The mission goals of Skylab were: to prove that humans could live and work in space for extended periods, and to expand knowledge of solar astronomy well beyond Earth-based observations. Because Skylab was a research laboratory, astronauts who served on missions to the station were different from those who had served aboard Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. All previous astronauts had been pilots, except for one scientist on the last Apollo mission. The crews aboard Skylab included a number of scientist-astronauts.

Problems from the start Almost immediately, Skylab encountered problems. Sixtythree seconds after liftoff, vibrations during the launch caused the meteoroid shield, which was designed to shade Skylab’s 218


U.S. astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr., commander of the first manned Skylab mission, during a training exercise in 1973. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

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OWS from the Sun’s rays, to rip off. When it ripped off, it took with it one of the spacecraft’s two solar panels. In addition, debris from the meteoroid shield wrapped around the other solar panel, keeping it from deploying properly. Despite these problems, the station was able to achieve a nearly circular orbit around Earth, 270 miles (434 kilometers) above its surface. To provide energy to the station, NASA’s mission control personnel maneuvered the solar panels of the ATM to face the Sun. Without the protective meteoroid shield, however, temperatures inside the OWS rose to 126°F (52°C). The first crew (their mission was labeled Skylab 2) to occupy the station was to have launched the next day, but crew members waited on the ground for ten days while NASA engineers developed procedures and trained the crew to fix the crippled space station. Finally, on May 25, 1973, astronauts Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. (1930-1999), Paul J. Weitz (1932–), and Joseph P. Kerwin (1932–) lifted off in an Apollo capsule atop a Saturn IB rocket (smaller than the Saturn V) and rendezvoused with the station. Their first priority was to lower the temperature inside to a comfortable level. After a failed attempt to deploy the stuck solar panel, they entered the station, thrusting a sunshade through an air lock to replace the lost thermal shield. The fix worked. Two weeks later, Conrad and Kerwin conducted a three-and-one-half hour EVA and, after a struggle, were able to free the stuck solar panel and restore power to the station. For nearly a month, they made further repairs to the OWS, conducted medical experiments, gathered solar and Earth science data, and returned some 29,000 frames of film. The astronauts spent twenty-eight days in space, doubling the previous U.S. record. The second crew, Skylab 3, arrived at the station on July 28, 1973. However, all three astronauts—Alan L. Bean (1932–), Jack R. Lousma (1936–), and Owen K. Garriott (1930–)—fell victim to space motion sickness shortly after entering Skylab. Once the bout passed, they settled down to a fifty-nine-day stay on board the space station. During their mission, Garriott and Lousma deployed a second sun shield on an EVA lasting sixand-one-half hours. It was the first and longest of three EVAs the crew would make. During their two months in orbit, the astronauts undertook a busy schedule of experiments, including a student experiment to see if spiders could spin webs 220


in weightlessness (they could). They also tested a jet-powered Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU) backpack inside the spacious volume of Skylab’s forward compartment. The AMU, which had been carried but never flown on Gemini missions in the 1960s, proved a capable form of one-man space transportation. An endurance record for the longest U.S. spaceflight was set by the crew of Skylab 4: eighty-four days, one hour, fifteen minutes, and thirty-one seconds. Following their November 16, 1973, launch, astronauts Gerald P. Carr (1932–), Edward G. Gibson (1936–), and William R. Pogue (1930–) carried out numerous experiments and set space records. They studied the effects of weightlessness; conducted biomedical experiments; observed and studied Earth, Comet Kohoutek, and a giant solar flare; and greatly increased humankind’s knowledge of the Sun and its effect on Earth’s environment. The astronauts also took four EVAs totaling twenty-two hours and twenty-two minutes, including one on Christmas Day to view Kohoutek. The longest of their EVAs lasted just more than seven hours, the longest spacewalk up to that time. To help keep them in shape during their mission, a treadmill was added to the stationary bicycle already on board. As a result, the Skylab 4 crew returned to Earth in better physical condition than previous crews. But an excessive work pace caused some tension during the mission. The astronauts conducted a total of 1,563 hours of scientific experiments. NASA flight controllers learned not to make excessive demands on the crew. At one point, the astronauts briefly refused to carry out their duties until a new schedule was negotiated with mission control. Before leaving Skylab, the station’s final crew boosted it to a slightly higher orbit, which varied from 267 to 283 miles (430 to 455 kilometers). NASA engineers calculated that this new altitude would allow Skylab to remain in orbit for at least nine more years.

The sad ending of a successful program Despite its early mechanical difficulties, Skylab was an overwhelming success. Its three crews occupied the Orbital Workshop for a total of 171 days. They conducted nearly three Space Stations

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hundred scientific and technical experiments, including medical experiments on how humans adapt to microgravity, solar observations, and detailed studies of Earth’s resources. Both the time in space and the time spent on EVAs exceeded the combined totals of the entire world’s previous spaceflights up to that time. Additionally, the ability to conduct longer missions was conclusively demonstrated by Skylab, as evidenced by the good health and physical condition of the second and third crews. The end of the third mission to Skylab marked the end of the first phase of the program. NASA officials hoped the station would remain in orbit and would be reoccupied when the space shuttle program was under way. In the fall of 1977, however, NASA engineers determined that the station was no longer in a stable orbit as a result of greater-than-predicted solar activity. A space shuttle mission was planned for February 1980 in which astronauts would attach an upper stage to the station, boosting it into a higher orbit. On July 11, 1979, a year before the planned mission and two years before the shuttle’s first actual flight, Skylab fell into the atmosphere and burned up over the Indian Ocean. Some debris from the station fell across the southeastern Indian Ocean and a sparsely populated section of western Australia. Luckily, no one was injured. Skylab’s flaming plunge to Earth marked the end of the Apollo era of human spaceflight.

Mir The longest continuous presence of humans in space began in 1986 with the Soviet launch of a 20.9-ton (19-metricton) cylinder that formed the core of the space station called Mir (pronounced meer; Russian for “peace” or “community living in harmony”). By 1996 a total of six modules had been linked to complete the sprawling station. To build the space station, the Soviets (and their Russian successors) drew from lessons learned with the Salyut stations of the 1970s and 1980s. Those stations were simple and robust, but compact and with limited lifespans. Engineered from the beginning for expansion, Mir was designed to be resupplied regularly. 222


The longest continuous presence of humans in space began in 1986 with the Soviet launch of the space station called Mir. (Digital image © 1996 Corbis; Original image courtesy of NASA/Corbis)

The heart of the station was the core module, placed in orbit on February 20, 1986. The core module had six ports for the attachment of other modules. These ports were placed in key locations, allowing the station’s configuration to be Space Stations

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changed. With attached solar panels generating power, the core module provided basic life support and command services. The 43-foot-long (13-meter-long) module consisted of a 10-foot-diameter (3-meter-diameter) cylinder attached to a 14foot-diameter (4.2-meter-diameter) cylinder by a tapered segment. One side of the module housed living quarters; the other contained the space station operations, communications, and command center. The crew inhabiting the station (six at a time for short stays and three comfortably for longer periods) spent most of its time in the living and work areas. The living space consisted of two small sleeping cabins and a common area with dining facilities and exercise equipment. The space also contained a toilet, sink, and a water recycling system. The next component connected to the station was the Kvant 1 module, launched into orbit on March 31, 1987. Divided into a pressurized laboratory compartment and a nonpressurized equipment compartment, the 19-foot-long (5.8-meter-long), 13.8-foot-diameter (4.2-meter-diameter) module was originally designated as the astrophysics research laboratory. It also contained a gyroscope-based assembly that operated off of solar energy to orient Mir in space without the use of precious fuel. At the far end of the module was a docking area for unmanned rocket drones that arrived from Earth at intervals to fit the station with supplies. Once emptied, then refilled with trash and waste, the drones were released to fall back toward the planet, burning up on reentry in the atmosphere. Launched on November 26, 1989, the Kvant II module eventually docked with Mir’s core module on December 6. The 45-foot-long (13.7-meter-long), 14-foot-diameter (4.4-meterdiameter) module contained instruments and equipment such as an oxygen generation system and one that converted humidity in the Mir atmosphere into drinking water. In addition, it contained a toilet and shower facility. Through a complex series of filtration and processing steps, a unit on the module cleaned and recycled water from the sanitary facilities for reuse. Kvant II also featured a compartment with an airlock that allowed crew members to exit the complex for spacewalks. The third addition to the Mir core module was launched on May 31, 1990. The 45-foot-long (13.7-meter-long), 14-foot224


U.S. Astronauts on Mir Astronaut

Period

Total days

Norman E. Thagard

March 14, 1995–July 7, 1995

118

Shannon Lucid

March 22, 1996–September 26, 1996

188

John Blaha

September 16, 1996–January 22, 1997

128

Jerry Linenger

January 12, 1997–May 24, 1997

132

C. Michael Foale

May 15, 1997–October 5, 1997

145

David Wolf

September 25, 1997–January 31, 1998

128

Andrew Thomas

January 22, 1998–June 12, 1998

141

diameter (4.4-meter-diameter) Kristall module contained instruments used to produce high-technology equipment in the microgravity environment. It also housed a greenhouse designed to allow botanists to study the effects of microgravity conditions on plant growth. When the space shuttle began operations with Mir in 1995, the docking port that allowed the ship to mate with the station was attached at the far end of the Kristall module. On May 20, 1995, the Spektr module flew into orbit and docked at the port opposite Kvant II. More than 39 feet (11.9 meters) long and 14 feet (4.4 meters) wide, the module was designed for surface studies of Earth and atmospheric research. It also provided living quarters for visiting astronauts from the United States and European countries. The module produced significant amounts of power for Mir from four 370-squarefoot (34.4-square-meter) solar panels. The final unit segment of Mir was the Priroda module, placed in orbit on April 23, 1996. That was ten years after the core module had been placed in space and five years beyond the planned lifetime of the station. The module, similar in shape and size to the other modules, housed radar systems and detectors to study Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. Lacking solar panels, Priroda was unable to generate its own power, relying instead on batteries or on the power network of Mir. Space Stations

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By the end of construction, Mir weighed 135 tons (122 metric tons) and offered 9,993 cubic feet (283 cubic meters) of space. This meant that, with the exception of the Moon, Mir was the heaviest object in orbit around Earth. Over its lifetime, its maintenance cost continued to skyrocket, and the station ultimately cost 4.2 billion dollars to construct and maintain. The space station was neither designed nor constructed to last the fifteen years it spent orbiting Earth. It far surpassed records set by Skylab for time in space. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Mir became more expensive than what the new Russian nation could afford. Over the next ten years, the station deteriorated with age and became more difficult to fix. It suffered from problems with its insulation and glitches during docking and undocking procedures with supply craft.

Collaboration on a troubled station In 1994, the United States made an historic four-hundredmillion-dollar deal with Russia to place U.S. astronauts on Mir for durations of up to six months. NASA and the Russian space agency agreed to develop the future International Space Station (ISS). In preparation for that project, the two agreed to engage in a series of joint missions involving Mir and the space shuttle. Many heralded the Shuttle-Mir mission as the beginning of an era of continuing cooperation between the United States and Russia in space. Critics, however, argued that it was simply an underhanded funding of the troubled Russian space program. They further argued that it exposed U.S. astronauts to unnecessary and unacceptable risks. Of the seven U.S. astronauts who eventually served on Mir, Shannon Lucid (1943–) stayed aboard the longest at 188 days. Fifty-three years old at the time, she set a new U.S. record for long-duration spaceflight. Lucid, who had become an astronaut in August 1979, had also served on four space shuttle flights previous to her time on Mir, making her the first woman to go into space more than twice. In all, she logged 223 days in space, the most by any woman. Despite the wear and tear of more than a decade in space, Mir functioned surprisingly well until 1997. That year brought mishap after mishap. In February, an oxygen canister burst into flames, filling the living module with smoke. When crew 226


U.S. astronauts Linda Godwin (standing left), Kevin Chilton (standing center), Shannon Lucid (seated right), and Yuri Onufrienko aboard the Russian space station Mir, 1996. (AP/Wide World Photos)

members turned to extinguish the flames, they discovered that the launch restraints on the firefighting equipment had never been removed. Valuable time was spent searching in near darkness for tools to free the equipment before the flames were finally extinguished. A few weeks later, the main carbon dioxide removal system failed. Then the cooling system malfunctioned, leaking coolant into the air. Temperatures in the modules remained at 96°F (36°C) for weeks. In June Mir suffered its most dangerous setback. During the testing of a new docking system, an unmanned rocket collided with the Spektr module, piercing the hull and crumpling solar panels. During the scramble to seal off the module, crew members were forced to disconnect cables that snaked from Spektr’s solar panels into the other modules of the station, Space Stations

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Top Ten Single Flight Durations Cosmonaut

Station

Period

Total days

Valeri Polyakov

Mir

January 8, 1994–March 22, 1995

437

Sergei Avdeyev

Mir

August 13, 1998–August 28, 1999

379

Musa Manarov

Mir

December 21, 1987–December 21, 1988

365

Vladimir Titov

Mir

December 21, 1987–December 21, 1988

365

Yuri Romanenko

Mir

February 6, 1987–December 29, 1987

326

Sergei Krikalyov

Mir

May 18, 1991–March 25, 1992

311

Valery Polyakov

Mir

August 29, 1988–April 27, 1989

240

Leonid Kizim

Salyut 7

February 8, 1984–October 2, 1984

237

Vladimir Solovyov

Salyut 7


237

Oleg Atkov

Salyut 7


237

leaving Mir with only partial power. Days later, the steering units broke down, then a power surge knocked out a computer. Crew members were forced to use precious fuel from the Soyuz escape pod to reposition the station, turning the solar panels toward the Sun. The following month, the cooling system failed yet again. Then the main computer crashed, an event that would repeat itself again and again in coming months. In September U.S. mission control sent out a warning that a military satellite was in an orbit that would pass dangerously close to Mir. At about the same time the warning was received, the main computer on the station failed, leaving the crew members on board to watch tensely from the Soyuz escape pod as the satellite passed only 3,000 feet (914 meters) away. As the month dragged on, the station suffered repeated computer failures, as well as the failure of the carbon dioxide removal system and leaks of mysterious brown fluid. Concern for the safety of U.S. astronauts aboard the station mounted. The four-year collaboration ended when Andrew Thomas 228


(1951–), the seventh and final U.S. astronaut to serve aboard Mir, flew back to Earth in June 1998. With the launch of the International Space Station approaching and continued problems on Mir, the Russian space agency announced plans to de-orbit the station in September 1999. As the appointed date drew near, however, the space agency seemed less and less inclined to terminate the station. Offers came in from different groups to try to save it. One group of entrepreneurs tried to turn Mir into a destination for wealthy tourists. Millionaire Dennis Tito (1940–) offered to pay twenty million dollars to become the first tourist aboard Mir, but his offer was not accepted before Russia ultimately decided to end the fifteen-year saga of the station. By that time, the station’s orbit was degrading by almost 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) per day. After much planning, the Russian space agency decided to send Mir through Earth’s atmosphere, allowing it to break apart into small pieces before its final splashdown in the South Pacific. On March 23, 2001, after more than 86,000 orbits around the planet, Mir entered the atmosphere, breaking up into several large pieces and thousands of smaller ones. The larger pieces splashed down safely into the ocean.

A true international space station Mir had been the first permanently crewed space station designed as an assembly, or complex, of specialized research modules. The five modules had been added one at a time. Even while beginning the assembly and operation of Mir, the Soviets were planning another Mir-type station. It was a plan revised because of developments both at home and in the United States. In his State of the Union address before a joint session of the U.S. Congress on January 25, 1984, President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) directed NASA “to develop a permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade.” He went on to say that “NASA will invite other countries to participate.” So began the International Space Station (ISS) project and, indirectly, the coming together of Soviet and U.S. space station projects. Space Stations

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Artist’s rendering of the International Space Station in its planned completion. (© Stocktrek/Corbis)

NASA had wanted to undertake a permanent space station project since the space shuttle flight program began in 1981. Preliminary design studies were already under way when the president made his announcement. Within weeks, NASA invited other countries (except the Soviet Union) to join the project. Interest was already high at the European Space Agency (ESA), a multinational organization composed of fifteen member states dedicated to the exploration of space. The space agencies of Canada and Japan were also interested in participating in what was then called Space Station Freedom. When it collapsed and broke apart in 1991, the former Soviet Union (now called Russia) was eventually invited to join the effort. Since the Russian space agency faced severe finan230


cial problems (as did all of Russia after the breakup), it accepted help from the United States and eventually agreed to join and lend its vast experience to the creation of a truly international space station. In 1993 the United States put forth a detailed long-range ISS plan that included substantial Russian participation as well as the involvement of fourteen other nations. Altogether sixteen countries—Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States—banded together on a nonmilitary effort so complex and expensive that no one nation could ever consider doing it alone. The project, involving more than one hundred thousand people in space agencies and contracting companies around the world, was expected to be completed by 2006. The estimated lifetime cost of the station was one hundred billion dollars. The ISS project has lofty goals. It is expected that having long-term, uninterrupted access to outer space will allow investigators to acquire large sets of data in weeks that would have taken years to obtain. The ISS project also plans to conduct medical and industrial experiments that it hopes will result in benefits to all humankind.

Largest adventure into space The ambitious ISS has been likened in difficulty to building a pyramid in the zero gravity of space. When completely assembled, the ISS will have a mass of nearly 1 million pounds (454,000 kilograms) and will measure about 360 feet (110 meters) across by 290 feet (88 meters) long, making it much wider than the length of a football field. This large scale means that it can provide 46,000 cubic feet (1,300 cubic meters) of pressurized living and working space for a maximum crew of seven scientists and engineers. This amount of usable space is equal in size to the volume of a huge Boeing 747 jumbo jet. This massive structure will get its power from nearly 26,880 square feet (2,500 square meters) of solar panels spread out on four modules. These panels always rotate to face the Sun and can convert sunlight into electricity that can be stored in batteries. The station will have fifty-two computers controlling its numerous systems. Space Stations

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Canadian mission specialist Chris A. Hadfield works near a robotics tool outside of the International Space Station. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

The main components of the ISS are the service module and six scientific laboratories: the U.S. Destiny laboratory, the U.S Centrifuge Accommodation Module, the ESA Columbus Orbital facility, the Japanese Experiment Module, and two Russian Research Modules. The other major contributor is Canada, which provided a 55-foot-long (16.7-meter-long) robotic arm for assembly and other maintenance tasks. The United States also has the responsibility for developing and ultimately operating all of the major elements and systems aboard the station. More than forty spaceflights will be required to deliver more than one hundred separate components to the station. As of 2004, flights had been made by the 232


space shuttle and the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. The ISS orbits Earth at an average altitude of 220 miles (354 kilometers). At this distance, it can make observations of 85 percent of the planet and fly over 95 percent of Earth’s population. On November 11, 1998, the Russians placed the first major piece of the puzzle, the control module named Zarya, in orbit. Following the launch of the U.S. module named Unity during December of that year (which would serve as the connecting passageway between sections), the Russians launched their service module named Zvezda on July 12, 2000. This not only provided life-support systems to other elements but also served as early living quarters for the first crew. After more flights to deliver supplies and equipment, the U.S. laboratory module named Destiny was docked with the station on February 7, 2001. This state-of-the-art facility will be the centerpiece of the station when it is complete. The aluminum lab is 28 feet (8.5 meters) long and 14 feet (4.3 meters) wide and allows astronauts to work in a comfortable climate all year round.

Research on the station The main goal of the ISS project is to conduct long-term scientific research in space. Astronauts will test themselves and learn more about the effects of long-term exposure to reduced gravity on humans. Studying how muscles weaken and what changes occur in the heart, arteries, veins, and bones may not only lead to a better understanding of the body’s systems, but also might help humans plan for future long-term exploration of the solar system. Flames, fluids, and metals all act differently in microgravity, and astronauts will conduct research in what is called Materials Science to try to create better alloys (metals created by the mixing and fusing of two or more different metals). The nature of space itself will be studied by examining what happens to the exterior of a spacecraft over time. Lastly, Earth itself will be watched and examined. Studying its forests, oceans, and mountains from space may lead to a better understanding of the large-scale, long-term changes that take place in the environment, especially those caused by air and water pollution and by the cutting and burning of forests. The ISS will have four large windows designed just for looking at Earth. Space Stations

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Space Tourists On April 30, 2001, U.S. investment broker Dennis Tito entered the International Space Station (ISS) after having flown aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. Four hundred and fourteen people had flown into space before him, including a Saudi prince, a Russian politician, a Japanese television reporter, and three U.S. congressmen. But at a cost of twenty million dollars, Tito was the first paying tourist. NASA had been less than thrilled about sending a nonprofessional into space, fearing he would jeopardize work on the station. The agency sought to have Tito barred from the trip. But the Russian space agency, strapped for cash, gladly accepted his money. It did require Tito to complete nine hundred hours of training and medical tests at Star City, the cosmonaut training center in Russia, before he would be approved to fly. Tito also had to agree to replace any

equipment he broke during his week-long stay aboard the station. After Tito’s trip, the world’s five biggest space agencies established health and training standards for both astronauts and visitors to the ISS. In April 2002, South African Internet entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth became the second paying tourist to board the ISS. His twenty-million-dollar trip also made him the first African to travel into space. Like Tito’s, his trip had been arranged with the Russian space agency through Space Adventures, the world’s leading space experiences company. In March 2004, the company announced that U.S. technology entrepreneur Gregory Olsen would become the third space tourist. The launch date for his expedition to the ISS was planned for April 2005.

The first crew, consisting of U.S. astronaut William Shepherd (1949–) and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko (1962–) and Sergei Krikalev (1958–), entered the ISS on November 2, 2000, and stayed aboard until March 14, 2001. Since then, the station has been permanently crewed, with each outgoing crew handing over the ISS to the incoming crew. As of mid2004, nine missions crewed by twenty-four astronauts or cosmonauts have been sent to the ISS. More than eighty visitors have also occupied the ISS, including the world’s first space tourists. This makes it the most visited spacecraft in the history of spaceflight. But overruns and cutbacks have occurred, threatening the continuation of what has become the world’s only remaining 234


space station. The project has been far more expensive than NASA originally anticipated, and construction is behind schedule. Because of this, the station cannot accommodate its expected crew of seven. This has limited the amount of science that can be performed on the station. Critics have labeled the project a waste of time and money, which could have been better spent on problems on Earth. After the accident of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003, the U.S. space shuttle program was suspended. This has halted construction of the ISS, since the shuttles delivered almost all the equipment and materials. Although Soyuz spacecraft continue to exchange crews who monitor the station and make repairs, the future of the ISS remains uncertain.

For More Information Books Caprara, Giovanni. Living in Space: From Science Fiction to the International Space Station. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2000. Harland, David M. The MIR Space Station: A Precursor to Space Colonization. New York: Wiley, 1997. Harland, David M., and John E. Catchpole. Creating the International Space Station. New York: Springer Verlag, 2002. Launius, Roger D. Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. Shayler, David J. Skylab: America’s Space Station. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001.

Web Sites “International Space Station.” Boeing. http://www.boeing.com/defensespace/space/spacestation/flash.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “International Space Station.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Living and Working in Space.” NASA Spacelink. http://spacelink.nasa. gov/NASA.Projects/Human.Exploration.and.Development.of.Space/ Living.and.Working.In.Space/.index.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). Mir. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Skylab.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/ kscpao/history/skylab/skylab.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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11 Space Shuttles

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erhaps no U.S. space program has borne witness to such great triumph and tragedy as that of the space shuttle program. Known officially as the Space Transportation System (STS), the space shuttle program was first put into operation in 1981. Between that time and early 2003, 113 shuttle missions were flown, carrying a total of 660 crew members. Many of those missions were marked by U.S. space firsts: Shuttles carried aloft the first U.S. female astronaut, the first African American male and female astronauts, the first U.S. female mission commander and pilot, the first Hispanic astronaut, and the first Native American astronaut. Before the space shuttle, launching cargo into space was a one-way proposition. Rockets were used to put a tiny capsule carrying human space travelers into orbit. Stage by stage, booster segments of the rocket would fall away during the launch as their fuel ran out. The spacecraft would go into orbit around Earth, and then it would fall back to Earth, plunging into the ocean. At that point, it became space rubbish. Every part of the vehicle was discarded, never to be used again, with the exception of the human crew. Satellites could also

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The space shuttle Columbia moving from the vehicle assembly building to the launch pad in 1994. (© Corbis)

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be sent into orbit the same way as astronauts were, but they could not return. The space shuttle, the world’s first reusable space vehicle, changed that. It revolutionized the way people worked in space. Astronauts aboard space shuttle missions not only released satellites into orbit, they also captured, repaired, and then redeployed those already in space, the first time that had ever been accomplished. On April 25, 1990, astronauts aboard the shuttle Discovery deployed the Hubble Space Telescope. Over the next twelve years, four more shuttle missions repaired and upgraded the orbiting telescope. Eleven space shuttle missions also docked with the Mir space station and sixteen with the International Space Station, carrying supplies and crew members to and from the stations. Astronauts aboard space shuttles have carried out a wide variety of tasks. In addition to the launching of scientific, commercial, and military satellites, shuttle crews have launched interplanetary probes. They have also conducted research in areas such as astronomy, biology, and space medicine. The space shuttle changed the social makeup of space travelers. With such large crews (sometimes up to seven members on a mission), shuttle astronauts were divided into three categories: commander and pilot, mission specialist, and payload specialist. The commander and the pilot are both pilot astronauts. The commander has responsibility for the entire shuttle, crew, mission, and, most important, flight safety. The pilot assists the commander in operating the vehicle. A mission specialist is an astronaut who works with the commander and pilot and is responsible for crew activity planning, experiments, and the operation of any payload (any cargo launched aboard a spacecraft, including astronauts, instruments, and equipment). Mission specialists also perform spacewalks, or EVAs. A payload specialist may not be a professional astronaut employed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Nominated by NASA, a foreign government or agency, a U.S. government agency, or a commercial company, a payload specialist has particular onboard duties relating to a specific payload on the mission. That person must have the required education and physical skills necessary to complete the mission. But with the giant leaps forward in manned spaceflight have come tragic setbacks. Over the course of the program, 238


two shuttles have been lost: Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. In total fourteen astronauts perished. Both disasters left NASA reeling and searching for stability, respect, and direction. The subsequent investigations into the disasters scolded NASA for its emphasis on style and gimmickry over science and safety. Blame was also placed on NASA’s management style. The organization was ill prepared to fend off such attacks that tarnished its image. After the Challenger explosion, another shuttle did not fly for more than two years. After Columbia’s doomed flight, it was expected that another shuttle would not fly until at least the spring of 2005.

The most complex machine

Words to Know Interplanetary medium: The space between planets including forms of energy and dust and gas. Microgravity: A state where gravity is reduced to almost negligible levels, such as during spaceflight; commonly called weightlessness. Payload: Any cargo launched aboard a spacecraft, including astronauts, instruments, and equipment. Probe: An unmanned spacecraft sent to explore the Moon, other celestial bodies, or outer space; some probes are programmed to return to Earth while others are not.

Propellant: The chemical mixture burned The space shuttle is the most comto produce thrust in rockets. plex machine ever built. It is composed of more than 2.5 million parts, includSolar wind: Electrically charged subatomic ing four main components: the orbiter, particles that flow out from the Sun. three main engines, an external fuel Space shuttle: A reusable winged spacecraft tank, and two solid rocket boosters. that transports astronauts and equipThese are the parts of the vehicle seen ment into space and back. when the shuttle is launched. The comThrust: The forward force generated by a bined weight of the vehicle at launch rocket. is approximately 4.5 million pounds (2 million kilograms). To lift the entire vehicle into the air very quickly requires about 7.3 million pounds (32.5 million Newtons) of thrust (the forward force generated by a rocket). One pound (4.45 Newtons) of thrust is the amount of thrust it takes to keep a 1-pound (0.454-kilogram) object stationary against the force of gravity on Earth. (Newton is the official metric unit of measure of force, named for English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton [1642–1727].) The delta-winged orbiter is the main part of the space shuttle. Constructed of aluminum, it is similar in size to a DC–9 Space Shuttles

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The delta-winged orbiter, the main part of the space shuttle, is divided into two parts: the crew cabin, or module; and the cargo, or payload, bay. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

commercial jet airliner. It has a length of 121 feet (37 meters), a wingspan of 78 feet (24 meters), and stands at a height of 56 feet (17 meters). The orbiter is divided into two parts: the crew cabin at its forward section and the cargo bay in its middle. The crew cabin contains the flight deck (sometimes called the flight control center) and living quarters for the crew. The forward portion of the flight deck resembles the cockpit of a jet airplane, but it features separate controls for flying both in space and through the planet’s atmosphere. The crew quarters deck, lined with ten windows, has facilities for eating, sleeping, and sanitation. The orbiter is designed to carry from two to eight crewmembers on a ten-to-fourteen-day mission. 240


During launch, up to four astronauts may sit on the upper flight deck and up to four more may sit on the middle crew quarters deck. The long cargo bay that takes up the majority of space on the orbiter contains the payload, which represents the purpose for the mission and “pays” for the flight. The cargo bay measures 60 feet (18.3 meters) in length, 15 feet (4.6 meters) in width, and 13 feet (4 meters) in depth. It can carry up to 65,000 pounds (29,510 kilograms) of material into space. The Hubble Space Telescope, for example, filled the entire orbiter cargo bay. Two large doors protect the cargo bay during ascent and descent. During operations in orbit, the doors must remain open to provide cooling for the orbiter. If the doors cannot open, the orbiter must return to Earth within eight hours. The cargo bay also contains a large robotic arm called the Remote Manipulator System (RMS). It measures 50.2 feet (15.3 meters) in length and 15 inches (38 centimeters) in diameter. The arm is articulated, meaning it has joints that allow it to move in a fashion similar to the human arm. From a control station at the rear of the flight deck, an astronaut operates the RMS to deploy satellites from the cargo bay or to retrieve and repair those already in orbit. The RMS can also function as an extension ladder for astronauts during EVAs. Protecting the orbiter from the heat generated during reentry through Earth’s atmosphere is vital. The survival of the astronauts onboard depends on it. This protection rests upon 32,000 silica-fiber thermal tiles that cover various areas of the orbiter. These square tiles vary from a measurement of 6 by 6 inches (15 by 15 centimeters) to 8 by 8 inches (20 by 20 centimeters). They range in thickness from 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 centimeter) and have a consistency similar to chalk. The areas most likely to encounter intense heat, such as the bottom of the orbiter and its nose, are covered by 20,000 tiles coated with black glass that can resist temperatures up to 2,300°F (1,260°C) by radiating 90 percent of the heat back into the atmosphere. Tiles that cover the upper side of wings and the sides closest to the nose are coated with white glass and can resist temperatures up to 1,200°F (650°C). The orbiter’s nose and leading edges of the wings receive the most intense heat. These surfaces are covered tiles made from a material called reinforced carbon-carbon that can withstand Space Shuttles

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temperatures up to 2,965°F (1,630°C). Areas that encounter only mild heat, including the top of the wings and the cargo bay, are covered with a thin layer of white insulation that provides protection up to 700°F (371°C). The three main engines, mounted at the rear of the orbiter in a triangular pattern, are the most advanced liquidpropellant rocket engines ever manufactured. They provide the thrust necessary for the orbiter to achieve orbit. They each measure 14.1 feet (4.3 meters) in length and 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) in diameter and are designed to operate for 7.5 accumulated hours. These engines burn a propellant of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The liquid hydrogen is –423°F (–253°C), the second-coldest liquid on Earth. (Liquid helium, which exists only at temperatures near absolute zero, –459°F [–273°C], is the coldest liquid in nature.) When the liquid hydrogen is burned with the liquid oxygen, the temperature in the engine’s combustion chamber reaches more than 6,000°F (3,316°C), about two-thirds the temperature of the surface of the Sun. Each engine can provide up to 375,000 pounds (1,668,750 Newtons) of thrust at sea level. The engines may be throttled (to regulate the speed of an engine) from as low as 65 percent of their rated thrust to as high as 109 percent. A thrust value of 104 percent, known as full power, is typically used when the shuttle ascends, or climbs, through Earth’s atmosphere. In an emergency, the engines may be throttled up to 109 percent. This throttling ability makes these engines much more efficient than all previous rocket engines, which could only deliver either 0 percent or 100 percent of their rated thrust. The three engines are the most complicated and dangerous parts of the shuttle, which cannot attain orbit if the engines do not work perfectly. After operation, the engines are usually removed from the orbiter, inspected, tested, and then put into a rotation to be used in a future shuttle flight. Therefore, each orbiter is normally fitted with different engines prior to its next flight. All of the fuel for the orbiter’s ascent is contained in the external tank, the largest and only nonreusable element of the shuttle. Measuring 154 feet (47 meters) in length and 28 feet (8.5 meters) in diameter, the external tank is located between the two solid rocket boosters. The orbiter itself sits piggyback 242


on the external tank. To keep ice from forming on the outside of the external tank (due to the very low temperature of the liquid fuel inside), it is covered with a thin layer of burnt-orange foam. In the external tank are two smaller tanks: a top tank containing 145,000 gallons (549,000 liters) of liquid oxygen and a bottom tank containing 388,000 gallons (1,470,000 liters) of liquid hydrogen. (Even though there is a greater volume of liquid hydrogen, it actually weighs one-quarter of the liquid oxygen because oxygen is sixteen times heavier than hydrogen.) The liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen are supplied to the orbiter’s three engines through 17-inchdiameter (43-centimeter-diameter) pipes. When filled with fuel, the external tank weighs approximately 1,655,600 pounds (751,640 kilograms); when empty, it weighs approximately 65,500 pounds (29,700 kilograms). The solid rocket boosters, which contain the largest solid-propellant motors ever built and the first designed to be reused, measure 149 feet (45.5 meters) high and 12 feet (3.7 meters) in diameter. At liftoff, each solid rocket booster produces 3.3 million pounds (14.7 million Newtons) of thrust, just more than 70 percent of the thrust necessary to launch the space shuttle. Each solid rocket booster consists of four segments of solid propellant stacked vertically with a nose cone on top. The nose cone contains the propellant igniter, electronic devices that communicate with the orbiter, and parachutes that allow the boosters to be recovered at sea after they are released. The propellant is a mixture of 69.6 percent

The shuttle’s three main engines are the most advanced liquid-propellant rocket engines ever manufactured. All of the fuel is contained in the external tank. The solid boosters contain the largest solid-propellant motors ever built. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

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ammonium perchlorate oxidizer, 16 percent aluminum powder fuel, 12 percent polymer binder, 2 percent epoxy curing agent, and 0.4 percent iron oxide to help control the burning rate. The mixture of these materials looks like a thick plaster. After it is poured into a mold and dried for several days, it looks and feels like a rubber eraser. When filled with fuel, each booster weighs approximately 1,300,000 pounds (590,200 kilograms); when empty, each one weighs approximately 192,000 pounds (87,170 kilograms).

Assembly and launch sequence The space shuttle begins its journey into space from the launch area at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Each space shuttle flight requires years of mission planning and months of preparing or processing the shuttle to go into orbit. Every system on the orbiter is inspected in a process that takes four to six weeks. Any items failing the rigorous exam are repaired or replaced. This includes each one of the shuttle’s 32,000 thermal tiles. At the end of the inspection process, the orbiter is lowered onto a mover and towed to a vehicle assembly building. At 525 feet (160 meters) high, it is the world’s largest building in volume under a single roof. Here the orbiter is attached to the external tank, and the external tank is attached to the solid rocket boosters, which have all undergone their own inspection activities prior to their arrival in the vehicle assembly building. Ready to be transported to one of the two shuttle launch pads, the completed vehicle is hoisted onto a flatbed vehicle called a crawler. It weighs 6 million pounds (2.7 million kilograms), is 131 feet (40 meters) long, 114 feet (35 meters) wide, and 10 feet (3 meters) tall. The crawler then moves along a 40-foot-wide (12-meter-wide) gravel road to the launch pad. The 3.4-mile (5.5-kilometer) journey takes 6 hours. At the launch pad, the crawler places the vehicle on a base of support posts next to the launch tower, then departs. Countdown terminology is used to provide a rough guideline for going over the mandatory checklist items prior to launch. The term “T-minus” denotes the time remaining in the countdown. Liftoff occurs at T-minus zero seconds. The term “T-plus” denotes the time after liftoff. 244


On the day of launch, the shuttle and the attached external tank and solid rocket boosters sit vertically on the launch pad. At approximately Tminus thirty seconds, the shuttle’s onboard computers take over control of the launch sequence. At T-minus 6.6 seconds, the shuttle’s three main engines are ignited one at a time, 0.12 seconds apart. They quickly build to more than 90 percent of their rated thrust. At T-minus zero seconds, the liquid propellants from the external tank are pressure fed at a combined rate of 1,035 gallons (3,917 liters) per second through pipes to the orbiter’s three main engines. The motors in the solid rocket boosters are also ignited (they cannot be shut down once they are ignited), burning 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) of propellant per second. The shuttle lifts off the pad, clearing the launch tower at T-plus three seconds. At T-plus twenty seconds, the shuttle begins its roll sequence so that it can enter the correct orbital path. It slowly begins to roll over to fly in a more easterly direction rather than merely straight upward. In this position, the orbiter’s cargo bay faces Earth while the external tank is above it.

The space shuttle Challenger on the takeoff pad. Known officially as the Space Transportation System (STS), the space shuttle program was first put into operation in 1981. (AP/Wide World Photos)

At T-plus fifty seconds, the shuttle has reached an altitude of about 6.6 miles (10.6 kilometers). To protect the shuttle from aerodynamic stress caused by the atmospheric pressure of the air around it and from excessive heating, the shuttle’s main engines are throttled back to 67 percent at this point. At about T-plus seventy seconds, the engines resume full throttle. At approximately T-plus 1.42 minutes, at an altitude of about 28 miles (45 kilometers), the solid rocket boosters burn out and are jettisoned, or released. Milliseconds later, sixteen Space Shuttles

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solid-fueled separation motors on the boosters are fired briefly to help carry the boosters away from the shuttle. About 3.75 minutes after separation, when the boosters are at an altitude of about 15,750 feet (4,800 meters), the nose cone of each booster is jettisoned and parachutes are deployed. The boosters then safely splash down in the Atlantic Ocean about 140 miles (225 kilometers) from the launch site where they are recovered by two NASA ships, Liberty and Freedom. At T-plus 4.5 minutes, the shuttle can no longer return to the Kennedy Space Center if an engine problem or some other emergency develops. Over the next two minutes, the shuttle climbs from an altitude of 64 miles (103 kilometers) to 75 miles (121 kilometers). Also during this time the shuttle’s trajectory, or curved path through the atmosphere, flattens so the tops of the astronauts’ heads are pointing directly to the ground. By T-plus 6 minutes, the shuttle has a horizontal velocity of 12,400 miles (19,950 kilometers) per hour. This speed, however, is not enough to place the shuttle into orbit, so for the next two minutes the shuttle begins a shallow descent back toward Earth. During this maneuver, the shuttle increases its speed to 17,500 miles (28,160 kilometers) per hour. At about T-plus 7.7 minutes, the shuttle’s main engines throttle down to avoid subjecting the shuttle and its crew to gravitational forces over 3g. (G is the acceleration of gravity at the surface of Earth. It is equal to 32.2 feet [9.8 meters] per second squared.) By T-plus 8.5 minutes, the shuttle has reached an altitude of about 71 miles (114 kilometers). At this point, all of the fuel in the external tank has been exhausted, and the orbiter’s computer shuts down the shuttle’s main engines. Thirty seconds later, the external tank separates from the orbiter. The thirty-million-dollar tank breaks up in Earth’s atmosphere before falling into either the Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean. The orbiter continues to climb in altitude. At T-plus 10.5 minutes, two small thrusters on the orbiter, a rocket system known as the orbital maneuvering system, fire to place the orbiter in a standard low orbit of 185 miles (300 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. If the shuttle mission involved docking with the Mir space station or the International Space Station, the thruster would fire again at T-plus 45 minutes to place the orbiter in a higher orbit of 250 miles (400 kilometers). 246


In orbit, the shuttle circles Earth at 17,500 miles (28,160 kilometers) per hour. Each orbit around the planet takes about ninety minutes, and the crew sees a sunrise or a sunset every forty-five minutes.

Landing When the mission ends, the astronauts aboard the shuttle perform a number of checklist items, including cleaning up the crew cabin, powering down scientific experiments, and closing the cargo bay doors. The astronauts then don the pressure suits they wore during ascent. After the astronauts are suited and seated, the orbital maneuvering system fires to raise the nose of the orbiter slightly and to reduce its speed. From a point halfway around the world, the shuttle begins its reentry. As the orbiter enters Earth’s atmosphere, drag from the atmosphere begins to slow it down. (As an object moves through the atmosphere, it collides with air particles, which offer resistance and slow down the object. Atmospheric drag decreases with altitude.) The slower the speed of the orbiter, the faster it descends through the atmosphere. About thirty minutes after the firing of the orbital maneuvering system, the orbiter begins to penetrate Earth’s atmosphere in earnest. Tremendous heat builds up on the orbiter’s underside until it reaches a maximum at twenty minutes before landing. The reentry heat also causes a communications blackout that lasts from twenty-five until twelve minutes before landing. During the last sixteen minutes before landing, the orbiter performs four S-turn maneuvers like that of a giant slalom skier. Each of these turns removes energy from the vehicle, slowing it down. The last S-turn is performed five minutes prior to landing while the orbiter’s speed is still more than 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) per hour. At this point, the shuttle is at 83,000 feet (25,300 meters). Its target is a 15,000foot (4,570-meter) runway at the Kennedy Space Center. (The first nine shuttle spaceflights landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.) Eighty-six seconds prior to landing, the orbiter is at an altitude of 13,000 feet (3,960 meters) and traveling at a speed of 425 miles (685 kilometers) per hour. Its rate of descent is Space Shuttles

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The landing of the orbiter, part of the space shuttle Columbia. When the orbiter touches down, it is traveling at a speed of about 215 miles per hour. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

roughly 22,000 feet (6,700 meters) per minute, compared to an average jet airplane that has a rate of descent of 700 feet (210 meters) per minute. Fourteen seconds prior to touchdown, the orbiter’s landing gear is lowered. When the orbiter finally touches down, it is traveling at a speed of 215 miles (345 kilometers) per hour. When all three landing-gear wheels are firmly on the runway, a small drag chute is released to help the wheel brakes slow the orbiter until it finally comes to a stop. The entire landing sequence is done without any power. In a sense, the astronauts are flying nothing more than a large glider.

The program is born In the mid-1960s, when the Apollo program was well on its way to putting an astronaut on the Moon before the end 248


of the decade, NASA began to develop plans for future space exploration. Officials at the space agency envisioned building a large space station that would be served by reusable space shuttles. These shuttles would also provide services for a permanently manned colony on the Moon and possible manned missions to Mars. By the 1970s, however, the U.S. public had lost interest in space exploration. Instead, it focused on rising social problems, such as racial discrimination and urban unrest, and the Vietnam War (1954–75). In fact, the increasingly unpopular war had become the single greatest political controversy in the country by 1970. Its enormous financial and human cost were almost staggering. The huge expense of the war fueled inflation (the continuing rise in the general price of goods and services because of an overabundance of available money) and threatened to send the nation into a recession (a period of extended economic decline). As a result, NASA’s budget was cut, severely limiting the projects it could undertake. A large space station was deemed too expensive, but a space shuttle program was deemed feasible if it could provide a low-cost, economical space transportation system. From the beginning, therefore, economics was the dominant aspect of the space shuttle program. Beating the former Soviet Union (present-day Russia) to the Moon had been the goal of the Apollo program, regardless of the cost. When originally conceived, the shuttle was to have been a two-stage, fully reusable system. The orbiter, a smaller manned winged vehicle, would ride piggyback on the booster, a larger manned winged vehicle. The two stages would be launched like a rocket. Then, at an altitude of about 50 miles (80 kilometers), the two stages would separate. The booster would be flown back to land near the launch site while the orbiter would fire its own engines to place it into orbit. Once the mission was completed, the orbiter would then return to Earth. Under its preliminary design, the orbiter would have been able to carry a 24,915-pound (11,300-kilogram) payload into orbit. The projected cost for development of the program was initially ten billion dollars. When the U.S. government told NASA officials that the figure was far too high, the agency Space Shuttles

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Interesting Shuttle Facts The shuttle’s three main engines and two solid rocket boosters produce more than 93.5 times the amount of thrust at liftoff than did the Redstone rocket, the United States’s first manned launch vehicle. Each of the shuttle’s three main engines weighs one-seventh as much as a train engine, but one delivers as much horsepower as thirty-nine locomotives. The energy released by the three main engines is equivalent to the output of twenty-three Hoover Dams. The space shuttle can accelerate to a speed of more than 17,000 miles (27,353 kilometers) per hour in only about eight minutes. The two solid rocket boosters produce more thrust at liftoff than the combined thrust of thirty-five 747 jumbo jet airplanes.

The plume of flame coming from the solid rocket boosters at launch ranges up to 500 feet (152 meters) in length. The speed of the gases exiting the solid rocket boosters is more than 6,000 miles (9,654 kilometers) per hour, which is roughly 8 times the speed of sound at normal atmospheric pressure and 2.5 times the speed of a high-powered rifle bullet. Filled with propellant, a solid rocket booster is the same height as the Statue of Liberty (without its pedestal), but weighs almost three times as much. Fuel cells that provide electrical power for systems on the orbiter produce drinking water for the crew as a by-product. The Remote Manipulator System, the shuttle’s robot arm, can move objects in space about the size of a Greyhound bus.

redesigned the shuttle. The new design, which featured the orbiter, the external tank, and the solid rocket boosters, came in at a price of five-and-a-half billion dollars. On January 5, 1972, U.S. president Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994) directed NASA to proceed with the development of the space shuttle. Supporters of the program hailed the president’s decision, arguing that the shuttle would help restore confidence in the country’s technological superiority, both at home and abroad. Critics, however, blasted the program, saying the money should be spent instead on needed social programs. The shuttle, part spacecraft and part aircraft, required several technological advances. Among these were the development of the thousands of insulating thermal tiles able to stand 250


the heat of reentry over the course of many missions and the sophisticated engines that could be used again and again without being thrown away. NASA hoped that the first shuttle would fly by 1977. It anticipated that a full fleet of four space shuttles would be in complete operation by 1984. Combined, the shuttles were projected to complete twenty-five to sixty missions per year at a cost of ten to twenty million dollars per flight. None of these goals was met. The first shuttle spaceflight did not take place until 1981, and the fourth space shuttle made its first flight in 1985. The space shuttle program has never delivered on its promise of routine access to space. The most shuttle missions flown in one year, nine, took place in 1985. And the program has been far from economical. Each shuttle flight costs between four hundred million and one billion dollars. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the operating cost of the shuttle program was more than three billion dollars per year, which is approximately one-quarter of NASA’s entire yearly budget.

The debut The first space shuttle orbiter, known as OV-101, rolled out of an assembly facility in Palmdale, California, on September 17, 1976. The shuttle was originally to be named Constitution, but fans of the television show Star Trek had started a write-in campaign urging the Nixon administration to name the shuttle after the starship on the show, Enterprise. The campaign proved successful. The Enterprise had no engines and was built solely to test the shuttle’s gliding and landing ability. Early glide tests, which began in February 1977, were conducted without astronauts and with the orbiter lifted into the air attached to the back of a converted 747 jumbo jet airplane. Enterprise took to the air on its own on August 12, 1977, when astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr. (1933–) and C. Gordon Fullerton (1936–) flew the 150,000-pound (68,000-kilogram) glider around a course and made a perfect landing. They had separated from the 747 jet at an altitude of 22,800 feet (6,950 meters) and glided to a runway landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. After its fifth test, Enterprise was retired from the program. Space Shuttles

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The first spaceworthy orbiter, Columbia, made its debut flight on April 12, 1981. Aboard were commander John W. Young (1930–) and pilot Robert L. Crippen (1937–). Columbia’s only mission was to test its orbital flight and landing capabilities. After spending fifty-four hours in space and completing thirty-six Earth orbits, Young and Crippen brought the shuttle in for a safe landing. During the launch, an overpressure wave created by the solid rocket boosters resulted in the loss of 16 thermal tiles and the damage of 148 more. Upon learning of the problem, NASA engineers immediately made modifications to the boosters to eliminate the wave. The flight of Columbia, known technically as STS-1, marked a new era in human spaceflight. Many believed that within a few years, shuttle flights would take off and land as predictably as airplanes. Columbia went on to make four more flights before the second orbiter, Challenger, made its first flight on April 4, 1983. The two other original orbiters, Discovery and Atlantis, made their respective debut flights on August 30, 1984, and October 3, 1985. Endeavour, which replaced the ill-fated Challenger, first flew on May 7, 1992. Even though NASA boasted that the shuttle would be able to perform dozens of missions a year with minimal repair, the vehicle was unable to perform under the vigorous standards that were set for it. Space exploration is vastly expensive and NASA is an organization that has long been underfunded by the federal government. Funding for NASA depends on the commitment of the political party that is in power and whatever current domestic and world situations that direct government action. In the 1970s and early 1980s, pressure to balance the budget further eroded NASA’s ability to monitor safety and control quality. Before that time, NASA was once the toughest quality-control operation in or out of government. After, it frequently cut corners and sacrificed safety to meet its goals. In spite of this, the shuttle program accomplished a string of historic successes on the first twenty-four missions between April 1981 and January 1986. The fifth shuttle flight, STS-5, which lifted off on November 11, 1982, was the first operational mission. Astronauts aboard this Columbia flight launched two commercial communication satellites. On June 252


Spacelab, a portable science laboratory built by the European Space Agency, was designed to allow scientist-astronauts to perform a multitude of experiments. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

18, 1983, Sally K. Ride (1951–) made history when she became the first U.S. female astronaut in space. Her flight came aboard the second mission of the orbiter Challenger. In August of that year, on another Challenger flight, Guion Bluford Jr. (1942–) Space Shuttles

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became the first African American astronaut to fly in space by serving on the crew of STS-8. Other memorable flights included those in which members of the U.S. Congress, Senator Jake Garn of Utah and Representative Bill Nelson of Florida, rode aboard shuttle flights in 1985 and 1986, respectively. On other shuttle flights, commercial satellites were not only deployed, but retrieved and repaired in space, as well. Spacelab, a portable science laboratory, made its first flight into space aboard STS-9 (Columbia), which launched on November 28, 1983. Built by the European Space Agency (ESA), the reusable laboratory was designed to allow scientistastronauts to perform experiments on a wide variety of subjects in microgravity conditions while orbiting Earth. Those subject areas ranged from the life sciences to astronomy to Earth observation to materials science (the study of materials such as metals, glasses, ceramics, polymers, and semiconductors). Spacelab was mounted inside the cargo bay of the orbiter. It consisted of an enclosed pressurized module where the astronauts worked in a shirt-sleeve environment, and smaller U-shaped unpressurized pallets that exposed materials and equipment to space. The pallets carried instruments such as telescopes that could be exposed to space and pointed with high accuracy at stars, the Sun, Earth, or other targets of observation. Spacelab was utilized to some degree on twentyfour shuttle missions between 1983 and 1998. The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), a one-man propulsion backpack, made its debut during the Challenger flight (STS-41B) in February 1984. It allowed astronauts to make the first untethered EVAs, or spacewalks. The MMU snaps onto the back of a spacesuit’s portable life-support system. An astronaut wearing the MMU can work outside of the orbiter up to 330 feet (100 meters) away. The unit, which weighs 310 pounds (140 kilograms), is powered by twenty-four thruster jets that burn nitrogen gas. The two pressurized nitrogen tanks provide EVA support for up to six hours at a time.

Mounting pressure and the first disaster In 1982, in an effort to be more cost-effective, NASA had begun to allow businesses to deliver their payloads into space using the orbiter’s cargo bay. However, the U.S. military and certain politicians were opposed to such commercial use of 254


the shuttle. The U.S. government then directed NASA to schedule as many as twenty-four shuttle flights a year, of which the U.S. Air Force would reserve six for its own exclusive military use. The air force, which had previously used rockets to place its satellites into space, decided instead to launch all by shuttle. This put enormous pressure on NASA. By the end of 1985, NASA had a dismal shuttle flight record, with no more than nine missions having flown in any given year. Greatly underestimating the turnaround time between scheduled launches to be 160 hours, NASA discovered that it needed 1,240 hours minimum. In addition to technical and financial constraints, NASA often found its shuttle schedule to be hampered by weather conditions. With pressure mounting to meet an impossible schedule, NASA decided that 1986 would be the shuttle program’s breakthrough year. In January, it announced an ambitious schedule of fifteen missions using all four of its shuttles. The schedule had to be implemented immediately in order to realize its goal of more than one per month, but technical delays interfered. After at least seven separate postponements, Columbia flew the year’s first shuttle mission, STS-61C, on January 12. Bad weather prolonged its stay in space, and by the time Columbia returned to Earth on January 18, NASA’s 1986 schedule was already in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Challenger, which had last flown on November 6, 1985, was being readied for the second January mission. That mission, STS-51L, was to feature the much-publicized Teacher in Space broadcasts as well as plans to launch a Tracking Data and Relay Satellite (TDRS). During the six-day mission, the astronauts would also deploy the Spartan-Halley comet research observatory. Since the observatory had to be launched into orbit no later than January 31, the schedule was tight and inflexible. The seven-person crew chosen for the mission was commanded by Francis R. “Dick” Scobee (1939–1986), who had piloted a 1984 shuttle mission. This would be the first time in space for his pilot, Michael J. Smith (1945–1986), and for the payload specialist in charge of the TDRS, Gregory B. Jarvis (1944–1986). Mission specialists Judith A. Resnik (1948– 1986), Ronald E. McNair (1950–1986), and Ellison S. Onizuka (1946–1986), who ran the satellites and experiments, were all Space Shuttles

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The seven-person crew of the space shuttle Challenger. Back row, left to right: Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik. Front row, left to right: Michael J. Smith, Francis R. Scobee, Ronald E. McNair. (AP/Wide World Photos)

experienced space travelers, having flown on previous shuttle missions. The crew also included another rookie at space travel, teacher Sharon Christa McAuliffe (1948–1986) from Concord High School in New Hampshire. The Teacher in Space Program was as an extension of NASA’s Space Flight Participation Program, which was designed to open space shuttle flights to a broader segment of private citizens. In August 1984, U.S. president Ronald Reagan (1911– 1994) had announced that a teacher would be chosen as the first private citizen to fly into space aboard a space shuttle. During the application period, which lasted from December 1984 to February 1985, more than eleven thousand teachers applied. In the summer of 1985, McAuliffe, a high school economics 256


and history teacher, was selected to become the first teacher in space. During the shuttle mission, she was to have conducted two live television teaching lessons. The lessons involved experiments designed to demonstrate Newton’s laws and the effects of microgravity on magnetism, among other principles. Scheduled for January 22, the Challenger mission was first postponed to January 24, then to January 25. A forecast of bad weather for January 26 held up the mission until Monday, January 27, when a problem with a hatch bolt suddenly developed. By the time this problem was corrected, crosswinds had built up to a dangerous thirty knots. Although the crew was ready to launch and the shuttle had been fueled, liftoff had to be rescheduled for Tuesday, January 28. That night, temperatures in Cape Canaveral, Florida, dropped to well below freezing. NASA managers and contractors met for a late-night review. They were becoming increasingly concerned about the cold weather. No shuttle had ever been launched at temperatures below 53°F (12°C). Engineers from Morton Thiokol, a NASA contractor, warned that the O-rings that seal the joints on the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters stiffen in the cold and lose their ability to seal properly. NASA managers wanted to know whether the flight could be made. Morton Thiokol managers, overruling their own engineers, signed a waiver stating that the solid rocket boosters were safe for launch at the colder temperatures. Having decided to go ahead with the launch, NASA turned its attention to the ice on the shuttle and launch pad, which formed as temperatures dipped from 29°F (–1.6°C) to 19°F (–7°C). Icicles actually formed on the shuttle. If they broke off during launch, they could damage the thermal tiles. NASA rescheduled the launch from 9:38 A.M. to 10:38 A.M., and then to 11:38 A.M. Meanwhile, inspection teams surveyed the craft’s condition and reported that the ice buildup had caused no apparent abnormalities. Finally, at precisely 11:38 A.M., Challenger lifted off. As Challenger rose into a clear, cold blue sky, no one on the ground or in the shuttle realized that a fire flamed out of the right solid booster rocket, jetting down toward the external fuel tank. The shuttle then rolled to align itself on the proper flight path and throttled back its engines. The plume of flame became evident about T-plus 59 seconds. By T-plus 64 seconds, the fire had burned a gaping hole in the casing Space Shuttles

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Just one second after pilot Michael Smith uttered the words “Uh oh,” the space shuttle Challenger exploded twenty miles off the coast of Florida. (AP/Wide World Photos)

of the booster. At T-plus 72 seconds, it loosened the strut that attached the booster to the external tank. The cockpit flight recorder taped pilot Michael Smith uttering, “Uh oh.” This was the only evidence that anyone onboard suspected any trouble. One second later, the loosened booster slammed into the tip of Challenger’s right wing. Then, at an altitude of 46,000 feet (14,020 meters), the booster crashed into the fuel tank and set off a massive explosion. The shuttle was traveling at more than 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) per hour. Challenger exploded 20 miles (32 kilometers) off the coast of Florida. The force of the explosion sent debris flying to an altitude of 20 miles (32 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. Burning fragments of the shuttle rained down for the next 258


hour. Of all the accidents in the twenty-five-year history of manned spaceflight, the Challenger disaster was by far the worst. It marked the first time that U.S. astronauts had lost their lives during a mission. The disaster, viewed continuously on television, sent shock waves through the nation. NASA began rescue operations immediately, but the chance of finding survivors was very remote. Once the solid rocket boosters were ignited, the crew had no survivable abort options. If something went wrong at that critical moment of the launch, there was nothing anyone could do.

The Rogers Commission On February 3, 1986, President Reagan established an independent presidential commission to investigate the accident. He appointed William P. Rogers (1913–2001), who had served as secretary of state under President Nixon, to chair the commission. Joining him on the commission were Neil Armstrong (1930–), the first U.S. astronaut to set foot on the Moon, and a host of scientists and space experts. Six weeks after the disaster, Challenger’s crew cabin was recovered from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and the crew members were buried with full honors. Considerable speculation centered on whether the crew had survived the initial explosion. Evidence finally released by NASA indicated that the crew did indeed survive breakup and separation and had initiated emergency procedures. It is unknown if the entire crew remained conscious throughout the two-minute free fall into the ocean, but at least two crew members had activated emergency air packs during that time. Although the crew cabin has never been exhibited publicly, photographs of the cabin showed nothing recognizable. Experts estimate that the module hit the surface of the ocean at a speed of nearly 2,000 miles (3,218 kilometers) per hour. The sixteen-foot-high (five-meter-high) cabin was compressed into a solid mass half its original size, which would certainly have killed anyone still alive in the module. The cabin’s thick windows were shattered, but there was no evidence of fire. In fact, the fireball of the explosion did not cause the destruction of Challenger; instead, severe aerodynamic loads created by the external fuel tank explosion broke the shuttle apart. Space Shuttles

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Space Shuttle Landmarks Mission

Shuttle

Launch

Highlights

STS-1

Columbia

April 12, 1981

First STS flight

STS-5

Columbia

November 11, 1982 First STS operational mission

STS-7

Challenger

June 18, 1983

First spaceflight by a U.S. female astronaut (Sally K. Ride)

STS-8

Challenger

August 30, 1983

First spaceflight by an African American male astronaut (Guion Bluford Jr.); first STS night launch and landing

STS-41B

Challenger

February 3, 1984

First untethered spacewalks

STS-41C

Challenger

April 6, 1984

First in-flight capture, repair, and redeployment of an orbiting satellite

STS-41G

Challenger

October 5, 1984

First spacewalk by a U.S. female astronaut (Kathryn Sullivan)

STS-61C

Columbia

January 12, 1986

First spaceflight by an Hispanic male astronaut (Franklin R. Chang-Dìaz)

STS-51L

Challenger

January 28, 1986

First STS in-flight accident; first teacher in space (Christa McAuliffe)

STS-47

Endeavour

September 20, 1992 First spaceflight by an African American female astronaut (Mae Jemison)

The Rogers Commission released its findings on June 6, 1986. It determined that the immediate physical cause of the Challenger disaster was a failure in the joint between the two lower segments of the right solid rocket booster. Rubber Orings seal the joints between the booster’s four sections. Zinc chromate putty keeps the hot combustion gases inside the booster from coming into contact with the rubber rings. When it checked into the history and performance of this O-ring sealing system, the Rogers Commission was shocked to learn that the O-rings had failed regularly, even if only partially, on previous shuttle flights. Although concerned about the frailty of the seals, NASA and Morton Thiokol decided not 260


Mission

Shuttle

Launch

Highlights

STS-56

Discovery

April 8, 1993

First spaceflight by an Hispanic female astronaut

STS-61

Endeavor

December 2, 1993

First STS mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope

STS-63

Discovery

February 3, 1995

First female STS pilot (Eileen Collins)

STS-71

Atlantis

June 27, 1995

First STS docking with Mir space station

STS-95

Discovery

October 29, 1998

Oldest astronaut to fly in space (John Glenn)

STS-88

Endeavour

December 4, 1998

First STS assembly flight of International Space Station

STS-93

Columbia

July 23, 1999

First female STS mission commander (Eileen Collins)

STS-92

Discovery

October 11, 2000

One-hundredth STS mission, including one-hundredth spacewalk in U.S. space program

STS-113

Endeavor

November 23, 2002 First spaceflight by a Native American astronaut (John Herrington)

STS-107

Columbia

January 16, 2003

Second STS in-flight accident

to redesign the system. Because the seals had never failed completely, both had considered the O-rings to be an acceptable risk. But the cold temperatures on the day of Challenger’s flight made the O-rings less flexible than normal, and they did not completely seal the joint. Photographs reveal that even before the shuttle had cleared the launch tower, hot gas was already escaping by the O-rings. The 256-page report of the Rogers Commission concluded that NASA made a grave mistake in its decision to launch Challenger. The commission blamed the management structure of both NASA and Morton Thiokol for not allowing critical information to reach the proper people. A U.S. congressional Space Shuttles

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committee, which spent two months conducting its own hearings, agreed with this assessment. The committee determined that the technical problem had actually been recognized early enough to prevent the disaster, but that NASA had placed a higher priority on meeting flight schedules and cutting costs than on flight safety. After the reports had been released, the nation’s confidence in NASA was badly shaken. Astronauts were especially disturbed. They had never been consulted or even informed about the dangers to which they were exposed by the current sealing system. Allowing astronauts a greater role in approving launches was one of the nine recommendations the Rogers Commission made to NASA. The commission’s other recommendations included a complete redesign of the solid rocket booster joints, the development of an escape system that would allow astronauts to leave the shuttle while in flight in some cases, and a sweeping reform of the shuttle program’s management structure to allow improved communication between engineers and managers. The Challenger disaster grounded the shuttle fleet for more than two-and-one-half years while the required improvements were made to the remaining orbiters. During this time, several key people, including a number of experienced astronauts, left NASA. They were disillusioned with the space agency and frustrated that there might be even fewer chances to fly.

A return to flight On September 29, 1988, with the launch of Discovery (STS26), NASA inaugurated a new era of space shuttle operations. Learning from one of its greatest tragedies, it adopted a more relaxed pace, averaging about eight launches per year. NASA was able to rebuild and maintain a space shuttle program that was remarkably safe and reliable, for a while. More than two hundred safety improvements and modifications had been made to the shuttle fleet. The improvements included a major redesign of the solid rocket boosters, the addition of a crew escape and bailout system, stronger landing gear, more powerful flight control computers, and updated navigational equipment. Shuttle improvements did not stop with Discovery. Endeavour’s first flight (STS-49) on May 7, 1992, unveiled many 262


The design of space shuttle Endeavour showed many improvements, including a drag chute to assist braking during landing, improved steering, and more reliable power hydraulic units. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

improvements, including a drag chute to assist braking during landing, improved steering, and more reliable power hydraulic units. Further upgrades to the shuttle system occurred when Columbia was modified for its June 25, 1992, flight (STS50) to allow long-duration flights. The modifications to the Space Shuttles

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orbiter included an improved toilet, a system to remove carbon dioxide from the air, connections for a pallet of additional hydrogen and oxygen tanks to be mounted in the cargo bay, and extra stowage room in the crew cabin. With these improvements, the shuttles returned to their former status as the workhorses of space exploration. Early in the shuttle program, communications satellites were common payloads, with as many as three delivered into orbit on the same mission. The Challenger accident led to a change in that policy. After returning to flight in the fall of 1988, shuttles carried only those payloads unique to the shuttle program or those that require a human presence. The majority of those were scientific and defense missions. Highlights of scientific missions undertaken since the Challenger accident include those that have launched spacecraft to study other celestial objects in the solar system. On May 4, 1989, the shuttle Atlantis (STS-30) carried aloft the Magellan spacecraft, the first planetary explorer to be launched by a space shuttle. Magellan’s mission was to make the most highly detailed map of Venus ever captured. It completed that mission during the four years it orbited the planet between 1990 and 1994. Four months later, Atlantis (STS-34) helped launch another spacecraft: Galileo. It carried out the first studies of Jupiter’s atmosphere, moons, and magnetosphere (the region of space around a celestial object that is dominated by the object’s magnetic field) from orbit around the planet. The Ulysses probe, which studied the Sun, the makeup of the solar wind, and the interplanetary medium (the space between planets including forms of energy and dust and gas), went into space aboard the shuttle Discovery (STS-41), which launched on October 6, 1990. Three of NASA’s four Great Observatories—the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory—were placed into orbit during shuttle missions. Hubble was the first, having been deployed from the shuttle Discovery (STS-31) on April 25, 1990. Compton, placed in orbit on April 7, 1991, by the astronauts aboard Atlantis (STS-37), was the heaviest astrophysical payload ever flown up to that time. It weighed 34,442 pounds (15,620 kilograms). Chandra was carried aloft by the shuttle Columbia (STS-93) and deployed on July 23, 1999. 264


Spacehab, a small commercially built laboratory module similar in concept to Spacelab, was first carried into space aboard the June 1993 flight of the shuttle Endeavour (STS-57). Like Spacelab, Spacehab provided extra working space in which astronauts were able to carry out experiments.

A vision for the future In April 1996 NASA began a four-phase plan, called the Space Shuttle Upgrade Program, to keep the existing space shuttle fleet healthy and flying through at least the year 2012. The plan also proposed modifications and upgrades that NASA hoped might keep the fleet flying through the year 2030. Phase one of the plan called for improvements to the space shuttle that were necessary to allow it to support construction and maintenance of the International Space Station, which was the chief program goal at the beginning of the twentyfirst century. Phase two called for improvements in ground operations to decrease the amount of time it took to service and maintain shuttles between flights. The goal was to provide support for an average of fifteen launches per year. Phase three called for a number of modifications to the onboard systems of the orbiters that NASA hoped would also result in decreased processing and maintenance time. More ambitious elements of this plan called for completely replacing toxic fuels with nontoxic fuels in key orbiter systems. Finally, phase four called for the significant redesign of the space shuttle fleet and its basic configuration. An interesting proposal in this phase was the introduction of a booster that would fly back to the launch site and save precious servicing time.

A future interrupted by another disaster By the beginning of the twenty-first century, space travel seemed commonplace yet again. The original purpose of the space shuttle program, to ferry supplies to a space station, was finally being realized as shuttle missions were visiting the International Space Station (ISS) on average every few months. Then on September 11, 2001, U.S. public attention was fixated Space Shuttles

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on New York City and Washington, D.C., as commercial passenger jets hijacked by terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Space exploration suddenly no longer seemed important. Yet NASA continued with its vision for the future, flying shuttle missions to the ISS. One mission whose flight was not aimed at the space station was STS-107, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center on January 16, 2003. The astronauts aboard Columbia during this sixteen-day flight performed what many thought were routine scientific chores: These included an examination of dust in the Middle East; a study of the planet’s ozone layer; experiments designed by schoolchildren in six countries to observe the effects of microgravity on spiders, silkworms, and other creatures; and the extraction of essential oils from rose and rice flowers. In all, the crew completed approximately eighty experiments during the flight. The flight was commanded by Rick Husband (1957–2003), who had flown on one previous shuttle mission. The mission’s pilot was William McCool (1961–2003). The three mission specialists on the flight were Kalpana Chawla (c. 1961–2003), David Brown (1956–2003), and Laurel Clark (c. 1961–2003). Michael Anderson (1959–2003) was the mission’s payload commander, while Ilan Ramon (1954–2003) was its payload specialist. Ramon, a colonel in the Israel Air Force, was the first Israeli astronaut to fly into space. The mission was so routine that U.S. Air Force radars did not track Columbia’s reentry into Earth’s atmosphere in the early morning of February 1. The shuttle was supposed to touch down at the Kennedy Space Center at 9:16 A.M. EST. At 8:53 A.M., as the shuttle crossed the California coast at about 15,000 miles (24,135 kilometers) per hour at an altitude of 230,000 feet (70,100 meters), sensors on the shuttle began showing signs of trouble. Data from four temperature indicators on the hydraulic systems on the left side of the vehicle were lost. Because the shuttle seemed to be functioning normally otherwise, ground controllers did not alert the crew. Five minutes later, data was lost from three temperature sensors imbedded in Columbia’s left wing. At 8:59 A.M., data was lost from tire temperature and pressure sensors on the shuttle’s left side. One of the sensors 266


alerted the crew, who acknowledged the alert when communication with ground control was lost. About one minute later, all data from the shuttle was lost. At the time, Columbia was at about 205,000 feet (62,484 meters) over north-central Texas and was traveling at about 13,100 miles (21,080 kilometers) per hour. For several minutes, NASA officials tried to reestablish communication, but they were unsuccessful.

European Space Shuttle In May 2004 the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully tested an unmanned prototype (model) for its European space shuttle. The EADS Phoenix, a German-designed vehicle, was dropped from a helicopter at an altitude of 7,900 feet (2,408 meters). After a ninetysecond flight, it made a perfect landing on the test runway located 770 miles (1,240 kilometers) north of the Swedish capital of Stockholm.

The reason they could not was that Columbia, the oldest in NASA’s shuttle The Phoenix prototype shuttle is just less fleet, had disintegrated in the atmosthan 23 feet (7 meters) long and weighs 2,640 phere. Debris from the shuttle, includpounds (1,200 kilograms). It has a wingspan ing the remains of the seven astronauts of 13 feet (4 meters). The actual planned shutonboard, fell across an area of 28,000 tle is to be six times the size of the prototype. square miles (72,520 square kilomeThe ESA hopes that the shuttle, which will be ters) from north of Dallas, Texas, to used to send astronauts into space, will be finwestern Louisiana. More than twelve ished sometime between 2015 and 2020. hundred shuttle pieces alone were found in Nacogdoches, Texas. The shuttle parts ranged in size from tiny shards to 8-foot (2.4-meter) chunks. Residents in north-central Texas later reported hearing a large boom and seeing smoke trails in the clear sky at the time of the accident. The Columbia disaster had come just a few days after the seventeenth anniversary of the Challenger explosion and the thirty-sixth anniversary of a launch pad fire that had claimed the lives of three Apollo astronauts.

CAIB NASA officials immediately grounded the shuttle fleet. Following guidelines established after the loss of Challenger, an independent investigating board was created right after the accident. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, or CAIB, consisted of expert military and civilian analysts who investigated the accident in great detail. Chairing the board was retired U.S. Navy admiral Harold W. Gehman Jr. (1942–). Among Space Shuttles

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those on the thirteen-member board was former astronaut Sally Ride. It was already known that on liftoff, a piece of foam insulation covering the external fuel tank had broken loose and had hit the underside of Columbia’s left wing. A few weeks after the accident, NASA released a volley of e-mails that space shuttle engineers had sent the day before Columbia broke up. In those e-mails, the engineers had expressed their concern that the shuttle’s left wing might burn off and lead to the complete loss of the orbiter. Their concerns, however, were never forwarded to top management personnel at NASA, who had determined earlier that there was no landing risk. On August 26, 2003, the CAIB released its 248-page final report on the accident. The board concluded that, indeed, a twopound chunk of insulating foam from the shuttle’s external fuel tank ripped away during its launch and hit a seal on the leading edge of the left wing. The strike created a slit large enough in the reinforced carbon material to let in superheated air that progressively melted the aluminum structure of the left wing as Columbia reentered Earth’s atmosphere on its return home. The CAIB was especially critical of NASA’s management structure, which the board felt had as much to do with the accident as did the foam. It believed that NASA managers allowed unsafe practices to develop, then quieted discussions regarding solutions to possible problems. Among other recommendations to the space shuttle program, the CAIB directed NASA to: • Continue the space shuttle program with adequate funding. • Build a replacement for the shuttle. • Prevent the shuttle’s external fuel tank from shedding any debris before flying again. • Improve the shuttle’s ability to sustain minor debris damage and develop tests to determine the resistance of current materials used in the orbiter. • Develop the capability to inspect and make emergency repairs to the thermal tiles while the shuttle is in orbit. • Upgrade the imaging system to provide more useful views of the shuttle during liftoff. Also consider using aircraft to provide additional views of the orbiter during ascent. 268


• Design a better system to collect sensor data from the craft. • Expand a training program for NASA mission teams to look beyond launch and ascent, including the potential for loss of the shuttle and crew while in orbit. • Establish an independent technical engineering authority that looks at safety and does not have responsibility for schedule or program costs. • Reformulate management so that NASA’s main office of safety has independent oversight over shuttle safety. • Conduct a vehicle recertification of the shuttle and its systems before operating the craft beyond 2010.

A changed future in space In the months following the Columbia accident, polls revealed that support for the space program remained strong among the U.S. public. Two-thirds of those polled believed that the space shuttle should continue to fly, and nearly threequarters said that the space program was a good investment. But on January 14, 2004, U.S. president George W. Bush (1946–) outlined a new course for U.S. space exploration. He proposed to keep spending several billion dollars a year to put the remaining three shuttles back into space to finish ferrying parts to the International Space Station. Once construction of the station was completed, the entire shuttle fleet would be retired by 2010. The president then unveiled a plan to develop a new manned exploration vehicle, one that would lead manned missions back to the Moon sometime between 2015 and 2020. Once a permanent lunar base was established, it could be used as a stepping-stone for future manned trips to Mars. President Bush’s vision for future space exploration received a lukewarm response. Some thought the president’s proposal was a wake-up call for NASA, helping give it a clear direction for the twenty-first century. Others, however, believed it was beyond the realm of what the space agency could accomplish. They also felt that the price of such an undertaking was too high and wasteful. By mid-2004, NASA believed that it had made sufficient progress to return the shuttle fleet to operation by the spring Space Shuttles

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of 2005. It had originally hoped to place shuttles back in orbit sooner, but the agency felt that it needed the extra time to resolve persistent technical problems with the shuttles, such as preventing the external fuel tank from shedding foam insulation, and to prepare a potential backup shuttle that could be used in case a rescue is needed for a shuttle already in orbit.

For More Information Books Cole, Michael D. The Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster: From First Liftoff to Tragic Final Flight. Revised ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2003. Holden, Henry M. The Tragedy of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Berkeley Heights, NJ: MyReportLinks.com Books, 2004. Jenkins, Dennis R. Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System. Third ed. Cape Canaveral, FL: D. R. Jenkins, 2001. Reichhardt, Tony, ed. Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years—The Astronauts’ Experiences in Their Own Words. New York: DK Publishing, 2002. Ride, Sally. To Space and Back. New York: HarperCollins, 1986.

Web Sites “The Challenger Accident.” Federation of American Scientists Space Policy Project. http://www.fas.org/spp/51L.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Human Space Flight: Space Shuttle.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Remembering Columbia STS-107.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://history.nasa.gov/columbia/index.html (accessed on August 19, 2004. “Space Shuttle.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ shuttle/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Space Shuttle Mission Chronology.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http:// www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/chrontoc.htm (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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he exploration of space is not limited to the flights of astronauts aboard spacecraft and shuttles launched into space by rockets and boosters. That type of space exploration has a history that extends back only to the mid-twentieth century. At the farthest, humans have traveled only about 252,780 miles (406,720 kilometers) away from Earth—that’s the distance to the Moon at its apogee (pronounced AP-eh-gee), or farthest point of its orbit. (The distance between the Moon and Earth varies because the Moon’s orbit around Earth is elliptical, or oval-shaped. On average, it is located at a distance of 238,900 miles [384,390 kilometers].) Astronauts aboard space shuttles and space stations have stayed relatively close to Earth, conducting work in space at a distance of about 185 to 250 miles (300 to 400 kilometers) above the planet’s surface. The deep exploration of space has come through astronomical observations, or the study of the sky. For centuries, astronomers have used telescopes to observe the Moon, the other planets in the solar system, asteroids and comets, stars at the far reaches of the Milky Way (the galaxy that contains our solar system), and extremely bright and distant objects 271

The 200-inch-diameter Hale Telescope is housed at the Palomar Observatory in California. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

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known as quasars (pronounced KWAY-zarz). From there, astronomers have gone on to investigate the formation of the planets and Sun, the life cycles of stars, and the age and formation of the universe. Astronomy is not just about visible light. What the human eye sees is only a small portion of the activities and processes underway in the universe. Astronomers study the universe by measuring electromagnetic radiation emitted by planets, stars, galaxies, and other distant celestial objects. Radiation is the emission and movement of waves or atomic particles through space or other media. Electromagnetic radiation is radiation that transmits energy through the interaction of electricity and magnetism. When astronomers view the night sky through forms of electromagnetic radiation, they see an entirely different picture: Hot gases seethe and boil when viewed at infrared wavelengths, newly forming galaxies and stars glow with X rays, and mysterious objects generate explosive bursts of gamma rays. The various forms of electromagnetic radiation, including gamma rays, X rays, optical and infrared radiation, and radio waves, move through space in waves. Like any wave, they can be described by two properties: wavelength and frequency. The wavelength is the distance between one crest, or peak, of a wave and the next corresponding peak. Frequency is the rate at which two successive identical parts of the wave pass a given point. Wavelength and frequency have a reciprocal relationship with each other: As one increases, the other must decrease. Gamma rays are short-wavelength, high-energy radiation formed either by the decay of radioactive elements or by nuclear reactions. X rays, which have wavelengths just shorter than ultraviolet radiation but longer than gamma rays, can penetrate solids and produce an electrical charge in gases. (Ultraviolet radiation has a wavelength just shorter than the violet, or shortest wavelength, end of the visible light spectrum.) Optical radiation is visible light, or electromagnetic radiation that is detectable by the human eye. The different colors of light the human eye can see correspond to different wavelengths: Red light has the longest wavelength, violet the shortest. Orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo are in between (moving from red to violet). Infrared radiation is Ground-based Observatories

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Words to Know Apogee: The point in the orbit of an artificial satellite or the Moon that is farthest from Earth. Astronomy: The scientific study of the physical universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Big bang theory: The theory that explains the beginning of the universe as a tremendous explosion from a single point that occurred about thirteen billion years ago. Cepheid variable: A pulsating star that can be used to measure distance in space. Chromatic aberration: Blurred coloring of the edge of an image when visible light passes through a lens, caused by the bending of the different wavelengths of the light at different angles. Concave lens: A lens with a hollow bowl shape; it is thin in the middle and thick along the edges. Constellation: One of eighty-eight recognized groups of stars that seems to make up a pattern or picture on the celestial sphere. Convex lens: A lens with a bulging surface like the outer surface of a ball; it is thicker in the middle and thinner along the edges.

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Dark matter: Virtually undetectable matter that does not emit or reflect light and that is thought to account for 90 percent of the mass of the universe, acting as a “cosmic glue” that holds together galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Electromagnetic radiation: Radiation that transmits energy through the interaction of electricity and magnetism. Focus: The position at which rays of light from a lens converge to form a sharp image. Galaxy: A huge region of space that contains billions of stars, gas, dust, nebulae, and empty space all bound together by gravity. Gamma rays: Short-wavelength, highenergy radiation formed either by the decay of radioactive elements or by nuclear reactions. Infrared radiation: Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths slightly longer than those of visible light. Interferometer: A device that uses two or more telescopes to observe the same object at the same time in the same wavelength to increase angular resolution. Light-year: The distance light travels in the near vacuum of space in one year,


about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers). Neutron star: The extremely dense, compact, neutron-filled remains of a star following a supernova. Observatory: A structure designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena. Pulsar: A rapidly spinning, blinking neutron star. Quasars: Extremely bright, star-like sources of radio waves that are found in remote areas of space and that are the oldest known objects in the universe. Radiation: The emission and movement of waves or atomic particles through space or other media.

Refractor telescope: A telescope that directs light waves through a convex lens (the objective lens), which bends the waves and brings them to a focus at a concave lens (the eyepiece) that acts as a magnifying glass. Solstice: Either of the two times during the year when the Sun, as seen from Earth, is farthest north or south of the equator; the solstices mark the beginning of the summer and winter seasons. Sunspot: A cool area of magnetic disturbance that forms a dark blemish on the surface of the Sun. Supernova: The massive explosion of a relatively large star at the end of its lifetime.

Radio waves: The longest form of electromagnetic radiation, measuring up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from peak to peak in the wave.

Telescope: An instrument that gathers light or some other form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by distant sources, such as celestial bodies, and brings it to a focus.

Redshift: The shift of an object’s light spectrum toward the red end of the visible light range, which is an indication that the object is moving away from the observer.

Ultraviolet radiation: Electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength just shorter than the violet (shortest wavelength) end of the visible light spectrum.

Reflector telescope: A telescope that directs light from an opening at one end to a concave mirror at the far end, which reflects the light back to a smaller mirror that directs it to an eyepiece on the side of the telescope.

X rays: Electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength just shorter than ultraviolet radiation but longer than gamma rays that can penetrate solids and produce an electrical charge in gases.

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electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths slightly longer than those of visible light. Humans cannot see infrared radiation, but can sense its energy as heat on the skin. Radio waves are the longest form of electromagnetic radiation. Their wavelengths measure up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from peak to peak. Earth’s atmosphere provides an effective filter for many forms of cosmic radiation. This condition is crucial for the survival of humans and other life-forms on the planet. The atmosphere blocks gamma rays and X rays, and these forms of radiation must be studied by telescopes launched into space. Optical and infrared radiation and radio waves are able to pass through Earth’s atmosphere, although carbon dioxide and water in the atmosphere absorb much of the infrared radiation. Ground-based observatories, structures designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena, are thus able to study these forms of electromagnetic radiation. Astronomers make use of ground-based observatories whenever possible. Although space-based observatories are not affected by the distorting effects of the atmosphere, allowing them to capture incredibly detailed images of the cosmos, they are extremely costly. It is about one thousand times cheaper to build a telescope of a given size on the ground than to launch it into space.

Ancient observatories From at least the beginning of civilization, ancient humans looked at the stars in the night sky and struggled to make sense of what they saw. Initially, they tried to connect the stars to the world around them by visualizing animals and mythological characters in the constellations they perceived (a constellation is a recognized group of stars that seems to make up a pattern or picture in the night sky). At some point, these ancient humans turned from noting a single pattern or celestial event to making the kinds of repeated observations that could be applied to predict events in their own lives, such as knowing when to harvest crops. Although any written records of ancient celestial observations have been lost to history, some of the physical signs of those activities remain. Among the most intriguing are the sites that, to a modern eye, could have been used as very early observatories. 276


Between about 3,500 and 1,500 B.C.E., ancient humans in present-day Great Britain and northwestern France marked in the existing landscape thousands of sites that may have been used for astronomical observations. A common arrangement consisted of a natural indicator on the horizon, such as a notch in a mountain. This is known as the foresight. It was aligned with a manmade marking, such as a standing post or stone, or a hollowed-out depression in a rock. This second indicator is known as the backsight. Because of the great distances between some of these foresights and backsights, up to 28 miles (45 kilometers), present-day scientists do not believe that they could have been used to establish the date of a major celestial event, such as a solstice, with certainty. However, it is possible that they were used in Sun-worshipping ceremonies. Following these simple observing stations that made use of existing sight lines and horizon marks came more recognizable and complex structures. Some astronomers believe that Stonehenge, built over a period of time beginning more than 4,000 years ago on a flat plain in present-day southern England, could have been used to observe the summer solstice, the time when the rising of the Sun is farthest north, and the extreme rising and setting positions of the Moon. Its primary purpose seems to have been ceremonial. Other cultures in various parts of the world appear to have followed observing practices like those conducted at Stonehenge. Ancient Native Americans in the American Southwest relied on wall calendars, which were created as sunlight penetrated an opening in a house or residential cave to fall on the opposite wall. They used wall calendars to track the motions of the Sun, the Moon, stars, and other celestial events. Elaborate astronomical observatories were built by the Maya, native people of present-day Central America and southern Mexico, and the Inca, native people of present-day Peru. Mayan culture reached its peak roughly 1,000 years ago. In cities such as Chichén Itzá, they built spectacular temples in which they conducted elaborate ceremonies and made observations of solar equinoxes and solstices. The Inca, who established an empire that lasted from 1100 to about 1500, created similar temples in the ancient cities of Machu Picchu (pronounced MAH-choo PEE-choo) and Llactapata (pronounced yak-tah-PAH-tah), among others. Ground-based Observatories

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The telescope The celestial events viewed at these ancient observatories all had one thing in common: They were seen only with the naked eye. Although sight is perhaps the strongest and most important of humans’ special senses (80 percent of all information received by the human brain comes from the eyes), it is limited. The ability of the human eye to work with the human brain to transform light waves into visual images depends upon the shape of the eye and the distance of the object viewed. If any part of the eye is abnormal in shape, vision is reduced. The farther away an object, the harder it is to see. Atmospheric conditions and the amount of available light also affect sight. What increased humans’ vision of the world around them and the sky above was the telescope. The telescope is an instrument that gathers light or some other form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by distant sources, such as celestial bodies, and brings it to a focus. The most common presentday type is the optical telescope, which uses a collection of lenses or mirrors to magnify the visible light emitted by a distant object. There are two basic types of optical telescopes: the refractor and the reflector. The one characteristic that all telescopes have in common is the ability to make distant objects appear to be closer. The first extension of one of humans’ special senses, the telescope shifted authority in the observation of nature from humans to instruments. In the process, it became the predecessor of modern scientific instruments. Yet, it was not the invention of scientists. Rather, it was the product of craftsmen. The ability of convex (curving outward) and concave (curving inward ) transparent material to magnify or minimize images was known in ancient times. However, lenses as they are known today were introduced in Western Europe at the end of the thirteenth century. In the major Italian glassmaking centers of Venice and Florence, techniques for grinding and polishing glass had reached a high state of development. Magnifying glasses became common, but they were cumbersome, especially for reading and writing. Craftsmen in Venice then began making small disks of glass, convex on both sides, that could be worn in a frame— the first eyeglasses. The shape of these small disks of glass reminded people of the small, flat beans known as lentils. 278


Because of this, they became known as lenses, which is derived from the Latin word for lentils. Lenses that were concave on both sides were then introduced in the middle of the fifteenth century. With this development, all of the main ingredients of a telescope—convex and concave mirrors and lenses—were present. Nonetheless, the first optical telescope would not be created for another 150 years. There is much confusion and debate concerning the origin of the first telescope. Many notable individuals appear to have simultaneously and independently discovered how to make a telescope during the last months of 1608 and the early part of 1609. Regardless of its origins, the invention of the telescope has led to great progress in the field of astronomy. Contrary to popular belief, the Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei (pronounced ga-lihLAY-oh ga-lih-LAY-ee; 1564–1642) may not have been the first person to use this instrument in astronomy. InHans Lippershey, a Dutch lens-grinder, created the first stead, that honor may be bestowed on optical telescope in 1608. (© Bettmann/Corbis) a contemporary of Galileo, English mathematician Thomas Harriot (1560– 1621). Harriot developed a map of the Moon several months before Galileo began making observations. Nevertheless, Galileo distinguished himself in the field through his patience, dedication, insight, and skill. The actual inventor of the telescope may never be known with certainty. Its invention may have been an accidental occurrence when some spectacle, or eyeglass, maker happened to look through two lenses at the same time. Many accounts report that Dutch lens-grinder Hans Lippershey (sometimes spelled Lipperhey; 1570–1619) had two lenses set up in his Ground-based Observatories

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spectacle shop to allow visitors to look through them to see the steeple of a distant church. There is even a story that Lippershey’s children actually created the first telescope while they were playing with flawed lenses in his shop. It is known that the first telescopes were shown in the Netherlands. Records indicate that Lippershey, who thought that his device might be useful in warfare, applied for a patent with the national government of the Netherlands in October 1608. Other Dutch spectacle makers applied for similar patents at the same time. All of these devices consisted of a convex and a concave lens mounted in a tube. The combination of the two lenses magnified objects by three or four times. However, the government of the Netherlands considered the devices too easy to copy to justify awarding any patents. News of the invention of the telescope spread rapidly throughout Europe. Within a few months, simple telescopes, called “spyglasses,” could be purchased at spectacle-makers’ shops in Paris. By early 1609 four or five telescopes had made it to Italy. By August 1609 Harriot had observed and mapped the Moon with a six-power telescope.

Galileo’s discoveries Despite Harriot’s honor as the first telescopic astronomer, it was Galileo who made the telescope famous. Although there is no evidence that he actually saw one of the telescopes known to be in Italy at the time, he somehow learned of the newly invented instrument. Over several months in 1609 and 1610, Galileo made several progressively more powerful and optically superior telescopes using lenses he ground himself. He then used these telescopes for a systematic study of the night sky. Among his many observations, he saw mountains and craters on the Moon, discovered four moons of Jupiter, viewed sunspots (cool areas of magnetic disturbance that form dark blemishes on the surface of the Sun), and found that the Milky Way consisted of clouds of individual stars. Galileo summarized his discoveries in a small book titled Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger), which was published in March 1610. Others working at around the same time claimed to have made similar discoveries—others certainly observed sunspots—but Galileo was first to write about these observa280


Galileo Galilei made several progressively more powerful and optically superior telescopes using lenses he ground himself. He then used these telescopes for a systematic study of the night sky. (The Library of Congress)

tions. Consequently, he is generally credited with their discovery. The observation of the four moons in orbit around Jupiter was especially important to Galileo. This discovery conclusively contradicted the prevailing belief that Earth was at the center of the solar system, with everything in the system revolving around it. Ground-based Observatories

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Galileo apparently had no real knowledge of how the telescope worked, but he immediately recognized its value. He set about building an early version of what is now referred to as a refractor telescope. With this type of device, light waves from a distant object enter the top of the telescope through what is called an objective lens. This lens is convex—thicker in the middle than at the edges. As light waves pass through it, they are refracted (bent) so that they converge (come together) at a single point, known as the focus. The distance between the objective lens and the focus is called the focal length. A concave lens, known as the eyepiece, placed at the focus then magnifies the image for viewing. The first person to give a concise theory of how light passes through the telescope and forms an image was German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571–1630). He also discussed the various ways in which the lenses could be combined in different optical systems, improving on Galileo’s design. Kepler’s design used convex lenses for both the objective lens and the eyepiece. Unfortunately, telescopes built following Kepler’s design were not practical for military or everyday use because they inverted (turned upside down) and reversed the image seen through the eyepiece. However, because they offered a greater degree of magnification, a brighter image, and a wider angle of view, they were best for astronomical observations where the inverted image made no difference. As refractor telescopes came into wider use, though, it became apparent that they had a great defect. The main problem with these early telescopes was the low quality of their glass and the poor manner in which their lenses were ground. However, even the best lenses had an inherent imperfection. Like a prism, a lens bends the different wavelengths (colors) that make up visible light through different angles. The objective lenses in these telescopes did not bend all wavelengths equally. This resulted in the red part of the visible light being brought to a focus at a greater distance from the objective lens. An image of a star viewed through a refractor telescope from this period seemed to be surrounded by colored fringes. This defect is called chromatic aberration. Early astronomers tried to correct this problem by increasing the focal length, but the new instruments were very clumsy to use. 282


convex lens

light waves

focal length

concave lens

light waves

focal length

Convex and concave lenses were used by astronomers such as Galileo and Johannes Kepler to formulate theories on how light passes through a telescope and forms an image. (The Gale Group)

A solution to this problem came in 1729 when English scientist Chester Moor Hall (1703–1771) devised the achromatic lens: a grouping of two lenses, made of different kinds of glass and shape, set close together. As light passes through, the second lens cancels out the false color brought about by the first lens. Hall went on to create the achromatic telescope in 1733. Twenty-five years later, English optician John Dollard improved on the achromatic lens by combining two or more lenses with varying chemical compositions to minimize the effects of aberration.

Newton and the reflector telescope During the 1680s, English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1642–1727) had begun trying to unravel the problem of chromatic aberration. While observing a beam of Ground-based Observatories

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sunlight passing through a glass prism, he saw that the beam was split into a rainbow of colors. On the basis of this and other experiments, he decided (incorrectly, it turns out) that the refractor telescope could never be cured of chromatic aberration. Newton consequently developed a new type of telescope, the reflector, in which there is no objective lens. In this type of telescope, light waves from a distant object enter the open top end and travel down the tube until they hit a mirror at the bottom. This mirror is concave—thicker at the edges than in the middle. Because of this primary mirror’s shape, all wavelengths of the light are reflected equally back up the tube to a focus, where a small, flat secondary mirror reflects the image to an eyepiece on the side of the telescope. Newtonian reflectors were not free of problems. The mirrors, which were made from metal, were hard to grind. The mirror surface also tarnished quickly and had to be polished every few months. These problems kept the Newtonian reflector from being widely accepted until after 1774. At this time, English astronomer William Herschel (1738–1822) developed new designs, polishing techniques, the use of silvered glass, and other innovations that made the reflector telescope much more efficient. In 1781 Herschel discovered the planet Uranus using a reflector telescope he had made. He continued to build reflecting telescopes over the next several years, resulting in the construction of a large telescope in 1789 that housed a mirror with a diameter of almost 4 feet (1.2 meters). Herschel’s telescope remained the largest in the world until 1845, when Irish astronomer William Parsons (1800–1867) constructed a 56-foot-long (17-meter-long) reflector telescope in present-day Birr, Ireland, that came to be known as the Leviathan of Parsonstown. Its mirror, made from speculum metal (an alloy of four parts copper to one part tin), measured 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter. Because it tarnished so rapidly in the damp climate, the mirror had to be repolished every six months. Parsons had two mirrors built so that one could be used in the telescope while the other was being repolished. With this telescope, Parsons carried out pioneering astronomical observations, chiefly devoting his time to the study of nebulae (clouds of dust and gas). He was the first to de284


convex lens mirror

incoming light

flat mirror

Reflecting Telescope

incoming light

concave lens

convex lens

Refracting Telescope

A reflecting telescope and a refracting telescope. (The Gale Group)

scribe the spiral nature of nebulae, which were eventually recognized as galaxies outside of the Milky Way.

Modern telescopes and their location The largest refractor telescopes were built at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. It is easy to understand that larger telescopes are preferred because they gather more light. Astronomical distances are so great that most objects are not visible to the unaided eye. The Andromeda galaxy, generally considered the most distant object that can be seen with the naked eye, is the closest galaxy to Earth outside of the Milky Way. To see far out into space beyond this requires large telescopes. To accomplish this, astronomers generally prefer reflector telescopes. It is easier to build large mirrors than it is to build Ground-based Observatories

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large lenses. Telescopes are described by the largest lens or mirror they contain. The largest refractor telescope ever built is the Yerkes 40-inch (102-centimeter) telescope, which is located in southeastern Wisconsin. Refractors are limited to fairly small sizes for two reasons: First, since the light must pass through a lens to be focused, the lens must be supported around its outside edge, not from behind. Large lenses tend to sag and distort in shape because of the effects of gravity. Consequently, the focused image is not as sharp as it should be. Second, because the light passes through the lens, the glass must be entirely free of bubbles or other defects that would distort the image. It is difficult and costly to make large pieces of perfect glass. Reflector telescopes, on the other hand, make use of mirrors. Since the light is reflected from the front surface, the mirrors can be supported from behind. Therefore, they can be made much larger than the lenses in refractor telescopes. The front surface of a reflector mirror is coated with highly reflective (shiny) aluminum or silver. Since the light in a reflector never passes through the mirror, the glass can contain a few bubbles or other flaws. For these reasons, the largest telescopes in the world are reflectors. Earth’s atmosphere, however, continues to challenge the progress of ground-based astronomy. A problem with the atmosphere is its inherent instability. Even on the clearest of nights, images jiggle and quiver due to atmospheric thermal turbulence caused by irregular air motions (a phenomenon similar to heat waves above a hot road). A way to lessen the impact of the atmosphere is to construct observatories in desolate regions at high attitudes where the atmosphere is thinner (and where the glare of urban artificial light, such as street lights, cannot reach). The best ground-based sites for optical and infrared astronomy are Mauna Kea, a volcano on the island of Hawaii that is 13,797 feet (4,205 meters) high, and the mountain peaks in the desert in northern Chile. Other good sites are in the Canary Islands, a group of seven volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the northwestern coast of Africa, and in the desert regions in the southwestern United States. Astronomers look for the following characteristics when they select a site for a ground-based observatory: 286


• Clear skies: The best sites on the planet experience clear skies about 75 percent of the time. Most types of astronomical observations cannot be carried out when clouds are present. • Dark skies: The atmosphere scatters city lights, making it impossible to see faint objects in space. Therefore, the best sites are located far away from large cities. (Even with the naked eye, one can see quite clearly the difference between what can be viewed in the night sky in a city and in a rural area.) • High and dry: Water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere absorbs infrared radiation. Fortunately, water vapor is concentrated at low altitudes, and so infrared observatories are best located at high altitudes. • Stable air: Light rays are distorted when they pass through turbulent air, with the result that the image seen through a telescope is distorted and blurred. The most stable air occurs over large bodies of water such as oceans, which have a very uniform temperature. (Changes in temperature cause air masses to rise, if they are heated, or sink, if they are cooled.) As a result, the best sites are located on isolated volcanic peaks in the middle of oceans or in coastal mountain ranges. Space-based observatories, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, provide images that are clearer and much sharper than those obtained by any ground-based observatory. Astronomers are, however, devising techniques called adaptive optics than can correct atmospheric distortions by changing the shapes of small mirrors hundreds of times each second to compensate precisely for the effects of Earth’s atmosphere. Even when this technique is perfected, space-based observatories still will be needed to observe gamma rays, X rays, ultraviolet radiation, and wavelengths of other forms of electromagnetic radiation that are absorbed by the planet’s atmosphere before they reach the ground.

Radio astronomy Viewing requirements for radio observatories are not nearly so rigid as for optical or infrared observatories, and many types of radio observations can be made through clouds. Ground-based Observatories

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The largest refractor telescope ever built is the Yerkes forty-inch telescope, which is located in southeastern Wisconsin. (© Jim Sugar/Corbis)

Consequently, astronomers in countries that do not have good optical or infrared sites, such as Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, and Germany, have concentrated on radio astronomy. While they may not be bothered much by clouds or city lights, radio telescopes are affected by electrical interference generated by cell phones, radio transmitters, and other electrical devices in present-day society. To counteract this, they are often located far away from large population centers in special radio-quiet zones. Also, certain radio wavelengths are reserved for the use of radio astronomy and cannot be used to transmit human signals. Currently, commercial companies cannot transmit radio waves at frequencies between 71 and 275 gigahertz. (A hertz is a unit used to measure frequency. One hertz equals one cycle or wave per second. One kilohertz [kHz] equals one thousand waves per second, one megahertz 288


Largest Optical Refracting Telescopes Observatory

Lens Diameter

Year Built

Yerkes Observatory (Williams Bay, WI)

40 inches (102 centimeters)

1897

Lick Observatory (Mt. Hamilton, CA)


1888

Paris Observatory (Meudon, France)

32.7 inches (83 centimeters)

1891

Potsdam Observatory (Potsdam, Germany)


1899

Côte d’Azur Observatory (Nice, France)


1887

Allegheny Observatory (Pittsburgh, PA)


1914

Royal Greenwich Observatory (London, England)


1894

Vienna Observatory (Vienna, Austria)


1878

Berlin Observatory


1896

Johannesburg Observatory


1925

McCormick Observatory (Charlottesville, VA) 26.25 inches (66.7 centimeters)

1883

U.S. Naval Observatory (Washington, DC)

1873


[MHz] equals one million waves per second, and one gigahertz [GHz] equals one billion waves per second. A typical cell phone operates at 800 MHz. Microwave ovens usually work at a frequency of 2.45 GHz.) The range of radio band frequencies from 30 GHz to 300 GHz is sometimes called the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) range. It corresponds to the millimeter-wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Waves in this region have wavelengths from 0.4 inches (10 millimeters) to 0.04 inches (1 millimeter). This means that they are larger than infrared waves or X rays, for example, but smaller than radio waves or microwaves. No one individual can be given complete credit for the development of radio astronomy. However, an important pioneer in the field was Karl Jansky (1905–1950), a scientist employed at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. In the early 1930s, Jansky was working on the probGround-based Observatories

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lem of noise sources that might interfere with the transmission of short-wave radio signals. During his research, Jansky discovered that his instruments picked up static every day at about the same time and in about the same part of the sky. It was later discovered that the source of this static was the center of the Milky Way. Since then, scientists have found that radio signals come from everywhere. In 1955 astronomers detected radio bursts coming from Jupiter. Next to the Sun, this planet is the strongest source of radio waves in the solar system. Around this time, Dutch astronomer Jan Oort (1900–1992) used a radio telescope to map the spiral structure of the Milky Way. In 1960 several small but intense radio sources were discovered that did not fit into any previously known classification. They were called quasi-stellar radio sources. Further investigation revealed them to be quasars, the most distant and therefore the oldest celestial objects known. And in the late 1960s, English astronomers Antony Hewish (1924–) and Jocelyn Bell Burnell (1943–) detected a strong radio source in the core of the Crab Nebula, a cloud of gas created by a supernova, or the massive explosion of a relatively large star at the end of its lifetime. The source turned out to be the first pulsar ever discovered. (A pulsar is a rapidly spinning, blinking neutron star, which is the extremely dense, compact, neutron-filled remains of a star following a supernova.) In 1964 radio astronomers found very compelling evidence in support of the big bang theory of how the universe began. U.S. scientists Arno Penzias (1933–) and Robert Wilson (1936–) discovered a constant background noise that seemed to come from every direction in the sky. Further investigation revealed this noise to be radiation (now called cosmic microwave background radiation) that had a temperature of –465°F (–276°C). This corresponded to the predicted temperature to which radiation left over from the formation of the universe about thirteen billion years ago would have cooled by the present. The largest single radio dish in operation at the beginning of 2004 was that of the Arecibo Observatory, located 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The telescope’s 1,000-foot-diameter (305-meter-diameter) spherical reflector consists of almost 40,000 perforated aluminum panels, each 290


The largest single radio dish in operation at the beginning of 2004 was that of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The telescope’s 1,000-foot-diameter spherical reflector consists of almost 40,000 perforated aluminum panels. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

measuring about 3 feet (1 meter) by 6 feet (2 meters). The panels focus incoming radio waves on movable antenna structures positioned about 450 feet (137 meters) above the reflector surface. It is the largest curved focusing antenna on the planet. Construction of the telescope, which was built in a mountaintop sinkhole (bowl-like depression created when underground rock erodes away), was completed in 1963. At the end of 2003 construction had begun on the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). It is located at one of the driest spots on Earth: a large plateau at an altitude of Ground-based Observatories

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16,400 feet (5,000 meters) in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The system will consist of 64 radio antennas, each measuring 39 feet (12 meters) in diameter, arranged in an array, with the separations between the antennas varying from 490 feet to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). When completed, the ALMA will be the largest and most sensitive instrument in the world that measures millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The combined antennae will work as an interferometer, a device that uses two or more telescopes to observe the same object at the same time in the same wavelength to increase angular resolution. Resolution refers to the fineness of detail that can be seen in an image. The larger the telescope, the larger the detail that can be observed. One way to see finer detail is to build a larger single telescope. Unfortunately, there are practical limits to the size of a single telescope. Currently, that is about 33 feet (10 meters) for optical and infrared telescopes and 330 feet (100 meters) for radio telescopes. If, however, astronomers combine the signals from two or more widely separated telescopes, they can see the fineness of detail that would be observed if they had a single telescope of that same diameter. Telescopes working in combination in this way are called interferometers. Radio interferometry is easier to achieve than optical and infrared interferometry because of the long wavelengths of radio waves. The equipment used to measure radio waves need not be built to the same precision as optical telescopes, and radio waves are not affected as much by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere. For these reasons, radio astronomers have been able to build whole arrays of telescopes separated by thousands of miles to conduct interferometry. For example, U.S. astronomers operate the Very Long Baseline Array, which consists of ten telescopes located across the United States and in the Virgin Islands and Hawaii. When combined with a telescope in Japan, this array of radio telescopes has the same resolution as a telescope with the diameter of Earth.

Infrared astronomy Infrared astronomy was developed in the 1960s. To be useful, infrared detectors require long periods of time without motion. Since water vapor in the atmosphere is a main interfering substance, infrared astronomy is ideally conducted in space. 292


But astronomers have used high altitude balloons and groundbased observatories to conduct successful observations in infrared astronomy. Since every object that has a temperature radiates heat energy (infrared radiation), infrared astronomy involves the study of just about everything in the universe. Infrared telescopes, which are very similar to optical telescopes, have helped astronomers find where new stars are forming, areas known as stellar nurseries. A star forms from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust. Forming and newly formed stars are still covered with dust that blocks optical light. Thus infrared astronomers can more easily probe these stellar nurseries than optical astronomers can. The view of the center of the Milky Way is also blocked by large amounts of interstellar dust. The galactic center is more easily seen by infrared than by optical astronomers. With the aid of infrared telescopes, astronomers have also located a number of new galaxies, many too far away to be seen through visible light waves. Some of these are dwarf galaxies, which are more plentiful, but contain fewer stars, than visible galaxies. The discovery of these infrared dwarf galaxies has led to the theory that they once dominated the universe and then came together over time to form visible galaxies, such as the Milky Way. With the growing use of infrared astronomy, astronomers have learned that galaxies contain many more stars than had ever been imagined. Infrared telescopes can detect radiation from relatively cool stars, which give off no visible light. Many of these stars are the size of the Sun. These discoveries have drastically changed astronomers’ calculations of the total mass in the universe. The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) is the world’s largest telescope dedicated solely to infrared astronomy. It is located in Hawaii near the summit of Mauna Kea at an altitude of 13,760 (4,194 meters). The telescope, which began operating in 1979, has a concave primary mirror that measures 12.5 feet (3.8 meters) in diameter.

Optical astronomy The two most famous historic optical observatories still operational in the United States are the Mount Wilson ObGround-based Observatories

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An Old Telescope Finds a New Icy World In November 2003, a group of astronomers using a 48-inch (122-centimeter) telescope at the Palomar Observatory in southern California sighted what they believed was the most distant object known to orbit the Sun and the largest one to be detected since the discovery of the planet Pluto in 1930. The astronomers proposed naming the object Sedna, after the Inuit goddess who created the sea creatures of the Arctic. The object, properly referred to as a planetoid (a very small planet), is estimated to have a diameter of no more than 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers), roughly 300 miles (430 kilometers) less than that of Pluto. Sedna is also extremely frigid. Temperatures on Sedna are estimated to hover at –400°F (–240°C). Calculations indicate that on its widely eccentric orbit, Sedna takes 10,500 years to travel around the Sun.

servatory and the Palomar Observatory. These two southern California astronomical research centers have an intertwined past, highlighted by legendary astronomers and landmark discoveries. The Mount Wilson Observatory came first, and of the two, it is considered to be the premier observatory. Located at an altitude of 5,700 feet (1,737 meters) on Mount Wilson, a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, California, the observatory houses two reflecting telescopes. The first, measuring 60 inches (152 centimeter) in diameter, was installed in 1908. The second, named the Hooker Telescope after John D. Hooker, a local businessman who funded its construction, was installed in 1917. Measuring 100 inches (254 centimeters) in diameter, it remained the largest telescope in the world until 1948.

A peculiar trait of Sedna is its red color. In the solar system, only Mars matches its color. Astronomers are unsure why it appears red. They are also unsure of its composition, believing that it might be a mix of rock and ice.

U.S. astronomer George Hale (1868–1938) had solicited money for the construction of the observatory, which originally was to have been a research center designed specifically for the study of the Sun. As director of the observatory, Hale was also the brainchild behind the Hooker Telescope. During his career, he was the driving force behind the creation of four telescopes, each surpassing the last as the world’s largest.

Hubble’s great discoveries The greatest discoveries made with the Hooker Telescope actually were not made by Hale. Instead, it was U.S. astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889–1953) who used the Hooker Telescope to make observations and discoveries that pro294


foundly changed humans’ concept of the universe and their place in it. Hubble’s first notable achievement at Mount Wilson was the confirmation of the existence of galaxies outside of the Milky Way. From observations he made in 1923, Hubble was able to identify a type of variable star known as a Cepheid (pronounced SEE-fee-id) in a nebula in a region of space known as “Andromeda” (known today as the Andromeda galaxy). Variable stars are so-named because their light output changes over time, varying between dim and bright. By using information about the relationship between brightness, luminosity (how much light a star radiates), and the distances of Cepheid stars in the Milky Way, Hubble was able to estimate the distance to the Cepheid in the nebula to be about one million light-years. (The term light-year refers to the distance light travels in space in one year, about 6 trillion miles [9.6 trillion kilometers]). Hubble also discovered other Cepheids, as well as other objects, and calculated the distances to them. Since scientists knew that the maximum diameter of the Milky Way was only one hundred thousand light-years, Hubble’s figures established the existence of galaxies outside of the Milky Way. Eventually he discovered nine new galaxies. Continuing his pioneering work on galaxies throughout the 1920s, Hubble determined distances for more than twenty galaxies surrounding the Milky Way. In 1929 this work led to his most important discovery. For more than a decade, scientists had predicted that the light coming from some distant galaxies might indicate that the galaxies were moving apart from each other and Earth. If the galaxies were speeding fast enough away from Earth, the motion would “stretch” the light waves emitted from them. Since longer wavelengths make light take on a reddish tone, this stretching was called the redshift. Hubble’s greatest achievement was to determine the redshifts for a large number of galaxies by measuring the wavelengths of the light coming from them. His measurements led him to two important conclusions. First, distant galaxies did seem to be moving away from Earth. Second, the farther away they were from Earth, the faster they seemed to move. This relationship between a galaxy’s distance and its speed is now known as Hubble’s law. Ground-based Observatories

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Largest Optical Telescopes Telescope Name

Location

Size of Primary Optical Surface

Keck I

Mauna Kea, Hawaii

33 feet (10 meters)

Keck II

Mauna Kea, Hawaii

33 feet (10 meters)

Hobby-Eberly Telescope

Mount Locke, Texas

30.2 feet (9.2 meters)

Large Binocular Telescope (2 telescopes)

Mount Graham, Arizona


Very Large Telescope (4 telescopes)

Cerro Paranal, Chile

27 feet (8.2 meters)

Subaru Telescope

Mauna Kea, Hawaii

27 feet (8.2 meters)

Gemini North Telescope

Mauna Kea, Hawaii


Gemini South Telescope

Cerro Pachon, Chile


Multiple Mirror Telescope

Mount Hopkins, Arizona


Magellan I

Los Campanas, Chile


Magellan II

Los Campanas, Chile


Bolshoi Teleskop Azimutalnyi (“Large Altazimuth Telescope”)

Mount Pastukhov, Russia

19.7 feet (6 meters)

The information collected by Hubble at Mount Wilson supported the big bang theory of the creation of the universe. The movement of galaxies away from one another is consistent with the idea that the universe began as a single point billions of years ago and that a huge explosion resulted in matter being created and scattered over great distances. Two decades after Hubble developed his famous equations, George Hale built yet another large reflecting telescope, one that held the distinction of being the largest optical telescope in the world for three decades. The 200-inch-diameter (508centimeter-diameter) Hale Telescope is housed at the Palomar Observatory, which is located at an altitude of 6,000 feet (1,830 meters) on Palomar Mountain 90 miles (145 kilome296


ters) southeast of Mount Wilson Observatory. The observatory currently contains three other instruments, the largest of which is a 60-inch-diameter (152-centimeter-diameter) reflecting telescope. The 20-ton (18-metric ton) mirror for the Hale Telescope was brought to the mountain and erected inside the twelvestory, 1,000-ton (907-metric ton) rotating dome that had been built specifically for the telescope. Scientific research finally began at the observatory in 1948. In the observatory’s early days, German astronomer Walter Baade (1893–1960) identified more than three hundred Cepheid variables in the Andromeda galaxy. And Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky (1898-1974), who worked at both Palomar and Mount Wilson observatories, made detailed studies of supernovas, neutron stars, and dark matter (virtually undetectable matter that does not emit or reflect light and that is thought to account for 90 percent of the mass of the universe, acting as a “cosmic glue” that holds together galaxies and clusters of galaxies).

Present-day giants By the early twenty-first century, more than one dozen mirrors with diameters larger than 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) had been installed in optical and infrared telescopes around the world. The largest single-mirror reflecting optical telescope is the 27-foot (8.2-meter) Subaru Telescope, formerly called the Japanese National Large Telescope, located at the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Located nearby is the Gemini North Telescope, another large single-mirror reflecting telescope. It measures 26.6 feet (8.1 meters) in diameter. The surface of the mirror is so smooth that if it were enlarged to the size of Earth, the largest bump on the mirror would be only 1 foot (0.3 meter) high. Its twin, the Gemini South Telescope, is located at Cerro Pachon, Chile. Currently, the largest optical/infrared reflecting telescopes in the world are the twin 33-foot (10-meter) Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea. These telescopes do not contain a single mirror that is 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter. It would be very difficult to manufacture a single mirror that size that would not distort under gravity and become useless. Instead, each mirror consists of thirty-six hexagonal-shaped mirrors that are Ground-based Observatories

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The largest optical/infrared reflecting telescopes in the world are the twin 33-foot Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Each telescope has a mirror that consists of thirty-six hexagonal-shaped mirrors that fit together like bathroom tiles. (© Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter and fitted together like bathroom tiles. A perfect fit between the tiles is ensured by a computer-activated system, which pushes on the back of each segment to counteract the pull of gravity in order to maintain a perfect reflecting shape. The two telescopes, located 279 feet (85 meters) apart, have been operated as an interferometer, mimicking a telescope that has a diameter of 279 feet (85 meters). The Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory, located on top of Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains in western Texas, has a primary mirror that is actually bigger than those of the twin Kecks. It measures 36.4 by 32.2 feet (11.1 by 9.8 meters). However, at any given time during observations, only a 30.2-foot-diameter (9.2-meter-diameter) sec298


tion of the mirror is utilized, making it the world’s third largest optical telescope. These U.S. telescopes are rivaled in power by the Very Large Telescope (VLT), operated by the European Southern Observatory, an international astronomical organization composed of ten European countries. VLT is located at the Paranal Observatory on the summit of Cerro Paranal, an 8,645-foot (2,635-meter) mountain in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. VLT consists of a cluster of four telescopes, each containing a mirror almost 27 feet (8.2 meters) in diameter. In the language of the Mapuche, the indigenous people who live in the area, the four telescopes have been given names of astronomical objects: Antu (“Sun”), Kueyen (“Moon”), Melipal (“Southern Cross”), and Yepun (“Venus”). The VLT can be operated as a set of four independent telescopes or as an interferometer. In this latter mode, the VLT mimics a telescope that has a mirror 656 feet (200 meters) in diameter, making it the largest optical telescope in the world. Astronomers in Europe are exploring the possibility of building an optical/infrared telescope that is 330 feet (100 meters) in diameter. The telescope is called the OWL, which stands for the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope. The mirror would be built in the same way as the Keck mirrors: combining thousands of smaller mirrors to form a single continuous surface. Because of the vast distances in space, light that travels through the universe also travels through time. Light from an object located five million light-years away from Earth left that object five million years ago. Looking at light in the sky is looking backward in time. The farther one looks out into space, the further one sees back in time. If built, the OWL would be powerful enough to study objects present when the universe was only a few million years old. This would allow astronomers to observe directly the evolution of the universe throughout nearly all of its history.

For More Information Books Christianson, Gale E. Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebulae. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Ground-based Observatories

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Florence, Ronald. The Perfect Machine: Building the Palomar Telescope. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Orr, Tamra B. The Telescope. New York: Franklin Watts, 2004. Panek, Richard. Seeing and Believing: How the Telescope Opened Our Eyes and Minds to the Heavens. New York: Penguin, 1999. Parker, Barry R. Stairway to the Stars: The Story of the World’s Largest Observatory. New York: Perseus Publishing, 2001.

Web Sites Mount Wilson Observatory. http://www.mtwilson.edu/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). NASA Space Technology Ground-based Solar and Astrophysical Observatory Guide. http://ranier.oact.hq.nasa.gov/Sensors_page/GroundObserv. html (accessed on August 19, 2004). National Radio Astronomy Observatory. http://www.nrao.edu/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Paranal Observatory.” European Southern Observatory. http://www.eso. org/paranal/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). W. M. Keck Observatory. http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/ (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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13 Space-based Observatories

A

stronomy is the scientific study of the physical universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. At its most basic, astronomy is essentially about the observation of light. The ability to gather light is the key to acquiring useful astronomical information. The larger the primary mirror of a telescope, for example, the greater its light-gathering capabilities and the greater the magnification of the instrument. These two attributes allow a large telescope to view fainter, smaller objects than a telescope of lesser size. Astronomy is not just about visible light, however. Visible light, also known as optical radiation, is only one form of electromagnetic radiation, a collective term for radiation consisting of electric and magnetic waves that travel through space at the speed of light, approximately 186,000 miles (299,274 kilometers) per second. Like any wave, those that make up the forms of electromagnetic radiation can be described by two properties: wavelength and frequency. The wavelength is the distance between two successive identical parts of the wave, such as between two wave peaks or crests. Frequency is the rate at which two successive identical parts

301

Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was the first of four “Great Observatories” studying the universe from space. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

302


of the wave pass a given point. Wavelength and frequency have a reciprocal relationship with each other: As one increases, the other must decrease. The various forms of electromagnetic radiation make up the electromagnetic spectrum much as the various colors of light make up the visible spectrum (the rainbow). The visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is most familiar because human eyes are optimized for these wavelengths. Observations made in the visible region show only a small portion of the activities and processes underway in the universe. When astronomers view the sky in the invisible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, they see an entirely different picture. The different forms of radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum, in order from lowest to highest energy, are: radio, microwaves, infrared, optical or visible, ultraviolet, X rays, and gamma rays. Radio waves have the lowest frequency and longest wavelength of any form of electromagnetic radiation. Their wavelengths measure up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from peak to peak. Radio stations on Earth transmit information (music or speech) through these energy waves. In space, many celestial objects emit radio waves, including the Sun, quasars (pronounced KWAY-zarz; extremely bright objects found in remote areas of space), pulsars (rapidly rotating neutron or burned-out stars), gas clouds, and the centers of galaxies. Microwaves have wavelengths between 0.04 and 11.8 inches (0.1 and 30 centimeters). Their short wavelengths make them ideal for use in radio and television broadcasting. They are also used to cook food and to communicate with artificial satellites (man-made devices that orbit Earth and other celestial bodies). Astronomers use microwaves to study the universe. Microwave radiation is the firmest evidence in support of the big bang theory, which explains the beginning of the universe as a tremendous explosion from a single point that occurred about thirteen billion years ago. In the 1960s, radio astronomers discovered microwaves coming from every direction in space. This radiation, now called cosmic microwave background radiation, is believed to be the radiation left over from the big bang. Space-based Observatories

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Words to Know Antimatter: Matter that is exactly the same as normal matter, but with the opposite spin and electrical charge. Artificial satellite: A man-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. Astronomy: The scientific study of the physical universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Big bang theory: The theory that explains the beginning of the universe as a tremendous explosion from a single point that occurred about thirteen billion years ago. Binary star: A pair of stars orbiting around one another, linked by gravity. Black hole: The remains of a massive star that has burned out its nuclear fuel and collapsed under tremendous gravitational force into a single point of infinite mass and gravity from which nothing escapes, not even light. Brown dwarf: A small, cool, dark ball of matter that never completes the process of becoming a star. Corona: The outermost and hottest layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that extends out into space for millions of miles. Dark matter: Virtually undetectable matter that does not emit or reflect light and that is thought to account for 90 percent of the mass of the universe,

304

acting as a “cosmic glue” that holds together galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Electromagnetic radiation: Radiation that transmits energy through the interaction of electricity and magnetism. Electromagnetic spectrum: The entire range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. Gamma rays: Short-wavelength, highenergy radiation formed either by the decay of radioactive elements or by nuclear reactions. Geosynchronous orbit: An orbit in which a satellite revolves around Earth at the same rate at which Earth rotates on its axis; thus, the satellite remains positioned over the same location on Earth. Inflationary theory: The theory that the universe underwent a period of rapid expansion immediately following the big bang. Infrared radiation: Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths slightly longer than those of visible light. Interstellar: Between or among the stars. Interstellar medium: The gas and dust that exists in the space between stars. Light-year: The distance light travels in the near vacuum of space in one year, about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers). Microwaves: Electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than in-


frared radiation but shorter than radio waves. Neutron star: The extremely dense, compact, neutron-filled remains of a star following a supernova. Observatory: A structure designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena. Ozone layer: An atmospheric layer that contains a high proportion of ozone molecules that absorb incoming ultraviolet radiation. Pulsar: A rapidly spinning, blinking neutron star. Quasars: Extremely bright, star-like sources of radio waves that are found in remote areas of space and that are the oldest known objects in the universe.

Solar flare: A temporary bright spot that explodes on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy. Solar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from the Sun. Spacewalk: Technically known as an EVA, or extravehicular activity, an excursion outside a spacecraft or space station by an astronaut or cosmonaut wearing only a pressurized spacesuit and, possibly, some sort of maneuvering device. Spectrograph: A device that separates light by wavelengths to produce a spectrum. Stellar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from a star (like the solar wind, but from a star other than the Sun).

Radiation: The emission and movement of waves of atomic particles through space or other media.

Sunspot: A cool area of magnetic disturbance that forms a dark blemish on the surface of the Sun.

Radio waves: The longest form of electromagnetic radiation, measuring up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from peak to peak in the wave.

Supernova: The massive explosion of a relatively large star at the end of its lifetime.

Redshift: The shift of an object’s light spectrum toward the red end of the visible light range, which is an indication that the object is moving away from the observer. Reflector telescope: A telescope that directs light from an opening at one end to a concave mirror at the far end, which reflects the light back to smaller mirror that directs it to an eyepiece on the side of the telescope.

Ultraviolet radiation: Electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength just shorter than the violet (shortest wavelength) end of the visible light spectrum. Van Allen belts: Two doughnut-shaped belts of high-energy charged particles trapped in Earth’s magnetic field. X rays: Electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength just shorter than ultraviolet radiation but longer than gamma rays that can penetrate solids and produce an electrical charge in gases.

Space-based Observatories

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Radio 104

102

Microwave 1

Infrared

Visible

Ultraviolet

X-ray

10-2

10-5

10-6

10-8

Gamma Ray 10-10

10-12

Wavelength (cm)

The electromagnetic spectrum. (The Gale Group)

The wavelengths of infrared radiation, which measures from 0.00003 to 0.04 inch (0.000075 to 0.1 centimeter), are slightly longer than those of visible light. Humans cannot see infrared radiation, but can sense its energy as heat on the skin. Infrared radiation is emitted by any object that has a temperature (radiates heat). So, basically all celestial objects emit some infrared radiation. Optical radiation is visible light. The different colors of light the human eye can see correspond to different wavelengths: Red light has the longest wavelength, violet the shortest. Moving from red to violet are the remaining colors: orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo. Optical radiation is emitted by everything from fireflies to light bulbs to stars. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation has wavelengths just shorter than the violet end of the visible light spectrum. The Sun at the center of our solar system is a major source of UV radiation. Too much UV radiation is harmful to living organisms. It burns skin, leads to the development of skin cancer, and damages vegetation. Fortunately, the ozone layer in Earth’s atmosphere prevents most UV radiation from reaching the planet’s surface. Stars and other hot celestial objects emit UV radiation as well. X rays, which have wavelengths just shorter than ultraviolet radiation but longer than gamma rays, can penetrate solids 306


and produce an electrical charge in gases. Earth’s atmosphere filters out most X rays, which in a large dose would be deadly to humans and other forms of life on the planet. X-ray astronomy is a relatively new scientific field focusing on celestial objects that emit X rays. Such objects include stars, galaxies, quasars, pulsars, and black holes (the remains of massive stars that have burned out their nuclear fuel and collapsed under tremendous gravitational force into single points of infinite mass and gravity from which nothing escapes, not even light). Gamma rays are short-wavelength, high-energy radiation formed either by the decay of radioactive elements or by nuclear reactions. Gamma rays produced on Earth are known as terrestrial gamma rays. They are the only gamma rays that can be observed on the planet. Those gamma rays produced in space, cosmic gamma rays, do not penetrate to the surface of Earth because the atmosphere absorbs this high-energy radiation. Gamma rays in space are created by highly energetic reactions. Only the hottest, most active celestial objects give off gamma rays: solar flares (powerful eruptions on the surface of the Sun), supernova explosions (massive explosions of relatively large stars at the end of their lifetime), neutron stars, pulsars, and black holes, among others.

Seeing beyond Earth For life-forms on Earth, it is fortunate that many of these forms of electromagnetic radiation do not reach the planet’s surface. In the field of astronomy, though, this creates a problem. In order to study the universe as fully as possible, astronomers have been forced to place observatories beyond Earth, either in orbit around the planet or in deep space. Spacebased observatories, however, are typically more complicated and more expensive than ground-based observatories. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other space agencies have placed observatories in space since the latter part of the 1960s. While the Hubble Space Telescope is perhaps the most famous of the space-based observatories, it is just one of many that have provided astronomers with new insights about our solar system, the Milky Way (the galaxy that contains our solar system), and the universe. Observatories in space have a number of key advantages. Telescopes in space are able to operate twenty-four hours a Space-based Observatories

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day, free from both Earth’s day-night cycle as well as clouds and other weather conditions that can interfere with observing. They are also subject to neither light pollution from artificial light sources on Earth nor the heat distortions in the atmosphere that blur images when viewed from the ground. Telescopes above the atmosphere can observe those portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as UV, X rays, and gamma rays, that are blocked by Earth’s atmosphere and never reach the surface. And they are better able to view infrared radiation, which is partially blocked by the atmosphere. Because of this, space-based observatories are more productive and useful than their ground-based counterparts. There are some disadvantages to space-based observatories, however. Unlike most telescopes on the ground, those in space operate completely automatically, without any humans on-site to fix faulty equipment or handle any other problems that arise. There are also limitations on the size and mass of objects that can be launched. Special materials and designs that can withstand the harsh environment of space must be utilized, limiting the types of observatories that can be placed in space. These factors, as well as high launch costs, make space-based observatories very expensive: The largest observatories in space, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, cost more than one billion dollars; the best observatories on the ground cost less than one hundred million dollars. Despite the great cost, there is no question that space-based observatories are crucial to gathering the information needed to help humans understand the universe.

The beginning of telescopes in space The first serious study of observatories in space was conducted in 1946 by U.S. astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer (1914–1997; an astrophysicist is an astronomer who studies the physical properties of celestial bodies). More than a decade before the launch of the first artificial satellite into space and twelve years before the formation of NASA, Spitzer wrote a paper describing in detail the advantages of putting a telescope in space. He believed that observations made in space could revolutionize the field of astronomy. A space-based observatory, he maintained, would be able to detect a wide range of electromagnetic wavelengths and not be hindered by the blur308


ring effects of the atmosphere. He also thought that a telescope in space would reveal much clearer images, of even far-off objects, than any groundbased telescope. Some twenty years would pass before the first space-based observatories would be launched into orbit. Among the first was a series of astronomical satellites that NASA launched under the name Orbiting Astronomical Observatories (OAO). The purpose of these satellites was to provide astronomical data about UV radiation and X rays. OAO-1 was launched successfully on April 8, 1966, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, but its primary battery overheated two days later and it stopped working. More than two years later, on December 7, 1968, NASA launched OAOThe first serious study of observatories in space was 2. The second satellite in the series conducted in 1946 by U.S. astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer. proved highly successful. It carried (AP/Wide World Photos) eleven telescopes, and at 4,432 pounds (2,012 kilograms), it was the heaviest satellite placed in orbit up to that time. Over a period of more than four years, it made 22,560 X-ray, UV, and infrared observations of stars. In May 1972, its instruments detected a supernova. OAO-2 was also the first spacebased observatory to detect UV radiation coming from the center of the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way and the most distant object that can be seen with the naked eye in the night sky. OAO-B, the replacement for OAO-1, was also lost. Launched on November 30, 1970, it failed to achieve Earth orbit and fell into the Atlantic Ocean. The series was saved, however, by OAO-3, perhaps the most successful of these early astronomical satellites. Launched on August 21, 1972, it was later renamed Copernicus in honor of the five hundredth anniversary of the birth of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543). Until early 1981, it returned data on the birth, death, and life cycles of stars. OAO-3 was a collaboraSpace-based Observatories

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tive effort between NASA and the Science and Engineering Research Council of the United Kingdom. The main experiment onboard was the 990-pound (450-kilogram) Princeton Experiments Package that included a 31.5-inch (80-centimeter) UV telescope, the largest telescope used in space up to that time. The primary purpose of OAO-3 was to study UV radiation from stars near the edges of the Milky Way and from gas and dust in interstellar space, the space between the stars. (Some sources state that interstellar space is space starting from the edge of the solar system and extending to the limit of the Milky Way. They call the area beyond this intergalactic space.) OAO-3 also studied X rays from stars and X-ray absorption in interstellar space.

The most productive astronomical telescope NASA followed up the OAO series with a number of other small observatories. Then, on January 26, 1978, NASA launched the most successful UV satellite, and perhaps the most productive astronomical telescope ever. The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) was put into a geosynchronous orbit 32,475 miles (52,250 kilometers) over the Atlantic Ocean, the first space-based observatory to be placed in such a high orbit. (A geosynchronous orbit is one in which a satellite travels around Earth in the same time it takes the planet to rotate once on its axis. Thus, the satellite always remains in the same position relative to Earth’s surface.) Weighing 1,480 pounds (672 kilograms), the IUE measured 14 feet by 5 feet by 5 feet (4.3 meters by 1.5 meters by 1.5 meters) and was powered by two solar panels. The IUE was equipped with a 17.7-inch (45-centimeter) telescope hooked up with two spectrographs, devices that separate light by wavelength, allowing for the identification of elements within the light source. The spectrographs recorded UV wavelengths and transmitted the information back to observatories on Earth. At the time, the IUE was the only satellite observatory that worked continually twenty-four hours a day. The IUE, which was a joint project of NASA, PPARC, and the European Space Agency (ESA), was intended to function for three to five years. However, it lasted almost nineteen years. During its lengthy service to the astronomy community, it did suffer some minor mechanical problems. Although 310


Astronomers George Sonneborn and Robert Kirschner study data that was gathered by the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE). The satellite was launched in 1978 and is considered the most productive astronomical telescope ever. (© Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

engineers were able to keep the IUE functioning at various capacity levels, the final shutdown occurred on September 30, 1996, after a joint decision by NASA and ESA. Built to explore astronomical objects such as stars, comets, galaxies, and supernovae (plural of supernova) that exist in the UV portion of space, the IUE made observations of more than one hundred thousand astronomical objects during its use. Scientists from all over the world have used the information that the IUE was able to collect. More than thirty-five hundred scientific articles have been generated from this information, which is the most productive for any observatory satellite to date. The IUE made history when it helped make the first identification of an exploding star, named Supernova 1987A, in Space-based Observatories

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February 1987. In March 1996 the IUE observed the nucleus of the newly discovered Comet Hyakutake (pronounced hyahkoo-TAH-key) as it underwent chemical changes during its fiveday breakup. The telescope continually sent pictures to Earth, and from them scientists learned that every time the comet passed the Sun, it ejected ten tons (nine metric tons) of water every second and that the eventual breakup of the comet involved only a very small piece of the comet. Other major milestones of the IUE included studies of stellar winds (charged particles ejected from a star’s surface), hot gas around the Milky Way, and stars with magnetic fields and surface activity. The IUE was succeeded by the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), which was launched on June 7, 1992. The EUVE was designed to extend the UV spectral coverage of the IUE by being able to observe much shorter wavelengths. (Extreme ultraviolet light is located in the spectrum between ultraviolet light and X rays.) It contained four telescopes: three scanning survey telescopes and one deep survey/spectrometer telescope. The metal mirrors in each one measured 15.7 inches (40 centimeters) in diameter. Each scanning survey telescope, about as large as a 55-gallon (25-kilogram) oil drum, weighed about 260 pounds (118 kilograms). The deep survey telescope/spectrometer weighed about 710 pounds (322 kilograms). The EUVE had a total mass of 7,215 pounds (3,275 kilograms). Since little was known about extreme ultraviolet radiation, astronomers hoped to learn, through EUVE observations, about the physical properties and chemical compositions of stars, planets, and other sources of extreme ultraviolet radiation. During the first six months of its operation, the EUVE conducted the first extreme ultraviolet survey of the sky. It then began making pointed observations, mainly with its deep survey telescope/spectrometer. By the time science operations on the telescope ended on January 26, 2001, it had collected data from more than one thousand objects in the Milky Way and more than thirty-six that lie beyond. A little more than a year later, on January 30, 2002, the EUVE was allowed to reenter Earth’s atmosphere where it broke apart. A third major UV satellite, the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), was launched on June 24, 1999. It, too, was designed to look farther into the UV portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, observing those wavelengths with 312


much greater sensitivity and resolving power than previous instruments. It carried four 13.8-inch-diameter (35-centimeter-diameter) far UV telescopes, each with a UV highresolution spectrograph. By observing the far UV light from stars, interstellar gas, and distant galaxies with FUSE, astronomers had hoped to understand the properties of interstellar gas clouds, how chemical elements are dispersed throughout galaxies, and, perhaps most important, what conditions were like in the universe during the first few minutes after the big bang (the theory that explains the beginning of the universe as a tremendous explosion from a single point that occurred about thirteen billion years ago). The primary mission of FUSE was scheduled to last three-and-one-half years. By the end of that time, it had recorded more than eight thousand hours of data. The mission of the satellite was then extended, and as of 2004, it continued to provide astronomers with observations.

COBE and the big bang The search for the beginning of the universe began, in earnest, in the twentieth century. Before then, astronomers and others assumed that the universe had always existed as it was, without any changes. In the 1920s, however, U.S. astronomer Edwin Hubble (1899–1953) discovered observable proof that other galaxies existed in the universe besides the Milky Way. In 1929 he made his most important discovery: All matter in the universe was moving away from all other matter in all directions. This proved that the universe was expanding. Hubble also discovered that galaxies located farther away from Earth seemed to be moving away at a faster rate. Based on Hubble’s discoveries, cosmologists (scientists who study the origin of the universe) developed the big bang theory. By the mid-1960s it had become the foremost scientific model used to describe the creation of the universe. However, some problems with the theory still remained. When the big bang occurred, hot radiation given off by the explosion expanded and cooled with the universe. Known as the cosmic microwave background radiation, this radiation appears as a weak hiss of radio noise coming from all directions in space. It is, in a sense, the oldest light in the universe. When astronomers measured this radiation, they found its temperature Space-based Observatories

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to be just less than –450°F (–270°C). Scientists estimate that this would be the approximate temperature of the universe if it had expanded and cooled since the big bang. The radiation, though, seemed smooth, with no temperature fluctuations. If the universe had cooled at a steady rate, it would have had to expand and cool at a steady rate. If this were true, planets and galaxies would not have been able to form. Gravity, which would help them clump together, would have caused fluctuations in the temperature readings. In 1980 U.S. physicist and cosmologist Alan Guth (1945–) proposed a supplemental idea to the big bang theory. Called the inflationary theory, it suggests that at first the universe expanded at a much faster rate than it does now. This concept of accelerated expansion allows for the formation of the stars and planets. To measure the cosmic microwave background radiation, NASA launched the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) on November 18, 1989. COBE carried instruments that searched for the cosmic microwave background radiation and precisely mapped it. Guth’s inflationary theory was supported in April 1992 when NASA announced that COBE had detected tiny temperature fluctuations in the background. Scientists regard these fluctuations as proof that gravitational disturbances existed in the early universe, which allowed matter to clump together to form large stellar bodies such as galaxies and planets. NASA ended COBE operations in December 1993. Although it no longer returns scientific data, COBE remains in orbit. Present-day astronomers liken the study of cosmic microwave background radiation in cosmology to that of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid; the complex molecule that stores and transmits genetic information) in biology. They consider it the seed from which stars and galaxies grew. To widen the scope and precision of that study, NASA launched a satellite called the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) on June 30, 2001. Orbiting much farther away from Earth than COBE, 931,500 miles (1,500,000 kilometers), the goal of the WMAP was to measure temperature differences in the cosmic microwave background on a much finer scale. Astronomers had hoped that the information gathered by the WMAP would reveal a great deal about the universe, including its shape as it appeared about thirteen billion years ago. 314


Hubble: The first of the Great Observatories While NASA had been developing and launching its early space-based observatories, it had also been working on something much larger. In the 1960s it started studying a proposal to launch a large observatory that would study optical, UV, and a portion of near-infrared (the “red end” of the optical spectrum) wavelengths. This observatory was originally known simply as the Large Space Telescope, but was renamed the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) after Edwin Hubble in the 1970s. NASA planned for Hubble to be the first of four “Great Observatories” studying the universe from space, each focusing on a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. In 1977 ESA joined NASA as a partner in the project, with an agreement to supply 15 percent of the equipment needed for the HST in exchange for 15 percent of the observing time. In 1985, after eight years of construction, the 2.1-billion-dollar HST was finally ready for launch. But then, in January 1986, came the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, an accident that led to the grounding of the entire shuttle fleet for the next two years and eight months. The HST launch was delayed until April 24, 1990, when it was granted a spot on the space shuttle Discovery. Weighing 24,255 pounds (11,000 kilograms), the HST is 43.3 feet (13.2 meters) long and has a maximum diameter of 13.8 feet (4.2 meters). It is a reflector telescope, a type of telescope that directs light from an opening at one end to a concave mirror at the far end. The concave mirror reflects the light back to a smaller mirror that directs it to an eyepiece on the side of the telescope. The HST is equipped with two mirrors; the main high-quality mirror, which has a diameter of about 7.9 feet (2.4 meters), can detect a lighted candle more than 250,000 miles (402,250 kilometers) away. The light collected and focused by the telescope ends up in one of four instruments: three cameras and a spectrograph. The HST also carries computers that can receive commands from its datagathering site, the Space Telescope Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. Two solar panels provide electricity, which is used mainly to power the cameras and the four large gyroscopes used to orient and stabilize the telescope. (A gyroscope is an instrument consisting of a frame supporting a disk or wheel that spins rapidly about an axis. Once a gyroscope is set spinning, no amount of tilting or turning will change the direction Space-based Observatories

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Deepest Glance Into the Universe At a time when the future of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) looked bleak, the space-based observatory captured an image that offered astronomers a rare glimpse back to when the universe was just 750 million years old. Between September 24, 2003, and January 16, 2004, the HST made a one-million-second-long exposure of a small region of space now called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. In the image, captured over the course of four hundred Hubble orbits around Earth, are an estimated ten thousand galaxies. It is the deepest image of the universe ever taken in visible light, looking back in time more than thirteen billion years. Astronomers believe the galaxies may be the oldest and most distant known to date. Astronomers can estimate how old a galaxy is by measuring the light it emits, specifically that amount of light that has been shifted toward the red end of the visible spectrum. The higher the redshift of the galaxy, the more distant it is and the earlier it existed in the universe.

in which it is pointing.) The HST also contains batteries that power certain systems. It orbits Earth at a distance of 373 miles (600 kilometers), completing one revolution around the planet every 100 minutes. Two months after the HST had been placed in orbit, NASA scientists learned that it had a tiny but significant flaw. Because of faulty manufacturing procedures, the curve in its main mirror was off by just a fraction of a hair’s width. Yet this flaw was enough to cause light to reflect away from the center of the mirror. As a result, the HST produced blurry images.

In spite of this handicap, the HST produced impressive beginning results. It was able to send back pictures of quasars such as the Einstein Cross, which is eight billion light-years away. (Because of the incredible vastness of space, astronomers and other scientists use the term light-year to refer to the distance lights travels in space in one year, approximately 6 trillion miles [9.6 trillion kilometers].) It also detected a Astronomers call the time when these anwhite spot on Saturn, which turned out cient galaxies emerged the “Dark Ages” of the to be a storm system at least three times universe. Further images from this period in the the size of Earth. Because computers history of the universe will not be possible uncould compensate for fuzzy images, the til at least sometime between 2009 and 2011, HST provided remarkable details about when the James Webb Space Telescope is supernovas, the formation and mergscheduled for launch. ing of galaxies, the activity of black holes, and the composition of binary stars (a binary star is a pair of stars orbiting around one another, linked by gravity). Fortunately, Hubble had been designed for regular maintenance by space shuttle crews. In early December 1993, astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour completed repairs to the HST. They attached an apparatus called the Corrective 316


Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), a group of three quarter-sized mirrors, on the primary mirror. Like a pair of eyeglasses, the mirrors helped bring the light that the HST captured into proper focus. The astronauts also put in a new main camera and solar panels, and made other repairs. The total operation cost more than six hundred million dollars. One month after the repair mission, astronomers reported that virtually full vision had been restored to the HST. In January 1994 HST embarked on an ambitious mission to search for black holes. By May of that year, it had uncovered evidence of a massive black hole—the size of three billion Suns—that is swallowing up matter in a galaxy near our own Milky Way. Two months later, the HST took hundreds of pictures as twenty large chunks of the comet ShoemakerLevy 9 slammed into Jupiter, creating a 1,200-mile-wide (1,930-kilometer-wide) fireball that rose 600 miles (965 kilometers) above the planet’s surface. It scarred the planet with a black dot about half the size of Earth. Taken after the impact points had rotated into view as seen from Earth, the images have helped astronomers learn more about the composition of comets and Jupiter and the dynamics of celestial crashes. For ten consecutive days in December 1995, the HST pointed two of its cameras at a region of space covering one thirty-millionth of the sky. It was equivalent in apparent size to a shirt button held 75 feet (23 meters) away. The image compiled by the cameras over that period showed at least fifteen hundred faint galaxies. Astronomers believe that if this region of space, now known as the Hubble Deep Field, is typical of the rest of space, then hundreds of billions of galaxies, each containing billions of stars, exist within the known universe. With the HST performing so well, NASA then embarked on a planned servicing mission in February 1997 to fine-tune the space-based observatory’s instruments and to replace some of them with newer equipment. That month, a crew aboard the space shuttle Discovery made five spacewalks to service the HST in a three-hundred-million-dollar overhaul. All went well, ensuring the continued operation of the telescope. Astronauts on two more servicing missions to the HST, conducted in December 1999 and March 2002, replaced faulty gyroscopes and fine guidance sensors, installed a new computer, Space-based Observatories

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The purpose of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, launched in 1991, was to study the universe at the wavelengths of gamma rays, the most energetic form of light. (AP/Wide World Photos)

replaced its solar panels, and upgraded several other instruments. On every service mission, the HST is boosted back into a higher orbit because atmospheric drag causes it to fall slowly out of orbit. The HST was to have been serviced a final time by a planned space shuttle mission in February 2005. However, after the space shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003, all future shuttle service missions to the telescope were cancelled. Many astronomers were upset by the decision. They believed that the new manned space agenda proposed by U.S. president George W. Bush (1946–) in January 2004, which 318


would send astronauts back to the Moon and to Mars, sealed the fate of the HST. Pressured by astronomers to keep the HST in orbit, NASA decided in June 2004 to explore a possible robotic repair mission to service the large space observatory by the end of 2007. Without repair work, the gyroscopes on the HST will begin failing by 2007. Its batteries are expected to die between 2008 and 2010. Sometime after that, the HST will reenter and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Compton: Exploring gamma rays Cosmic gamma rays were first discovered in 1967 by small satellites called Velas. These military satellites had been put into orbit to monitor nuclear weapon explosions on Earth, but they found gamma ray bursts from outside the solar system, as well. Several other small satellites launched by NASA in the early 1970s gave pictures of the whole gamma-ray sky. These pictures revealed hundreds of previously unknown stars and several possible black holes. Thousands more stars were discovered in 1977 and 1979 by three large satellites called High Energy Astrophysical Observatories (HEAO). They found that the entire Milky Way galaxy shines with gamma rays. Then, on April 5, 1991, NASA launched the second of its Great Observatories, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO), into space aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. The telescope was named after U.S. physicist Arthur Holly Compton (1892–1962), who won the Nobel Prize in 1927 for his experimental efforts confirming that light had characteristics of both waves and particles. The purpose of the 17-ton (15.4-metric ton) observatory, also known simply as Compton, was to study the universe at the wavelengths of gamma rays, the most energetic form of light. The CGRO carried four instruments to perform the necessary observations. Through data collected by the CGRO, astronomers have discovered that the center of the Milky Way glows in gamma rays created by the annihilation of matter and antimatter. (Antimatter is matter that is exactly the same as normal matter, but with the opposite spin and electrical charge. When matter and antimatter come into contact, both are annihilated with a tremendous release of energy.) Space-based Observatories

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The Compton Effect U.S. physicist Arthur Holly Compton (1892– 1962), after whom the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was named, shared the 1927 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of what came to be known as the Compton Effect. In his research during the early 1920s, Compton noticed that when an X ray or gamma ray strikes an electron, it bounces off at an angle to its original trajectory and loses energy in the process. (An electron is a subatomic—smaller than an atom—particle that carries a single unit of negative electricity.) This loss of energy is demonstrated by the fact that the X ray or gamma ray consequently has a longer wavelength, a characteristic of its drop in speed. As the gamma ray data was less conclusive than the data on X rays, Compton limited his claims about this effect to X rays when he published the results of his research in 1923. Further research, however, demonstrated that the Compton Effect applied equally to gamma rays. Compton’s discovery was a major scientific breakthrough in determining that X

Arthur Holly Compton. (AP/Wide World Photos)

rays and gamma rays (and other forms of light) cannot be explained purely as a wave phenomenon. They must contain particles (or behave as if they do) in order to explain the Compton Effect. Physicists now speak of them as “wavy particles” because the subatomic particles do have wavelike characteristics, such as frequency and wavelength.

The CGRO also provided scientists with new information about supernovas, young star clusters, pulsars, black holes, quasars, solar flares, and gamma-ray bursts. Gamma-ray bursts are intense flashes of gamma rays that occur uniformly across the sky and thus likely originate from far outside the Milky Way. The energy of just one of these bursts has been calculated to be more than one thousand times the energy that the Sun will generate in its entire ten-billion-year lifetime. A major discovery of the CGRO was the class of ob320


jects called gamma-ray blazers: quasars that emit most of their energy as gamma rays and vary in brightness over a period of days. Intended to operate for five years, the CGRO continued to work for several years beyond that period. In December 1999 NASA decided to end the CGRO’s mission after one of its three gyroscopes, used to orient the observatory, failed. The CGRO, which cost more than six hundred million dollars, could have been kept aloft for eleven more years. Because the observatory was so heavy (it weighed even more than the HST), NASA was concerned that if the other gyroscopes failed, the CGRO could reenter the planet’s atmosphere and crash, causing damage and injury. To prevent this, NASA deliberately brought the CGRO back into Earth’s atmosphere on June 4, 2000 (after it had completed 51,658 orbits around the planet), where it broke apart. The charred remains of the observatory, roughly 6 tons (5.4 metric tons) of superheated metal, splashed into the Pacific Ocean about 2,500 miles (4,020 kilometers) southeast of Hawaii.

Chandra: Studying the universe at X-ray wavelengths Since Earth’s atmosphere absorbs the vast majority of X rays, they are not detectable from ground-based observatories, requiring space-based telescopes to make these observations. In 1970 NASA had launched Uhuru (Swahili for freedom), the first satellite designed specifically to study cosmic X-ray sources. By the time its mission ended in March 1973, Uhuru had produced a comprehensive map of the X-ray sky. The High Energy Astrophysical Observatories (HEAO), which NASA launched in 1977 to study gamma rays, also studied X rays. During its one-and-a-half years of operation, HEAO-1 provided constant monitoring of X-ray sources, such as individual stars, entire galaxies, and pulsars. The second HEAO, renamed the Einstein Observatory after it was launched, operated from November 1978 to April 1981. It contained a highresolution X-ray telescope that discovered that X rays come from nearly every star. In July 1999 NASA launched the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), the third in its Great Observatories program. The observatory, originally called the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Space-based Observatories

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The Chandrasekhar Limit Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995) was an Indian-born U.S. astrophysicist and applied mathematician who proposed radical new theories of stellar evolution (referring to the changes that stars undergo during their “lifetimes”). His most celebrated work concerned the determination of the maximum mass of white dwarfs, which are the dying fragments of mediumsized stars. The Chandra X-ray Observatory was named in his honor. In 1935 Chandrasekhar proposed the notion that as stars evolve, they emit energy generated primarily by their conversion of hydrogen into helium. As they reach the end of their lives, stars have progressively less hydrogen left to convert and thus emit less energy in the form of radiation. They eventually reach a stage when they are no longer able to generate the pressure needed to sustain their size against their own gravitational pull. At this point, stars begin to contract, or shrink. As their density increases during the contraction process, they begin to collapse into themselves. Their electrons (subatomic particles that carry a single unit of negative electricity) become so tightly packed that the stars turn into tiny objects of enormous density: white dwarfs. According to Chandrasekhar, the greater the mass of a white dwarf, the smaller its radius. He went on to assert that not all stars end their lives as stable white dwarfs. If the mass of evolving stars increases beyond a certain limit, they cannot become stable white dwarfs. This

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Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. (AP/Wide World Photos)

limit, calculated as 1.44 times the mass of the Sun, is now known as the Chandrasekhar limit. A star with a mass above the limit has either to lose mass to form a white dwarf or to take an alternative evolutionary path and become a supernova, which releases its excess energy in the form of a massive explosion. Though at first ridiculed by other astronomers, Chandrasekhar’s theory was later shown to be correct. Throughout his long career, he was recognized for his achievements with numerous awards and honors in the United States, Europe, and India. In 1983 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics for his research on the physical processes important to the structure and evolution of stars.


Facility, was renamed after the Nobel Prize-winning, Indianborn U.S. astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995). It was launched into space by the space shuttle Columbia on mission STS-93. About one billion times more powerful than the first X-ray telescope, the CXO (sometimes known simply as Chandra) has a resolving power equal to the ability to read the letters of a stop sign at a distance of 12 miles (19 kilometers). This allows it to detect sources more than twenty times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope. The CXO carries four instruments to study the universe at X-ray wavelengths, which are slightly less energetic than gamma rays. To carry out these observations, the CXO has an unusual orbit: Rather than moving in a circular orbit close to Earth, as was the case with the HST and the CGRO, it is in an elliptical or oval orbit that carries it between 6,200 and 86,800 miles (9,975 and 139,660 kilometers) away from the planet. This elliptical orbit allows the CXO to spend as much time as possible above the electrically charged particles in the Van Allen belts (two doughnut-shaped belts of high-energy charged particles trapped in Earth’s magnetic field) that would interfere with its observations. The purpose of the CXO is to obtain X-ray images of violent, high-temperature celestial events and objects to help astronomers better understand the structure and evolution of the universe. It will observe galaxies, black holes, quasars, and supernovae (among other objects) billions of light-years in the distance, giving astronomers a glimpse of regions of the universe as they existed eons ago. In early 2001 the CXO found the most distant X-ray cluster of galaxies astronomers have ever observed, located about ten billion light-years away from Earth. Less than a month later, it detected an X-ray quasar twelve billion light-years away. During its relatively short time in orbit, the CXO has provided astronomers with a wealth of other data. Astronomers have used the observatory to learn more about the dark matter that may make up most of the mass of the universe, study black holes in great detail, witness the results of supernova explosions, and observe the birth of new stars. The CXO’s mission was originally scheduled to last five years, but it will likely carry on as long as it continues to operate well. Space-based Observatories

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Spitzer: The last of the Great Observatories On August 25, 2003, NASA launched the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), the most sensitive instrument ever to look at the infrared spectrum in the universe. Astronomers had hoped it would peer through the veil of dust and gas that obscures most of the universe from view. Rather than go into Earth orbit, SIRTF was placed in an orbit around the Sun that has it trailing Earth by 5.4 million miles (8.7 million kilometers). This makes it easier for the observatory to perform observations without interference from Earth’s own infrared light. The first images taken by SIRTF, unveiled in December 2003, were designed to show off the abilities of the telescope. They showed a glowing stellar nursery where stars are born; a swirling, dusty galaxy; a disk of planet-forming debris; and organic material in the distant universe. Astronomers were ecstatic over the images. In keeping with NASA tradition, the observatory was renamed after its successful demonstration of operation. In honor of U.S. astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer, NASA officials changed the name of the space-based telescope to the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST). The SST, which carries three instruments to detect infrared emissions, is scheduled for a five-year mission. During that time, astronomers plan to use the SST to study planets, comets, and asteroids in our solar system and to look for evidence of giant planets and brown dwarfs (small, cool, dark balls of matter that never complete the process of becoming a star) around other stars.

Other space observatories Europe has been active in space exploration for decades. While individual European countries maintain national space programs, most space initiatives are a combined effort managed through the fifteen-nation European Space Agency (ESA), which was founded in 1962 as the European Space Research Organization. The countries that belong to ESA are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. ESA is a prime partner in the ongoing International Space Station program. It is also a partner with NASA in the Hub324


The Space Infrared Telescope Facility, later called the Spitzer Space Telescope, was launched in 2003 to look at the infrared spectrum in the universe. (AP/Wide World Photos)

ble Space Telescope, the Ulysses solar probe, several Earthobservation satellite systems, and several space-based observatories. Included in those is the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which is studying the Sun. Space-based Observatories

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Since its launch on December 2, 1995, SOHO has provided astronomers with unprecedented information about the Sun, from its interior to its hot and dynamic atmosphere to the solar wind and its interaction with the interstellar medium (the gas and dust that exists in the space between stars). The small observatory, which weighs only 4,080 pounds (1,850 kilograms), orbits the Sun in step with Earth. Its elliptical or oval orbit keeps it about 931,500 miles (1,500,000 kilometers) away from Earth (about four times the distance of the Moon), where the combined gravity of Earth and the Sun keep it locked. In this orbit, it has an uninterrupted view of the Sun, avoiding solar eclipses by Earth. SOHO has given astronomers the first images ever of a star’s turbulent outer shell and of the structure of sunspots below the surface (sunspots are cool areas of magnetic disturbance that form dark blemishes on the surface of the Sun). It has also provided the most detailed and precise measurements of the temperature structure and gas flows in the Sun’s interior. In addition to observing the Sun, SOHO has discovered many comets. As of mid-2004, it had discovered eight hundred comets. Originally designed for a two-year mission, SOHO has been granted an extended life that will see it making observations through March 2007. In addition to its joint projects, ESA has launched a number of its own observatories to study the universe. The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), launched in 1995, gave astronomers unmatched views of the universe at infrared wavelengths. Among its most important discoveries is that disks of dust and gas, out of which planetary systems might form, surround a large fraction of young stars. ISO operated until 1998. In 1999 ESA launched XMM-Newton, an orbiting X-ray observatory similar to NASA’s CXO. However, its mirror area and the energy range it can explore exceed that of CXO. At 3.8 tons (3.4 metric tons), it is the largest science satellite ever built in Europe. It has three advanced X-ray telescopes, each containing fifty-eight high-precision mirrors that offer the largest possible collecting area. In addition, it carries five X-ray imaging cameras and spectrographs. Its orbit around Earth is highly elliptical: It travels away to a distance of about 70,900 miles (114,000 kilometers), nearly one-third of the distance to the Moon. This allows it to undertake long, uninterrupted observations of faint X-ray sources. 326


NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope captured the dusty, star-filled M81, a spiral galaxy similar to our own, in this 2003 image. (AP/Wide World Photos)

The Canadian Space Agency has contributed a number of small observatories. In June 2003 the agency launched MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of STars), Canada’s first space telescope successfully put into space. It is also the smallest space telescope in the world: Suitcase-sized, it measures 25.6 inches by 25.6 inches by 11.8 inches (65 centimeters by 65 centimeters by 30 centimeters) and weighs 132 pounds (60 kilograms). The purpose of the microsatellite is to probe stars and extrasolar planets (planets in orbit around stars other than the Sun) by measuring tiny light variations undetectable from Earth. Two months later, the agency launched SciSat-1 (Science Satellite 1). The small, 330-pound (150-kilogram) observatory is an atmospheric research satellite designed to improve Space-based Observatories

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the understanding of the depletion of the ozone layer, with a special emphasis on the changes occurring over Canada and in the Arctic. Its mission is scheduled to run for two years. Japan has also launched a few small space-based observatories. The Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) observatory was launched in 1993 and continues to operate in the early twenty-first century, studying the universe at X-ray wavelengths. Among its targets for study have been the cosmic microwave background radiation, galaxy clusters, and supernovae and their remnants. ASCA is also known by its national name, Asuka (Japanese for “flying bird”). The Yohkoh observatory, which operated between 1991 and 2001, carried four instruments that provided valuable data about the Sun’s corona (the outermost and hottest layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that extends out into space for millions of miles) and solar flares. In 1997 the Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communications and Astronomy (HALCA) satellite was placed in orbit. Through its 26-foot-diameter (8-meter-diameter) radio telescope, HALCA conducts joint observations with radio telescopes on Earth. Its elliptical orbit takes it as far away from Earth as 13,285 miles (21,375 kilometers). Because of this, it is also known by the national name Haruka (Japanese for “far away”).

Future space-based observatories The success of past and present space-based observatories has led NASA, ESA, and other space agencies to plan a new series of larger, more complex spacecraft that will be able to see deeper into the universe and in more detail than their predecessors. Leading these future observatories is the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST; previously called the Next Generation Space Telescope), named after NASA’s second administrator, James E. Webb (1906–1992). Scheduled for launch sometime between 2009 and 2011, the JWST is intended (in part) to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). An infrared observatory, it will observe wavelengths between those at the red end of the visible spectrum and those at the middle of the infrared range. It will use a telescope up to 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in diameter that will allow it to observe dimmer and more distant objects than the HST. Its primary mission will be to examine infrared remnants of the big bang, 328


making observations of an earlier state of the universe than is possible at the present. The JWST will orbit at a distance of 931,500 miles (1,500,000 kilometers) away from Earth so that it can point permanently away from the infrared glow of Earth and the Sun. To study gamma rays further, NASA (in association with government agencies in France, Italy, Japan, and Sweden) plans to launch the Gamma Ray Large Area Telescope (GLAST) in 2006. ESA is also developing several space-based observatories that will study the universe at different electromagnetic wavelengths. Planck, scheduled for launch in 2007, will build upon the observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation made by COBE and WMAP. Also scheduled for launch that year will be Herschel (formerly called the Far Infrared and Submillimeter Telescope), which will observe the universe at far-infrared wavelengths. Measuring 23 feet (7 meters) high and 14 feet (4.3 meters) wide and weighing 3.58 tons (3.25 metric tons), it will be the largest space telescope of its kind when launched. In the future, space-based observatories may consist of several spacecraft working together. Such orbiting arrays of telescopes could allow astronomers to obtain better images without the need to build extremely large and expensive single telescopes. One such observatory, called the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), would combine images from several telescopes, each somewhat larger than the HST, to create a single image. A system of this type would make it possible for astronomers to observe planets the size of Earth orbiting other stars. TPF is tentatively scheduled for launch in 2014. NASA is also considering the launch of a similar observatory, called Constellation-X, which would use four X-ray telescopes orbiting in close proximity to each other to create the observing power of one giant telescope that would be one hundred times more powerful than any existing one.

For More Information Books Davies, John K. Astronomy from Space: The Design and Operation of Orbiting Observatories. Second ed. New York: Wiley, 1997. Space-based Observatories

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Kerrod, Robin. Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2003. Naeye, Robert. Signals from Space: The Chandra X-ray Observatory. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2001. Schlegel, Eric M. The Restless Universe: Understanding X-ray Astronomy in the Age of Chandra and Newton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Web Sites “CGRO Science Support Center.” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. http://cossc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Chandra X-ray Observatory.” Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. http://chandra.harvard.edu/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “The Hubble Project.” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. http://hubble. nasa.gov/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). HubbleSite. http://www.hubblesite.org/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Orbital Telescopes.” Students for the Exploration and Development of Science. http://www.seds.org/spider/oaos/oaos.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Spitzer Space Telescope.” California Institute of Technology. http://www. spitzer.caltech.edu/ (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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n April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934– 1968) lifted off in Vostok 1, becoming the first human in space. His historic flight, in which he made one orbit around Earth, marked the beginning of manned spaceflight. In the more than four decades since then, programs launching humans into space have been carried out by the Soviet Union (later present-day Russia), the United States, and the People’s Republic of China. More than 430 humans have flown into space. Most, though, have not flown beyond Earth orbit. Only the United States has carried out human spaceflight missions beyond Earth orbit, sending twenty-four astronauts to orbit and land on the Moon. The Moon revolves around Earth on an elliptical, or oval, orbit. The point in its orbit when it is farthest away from Earth, known as its apogee (pronounced AP-eh-gee), is about 252,780 miles (406,720 kilometers). As of 2004, this is the farthest humans have ventured out into space. Manned spaceflight, with its awe-inspiring triumphs and heart-rending tragedies, dominated early space-travel news. The early exploration of space was a political race, pitting the Communist Soviet Union against the democratic, capitalist 331

Artist’s rendition of the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft, the only probe to have ever landed on an asteroid. (AP/Wide World Photos)

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United States. The two countries were engaged in a Cold War, a prolonged conflict for world dominance that lasted from 1945 to 1991. A war that was fought both directly and indirectly, it influenced virtually every significant event or development in world affairs. Much of the Cold War was fought with propaganda, or information spread to further one’s own cause. The victor of the space race, with its ultimate goal a landing on the Moon, would be able to brag about technological and political superiority. Yet, while scientists and engineers from both nations struggled mightily to build rockets and capsules that would place either U.S. astronauts or Soviet cosmonauts first on the Moon, other scientists and engineers on both sides were pursuing the true dream of space exploration. In January 1959, more than two years before the first human escaped Earth’s atmosphere, the Soviet Union’s Luna 1 flew within 3,725 miles (5,995 kilometers) of the Moon’s surface, heralding the age of planetary exploration. This vehicle was a probe, an unmanned spacecraft that leaves Earth’s orbit to explore the Moon, other celestial bodies, or outer space. Since its launch, more than one hundred other probes have been launched successfully on missions to obtain closer observations of the planets, their moons, the Sun, comets, asteroids, and the outer reaches of the solar system. As of the beginning of 2004, one probe, Voyager 1, had traveled more than 8.4 billion miles (13.5 billion kilometers) away from the Sun, slightly more than ninety times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Probes have been sent beyond Earth orbit to pass near (called a flyby), orbit, or land on other celestial objects. No matter what their eventual destination, the primary objective of probes is to make scientific observations, such as taking pictures, analyzing atmospheric and soil conditions, measuring temperatures and magnetic fields (fields of force around the Sun and the planets generated by electrical currents), and collecting soil and rock samples. The information gathered by the probes is then either relayed or brought back to Earth. To collect information, probes must carry with them some means of collecting and distinguishing this information. Sensors are one type of instrument used to perform this task. These instruments are programmed to detect alterations or variations in the space environment and send electrical, radio, Space Probes

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or other types of signals or transmissions back to a main collection or recording device. Such a device may be aboard the spacecraft itself, on another spacecraft close by, or at a receiving station on Earth. Time is a factor in the transmission of this information. To send a signal from Earth to the Moon and to receive one back takes about two seconds. For Mars, it takes between eighteen and forty-five minutes, depending on the relative orbiting positions of Mars and Earth. A signal from Pluto, the only planet in the solar system that has not had a spacecraft at least pass near it, would take five hours to reach Earth. While some sensors gather information remotely about the conditions found in space or on a celestial body, other types of sensors may be used by a probe to make determinations about the position or location of the probe itself or its condition while in flight. Such sensors, onboard the probe and active during its flight, are essential elements in controlling the spacecraft or flying it to a specific destination in space. Space probes must be able to last for years in space. While it takes the space shuttle only minutes to reach Earth orbit, it takes a probe a year to get to Mars. The U.S. probe Galileo, launched in October 1989, arrived at Jupiter through a complex route more than six years later. Once there, it began orbiting and sending back data about the planet and its moons for another eight years. Because there is no means of replacing or repairing parts while they are on a mission, probes have to be remarkably reliable. Interplanetary space (the area of space between the planets) has dangers that could destroy the sensors and other electrical workings of probes. Among these dangers are cosmic radiation (high-energy radiation coming from all directions in space), solar radiation, and the solar wind (electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from the Sun). In addition, there is the potential for physical damage from dust or even larger chunks of floating material. Probes also have to be resilient to the extreme range of hot and cold temperatures to which they are exposed in space.

The Moon In the first decade of the space race, the Soviet Union and the United States combined launched about fifty space probes 334


Words to Know Apogee: The point in the orbit of an artificial satellite or the Moon that is farthest from Earth. Artificial satellite: A man-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats. Cosmic radiation: High-energy radiation coming from all directions in space. Ecliptic: The imaginary plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Escape velocity: The minimum speed that an object, such as a rocket, must have in order to escape completely from the gravitational influence of a planet or a star. Flyby: A type of space mission in which the spacecraft passes close to its target but does not enter orbit around it or land on it. Hard landing: The deliberate, destructive impact of a space vehicle on a predetermined celestial object.

Heliosphere: The vast region permeated by charged particles flowing out from the Sun that surrounds the Sun and extends throughout the solar system. Interplanetary: Between or among planets. Magnetic field: A field of force around the Sun and the planets generated by electrical charges. Magnetosphere: The region of space around a celestial object that is dominated by the object’s magnetic field. Moonlet: A small natural or artificial satellite. Probe: An unmanned spacecraft sent to explore the Moon, other celestial bodies, or outer space; some probes are programmed to return to Earth while others are not. Radiation: The emission and movement of waves or atomic particles through space or other media. Rover: A remote-controlled robotic vehicle. Soft landing: The slow-speed landing of a space vehicle on a celestial object to avoid damage to or the destruction of the vehicle. Solar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from the Sun.

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to explore the Moon, the closest celestial target to Earth. The first probes were intended either to make a flyby or a hard landing (the deliberate, destructive impact of a space vehicle). Later probes achieved stable orbits around the Moon or made soft landings (the slow-speed landing of a space vehicle on a celestial object to avoid damage to or the destruction of the vehicle with sensors and other instruments intact). Each of these four objectives required increasingly greater rocket power and more precise maneuvering. Between 1959 and 1976, the Soviet Union’s Luna space probes thoroughly explored the Moon and space around it. This series of twenty-four probes accomplished a number of “firsts” in unmanned space exploration: They were the first human-made objects to reach escape velocity, which is the minimum speed that an object must have in order to escape completely from the gravitational influence of a planet or a star. They were also the first spacecraft to crash into the Moon, to photograph the Moon’s farside (the side of the Moon that never faces Earth), to soft-land on the Moon, to return lunar soil to Earth, and to release a rover (a remote-controlled robotic vehicle) on the Moon’s surface. Because the Soviets were very secretive about their early space programs, space experts have speculated the Luna program was intended to be a stepping-stone for manned lunar missions. This was a feat the Soviets were never able to achieve. Fifteen of the Luna probes recorded successful missions. Luna 1, launched on January 2, 1959, was not among these. Although it was the first artificial satellite to travel beyond Earth’s gravitational field (the force field created around massive bodies that causes attraction of other massive bodies), the primary objective of its mission was to hit the Moon. A failure in its control system caused it to miss its mark; instead, it only flew within about 3,725 miles (5,555 kilometers) of the Moon’s surface. It was then eventually pulled into orbit around the Sun, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit the star at the center of the solar system. During its flyby of the Moon, Luna 1 measured and reported that the Moon had no magnetic field. Launched the following September, Luna 2 became the first human-made object to land on the Moon when it made a hard landing east of the Sea of Serenity. (The “seas” on the 336


Moon are in fact large, dark lava plains formed by ancient volcanic eruptions caused by extremely large meteoroid impacts. Ancient astronomers, who mistook them for actual seas, dubbed them maria, Latin for “seas.” They cover 16 percent of the lunar surface.) On impact, Luna 2 scattered Soviet emblems and ribbons across the Moon’s surface. Luna 3 made a flyby of the farside of the Moon a month later. The pictures it took provided humans with the first view of this side of the Moon that is never visible from Earth. What these early probes lacked was a propulsion system and a navigation system; they were simply thrown at the Moon. After Luna 3, the program was put on hold while Soviet engineers developed more sophisticated probes, ones capable of soft landings. As it turned out, this was not so easy. The next five Luna probes either self-destructed during launch, missed their target, or hard-landed on the Moon. Success finally came with Luna 9, launched on January 31, 1966. The landing capsule was a 220-pound (100-kilogram) sphere that the probe dropped to the lunar surface to make history’s first soft landing of a human-made object on the Moon. The capsule contained a television camera that sent back images to Earth. Although grainy, the pieced-together images provided the first detailed view of the lunar surface. Of the next five Luna probes, only one, Luna 13, landed on the Moon. All the rest went into lunar orbit, studying conditions in space around the Moon, such as radiation and gravity, to determine how they might affect human travelers. Luna 15, after having completed fifty-two orbits of the Moon, was to have soft-landed on the lunar surface on July 21, 1969, the day after Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930–) and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. (1930–) had become the first humans on the Moon. However, the probe slammed into the surface at about 300 miles (480 kilometers) per hour. Had it made a successful landing, the probe was to have collected a sample of lunar soil and returned it to Earth. In September of the following year, Luna 16 accomplished that task, returning 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of lunar soil and rock. Luna 17 and 21, launched in 1970 and 1973, respectively, each placed a rover on the Moon. The remote-controlled vehicles, called Lunakhod 1 and 2, were bathtub-shaped, measuring 8 feet (2.4 meters) long and 5.25 feet (1.6 meters) wide. Space Probes

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The launch of Orbiter 1, 1966. The probes in the Lunar Orbiter program were designed to photograph potential landing sites for the manned Apollo missions. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Each had eight wheels and a lid made of solar cells. The first rover operated for about one year and the second for about two-and-one-half months. They cruised over the rocky terrain, taking photographs and measuring the chemical composition of the soil. 338


The last probe in the series, Luna 24, landed on the Moon on August 18, 1976. The third mission to return samples of the lunar surface, it brought back almost 6 ounces (175 grams) of Moon rock. This was the last lunar mission the Soviet Union (or its successor, present-day Russia) launched. From 1964 to 1970, while the Luna program was underway, the Soviet Union had launched another series of probes under the program named Zond. The first three Zond missions conducted flybys of Venus, Mars, and the Moon, respectively. Zond 3 sent back pictures of the Moon’s farside that were superior to those of Luna 3. Zond 4 to 8, large probes that weighed about 10,000 pounds (4,540 kilograms) each, were tests for a Soviet manned lunar mission. Each of these latter probes looped around the Moon without going into lunar orbit. The first U.S. lunar probes, the Ranger series, were designed to obtain close-up images of the Moon’s surface. Each probe was outfitted with six cameras. They were programmed to capture images of the lunar surface and send them back to Earth up to the moment the probe hard-landed on the Moon. Unfortunately, the early Ranger probes were not as successful as the early Luna probes. Equipment failures dogged the first six missions. After the launch failures of Ranger 1 and 2 in 1961, Ranger 3 missed the Moon by approximately 22,875 miles (36,800 kilometers) and went into orbit around the Sun (where it remains in the present-day). The fourth through sixth probes in the series, launched between 1962 and 1964, either crashed into the Moon or missed it altogether. In all cases, they failed to return any information to Earth. The last three in the program—Rangers 7, 8, and 9—more than made up for the shortcomings of the first six. These missions, which took place in 1964 and 1965, transmitted a total of more than seventeen thousand detailed pictures. They greatly advanced scientific knowledge of the lunar surface. Along with the Ranger program, two other U.S. probe programs helped lead the way to a manned lunar-landing mission: Lunar Orbiter and Surveyor. The probes in the Lunar Orbiter program were designed to photograph potential landing sites for the manned Apollo missions. Altogether, five Moon-orbiting Lunar Orbiter probes were launched in 1966 and 1967. The program’s objective was met by Lunar Orbiter 3 in February 1967. The remaining two flights were able to carry out further photography of the lunar surface for purely Space Probes

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scientific purposes. In the end, the probes photographed 99 percent of the Moon, both its nearside and farside. Between 1966 and 1968, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched seven Surveyor probes to soft-land on the Moon. Once on the surface, the tripodshaped Surveyors evaluated the lunar soil and environment. One of the first objectives of the program was to disprove the belief held by some scientists that the lunar surface was covered with a thick layer of dust. When Surveyor 1 made a successful soft landing in the Ocean of Storms in June 1966, it did so in only 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) of dust. While Surveyor 2 crashed and Surveyor 4 lost contact with NASA’s control center, Surveyor 3, 5, 6, and 7 landed at different sites and carried out experiments on the surface, including analyzing the chemical composition of the lunar soil. Overall, the Surveyor probes acquired almost 90,000 images from five landing sites. The success of the Ranger, Lunar Orbiter, and Surveyor programs gave NASA officials the confidence to push forward with manned lunar landing missions. Between 1969 and 1972, six Apollo spacecraft carrying a total of eighteen astronauts landed on the Moon. NASA did not send another vehicle to the Moon for twenty-two years. In 1994 the space agency sent the probe Clementine to orbit the Moon. Its primary objective was to test sensors and spacecraft components under extended exposure to the space environment and to make scientific observations of the Moon and a near-Earth asteroid. Measurements made by Clementine suggested that water ice existed at the lunar poles. Four years later, NASA launched the Lunar Prospector. Its orbit carried it not around the Moon’s equator but around its poles. The probe was designed to investigate the Moon, providing scientists with a map of the surface composition and possible polar ice deposits and measurements of magnetic and gravity fields, among other findings. It was hoped the mission would improve understanding of the origin, evolution, current state, and resources of the Moon. In March 1998 NASA officials announced that the Lunar Prospector had discovered ice at both the north and south lunar poles, confirming Clementine’s findings. Mission scientists estimated that the total mass of ice the probe detected was about 6.6 billion 340


A Lunar Burial U.S. planetary geologist Eugene M. Shoemaker (1928–1997) contributed greatly to space science exploration, particularly of the Moon. His research at Meteor Crater in Arizona in the late 1950s led to his appreciation of the role of asteroid and comet impacts as a fundamental process in the evolution of planets. Shoemaker had a deep desire to travel into space, but health problems prevented him from becoming the first geologist on the Moon. Instead, he helped select and train the Apollo astronauts in lunar geology and impact cratering. He also appeared on television, giving geologic commentary while Apollo astronauts conducted Moon walks. In 1992 Shoemaker was awarded the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor bestowed by the president of the United States. The following year, he was part of a leading comet-hunting team that discovered comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and charted the object’s breakup. Pieces of the comet slammed into Jupiter in July 1994—an unprecedented event in the history of astronomical observations.

Eugene M. Shoemaker. (© Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

On July 18, 1997, while carrying out research on impact craters in the Australian outback, Shoemaker was killed in a car accident. To honor him, NASA placed a small vial containing his ashes aboard the Lunar Prospector. Those ashes were scattered on the surface of the Moon when the probe made a controlled crash there on July 31, 1999, after completing its mission.

tons (6 billion metric tons) scattered in craters at both poles. On July 31, 1999, the probe struck the Moon in a controlled crash to look for further evidence of ice, but none was found. In September 2003 the European Space Agency (ESA) launched SMART-1, the first European spacecraft designed to visit the Moon. It was estimated that the solar-powered, slowmoving probe would take sixteen months to travel to the Moon. Once there, the 815-pound (370-kilogram) probe will Space Probes

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search for ice, especially around the south lunar pole, where some areas are never exposed to direct sunlight. The probe will also map the chemical composition of the entire lunar surface.

Mercury The closest object to the Sun, Mercury is a small, bleak planet. In the solar system, only Pluto is smaller. The planet is named for the Roman messenger god with winged sandals. It was given its name because it orbits the Sun quickly, in just eighty-eight days. Scientists knew little about Mercury beyond its size, orbit, and distance from the Sun until the space probe Mariner 10 photographed the planet in 1975. Mariner probes, an early series of NASA interplanetary probes, were the first to return significant data on the surface and atmospheric conditions of Venus, Mars, and Mercury. Launched on November 3, 1973, Mariner 10 first approached the planet Venus in February 1974, then used the planet’s gravitational field to send it around like a slingshot in the direction of Mercury. The journey to Mercury took seven weeks. On its first flight past the planet, Mariner 10 came within about 437 miles (704 kilometers) of Mercury’s surface. Photos that were taken by the probe revealed an intensely cratered, Moon-like surface. Mariner 10 then went into orbit around the Sun before conducting two more flybys of Mercury on September 21, 1974, and on March 16, 1975. During its second flyby, at an altitude of 29,200 miles (47,000 kilometers), Mariner 10 photographed the sunlit side of Mercury and its south polar region. On its final flyby, at a much closer altitude of 230 miles (327 kilometers), the probe took three hundred photographs and measured the planet’s magnetic field. All onboard systems were shut down on March 24, 1975, after the probe’s supply of fuel ran out. It was left to float in space. Despite its successful mission, Mariner 10 photographed only about 45 percent of Mercury’s surface and only in moderate detail. As a consequence, there are still many questions about the history and evolution of the planet. To study the chemical composition of its surface, its geologic history, the nature of its magnetic field, the size and state of its core, and other features of the planet, NASA launched the MESSENGER 342


Scientists knew little about Mercury beyond its size, orbit, and distance from the Sun until the space probe Mariner 10 photographed the planet in 1975. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

(MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) probe in early August 2004. On its 4.9-billion-mile (7.9-billion-kilometer) journey, which will include fifteen loops around the Sun, the solar-powered MESSENGER will fly past Earth once, Venus twice, and Mercury three times before it will ease into orbit around Mercury in March 2011. It will remain in orbit around the planet for one Earth-year.

Venus Named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus is the closest planet to Earth. The two have long been considered sister planets. The reason for this comparison is that they are similar in size, mass, and age. While astronomers could not see beneath Venus’s thick cloud cover until recently, they assumed the planet would have seas and plant life like that on Earth. It is now known, however, that is not the case. Space Probes

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The first successful Venus probe was Mariner 2, launched by NASA on August 27, 1962. Less than four months after liftoff, it passed Venus at a distance of 21,610 miles (34,770 kilometers). The data Mariner 2 relayed to Earth confirmed that Venus has a backward spin, a very high surface temperature, a thick atmosphere composed mostly of carbon dioxide, and no magnetic field. Once it completed its mission, Mariner 2 went into orbit around the Sun, where it remains to this day. Although the United States was the first to explore Venus, the former Soviet Union conducted an intensive, two-decadelong effort to explore the atmosphere and surface of the planet. The name given to the sixteen probes sent to Venus between 1961 and 1983 was Venera, Russian for “Venus.” While the Venera program was initially unsuccessful, over the years it went on to record an impressive list of “firsts” about Venus. Venera spacecraft were the first to probe Venus’s atmosphere, land on its surface, analyze its soil, and map and return pictures of its surface. Venera 1, launched on February 12, 1961, became the first spacecraft to fly past Venus, but all contact with the probe was lost just seven days after its launch. Venera 2 suffered the same fate. The third probe in the series, Venera 3, attempted to land on the planet, but communication with the probe was lost as it descended through the planet’s atmosphere. A measure of success was finally achieved by Venera 4 when it reached Venus in October 1967. As it descended toward the planet’s surface, the probe transmitted ninety-four minutes of data on the temperature, pressure, and chemical composition of Venus’s atmosphere. About 15 miles (24 kilometers) above the surface, the probe was crushed by the intense pressure of the atmosphere. Following Venera 4, the landing probes in the series were built stronger and with small parachutes that would enable them to reach the surface more quickly. Despite these changes, Venera 5 and 6 met with fates similar to that of Venera 4. It was not until Venera 7, launched in August 1970, that the first successful landing of a spacecraft on another planet took place. It sent back data for thirty-five minutes during its descent and for another twenty-three minutes after it had reached the surface, although the signals it sent back were very weak. 344


Two years later, Venera 8 built on the success of its predecessor. As it floated down through Venus’s atmosphere, it measured variations in wind speed. Then for fifty minutes after landing, it transmitted data on the amount of sunlight reaching the surface (similar in illumination to an overcast day on Earth), as well as basic information on soil composition. Venera 9 and 10, identical probes each consisting of an orbiter and a lander, went into orbit around Venus in October 1975. After spending a month photographing cloud layers in the upper atmosphere, the probes both released their landers. Equipped with cameras, the landers sent back the first blackand-white images of the rock-strewn Venusian surface. The landers survived about fifty minutes before being destroyed by the heat and pressure. The next four Venera probes reached Venus between December 1978 and March 1982. Each dropped landers to the surface. Between them, they measured the chemical composition of the atmosphere and surface rocks, confirmed the presence of lightning, and took the first color photographs of the surface. The final two probes in the series, Venera 15 and 16, began orbiting Venus in October 1983. Their mission was to construct detailed maps of the planet’s surface using radar (they bounced radio waves off the surface and recorded the echoes that were returned). Over their eight months of operation in orbit, the two probes mapped a large part of Venus’s northern hemisphere. In 1978, the year that the Soviets had launched Venera 11, NASA had sent two of its own probes to Venus. Known as Pioneer Venus 1 and 2, the probes were part of the Pioneer program, a diverse series of NASA spacecraft designed for lunar and interplanetary exploration (the Pioneer lunar program was never successful and was eventually abandoned). Once in orbit around Venus, Pioneer Venus 1 studied the planet’s atmosphere and mapped about 90 percent of its surface. In October 1992, after it had run out of fuel, the probe descended toward the surface and burned up in the atmosphere. Pioneer Venus 2 carried four smaller probes that it released once in orbit. Each of the four probes was targeted at a different part of the planet. After they were released, the small probes measured atmospheric temperature, pressure, Space Probes

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density, and chemical composition at various altitudes. Only one of the four survived after impact, transmitting data from the surface for sixty-seven minutes. After the end of their Venera program, the Soviets sent two more probes to Venus. Launched one week apart in December 1984, Vega 1 and 2 were programmed to be the first Soviet spacecraft to visit more than one celestial body. Each craft carried a Venus lander and a Halley’s Comet flyby probe. Vega 1 reached Venus on June 9, 1985, and dropped its lander to the surface. After touching down safely, the lander operated for two hours, relaying pictures and information about the composition of the soil. Vega 1 also released a helium-filled balloon that hovered for two days about 30 miles (48 kilometers) above the planet’s surface. During that time, the balloon was blown by the Venusian winds to a point about 6,200 miles (9.976 kilometers) from its original position. Instruments hanging from the balloon measured atmospheric temperature and pressure, as well as wind speeds. The entire lander-and-balloon sequence was repeated a few days later by Vega 2. The twin Vega probes then circled Venus and used its gravitational force to propel them (a technique called gravity assist) on an course that took them close to Halley’s Comet in March 1986. The probes returned photographs and analyzed ejected gas and dust from the comet. In May 1989 NASA sent the probe Magellan to map the surface of Venus. Named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521), the probe was launched from the space shuttle Atlantis, making it the first planetary explorer to be launched from a shuttle. Magellan circled the Sun one-andone-half times before reaching Venus fifteen months later on August 10, 1990. Over the next four years, Magellan used sophisticated radar equipment to survey 99 percent of the planet’s surface. In this way, it created the most highly detailed map of Venus to date and produced images of such high quality that for the first time scientists could study the planet’s geologic history. Magellan also measured Venus’s gravitational field. The probe eventually entered the planet’s atmosphere and burned up on October 12, 1994. In late 2005 ESA plans to launch Venus Express, the agency’s first mission to Venus. Once in orbit, the probe will 346


perform a global investigation of the Venusian atmosphere, the first probe designed to do so.

Mars The exploration of Mars has been an important part of space exploration. Since the 1960s, dozens of spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward the planet named for the Roman god of war. The exploration of Mars, though, has come at a considerable financial cost: roughly two-thirds of all spacecraft destined for the planet have failed in one manner or another before completing or even beginning their missions. Many of those that failed did so due to technical incompetence. Others failed for no clear scientific reason. The Soviet Union was the first nation to send an unmanned mission to Mars. After a number of unsuccessful attempts, they launched the Mars 1 probe in late 1962, but lost contact with it after a few months. In 1971 they succeeded in putting Mars 2 and 3 in orbit around the planet. Both of these craft carried landers that descended to the planet’s surface. But in each case, radio contact was lost after about twenty seconds. Two years later, the Soviets sent out four more Mars probes, only one of which successfully transmitted data about the planet. Mars 5 was able to establish an orbit around Mars, but operated for only a few days, returning images of a small portion of the Martian southern hemisphere. In 1988 the Soviets renewed their interest in Mars with the Phobos program. They launched two identical spacecraft, Phobos 1 and 2, to study the planet and its moons Phobos and Deimos. Contact with Phobos 1 was lost while it was en route to Mars, and Phobos 2 failed just before it was set to release two landers on the surface of Phobos. In the meantime, NASA was busy with its own exploration of the red planet. In 1964 it launched Mariner 3 to make a flyby of the planet. However, its solar panels did not unfold properly. Unable to collect the Sun’s energy for power, the probe soon died when its batteries ran out. It is now in orbit around the Sun. Its sister probe, Mariner 4, fared much better. On July 14, 1965, it flew within 6,120 miles (9,847 kilometers) of the Martian surface. It sent back twenty-one pictures of the planet, giving the first glimpse of its cratered surface. Space Probes

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The launch of Viking 1, Cape Canaveral, Florida. On July 20, 1976, the lander of Viking 1 made the first successful soft landing on Mars. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

The 1969 flybys of Mariner 6 and 7 produced more than two hundred new images of Mars, as well as more detailed measurements of the composition and structure of its atmosphere and surface. From the data the probes sent back, scientists were able to determine that the planet’s south polar cap was composed mostly of carbon dioxide. Two years later, Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit Mars. During its one year in orbit, the probe transmitted footage of an intense Martian dust storm as well as images of 90 percent of the planet’s surface. Mariner 9 confirmed that water had once flowed on Mars, but found no signs of 348


recent geologic activity. The spacecraft also took photos of the planet’s two small moons. In 1976 the U.S. probes Viking 1 and Viking 2 had more direct encounters with Mars. Each Viking consisted of an orbiter and a lander. Once in orbit, the probes immediately began transmitting photos of the surface back to Earth, which mission controllers studied for possible landing sites. On July 20, 1976, the lander of Viking 1 made the first successful soft landing on Mars. The lander’s two cameras began operating minutes later. They showed rust-colored rocks and boulders (due to the presence of iron oxide) with a reddish sky above. Viking 2 went into orbit around Mars that August. Its lander was released on the opposite side of the planet from the Viking 1 lander, making a successful landing on September 3, 1976. Over the next few years, the landers collected and analyzed soil samples from various areas of the planet. By the summer of 1980, the two Viking landers had sent back numerous weather reports and pictures of almost the entire surface of the planet. They found that the Martian atmosphere is made principally of carbon dioxide and, thus, is not capable of supporting human life. In addition, the soil they analyzed showed no signs of past or present life on the planet. The orbiters and landers of both Viking probes operated far longer than anticipated. The last data received from the Viking 2 lander was on April 11, 1980. After it was accidentally sent a wrong command, the Viking 1 lander ceased operating on November 11, 1982. Twenty years after the launch of the Viking probes, NASA launched the Mars Global Surveyor and the Mars Pathfinder to revisit Mars. After a three-hundred-day cruise through space, the Mars Global Surveyor reached Mars in September 1997. Orbiting the planet at an average altitude of 235 miles (378 kilometers), it mapped the entire surface of the planet. By the time it had completed its mapping mission in early 2001, it had sent back tens of thousands of images of the planet. It remains in orbit, functioning as a communications satellite to relay data back to Earth from surface landers of present and future Mars missions. After Mars Pathfinder landed on the planet on July 2, 1997, it released the first Martian rover: a miniature 22-pound (10-kilogram) vehicle called Sojourner (after Sojourner Truth [c. 1797–1883], a former U.S. slave who Space Probes

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Failure: Japan’s First Interplanetary Probe On July 3, 1998, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its first interplanetary explorer. The probe’s name was Nozomi, Japanese for “Hope.” It was designed to study the Martian upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind, the stream of highly charged particles coming from the Sun. The dragonfly-shaped probe, which weighed 1,190 pounds (541 kilograms), was to have entered an orbit at an altitude of about 550 miles (885 kilometers) above the planet’s surface. But in December 2003, JAXA scientists decided to end its mission. Malfunctions during the probe’s journey had altered its trajectory, putting it into a course that was too low. They feared Nozomi might crash into the Martian surface, contaminating it with Earth bacteria. (Since the probe had not been designed to land, it had not been properly sterilized.) Solar flares had badly

Nozomi, Japan’s first interplanetary explorer. (AP/Wide World Photos)

damaged its electrical and communications systems, and it was nearly out of fuel. On December 9, 2003, small thrusters on Nozomi fired to take it out of its approach to Mars. Its new course put it in a two-year orbit around the Sun.

became a known antislavery speaker). During its three months of operation, Mars Pathfinder sent back more than sixteen thousand images from the lander and more than five hundred from the rover. It also sent back data on the chemical analyses of rocks, winds, and other aspects of the Martian weather. Not all probes sent to Mars were as productive. In 1999 NASA lost two probes, the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander. Both were part of the Mars Surveyor ’98 program. As their names imply, the Mars Climate Orbiter was to have explored the Martian atmosphere, while the Mars Polar Lander 350


was to have landed near the planet’s south polar cap to search for evidence of ice. Neither was able to land successfully. NASA officials believe that a software glitch caused the landing rockets on the Mars Polar Lander to shut down prematurely, causing the probe to slam into the surface at a high speed. An error in converting English and metric units of measurement in the navigation system of the Mars Climate Orbiter caused it to enter the Martian atmosphere at too low of an altitude, where it was destroyed. In 2001 NASA was back on track when the Mars Odyssey probe settled into orbit around the planet in October of that year. Its mission was to hunt for past or present evidence of water and volcanic activity on Mars. In doing so, it would help determine whether the environment on Mars was ever conducive to life. It began mapping the planet in February 2002. Among its early findings was the discovery of ice deposits just underneath the soil near the planet’s north pole. It also picked up signs that ice might be found at the south pole. In addition to its mapping duties, the probe acted as a relay for communication between landers on the planet and mission controllers on Earth. ESA’s first mission to Mars, the Mars Express, lifted off in early June 2003. The probe was to become the first spacecraft to use radar to penetrate the surface of Mars and to map any possible layers of water or ice. It also carried a lander, Beagle 2, named for the ship that carried English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) on his scientific voyages in the 1830s. The 143-pound (65-kilogram) lander, built by English scientists, was designed to use a robotic arm to gather and sample rocks for evidence of organic matter and water. The $345-million mission was to have lasted for one Martian year, or 687 Earth days. However, after Beagle 2 was to have landed on Mars on December 25, 2003, ESA mission controllers did not hear any signal from it. Repeated attempts to contact the little lander proved unsuccessful, and its fate remains unknown. ESA officials believe that its parachute and air bags designed to cushion its landing may have been deployed too late or not at all. Despite this loss, the Mars Express continued its scientific mission. In January 2004 it detected ice at Mars’s south pole, confirming the findings of the Mars Odyssey. NASA continued its highly successful Mars Exploration Program, which began with the Viking landers and continued Space Probes

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An image of Phobos, the larger of Mars’s two moons, as taken from the Mars Global Surveyor. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

through Mars Pathfinder, by placing two powerful new rovers on the planet in January 2004. The two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, together made up the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Each lifted off separately from Cape Canaveral, Florida: Spirit on June 10, 2003, and Opportunity on July 7, 2003. The six-month voyage to the red planet was uneventful, and Spirit landed almost exactly on target on Mars on January 3, 2004, followed three weeks later by Opportunity on January 25, 2004. The rovers landed on opposite sides of the planet, about 6,000 miles (9,650 kilometers) away from each other. Each golf cart-sized rover weighed nearly 400 pounds (180 kilograms) and traveled across the Martian landscape on six wheels that moved independently, ensuring that they stayed in contact with the ground when the rover encountered rough terrain. The rovers moved in ten-second bursts, traveling at a slow rate that averaged about 120 feet (36.5 meters) per hour. 352


The goal of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission was to determine the history of climate and water at two sites on Mars where scientists believe conditions may have been favorable to life. To do so, each rover analyzed rocks and soil with a set of five geology instruments and an abrasion tool that exposed fresh rock surfaces for study. Each rover also carried a panoramic camera that sent images back to Earth to help mission controllers select the most promising targets on the surface for study. In early March 2004 NASA officials announced that the rovers had found what they were looking for: evidence that Mars had once been a wet planet. Scientists determined this by studying the physical appearance and chemical composition of rocks that the rovers had found. The 820-million-dollar mission was declared a success when both rovers finished their ninety-day primary mission in April 2004. NASA officials then decided to let the rovers continue their explorations. By June 2004 Opportunity had traveled about 1 mile (1.6 kilometer) from its landing site while Spirit had traveled 2 miles (3.2 kilometers).

Jupiter The largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter is thirteen hundred times larger than Earth. The fifth planet from the Sun, it is named after the chief Roman god, the god of light, the sky, and weather. With its sixty-three known moons, Jupiter is considered a mini-solar system of its own. Only one probe has been launched to orbit this large planet: Galileo. It was named in honor of Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei (pronounced ga-lih-LAY-oh ga-lih-LAY-ee; 1564–1642), who discovered Jupiter’s four largest moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—in 1609. The first probes to conduct flybys of Jupiter were Pioneer 10 in 1973 and Pioneer 11 in 1974. Of the two, Pioneer 11 made the closest pass to the planet, 26,725 miles (43,000 kilometers). The suite of instruments aboard the probes made important observations about Jupiter’s atmosphere and the space environment around the planet. Two more probes, Voyager 1 and 2, made flybys in 1979. They had been sent to build on the information acquired by the Pioneer probes. Their startling Space Probes

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discoveries included finding a ring system around the planet and active volcanoes on its moon Io. The NASA spacecraft that carried out the first studies of Jupiter’s atmosphere, moons, and magnetosphere (the region of space around a celestial object that is dominated by the object’s magnetic field) from orbit around the planet was Galileo. The probe had been launched from the space shuttle Atlantis in 1989. The nearly 3,000-pound (1,360-kilogram) Galileo began its journey in a direction opposite that of its destination. It headed first to Venus and looped around it, using that planet’s gravitational field to propel it toward Jupiter. In all, Galileo traveled 2.5 billion miles (4 billion kilometers) to reach its target, which is about five times the distance between Earth and Jupiter. Galileo finally went into orbit around Jupiter on December 7, 1995. On arrival, it dropped a barbeque-grill-sized miniprobe to the planet’s surface. The mini-probe entered Jupiter’s atmosphere at a speed of 107,025 miles (172,200 kilometers) per hour. Within two minutes, it had slowed to 100 miles (161 kilometers) per hour. Soon after, it released a parachute and began floating toward the surface. As it did so, intense winds blew it 300 miles (482 kilometers) horizontally. The miniprobe spent fifty-eight minutes collecting data on the weather of the gaseous planet before its cameras stopped working at an altitude of about 93 miles (150 kilometers) below the top of Jupiter’s atmosphere. It was then either incinerated in the extreme heat of the atmosphere, with temperatures reaching 3,400°F (1,870°C), or crushed by atmospheric pressure. Galileo’s prime mission was to conduct a two-year study of Jupiter. However, because it operated so well, NASA mission controllers extended its mission three more times. In the end, it circled Jupiter for eight years, completing thirty-five orbits. The discoveries Galileo made were spectacular: It made the first observation of ammonia clouds in another planet’s atmosphere. It also observed numerous large thunderstorms on Jupiter many times larger than those on Earth, with lightning strikes up to one thousand times more powerful. It was the first spacecraft to dwell in a giant planet’s magnetosphere long enough to investigate the dynamics of Jupiter’s magnetic field. Galileo determined that Jupiter’s ring system is formed by dust kicked up as interplanetary meteoroids smash into the 354


Voyager 1 and 2 had been sent to the planet Jupiter to build on the information acquired by the Pioneer probes. Their startling discoveries included finding a ring system around the planet and active volcanoes on its moon Io. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

planet’s four small inner moons. Data from the probe also showed that Jupiter’s outermost ring actually consists of two rings, one embedded within the other. Many scientists believe that Galileo’s greatest discoveries were about the geologic diversity of Jupiter’s four largest Space Probes

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moons. Galileo found that Io’s extensive volcanic activity is one hundred times greater than that found on Earth. Its measurements of Europa indicated that beneath the moon’s cracked crust of ice could be a salty ocean up to 62 miles (100 kilometers) deep. If so, it would contain about twice as much water as all of Earth’s oceans. Data gathered by the probe also showed that Ganymede and Callisto may have a saltwater layer. The biggest discovery surrounding Ganymede was the presence of a magnetic field—no other moon of any planet is known to have one. Galileo’s hugely successful fourteen-year mission came to an end on September 21, 2003, when mission controllers decided to send it into Jupiter’s stormy atmosphere. With its propellant running low and its electrical systems fading, Galileo plunged into the planet’s atmosphere at a speed of 108,000 miles (173,770 kilometers) per hour, quickly disintegrating and bringing to an end its 1.4-billion-dollar mission.

Saturn The sixth planet from the Sun, Saturn is named for the Roman god of agriculture. The second largest planet in the solar system, it is also the least dense of all planets. It is almost 30 percent less dense than water; placed in a large-enough body of water, Saturn would float. Saturn’s most outstanding characteristic is its rings. The three other largest planets—Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune— also have rings, but Saturn’s are the most spectacular. For centuries, astronomers believed that the rings were moons. In 1658 Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) first identified the structures around Saturn as a single ring. In later years, equipped with increasingly stronger telescopes, astronomers increased the number of rings they believed surrounded the planet. In 1980 and 1981 the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes sent back the first detailed photographs of Saturn and its spectacular rings. The probes revealed a system of more than one thousand ringlets encircling the planet at a distance of 50,000 miles (80,450 kilometers) from its surface. Voyager 1’s closest approach to Saturn came on November 12, 1980, when it flew within 77,000 miles (123,890 kilometers) of the planet’s cloud 356


The spacecraft Voyager captured the first detailed photographs of Saturn and its spectacular rings. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

tops. It discovered fast-moving clouds in the planet’s atmosphere and several previously unknown small moons. It also made a flyby of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Voyager 1 revealed that Titan may have seas of liquid methane bordered by organic tar-like matter. Voyager 2 did not conduct as detailed an examination of Saturn as its sister probe, using its approach to the planet as a gravity-assist to send it on to Uranus and Neptune. The main mission to study Saturn is a joint venture between NASA and ESA. On October 15, 1997, the two agencies launched the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, which is composed of the NASA-built Cassini orbiter and the ESA-built Huygens probe. (The orbiter was named for the Italian astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini [1625–1712], who observed Saturn’s rings and discovered four of its moons; the probe was named for Christiaan Huygens.) The spacecraft is one of the largest, heaviest, and most complex interplanetary spacecraft ever built. At launch, the total vehicle weighed about 12,350 pounds (5,600 Space Probes

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kilograms). It stood more than 22.3 feet (6.8 meters) high and was more than 13.1 feet (4 meters) wide. Costing about three billion dollars, the mission is the last of NASA’s big-budget, big-mission planetary probes. Carrying twelve scientific instruments, the orbiter was planned to take a variety of measurements of Saturn’s atmosphere, its moons, and the dust, rock, and ice that comprise its rings. After traveling some 2.2 billion miles (3.5 billion kilometers), the orbiter cruised into an orbit around the planet on June 30, 2004. A few weeks before then, it completed a flyby of Phoebe, the planet’s largest outer moon. Coming within 1,285 miles (2,068 kilometers) of the dark moon, which measures just 137 miles (220 kilometers) across, Cassini took high-resolution photographs of the moon’s deeply cratered surface. The orbiter is scheduled to drop the Huygens probe onto the surface of Titan on December 25, 2004, for a detailed look at the moon’s surface. The probe is expected to take twentyone days to reach Titan. During its descent, Huygens’s camera will capture more than one thousand images, while the probe’s other five instruments will sample Titan’s atmosphere and determine its composition. If it survives the impact of its landing, Huygens will transmit data from its instruments back to Cassini. Over a four-year period, Cassini will orbit Saturn seventy-four times, make forty-four flybys of Titan, and make numerous flybys of the planet’s other moons. It will send back as many as five hundred thousand color images taken with an onboard camera.

Uranus Uranus was the first planet to be discovered that had not been known since ancient times. Although Uranus is just bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, and in fact had appeared in some early star charts as an unidentified star, English astronomer William Herschel (1738–1822) was the first to recognize it as a planet in 1781. The planet was named after Ouranos, the Greek god of the sky. Most of what is known about Uranus was discovered during the 1986 Voyager 2 flyby of the planet. Voyager 2 had lifted off from Earth in August 1977; it first visited Jupiter in July 1979, then Saturn in August 1981. 358


At its closest approach, on January 24, 1986, Voyager 2 came within 50,600 miles (81,415 kilometers) of the planet. Among its most important findings were ten previously undiscovered moons and two new rings. (The original nine rings of Uranus were discovered only nine years before the probe’s visit. Since the probe’s flyby, astronomers have found an additional twelve moons, bringing the total of known moons to twenty-seven.) Voyager 2 determined that the five largest moons are made mostly of ice and rock. Some are heavily cratered, others have steep cliffs and canyons, and still others are much flatter. Voyager 2 also made the first accurate determination of Uranus’s rate of rotation (17.2 hours) and found a large and unusual magnetic field, one that is fifty times stronger than that of Earth. Finally, it discovered that despite greatly varying exposure to sunlight, the planet is about the same temperature all over: roughly –346°F (–210°C).

Neptune Neptune is a large planet, seventeen times more massive than Earth and far more blue. Since it has a rich blue-green color, Neptune was named for the Roman god of the sea. This color is due to the presence of methane gas in its atmosphere (not water on its surface, like Earth). Neptune is never visible to the naked eye. It was discovered in the 1840s only after astronomers deduced the presence of another planet from the shape of Uranus’s orbit. To date, only one probe has visited Neptune: the workhorse Voyager 2. On August 25, 1989, the probe conducted a flyby of the gassy planet. It found that Neptune is encircled by at least four very faint rings, much less pronounced than the rings of Saturn, Jupiter, or Uranus. Although astronomers are not quite sure, they believe these rings are composed of particles, some of which measure more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) across and are considered moonlets (small natural or artificial satellites). These particles clump together in places, creating relatively bright arcs. This originally led astronomers to believe that only arcs—and not complete rings—were all that surrounded the planet. Voyager 2 also discovered six of Neptune’s eight known moons. When it flew by the planet, the probe detected nuSpace Probes

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Space Junk The space around Earth is filled with thousands of pieces of junk ranging from nuts and bolts to entire satellites. The oldest debris still in orbit is the second U.S. satellite ever launched, Vanguard 1, which lifted off on March 17, 1958. Although it operated for only six years, it remains in its position floating around the planet. In 1965, during the first U.S. spacewalk, Gemini 4 astronaut Edward H. White II (1930– 1967) lost a glove. For one month, the glove stayed in orbit, traveling around Earth at a speed of about 17,500 miles (28,000 kilometers) per hour. More than two hundred objects, most of them rubbish bags, were released by cosmonauts aboard the space station Mir during its first ten years of operation. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the U.S. Space Command estimated that there was approximately four million pounds of space junk in low-Earth orbit. The agency counted 8,927 human-made objects immediately around the planet and beyond in space. Of the total, 2,671 were satellites (some working, some not), 90 were space probes that have been launched out of Earth orbit, and 6,096 were mere chunks of debris zooming around the planet. The United States leads all nations in the total quantity of orbital junk, but some companies and other organizations have contributed significantly to the count.

merous cloud features. The biggest was the Great Dark Spot, a hurricane-like storm that was about half the size of Earth. The next feature discovered was a small white spot, which appeared to race rapidly around the planet when compared with the slow-moving Great Dark Spot. The mysterious white spot was named Scooter. In 1994, however, observations from the Hubble Space Telescope showed that the Great Dark Spot had disappeared. Astronomers theorize that the spot either simply dissipated or is being masked by other aspects of the atmosphere. A few months later, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a new dark spot in Neptune’s northern hemisphere. This discovery has led astronomers to conclude that the planet’s atmosphere, in which blow some of the fiercest winds in the solar system, changes rapidly. After its close encounter with Neptune, Voyager 2 joined its sister probe, Voyager 1, exploring the outer reaches of the solar system, where the Sun’s influence ends and the dark recesses of interstellar space begin.

Comets, asteroids, and the Sun

Some of the planetary probes that have been launched have explored other celestial objects in addition to their primary planetary targets. Others have been designed to focus solely on those objects whose journey around the Sun is wildly eccentric. Among these objects are comets (relatively small, icy objects that travel around the Sun in a highly elliptical, or oval, orbit) and asteroids (medium-sized rocky bodies that orbit the Sun).

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Perhaps the best-known comet is Halley’s Comet, named after English astronomer Edmond Halley (pronounced HALee; 1656–1742) who first suggested in 1682 that the comet completes one orbit around the Sun approximately once every seventy-six years. In 1986, when it was scheduled to pass near the Sun and Earth, it attracted a great deal of attention among both scientists and the general public. The Soviet probes Vega 1 and 2, the Japanese probes Sakigake and Suisei, and the European probe Giotto were all sent to observe the comet. Of these probes, Giotto made the most significant findings. Built by ESA, Giotto came within 370 miles (596 kilometers) of the comet’s center, capturing fascinating images of the 9-mile-long, 5-mile-wide (15-kilometer-long, 8-kilometerwide) potato-shaped core marked by hills and valleys. Two bright jets of dust and gas, each 9 miles (15 kilometers) long, shot out of the core. Giotto’s instruments detected the presence of water, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur molecules. It also found that the comet was losing about 30 tons (27 metric tons) of water and 5 tons (4.5 metric tons) of dust each hour. This means that although the comet will survive for hundreds more orbits, it will eventually disintegrate. Halley’s Comet is due to pass by Earth in the year 2061. After Giotto, other probes have been launched to explore comets entering Earth space. In October 1998 NASA launched the Deep Space 1 probe to make flybys of the comet Borrelly and the asteroid Braille. It completed both tasks successfully, coming within 16 miles (26 kilometers) of the asteroid. In February 1999 NASA sent the probe Stardust to investigate the makeup of the comet Wild 2 (pronounced Vilt 2). The primary goal of the probe was to collect dust and other material from the comet and return it to Earth. It was also programmed to collect samples of interstellar dust. In January 2004 Stardust flew within 149 miles (240 kilometers) of the comet, catching samples of comet particles in its dust collector grid that opened like a clamshell. It also captured clear images of the strangely shaped comet. The pictures showed that Wild 2 has towering peaks and steep-walled craters that seem to defy gravity. More than twelve jets of material shoot out from inside the comet. Dust swirls around it in dense packets. The material Stardust collected is expected to be returned to Earth in a capsule in 2006. Space Probes

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The early race into space, with its awe-inspiring triumphs and heartrending tragedies, received much media coverage all over the world. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

On March 2, 2004, ESA launched the Rosetta probe. Scientists named it after the Rosetta stone tablet that helped archeologists decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. They hope the probe will reveal clues about the birth of the Sun and the planets of the solar system. It will do this by studying the comet called 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko, which had been discovered by two Soviet astronomers in 1969. (Among the solar system’s most primitive objects, comets are believed to hold deep-frozen matter left over from the birth of the Sun and the planets.) Rosetta is expected to reach the comet in May 2014, then go into orbit around it. Six months later, it will release the lander named Philae that will try to touch down on the surface of the comet. All previous spacecraft have only made brief flybys of comets. The only probe to have ever landed on an asteroid was the NEAR Shoemaker. (It was originally named the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, but was renamed after launch to honor U.S. planetary geologist Eugene M. Shoemaker [1928–1997].) In April 2000, after having traveled some 2 billion miles (3.2 bil362


lion kilometers) since it left Earth on February 17, 1996, the probe began a circular orbit around the asteroid Eros. It was the first time a spacecraft had orbited an asteroid. During its one-year mission around Eros, the 1,100-pound (500-kilogram) spacecraft settled into an orbit that at one point was as close as 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the potato-shaped asteroid. Eros, named after the Greek god of physical love, is one of the larger asteroids in the solar system, measuring about 21 miles (34 kilometers) long and 8 miles (13 kilometers) thick. It is called a near-Earth asteroid because its orbit crosses that of Earth and poses a potential collision danger. Scientists estimate that it is 4.5 billion years old, almost unchanged since the beginning of the solar system. Loaded with six instruments, NEAR Shoemaker took measurements to determine the mass, density, chemical composition, and other geological characteristics of the asteroid. It also beamed back to Earth some 160,000 images of Eros. On February 12, 2001, NEAR Shoemaker used the last of its fuel in an attempt to land on the surface of the asteroid. The craft had not been designed with landing gear, and mission scientists had given it a 1 percent chance of survival. Bumping into the asteroid at a mere 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) per hour, however, the hardy spacecraft survived, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. On its way down to the surface, NEAR Shoemaker continued to transmit pictures back to Earth. Once on the surface, it collected invaluable data about the oddly shaped asteroid. Even though scientists will probably study the data for years, they did learn early on that the asteroid does not tumble wildly through space. Instead, it rotates around one axis, much like a planet. An end to its successful five-year mission came on February 28, 2001, when scientists put NEAR Shoemaker into a planned hibernation. They did not believe that the spacecraft would survive the frigid darkness of winter on Eros, when temperatures would plummet to –238°F (–150°C). In 1990 NASA and ESA joined forces to deploy a probe that would make the first-ever measurements of the activity at the Sun’s north and south poles and in the unexplored region of space above and below the poles. That probe, Ulysses, was launched from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Discovery on October 6, 1990. In order to study the Sun’s poles, the Space Probes

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probe had to cross out of the ecliptic, the imaginary plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun. (The orbits of all the major planets except Pluto lie near this plane.) The reason for this is that the Sun’s poles can only be studied from above or below the Sun, points outside of the two dimensions of the ecliptic. Ulysses initially headed away from the Sun, toward Jupiter. It then looped around Jupiter in February 1992 and used the giant planet’s gravitational field to propel itself southward, out of the ecliptic. In September 1994 Ulysses crossed beneath the Sun’s south pole and began heading north. One year later, it passed over the Sun’s north pole. Ulysses then headed back toward Jupiter on the long leg of its six-year, oval-shaped path. It passed over the solar poles once again in 2000 and 2001. Ulysses has provided scientists with the very first allaround map of the heliosphere, the vast region filled with charged particles flowing out from the Sun that surrounds the Sun and extends throughout the solar system. New facts about the fast solar wind, those flowing charged particles, were among the probe’s most fundamental discoveries. The typical solar wind emerging from the Sun’s equatorial, or middle area, is variable but relatively slow, at 220 to 250 miles (350 to 400 kilometers) per second. The fast solar wind blows at a steady 465 miles (750 kilometers) per second. It comes from fairly small, cool regions of the solar atmosphere that are close to the poles. Yet Ulysses found that the fast solar wind fans out to fill two-thirds of the volume of the heliosphere. The boundary between the two wind streams is also unexpectedly distinct. Because it has proved to be so useful, scientists plan to have Ulysses operate until early 2008.

For More Information Books Benson, Michael. Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes. New York: Abrams, 2003. Bredeson, Carmen. NASA Planetary Spacecraft: Galileo, Magellan, Pathfinder, and Voyager. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2000. Hamilton, John. The Viking Missions to Mars. Edina, MN: Abdo and Daughters Publishing, 1998. 364


Kluger, Jeffrey. Moon Hunters: NASA’s Remarkable Expeditions to the Ends of the Solar System. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001. Kraemer, Robert S. Beyond the Moon: A Golden Age of Planetary Exploration, 1971–1978. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000. Sherman, Josepha. Deep Space Observation Satellites. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2003.

Web Sites “Cassini-Huygens: Mission to Saturn and Titan.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index. cfm (accessed on August 19, 2004). “ESA: Space Science.” European Space Agency. http://www.esa.int/export/ esaSC/index.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Galileo: Journey to Jupiter.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/ (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Mars Exploration Rover Mission.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “NASA: Robotic Explorers.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/roboticexplorers/index.html (accessed on August 19, 2004). “Voyager: The Interstellar Mission.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/ (accessed on August 19, 2004).

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Where to Learn More

Books Aaseng, Nathan. The Space Race. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2001. Andronik, Catherine M. Copernicus: Founder of Modern Astronomy. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2002. Asimov, Isaac. Astronomy in Ancient Times. Revised ed. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 1997. Aveni, Anthony. Stairways to the Stars: Skywatching in Three Great Ancient Cultures. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1997. Baker, David. Spaceflight and Rocketry: A Chronology. New York: Facts on File, 1996. Benson, Michael. Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes. New York: Abrams, 2003. Bille, Matt, and Erika Lishock. The First Space Race: Launching the World’s First Satellites. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2004. Bilstein, Roger E. Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915–1990. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989. Boerst, William J. Galileo Galilei and the Science of Motion. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 2003. xliii

Bredeson, Carmen. NASA Planetary Spacecraft: Galileo, Magellan, Pathfinder, and Voyager. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2000. Caprara, Giovanni. Living in Space: From Science Fiction to the International Space Station. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2000. Catchpole, John. Project Mercury: NASA’s First Manned Space Programme. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Chaikin, Andrew L. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. New York: Penguin, 1998. Christianson, Gale E. Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebulae. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Clary, David A. Rocket Man: Robert H. Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age. New York: Hyperion Press, 2003. Cole, Michael D. The Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster: From First Liftoff to Tragic Final Flight. Revised ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2003. Collins, Michael. Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2001. Davies, John K. Astronomy from Space: The Design and Operation of Orbiting Observatories. Second ed. New York: Wiley, 1997. Dickinson, Terence. Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 1987. Dickson, Paul. Sputnik: The Shock of the Century. New York: Walker, 2001. Ezell, Edward Clinton, and Linda Neuman Ezell. The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1978. Florence, Ronald. The Perfect Machine: Building the Palomar Telescope. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Fox, Mary Virginia. Rockets. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark Books, 1996. Gleick, James. Isaac Newton. New York: Pantheon Books, 2003. Hall, Rex, and David J. Shayler. The Rocket Men: Vostok and Voskhod, the First Soviet Manned Spaceflights. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Hall, Rex D., and David J. Shayler. Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft. New York: Springer Verlag, 2003. Hamilton, John. The Viking Missions to Mars. Edina, MN: Abdo and Daughters Publishing, 1998. Harland, David M. The MIR Space Station: A Precursor to Space Colonization. New York: Wiley, 1997. Harland, David M., and John E. Catchpole. Creating the International Space Station. New York: Springer Verlag, 2002. xliv



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Web Sites “Ancient Astronomy.” Pomona College Astronomy Department. http:// www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Ancients Could Have Used Stonehenge to Predict Lunar Eclipses.” Space.com. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/ stonehenge_eclipse_000119.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo Program.” NASA History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ office/pao/History/apollo.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo Soyuz Test Project.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http:// www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/astp/astp.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/astp/ index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/ASTP/SP24. htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Biographical Sketch of Dr. Wernher Von Braun.” Marshall Space Flight Center. http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). xlvi



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“Kennedy Space Center: Gemini Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/gemini/gemini.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Kennedy Space Center: Mercury Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/mercury/mercury.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky.” Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics. http://www. informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Living and Working in Space.” NASA Spacelink. http://spacelink. nasa.gov/NASA.Projects/Human.Exploration.and.Development.of. Space/Living.and.Working.In.Space/.index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Mars Exploration Rover Mission.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). Mir. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). Mount Wilson Observatory. http://www.mtwilson.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “NASA: Robotic Explorers.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/roboticexplorers/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). NASA’s History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/index. html (accessed on September 17, 2004). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.nasa.gov/ home/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). National Radio Astronomy Observatory. http://www.nrao.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Newton’s Laws of Motion.” NASA Glenn Learning Technologies Project. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/newton.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Newton’s Third Law of Motion.” Physics Classroom Tutorial, Glenbrook South High School. http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/ newtlaws/u2l4a.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “One Giant Leap.” CNN Interactive. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/ apollo/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Paranal Observatory.” European Southern Observatory. http://www.eso. org/paranal/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Project Apollo-Soyuz Drawings and Technical Diagrams.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa. gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/astp/apol_soyuz.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). xlviii



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Space Exploration Biographies


Peggy Saari Deborah J. Baker, Lawrence W. Baker, and Sarah Hermsen, Project Editors

Space Exploration: Biographies Peggy Saari

Project Editors Deborah J. Baker and Sarah Hermsen Rights Acquisitions and Management Ann Taylor


Imaging and Multimedia Dean Dauphinais, Lezlie Light, Dan Newell Product Design Pamela Galbreath

taping, Web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. For permission to use material from this product, submit your request via Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions, or you may download our Permissions Request form and submit your request by fax or mail to: Permissions Department Thomson Gale 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Permissions Hotline: 248-699-8006 or 800-877-4253, ext. 8006 Fax: 248-699-8074 or 800-762-4058


Cover photographs reproduced by permission of © Bettmann/Corbis. While every effort has been made to ensure the reliability of the information presented in this publication, Thomson Gale does not guarantee the accuracy of the data contained herein. Thomson Gale accepts no payment for listing; and inclusion in the publication of any organization, agency, institution, publication, service, or individual does not imply endorsement by the editors or publisher. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Saari, Peggy. Space exploration. Biographies / Peggy Saari ; Lawrence W. Baker, Sarah Hermsen, and Deborah J. Baker, project editors. p. cm. — (Space exploration reference library) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7876-9212-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Astronauts—Biography—Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. TL789.85.A1S23 2004 629.45’0092’2—dc22 2004015822


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Buzz Aldrin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Apollo 1 Crew. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Neil Armstrong . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Guy Bluford . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Challenger Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Franklin Chang-Díaz . . . . . . . . . . 51 Yuri Gagarin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 John Glenn . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Robert H. Goddard . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Claudie Haigneré . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Hubble Space Telescope . . . . . . . . . 94 International Space Station . . . . . . . 104 Mae Jemison . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Sergei Korolev . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Christopher Kraft . . . . . . . . . . . 128 v

Shannon Lucid . . . Mercury 13 . . . . Hermann Oberth . . Ellen Ochoa . . . . Sally Ride. . . . . Valentina Tereshkova Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Wernher von Braun . H. G. Wells . . . . Yang Liwei . . . . Where to Learn More Index .

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Still, for centuries, humans did not understand what lay beyond the boundaries of Earth. In fact, with their limited vision, they saw a limited universe. Ancient astronomers relied on naked-eye observations to chart the positions of stars, planets, and the Sun. In the third century B.C.E., philosophers concluded that Earth was the center of the universe. A few dared to question this prevailing belief. In the face of overwhelming opposition and ridicule, they persisted in trying to unvii

derstand the truth. This belief ruled human affairs until the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, when scientists used the newly invented telescope to prove that the Sun is the center of Earth’s galaxy. Over time, with advances in science and technology, ancient beliefs were exposed as false. The universe ever widened with humans’ growing understanding of it. The dream to explore its vast reaches passed from nineteenth-century fiction writers to twentieth-century visionaries to present-day engineers and scientists, pilots, and astronauts. The quest to explore space intensified around the turn of the twentieth century. By that time, astronomers had built better observatories and perfected more powerful telescopes. Increasingly sophisticated technologies led to the discovery that the universe extends far beyond the Milky Way and holds even deeper mysteries, such as limitless galaxies and unexplained phenomena like black holes. Scientists, yearning to solve those mysteries, determined that one way to accomplish this goal was to penetrate space itself. Even before the twentieth century, people had discussed ways to travel into space. Among them were science fiction writers, whose fantasies inspired the visions of scientists. Science fiction became especially popular in the late nineteenth century, having a direct impact on early twentieth-century rocket engineers who invented the fuel-propellant rocket. Initially developed as a weapon of war, this new projectile could be launched a greater distance than any human-made object in history, and it eventually unlocked the door to space. From the mid-twentieth century until the turn of the twenty-first century, the fuel-propellant rocket made possible dramatic advances in space exploration. It was used to propel unmanned satellites and manned space capsules, space shuttles, and space stations. It launched an orbiting telescope that sent spectacular images of the universe back to Earth. During this era of intense optimism and innovation, often called the space age, people confidently went forth to conquer the distant regions of space that have intrigued humans since early times. They traveled to the Moon, probed previously uncharted realms, and contemplated trips to Mars. Overcoming longstanding rivalries, nations embarked on international space ventures. Despite the seemingly unlimited viii


technology at their command, research scientists, engineers, and astronauts encountered political maneuvering, lack of funds, aging spacecraft, and tragic accidents. As the world settled into the twenty-first century, space exploration faced an uncertain future. Yet, the ongoing exploration of space continued to represent the “final frontier” in the last great age of exploration. Space Exploration: Biographies captures the height of the space age in twenty-five entries that profile astronauts, scientists, theorists, writers, and spacecraft. Included are astronauts Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Mae Jemison, and Sally Ride; cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin; engineer Wernher von Braun; writer H. G. Wells; and the crew of the space shuttle Challenger. The volume also contains profiles of the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. Focusing on international contributions to the quest for knowledge about space, this volume takes readers on an adventure into the achievements and failures experienced by explorers of space.

Features The entries in Space Exploration: Biographies contain sidebar boxes that highlight topics of special interest related to the profiled individual. Each entry also offers a list of additional sources that students can go to for more information. More than sixty black-and-white photographs illustrate the material. The volume begins with a timeline of important events in the history of space exploration and a “Words to Know” section that introduces students to difficult or unfamiliar terms. The volume concludes with a general bibliography and a subject index so students can easily find the people, places, and events discussed throughout Space Exploration: Biographies.

Space Exploration Reference Library Space Exploration: Biographies is only one component of the three-part Space Exploration Reference Library. The other two titles in this set are: • Space Exploration: Almanac (two volumes) presents, in fourteen chapters, key developments and milestones in the continuing history of space exploration. The focus ranges from ancient views of a Sun-centered universe to the scientific understanding of the laws of planetary moReader’s Guide

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tion and gravity, from the launching of the first artificial satellite to be placed in orbit around Earth to current robotic explorations of near and distant planets in the solar system. Also covered is the development of the first telescopes by men such as Hans Lippershey, who called his device a “looker” and thought it would be useful in war, and Galileo Galilei, who built his own device to look at the stars. The work also details the construction of great modern observatories, both on ground and in orbit around Earth, that can peer billions of light-years into space and, in doing so, peer billions of years back in time. Also examined is the development of rocketry; the work of theorists and engineers Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert H. Goddard, and others; a discussion of the Cold War and its impact on space exploration; space missions such as the first lunar landing; and great tragedies, including the explosions of U.S. space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. • Space Exploration: Primary Sources (one volume) captures the highlights of the space age with full-text reprints and lengthy excerpts of seventeen documents that include science fiction, nonfiction, autobiography, official reports, articles, interviews, and speeches. Readers are taken on an adventure spanning a period of more than one hundred twenty-five years, from nineteenth-century speculations about space travel through twenty-first century plans for human flights to Mars. Included are excerpts from science fiction writer Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon; Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, which chronicles the story of America’s first astronauts; astronaut John Glenn’s memoirs; and president George W. Bush’s new vision of space exploration. • A cumulative index of all three titles in the Space Exploration Reference Library is also available.

Comments and Suggestions We welcome your comments on Space Exploration: Biographies and suggestions for other topics to consider. Please write: Editors, Space Exploration: Biographies, U•X•L, 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331-3535; call toll-free: 1-800877-4253; fax to (248) 699-8097; or send e-mail via http:// www.gale.com.

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1895

English writer H. G. Wells publishes The Time Machine. Establishing Wells as a best-selling science fiction novelist, the book tells the tale of an inventor who creates a machine that can be navigated into the past or the future.

1895

Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky describes travel to the Moon, other planets, and beyond in his paper titled “Dreams of the Earth and Sky and the Effects of Universal Gravitation.” He also introduces the concept of an artificial Earth.

1897


1898

H. G. Wells writes his best-known novel, The War of the Worlds, which describes a Martian invasion of Earth.

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1919

Robert Goddard publishes “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes,” an article about propelling rockets into space. In the conclusion he suggests the possibility of sending a multi-stage rocket to the Moon.

1923


1924

Using the 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson near Los Angeles, California, American astronomer Edwin Hubble observes billions of galaxies beyond the Milky Way.

1926

American scientist Robert Goddard launches the world’s first liquid-propellant rocket.

March 16, 1926 American physicist and space pioneer Robert H. Goddard launches the world’s first liquid-propellant rocket. 1927

Romanian-born German scientist Hermann Oberth founds the German Rocket Society. He is a mentor to university student Wernher von Braun.

1928

Hermann Oberth publishes The Rocket into Planetary Space. He discusses liquid-propellant rockets, speculates on the effects of space flight upon humans, and proposes the idea of a space station.

1929

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky writes about placing rockets into space by arranging them in packets, or “cosmic rocket trains.” This becomes known as “rocket staging.”

1910 Mexican Revolution begins 1910


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1921 Insulin is discovered 1920

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1924 The first modern highway opens in Italy 1925

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1930


1938

American actor Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater players broadcast a live radio dramatization of The War of the Worlds. The performance is so realistic that listeners in New Jersey flee their homes in panic, believing Earth is actually being invaded by Martians.

1942

German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun leads the Peenemünde team in the first successful launch of the V-2 rocket. By the end of World War II, Germany has fired approximately six thousand V-2s on Allied targets.


After World War II the United States and the Soviet Union begin the Cold War, one result of which is the space race.

1947


1950

Now living in the United States, Wernher von Braun and his team of exiled German scientists start work on the Redstone missile. The Redstone eventually plays a significant role in America’s early space program.


1934 X-ray crystallography is pioneered

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1947 Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first prime minister of an independent India

1945

1952

Wernher von Braun begins his famous series of articles on space travel in Collier’s magazine.

March 9, 1955 German-born American engineer Wernher von Braun appears on “Man in Space,” the first of three space-related television shows he and American movie producer Walt Disney create for American audiences. 1957

Soviet rocket scientist Sergei Korolev directs the successful launch of the R-7 rocket. It becomes the most widely used rocket in the world.

1957

The Soviet Union surprises the world by launching Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. The space race intensifies between the Soviets and the United States.

July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958 During this eighteenmonth period, known as the International Geophysical Year, more than ten thousand scientists and technicians representing sixty-seven countries engage in a comprehensive series of global geophysical activities. 1958

The United States establishes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which integrates U.S. space research agencies and starts an astronaut training program.

1958

American engineer Christopher Kraft joins NASA as a member of the Space Task Group, which is developing Project Mercury.

January 31, 1958 Explorer 1, the United States’s first successful artificial satellite, is launched into space. March 17, 1958 The U.S. Navy launches the small, artificial satellite Vanguard 1. The oldest human-made object in space, it remains in orbit around Earth.


1953 DNA’s molecular structure discovered

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1956

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1959

Sergei Korolev directs the launch of Luna 3, a probe satellite that provides the first views of the far side of the Moon. The Luna 3 flight bolsters the prestige of the Soviet Union throughout the world.

January 2, 1959 The Soviet Union launches the space probe Luna 1, which becomes the first human-made object to escape Earth’s gravity. April 9, 1959 NASA announces the selection of the Mercury 7 astronauts: Malcolm Scott Carpenter, Leroy G. “Gordo” Cooper Jr., John Glenn, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Walter M. “Wally” Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton. September 13, 1959 The Soviet space probe Luna 2 becomes the first human-made object to land on the Moon when it makes a hard landing east of the Sea of Serenity. 1960

The first of the Mercury 13 women aviators secretly begins testing for the Mercury astronaut training program.

August 18, 1960 The United States launches Discoverer 14, its first spy satellite. October 23, 1960 More than one hundred Soviet technicians are incinerated when a rocket explodes on a launch pad. Known as the Nedelin catastrophe, it is the worst accident in the history of the Soviet space program. 1961

NASA cancels the women’s astronaut testing program.

April 12, 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbits Earth aboard Vostok 1, becoming the first human in space. May 5, 1961 U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard makes a suborbital flight in the capsule Freedom 7, becoming the first American to fly into space.

1959 Hawaii proclaimed 50th state

1957 U.S. Congress passes the Civil Rights Act 1957

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May 25, 1961 U.S. president John F. Kennedy announces the goal to land an American on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. 1962

A Congressional hearing is held on discrimination against women in the U.S. space program. NASA announces that the Mercury 13 did not qualify as astronauts because they had not received jet-pilot training. No American woman travels in space until 1983.

February 20, 1962 U.S. astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to circle Earth when he makes three orbits in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft. August 27, 1962 Mariner 2 is launched into orbit, becoming the first interplanetary space probe. June 16, 1963 Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova rides aboard Vostok 6, becoming the first woman in space. November 1, 1963 The world’s largest single radio telescope, at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, officially begins operation. March 18, 1965 During the Soviet Union’s Voskhod 2 orbital mission, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performs the first spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA). February 3, 1966 The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 soft-lands on the Moon and sends back to Earth the first images of the lunar surface. January 27, 1967 Three U.S. astronauts—Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Edward White—die of asphyxiation when a fire breaks out in the capsule of Apollo 1 during a practice session as it sits on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

1961 Bay of Pigs invasion 1961

1962

1963 U.S. president John F. Kennedy is assassinated


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April 24, 1967 Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov becomes the first fatality during an actual spaceflight when the parachute from Soyuz 1 fails to open and the capsule slams into the ground after reentry. 1968

Yuri Gagarin dies in a jet-plane crash during low-level maneuvers.

December 24, 1968 Apollo 8, with three U.S. astronauts aboard, becomes the first manned spacecraft to enter orbit around the Moon. July 20, 1969 U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon. April 14, 1970 An oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 service module explodes while the craft is in space, putting the lives of the three U.S. astronauts onboard into serious jeopardy. December 14, 1970 U.S. astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt lift off from the Moon after having spent seventy-five hours on the surface. They are the last humans to have set foot on the Moon as of the early twenty-first century. December 15, 1970 The Soviet space probe Venera 7 arrives at Venus, making the first-ever successful landing on another planet. April 19, 1971 The Soviet Union launches Salyut 1, the first human-made space station. November 13, 1971 The U.S. probe Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet when it enters orbit around Mars. 1972


Former U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin founds Starcraft Booster, Inc., a company promoting space tourism and travel to Mars.

1966 U.S. Department of Transportation founded

1968 Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated 1967

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1971 Microprocessor introduced 1969

1971

January 5, 1972 U.S. president Richard M. Nixon announces the decision to develop a space shuttle. May 14, 1973 NASA sends the Skylab space station into orbit. It is visited by three crews of astronauts, but only remains in space for one year. December 4, 1973 The U.S. space probe Pioneer 10 makes the first flyby of Jupiter. March 29, 1974 The U.S. space probe Mariner 10 makes the first of three flybys of Mercury. July 15 to 24, 1975 The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project is undertaken as an international docking mission between the United States and the Soviet Union. July 20, 1976 The lander of the U.S. space probe Viking 1 makes the first successful soft landing on Mars. September 17, 1976 The first space shuttle orbiter, known as OV-101, rolls out of an assembly facility in Palmdale, California. January 26, 1978 NASA launches the International Ultraviolet Explorer, considered the most successful UV satellite and perhaps the most productive astronomical telescope ever. July 11, 1979 Skylab falls into Earth’s atmosphere and burns up over the Indian Ocean. October 1979 The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, the world’s largest telescope dedicated solely to infrared astronomy, begins operation in Hawaii near the summit of Mauna Kea. November 12, 1980 The U.S. probe Voyager 1 makes a flyby of Saturn and sends back the first detailed photographs of the ringed planet.



1974

1976

Timeline of Events


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April 12, 1981 U.S. astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen fly the space shuttle Columbia on the first orbital flight of NASA’s new reusable spacecraft. 1982

Johnson Space Center director Christopher Kraft retires from NASA. During his twenty-four-year career, he headed mission control of nearly all NASA manned space flights.

June 18, 1983 U.S. astronaut Sally Ride becomes America’s first woman in space when she rides aboard the space shuttle Challenger. August 30, 1983 U.S. astronaut Guy Bluford flies aboard the space shuttle Challenger, becoming the first African American in space. January 25, 1984 U.S. president Ronald Reagan directs NASA to develop a permanently manned space station within a decade. 1986

Former U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong is appointed deputy chair of the Rogers Commission to investigate the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded seventy-three seconds after launch killing all seven astronauts aboard.

1986

On June 6 the Rogers Commission releases a report stating that the Challenger explosion was caused by defective O-rings. It recommends major changes at NASA, and an American shuttle is not launched again until 1988.

February 20, 1986 The Soviet Union launches the core module of its new space station, Mir, into orbit. May 4, 1989 The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off carrying the Magellan probe, the first planetary explorer to be launched by a space shuttle.

1979–80 Fifty-two Americans are held hostage in Iran

1981 AIDS is first recognized

1980

1982

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1983 U.S. invades Grenada


1984

1986

April 25, 1990 Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. April 7, 1991 The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory is placed into orbit by astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. September 12, 1992 U.S astronaut Mae Jemison becomes the first female of African descent to go into space. 1993

Franklin Chang-Díaz is named director of the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center. He heads research on plasma rocket engines.

1993

U.S. astronaut Ellen Ochoa becomes the first Latina in space.

December 1993 Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour complete repairs to the primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope. February 3, 1995 The space shuttle Discovery lifts off under the control of U.S. astronaut Eileen M. Collins, the first female pilot on a shuttle mission. December 2, 1995 The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is launched to study the Sun. December 7, 1995 The U.S. space probe Galileo goes into orbit around Jupiter, dropping a mini-probe to the planet’s surface. March 24, 1996 U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid begins her 188-day stay aboard Mir, a U.S. record for spaceflight endurance at that time. October 1996 The second of the twin 33-foot Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the world’s largest optical and infrared telescopes, begins science observations. The first began observations three years earlier.


1990

1992 Los Angeles riots

1994 The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect

1992

1994

Timeline of Events

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July 2, 1997 The U.S. space probe Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars and releases Sojourner, the first Martian rover. October 15, 1997 The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, bound for Saturn, is launched. January 6, 1998 NASA launches the Lunar Prospector probe to improve understanding of the origin, evolution, current state, and resources of the Moon. October 29, 1998 At age seventy-seven, U.S. senator John Glenn, one of the original Mercury astronauts, becomes the oldest astronaut to fly into space when he lifts off aboard the space shuttle Discovery. November 11, 1998 Russia launches Zarya, the control module and first piece of the International Space Station, into orbit. 1999

Ellen Ochoa is a member of the Discovery crew when the shuttle makes its first visit to the International Space Station.

1999

Former U.S. astronaut Mae Jemison founds BioSentient Corporation to explore the commercial applications of Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE).

July 23, 1999 The Chandra X-ray Observatory is deployed from the space shuttle Columbia. 2001

French astronaut Claudie Haigneré becomes the first European woman to visit the International Space Station and the first non-Russian woman to be a Soyuz flight engineer.

February 21, 2001 The U.S. space probe NEAR Shoemaker becomes the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. March 23, 2001 After more than 86,000 orbits around Earth, Mir enters the atmosphere and breaks up into several large pieces and thousands of smaller ones.

1995 Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel is assassinated

1996 South Africa adopts democratic constitution

1997 Mad cow disease discovered

1995

1996

1997

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1998

April 28, 2001 U.S. investment banker Dennis Tito, the world’s first space tourist, lifts off aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a week-long stay on the International Space Station. 2002

Claudie Haigneré is appointed minister for research and new technologies in the French government.

2002

U.S. astronaut Franklin Chang-Díaz takes his seventh trip into space, tying a world record for the number of space flights set by fellow U.S. astronaut Jerry Ross.

2003

The space shuttle Columbia breaks apart in flames above Texas, sixteen minutes before it is supposed to touch down in Florida, because of damage to the shuttle’s thermal-protection tiles. All seven astronauts aboard are killed.

2003

Former U.S. astronaut Sally Ride is appointed to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board to investigate the crash of the space shuttle Columbia. The board recommends limiting space shuttle flights.

Mid-2003 Further construction on the International Space Station is delayed following the crash of the space shuttle Columbia. The future of the space station is uncertain. June 2003 The Canadian Space Agency launches MOST, its first space telescope successfully launched into space and also the smallest space telescope in the world. August 25, 2003 NASA launches the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, subsequently renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope, the most sensitive instrument ever to look at the infrared spectrum in the universe. October 15, 2003 Astronaut Yang Liwei lifts off aboard the spacecraft Shenzhou 5, becoming the first Chinese to fly into space.





1999

2000

2001

2002

Timeline of Events

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2004

NASA cancels the final service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, citing the dangers of shuttle flights after the Columbia crash. Supporters of the orbiting telescope vow to keep it in space.

2004

The Chinese space agency announces plans to recruit women astronauts.

2004

Twin robots, part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover program, transmit photos to scientists back on Earth as the agency studies the geology of the red planet.


2003 The United States declares war on Iraq 2003

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2004

Words to Know

A Allies: Alliances of countries in military opposition to another group of nations. In World War II, the Allied powers included Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States. antimatter: Matter that is exactly the same as normal matter, but with the opposite spin and electrical charge. apogee: The point in the orbit of an artificial satellite or Moon that is farthest from Earth. artificial satellite: A human-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. asterism: A collection of stars within a constellation that forms an apparent pattern. astrology: The study of the supposed effects of celestial objects on the course of human affairs. astronautics: The science and technology of spaceflight. xxvii

astronomy: The scientific study of the physical universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. atomic bomb: An explosive device whose violent power is due to the sudden release of energy resulting from the splitting of nuclei of a heavy chemical element (plutonium or uranium), a process called fission. aurora: A brilliant display of streamers, arcs, or bands of light visible in the night sky, chiefly in the polar regions. It is caused by electrically charged particles from the Sun that are drawn into the atmosphere by Earth’s magnetic field.

B ballistic missile: A missile that travels at a velocity less than what is needed to place it in orbit and that follows a curved path (trajectory) back to Earth’s surface once it has reached a given altitude. bends: A painful and sometimes fatal disorder caused by the formation of gas bubbles in the blood stream and tissues when a decrease in air pressure occurs too rapidly. big bang theory: The theory that explains the beginning of the universe as a tremendous explosion from a single point that occurred about thirteen billion years ago. Big Three: The trio of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and British prime minister Winston Churchill; also refers to the countries of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. binary star: A pair of stars orbiting around one another, linked by gravity. black hole: The remains of a massive star that has burned out its nuclear fuel and collapsed under tremendous gravitational force into a single point of infinite mass and gravity from which nothing escapes, not even light. Bolshevik: A member of the revolutionary political party of Russian workers and peasants that became the Communist Party after the Russian Revolution of 1917. brown dwarf: A small, cool, dark ball of matter that never completes the process of becoming a star. xxviii


C capitalism: An economic system in which property and businesses are privately owned. Prices, production, and distribution of goods are determined by competition in a market relatively free of government intervention. celestial mechanics: The scientific study of the influence of gravity on the motions of celestial bodies. celestial sphere: An imaginary sphere of gigantic radius with Earth located at its center. Cepheid variable: A pulsating star that can be used to measure distance in space. chromatic aberration: Blurred coloring of the edge of an image when visible light passes through a lens, caused by the bending of the different wavelengths of the light at different angles. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the two superpowers: the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats. Communism: A system of government in which the nation’s leaders are selected by a single political party that controls almost all aspects of society. Private ownership of property is eliminated and government directs all economic production. The goods produced and wealth accumulated are, in theory, shared relatively equally by all. All religious practices are banned. concave lens: A lens with a hollow bowl shape; it is thin in the middle and thick along the edges. constellation: One of eighty-eight recognized groups of stars that seems to make up a pattern or picture on the celestial sphere. convex lens: A lens with a bulging surface like the outer surface of a ball; it is thicker in the middle and thinner along the edges. corona: The outermost and hottest layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that extends out into space for millions of miles. cosmic radiation: High-energy radiation coming from all directions in space. Words to Know

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F flyby: A type of space mission in which the spacecraft passes close to its target but does not enter orbit around it or land on it. focus: The position at which rays of light from a lens converge to form a sharp image. xxx


force: A push or pull exerted on an object by an outside agent, producing an acceleration that changes the object’s state of motion.


H hard landing: The deliberate, destructive impact of a space vehicle on a predetermined celestial object. heliocentric model: The theory that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and all planets revolve around it. Also known as the Copernican model. heliosphere: The vast region permeated by charged particles flowing out from the Sun that surrounds the Sun and extends throughout the solar system. Hellenism: The culture, ideals, and pattern of life of ancient Greece. hydrocarbon: A compound that contains only two elements, carbon and hydrogen. Words to Know

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hydrogen bomb: A bomb more powerful than the atomic bomb that derives its explosive energy from a nuclear fusion reaction. hyperbaric chamber: A chamber where air pressure can be carefully controlled; used to acclimate divers, astronauts, and others gradually to changes in air pressure and air composition.



L light-year: The distance light travels in the near vacuum of space in one year, about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers). liquid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which both the fuel and the oxidizing agent are in a liquid state. xxxii



N natural science: A science, such as biology, chemistry, or physics, that deals with the objects, occurrences, or laws of nature. neutron star: The extremely dense, compact, neutron-filled remains of a star following a supernova. nuclear fusion: The merging of two hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus, accompanied by a tremendous release of energy.

O observatory: A structure designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena. oxidizing agent: A substance that can readily burn or promote the burning of any flammable material. Words to Know

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ozone layer: An atmospheric layer that contains a high proportion of ozone molecules that absorb incoming ultraviolet radiation.



R radiation: The emission and movement of waves of atomic particles through space or other media. radio waves: The longest form of electromagnetic radiation, measuring up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from peak to peak in the wave. Red Scare: A great fear among U.S. citizens in the late 1940s and early 1950s that communist influences were infiltrating U.S. society and government and could eventually lead to the overthrow of the American democratic system. xxxiv


redshift: The shift of an object’s light spectrum toward the red end of the visible light range, which is an indication that the object is moving away from the observer. reflector telescope: A telescope that directs light from an opening at one end to a concave mirror at the far end, which reflects the light back to a smaller mirror that directs it to an eyepiece on the side of the telescope. refractor telescope: A telescope that directs light waves through a convex lens (the objective lens), which bends the waves and brings them to a focus at a concave lens (the eyepiece) that acts as a magnifying glass. retrofire: The firing of a spacecraft’s engine in the direction opposite to which the spacecraft is moving in order to cut its orbital speed. rover: A remote-controlled robotic vehicle.

S sidereal day: The time for one complete rotation of Earth on its axis relative to a particular star. soft landing: The slow-speed landing of a space vehicle on a celestial object to avoid damage to or the destruction of the vehicle. solar arrays: Groups of solar cells or other solar collectors arranged to capture energy from the Sun and use it to generate electrical power. solar day: The average time span from one noon to the next. solar flare: Temporary bright spot that explodes on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy. solar prominence: A tongue-like cloud of flaming gas projecting outward from the Sun’s surface. solar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from the Sun. solid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which the fuel and the oxidizing agent exist in a solid state. solstice: Either of the two times during the year when the Sun, as seen from Earth, is farthest north or south of the equator; the solstices mark the beginning of the summer and winter seasons. Words to Know

xxxv

space motion sickness: A condition similar to ordinary travel sickness, with symptoms that include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal disturbances, and fatigue. The precise cause of the condition is not fully understood, though most scientists agree the problem originates in the balance organs of the inner ear. space shuttle: A reusable winged spacecraft that transports astronauts and equipment into space and back. space station: A large orbiting structure designed for longterm human habitation in space. spacewalk: Technically known as an EVA, or extravehicular activity, an excursion outside a spacecraft or space station by an astronaut or cosmonaut wearing only a pressurized spacesuit and, possibly, some sort of maneuvering device. spectrograph: A device that separates light by wavelengths to produce a spectrum. splashdown: The landing of a manned spacecraft in the ocean. star: A hot, roughly spherical ball of gas that emits light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation as a result of nuclear fusion reactions in its core. stellar scintillation: The apparent twinkling of a star caused by the refraction of the star’s light as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere. stellar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from a star (like the solar wind, but from a star other than the Sun). sunspot: A cool area of magnetic disturbance that forms a dark blemish on the surface of the Sun. supernova: The massive explosion of a relatively large star at the end of its lifetime.

T telescope: An instrument that gathers light or some other form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by distant sources, such as celestial bodies, and brings it to a focus. thrust: The forward force generated by a rocket. xxxvi






Words to Know

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Buzz Aldrin Born January 20, 1930 (Montclair, New Jersey) American astronaut, engineer, author

O

n July 20, 1969, American astronaut Buzz Aldrin made history as the second human to walk on the surface of the Moon. Climbing out of the hatch of the Eagle lunar landing module of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, he followed Neil Armstrong (1930–; see entry) down to the surface. This historic first Moon landing came at an important time for the United States, which had been engaged with the former Soviet Union in a period of hostile relations known as the Cold War (1945–91). They were competing for military superiority as well as for dominance in space. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik space satellites (objects that orbit in space) to study Earth’s atmosphere, a development that alarmed many Americans. Now the Apollo 11 mission had brought the United States to the forefront of space exploration. Although Armstrong is most closely identified with the first Moon landing, he has been reluctant to discuss his adventure. Aldrin went on to become a public figure, promoting commercial space travel and achieving success as a writer.

“There is no view quite like seeing our planet glowing blue and white from the distance of space.”

1

Buzz Aldrin. (AP/Wide World Photos)

Wins war medal Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. was born on January 20, 1930, in Montclair, New Jersey. Given the nickname “Buzz” by his sister, he changed his name legally from Edwin to Buzz after his Moon walk. Aldrin’s upbringing had a direct influence on his decision to pursue a military career. His mother, Marion Moon, was the daughter of an army chaplain. His father, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Sr., was a U.S. Air Force officer and a former student of rocket scientist Robert Goddard (1882–1945; see entry). Buzz Aldrin was a good student at Montclair High School, where he played center on the championship football team. 2


After high school, he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating third in his class in 1951. A commissioned U.S. Air Force officer and fighter pilot, he was sent to Korea for combat duty the following year. He flew sixty-six missions during the Korean War (1950–53), earning the Distinguished Flying Cross (an award given to a person serving in the U.S. armed forces who performs an act of heroism or extraordinary achievement during an aerial flight). After the war, Aldrin was an air force flight instructor in Nevada, then an aide and flight instructor at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. In 1956, he served as a flight commander for a squadron in West Germany (now Germany). Seeking a new career, Aldrin enrolled in an engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1960. Three years later, upon receiving a doctorate degree in orbital mechanics, he entered the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut training program. He was then selected to be in NASA’s third group of fourteen astronauts, who would be trained for the Gemini and Apollo space missions. (The Gemini program was devoted to spacecraft docking and men making spacewalks; the goal of the Apollo program was to send astronauts to the Moon.) The first astronaut to hold a doctoral degree, Aldrin was also the only one who was not a test pilot.

Joins NASA During eighteen months of intensive basic training, the astronauts participated in strenuous physical exercises, attended classes, and practiced in-flight exercises. Aldrin’s first assignment was as the command pilot of Gemini 12. While completing an additional two thousand hours of specialized training for the mission, he pioneered the use of underwater training to simulate spacewalking. In November 1966, Aldrin and copilot James Lovell Jr. (1928–) were launched aboard Gemini 12. During the flight, Aldrin was the first to prove that astronauts could work outside an orbiting vehicle to make repairs. After Gemini 12, Aldrin began preparing for the Apollo spaceflights. He discovered ways to improve various technical processes, such as navigating according to the positions of stars. He also took geology field trips to Hawaii, Idaho, OreBuzz Aldrin

3

gon, and Iceland to study rock formations similar to those expected to be found on the Moon.

Walks on Moon In 1968, Aldrin was named back-up command module pilot for Apollo 8, the first successful attempt to orbit a manned lunar spacecraft. The following year, he was selected to join Armstrong and Michael Collins (1930–; see box on page 5) on the crew of Apollo 11, the first lunar landing mission. On July 16, 1969, Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins boarded Apollo 11 and blasted off from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral) in Florida. The spacecraft consisted of three stages, or separate components—the Saturn 5 booster rocket (used to propel the craft into space) was attached to the Columbia command module (all three astronauts rode aboard this spacecraft on the trip to and from the Moon) and the Eagle lunar landing module (the vehicle that would land on the Moon). On July 19, Saturn 5 propelled the craft into lunar orbit and circled the Moon twice. The next day, Aldrin and Armstrong transferred to the Eagle. After about five hours of tests, the Eagle and the Columbia separated successfully and the Eagle entered its own orbit. Within two hours, Aldrin and Armstrong began the 300-mile descent toward the Moon. At that point, a yellow caution light came on in the Eagle, signaling that the computer system had become overloaded. Under continuous instructions from the mission control center in Houston, Texas, the Eagle made a gradual descent toward touchdown on the Moon. In Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, Aldrin later reflected upon those tense moments: “Back in Houston, not to mention on board the Eagle, hearts shot up into throats while we waited to learn what would happen. . . . We receive three or four more warnings but keep on going.” The targeted computer-guided landing site was in an area called the Sea of Tranquility. A field of boulders was looming in front of the Eagle, so Armstrong landed without computer assistance about four miles away. At 4:18 P.M. on July 20, more than one-half billion people around the world heard Armstrong say: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Seven hours after touchdown, at 10:56 P.M., Armstrong climbed down a nine-step ladder and became the first human 4


Michael Collins Michael Collins piloted the command module Columbia during the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (1952), he joined NASA as an astronaut in 1963, along with Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. Three years later, Collins piloted the Gemini 10 and became the third American to walk in space. (The first American to perform a space walk was Edward White (1930–1967; see Apollo 1 entry) in June 1965 on the Gemini 4 mission.) In Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, Collins recalled the moment when Aldrin and Armstrong returned to the Columbia after becoming the first humans to walk on the Moon. “The first one through [the hatch] is Buzz, with a big smile on his face,” Collins said. “I grab his head, a hand on each temple, and am about to give him a smooch on the forehead, as a parent might greet an errant child; but then, embarrassed, I think better of it and grab his hand, and then Neil’s. We cavort about a little bit, all smiles and giggles over our success, and then it’s back to work as usual.” Since leaving NASA, Collins has held various government positions, including di-

Michael Collins. (© NASA/Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

rector of the National Air and Space Museum (1971–78), and he holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He has also published several books. Among them are Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys (1974 and 1989), Liftoff: The Story of America’s Adventure in Space (1988), Mission to Mars (1990), and Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut’s Story (1994).

to set foot on the Moon. Aldrin joined him fifteen minutes later. Aldrin further elaborated on the experience in Apollo Expeditions to the Moon: “We opened the hatch [of the Eagle] and Neil, with me as his navigator, began backing out of the tiny opening. It seemed like a small eternity before I heard Neil say, ‘That’s one small step for man . . . one giant leap for mankind.’ In less than fifteen minutes I was backing awkwardly out of Buzz Aldrin

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Open-Door Policy As Aldrin descended down the ladder, he radioed to Armstrong: “Now I want to partially close the hatch, making sure not to lock it on my way out.” Armstrong replied: “A good thought!”

the hatch and onto the surface to join Neil, who, in the tradition of all tourists, had his camera ready to photograph my arrival. I felt buoyant and full of goose pimples when I stepped down on the surface.”

Aldrin and Armstrong quickly adjusted to the lighter gravity, finding they could walk easily on the lunar surface. They spent nearly twentyone hours on the Moon. During their stay, they installed a television camera, conducted scientific experiments, took photographs, and collected rock and soil samples. They left an American flag, a mission patch, and medals commemorating American and Russian space explorers who had died in the line of duty. They also set up a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. We came in peace for all mankind.” The astronauts’ Moon walk was televised live on Earth, and President Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994; served 1969–74) made a telephone call to them from the White House. After returning to the Eagle, Aldrin and Armstrong rested for eight hours. Then they launched off the surface of the Moon and, two hours later, docked with Collins and the Columbia. After unloading their equipment onto Columbia, they abandoned the Eagle. The Columbia set out for Earth on its thirty-first orbit of the Moon. Sixty hours later, at 12:50 P.M. on July 24, the spacecraft splashed down in the sea some 950 miles (1,520 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii, only 2.7 miles (4.34 kilometers) from its destination point. Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins were picked up by Navy frogmen (divers) from the aircraft carrier Hornet. As the Hornet sailed for Hawaii, the astronauts remained aboard for eighteen days of quarantine (seclusion) to control any harmful bacteria they may have carried from the Moon. From Hawaii, the astronauts were flown to Houston, where they received a heroes’ welcome. They were also honored in a parade in New York City, and they were greeted enthusiastically when they toured twenty-two foreign countries. They were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.

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Buzz Aldrin steps off the Eagle lunar module onto the Moon, becoming the second human to walk on the Moon. (NASA)

Following the Apollo 11 mission, the Air Force promoted Aldrin to commander of the test-pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He was unhappy in his new job, however, so he resigned from NASA in 1971. Soon thereafter, he underwent treatment for depression and retired from the Air Buzz Aldrin

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A Trip to Mars In an interview published in Odyssey magazine, Buzz Aldrin described his vision of a future journey to Mars. The first leg of the trip would be made by a shuttle equipped with additional booster rockets that could propel it out of Earth’s orbit. The shuttle would then dock with a large, reusable transfer ship, or space station, called the “Cycler.” People would transfer from the shuttle to the Cycler, where they would live during the six-month trip to Mars. Assisted by the gravitational pull of the planets, the Cycler would be continuously moving on an oval path between Earth and Mars. According to Aldrin, the safest, most efficient Mars transport system would involve two Cyclers, each operating in two phases—the “Go-Cycler” and the “Re-Cycler”—during a complete, eleven-month orbit between Mars and Earth. In the Go-Cycler phase, a Cycler would leave Mars without passengers, then pick up people coming from Earth aboard the shuttle and take them on the six-month trip back to Mars. In the Re-Cycler phase, the route would be the reverse: A Cycler would carry passengers on the six-month journey from Mars back to Earth, transfer them to the shuttle, then return empty to Mars.

Force. Aldrin then publicly acknowledged that he was a recovering alcoholic. This was a bold step because at the time celebrities were reluctant to talk about such a personal subject. In 1972, he was appointed chairman of the National Association of Mental Health and made appearances across the country describing his battle with depression.

Supports commercial space travel In 1972, Aldrin founded his own company, now known as Starcraft Booster, Inc., to promote space tourism and travel to Mars. Aldrin has designed and patented several reusable spacecraft, which are part of a system he calls Starbooster. Aldrin elaborated on his ideas during an interview for Odyssey magazine in 2001. Asked why people would want to be space tourists, Aldrin replied, “Space travel is very pleasurable. . . . Floating around in zero-g [gravity] is fascinating and exhilarating! . . . There is no view quite like seeing our planet glowing blue and white from the distance of space.” He said that today’s young people can expect to be the scientists and explorers who prepare the way for civilian tourists, who could be traveling to orbital hotels by 2020.

Writes science fiction Aldrin is also a successful writer. He has published an autobiography (Return to Earth, 1974) and an account of his Moon trip (Men from Earth, coauthored with Malcolm McConnell; 1989). With coauthor John Barnes, he wrote two 8


Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin holds his new science fiction novel Encounter with Tiber during an appearance in Las Vegas in August 1996. (AP/Wide World Photos)

science-fiction novels, Encounter with Tiber (1996) and The Return (2000). Aldrin has served as chairman of the board of the National Space Society and has been awarded fifty distinguished medals and citations from nations throughout the world. In 1996, he photographed the recovery of the wreckage Titanic, the famous ocean liner that sank in 1912 in the Atlantic Ocean 420 miles (676 kilometers) southeast of Newfoundland. The father of three children—James Michael, Janice Ross, and Andrew John—Aldrin lives in Southern California with his third wife, Lois Driggs Cannon. (His first two marriages ended in divorce.) Aldrin spends most of his time promoting commercial space travel, and he likes to joke about being the inspiration for Buzz Lightyear, a character in the popular Toy Story films.

Buzz Aldrin

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For More Information Books Aldrin, Buzz, and John Barnes. Encounter with Tiber. New York: Warner Books, 1996. Aldrin, Buzz, and John Barnes. The Return. New York: Forge, 2000. Aldrin, Buzz, and Malcolm McConnell. Men from Earth. New York: Bantam Books, 1989. Aldrin, Edwin Eugene Jr., and Wayne Warga. Return to Earth. New York: Random House, 1973. Armstrong, Neil, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr., Michael Collins, Gene Farmer, and Jane Hamblin. First on the Moon. New York: Little, Brown, 1970. Chaikin, Andrew. A Man on the Moon. New York: Time-Life, 1969. Cole, Michael D. Apollo 11: First Moon Landing. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1995. Cortright, Edgar M., ed. Apollo Expeditions to the Moon. Washington: Scientific and Technical Information Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1975.

Periodicals Aldrin, Buzz. “America’s Space Program: What We Should Do Next.” Popular Mechanics (May 2003): pp. 110–13. Eaglesham, Barbara. “Catch the Buzz: An Interview with Apollo Astronaut Buzz Aldrin.” Odyssey (January 2001): p. 30. Epstein, Robert. “Down to Earth Buzz Aldrin.” Psychology Today (May 2001): p. 68. Folger, Tim, Sarah Richardson, and Carl Zimmer. “Remembering Apollo.” Discover (July 1994): p. 38. Robbins, Gary. “Exploring the Titanic: Buzz Aldrin Goes from Astronaut to Argonaut.” Orange County Register (Knight Ridder Tribune News Service; September 13, 1996).

Web Sites “Apollo 11 Transcripts.” Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa. gov/history/apollo/apollo-11/apollo11transcripts.htm (accessed on May 27, 2004). Buzz Aldrin. http://www.buzzaldrin.com (accessed on May 27, 2004). “Buzz Aldrin.” Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, NASA. http://www.jsc.nasa. gov/Bios/htmlbios/aldrin-b.html (accessed on May 27, 2004).

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Apollo 1 Crew Died January 27, 1967 (Cape Canaveral, Florida) American astronauts

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n January 27, 1967, the first step toward putting an American on the Moon ended in tragedy. That day, astronauts Roger Chaffee (1935–1967), Gus Grissom (1926–1967), and Edward White (1930–1967) died aboard their Apollo 1 spacecraft. They had been conducting tests on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral) in Florida, when a fire broke out in their crew module. The accident was a severe blow to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which had given high priority to Project Apollo, the U.S. program that would send humans to the Moon. Apollo 1 was to be the first in a series of manned Moon flights, but the accident forced a temporary halt to the program and NASA safety procedures underwent extensive review.

“Fire in the cockpit.” Edward White

Soviets triumph in space war NASA initiated Project Apollo at a time when national pride was at stake. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63) had vowed that the United States would put a man on the Moon within the next ten years. His vision captured the imagination of the Ameri11

Apollo 1 crew (left to right) Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. (NASA)

can people, and this spirit of adventure greatly expanded the mission of NASA. Kennedy’s speech immediately followed the achievement of astronaut Alan Shepard (1923–1998), who had become the first American in space less than three weeks earlier. He piloted a Mercury space capsule 115 miles (185 kilometers) above Earth’s surface and 302 miles (486 kilometers) across the Atlantic Ocean. Although the trip lasted for only about fifteen minutes, his journey was almost technically perfect. But Shepard was not the first human in space: On April 12, Soviet cosmonaut (astronaut) Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968; 12


see entry) had made a nearly complete orbit of Earth aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1. Gagarin’s flight, which had been surrounded by intense secrecy, represented a technical triumph for the Soviet Union. Shepard had briefly flown in space, whereas Gagarin had virtually circled Earth. Americans saw the Gagarin flight as yet another Soviet victory in the “space race.” The space race was part of the Cold War (1945–91), a period of hostile relations between the former Soviet Union and the United States that began at the end of World War II (1939–45). Not only were the two superpowers involved in an arms race for military superiority, but they were also competing for dominance in space. The first major event in the space race had occurred in 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 1 satellite (an object that orbits in space) to study the atmosphere of Earth. This achievement surprised the world and sent shock waves through American society. Sputnik 1 was a sign that the Soviet Union was moving ahead in the Cold War. In 1958, the United States responded by creating NASA, which integrated U.S. space research agencies and established an astronaut training program. The first stage of the NASA space program was Project Mercury. The goal was to develop the basic technology for manned space flight and investigate a human’s ability to survive and perform in space. Shepard’s flight was proof of Project Mercury’s success, but Gagarin’s effort showed that not enough progress was being made by the United States. Under pressure to match the Russian feat as soon as possible, NASA chose John Glenn (1921–; see entry) to be the first American to orbit Earth. On February 20, 1962, Glenn successfully made three orbits aboard the Friendship 7, another Mercury mission. In 1964, NASA initiated Project Gemini. This program provided astronauts with experience in returning to Earth from space as well as successfully linking space vehicles and “walking” in space. Gemini also involved the launching of a series of unmanned satellites, which would gain information about the Moon and its surface to determine whether humans could survive there.

The Apollo spacecraft One major result of the U.S. space program was Project Apollo, named for the Greek god of the Sun. The first challenge was to design, develop, and test an Apollo spacecraft Apollo 1 Crew

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and related technology that would place a human on the Moon. With the support of NASA, Werhner von Braun (1912–1977; see entry) and his colleagues—who developed the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany during World War II and afterward immigrated to the United States—developed the threestage Saturn 5 rocket to launch the spacecraft. The Saturn worked in stages (separate functions), a concept that was originated by Russian engineer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857– 1935; see entry) and tested by American physicist Robert Goddard (1882–1945; see entry). The rocket’s first two stages propelled the spacecraft out of Earth’s gravity into space and then dropped off. The third stage put the spacecraft into Earth orbit. The rocket then refired to send the spacecraft at a speed of 25,000 miles (40,225 kilometers) per hour toward the Moon, with the third stage dropping off along the way. The spacecraft itself consisted of the command module (similar to the cockpit of an airplane), where the astronauts were stationed; the service module, which contained electrical power and fuel; and the lunar module, which, after entering the Moon’s orbit, could separate from the rest of the spacecraft and carry the astronauts to the surface of the Moon. The lunar module, which stood 23 feet (7 meters) high and weighed 15 tons (13.6 metric tons), rested first on spiderlike legs used for landing and then on a launch platform for departure from the Moon’s surface. The lunar module lacked heat shields (panels that protect against intense heat) and operated only in the vacuum of space. After launching itself from the Moon’s surface, the lunar module would go into lunar orbit and dock with the command module, which would then readjust its course to head back to Earth. The service module powered the spacecraft on the return trip, falling away prior to reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

The Apollo 1 crew Once the Apollo spacecraft had been built, the next step was to choose a crew. Gus Grissom was the commander, Edward White was the command pilot, and Roger Chaffee was the pilot. Their mission was to be the first manned test in Earth orbit of the spacecraft that would eventually take people to the Moon. 14


Apollo 1 commander Gus Grissom. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

Gus Grissom Virgil Ivan “Gus” Grissom was born on April 3, 1926, in Mitchell, Indiana. While growing up, he was fascinated by aviation, and he was determined to become a pilot. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1944. After World War II, he enrolled at Purdue University in Indiana, earning a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1950. He again enlisted in the military and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the air force. During the Korean War (1950–53), he flew combat missions, for which he won several medals. He was serving as a test pilot at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Apollo 1 Crew

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in Ohio when NASA was seeking pilots to explore the problems of manned space flight for Project Mercury. Grissom volunteered for this project, and in 1959 he was one of seven military test pilots chosen to become the first American astronauts. In 1961, Grissom participated in a test flight of the Mercury spacecraft Liberty Bell 7. The mission succeeded without incident until after the spacecraft landed, as planned, in the ocean. While helicopters approached to retrieve the capsule, the hatch blew off prematurely (an accident that was never satisfactorily explained), but Grissom managed to leave the spacecraft before it sank. He became the second American to fly in space when he was command pilot on the Gemini spacecraft Molly Brown in 1965. He and crewmate John W. Young (1930–) tested such objectives as how to control the craft’s landing point. In March 1966, Grissom was named commander of Apollo 1.

Edward White Edward Higgins White II was born on November 14, 1930, in San Antonio, Texas. His father, Edward H. White, was a career air force officer and pioneer army balloonist and aviator. The family was living in Washington, D.C., when White was in high school. Since the District of Columbia has no representative in the U.S. Congress, he won appointment to the U.S. Military Academy by making himself known to as many congressmen as possible. He graduated from the academy in 1952 with a commission as a second lieutenant in the air force. While serving as a fighter pilot in Germany, White followed with interest the development of the manned spaceflight program and set out to qualify as an astronaut. He earned a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1959. After completing a test pilot certification program, he was assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as a test pilot. White applied for the astronaut program when NASA announced openings for a second group of trainees. He was accepted in 1962. Three years later, he was the pilot on Gemini 4, commanded by James A. McDivitt (1929–). Gemini 4 was the first long-duration flight (sixty-two revolutions from June 3 through June 7) in the U.S. manned spaceflight program. 16


Apollo 1 astronaut Edward White. (AP/Wide World Photos)

During this mission, White became the first American to perform extravehicular activity, or “space walk,” floating outside the spacecraft for twenty minutes over a distance of about 7,500 miles (12,068 kilometers). In 1966, White was named to the crew of Apollo 1.

Roger Chaffee Roger Bruce Chaffee was born on February 15, 1935, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school, he attended the Illinois Institute of Technology for one year and then transferred to Purdue University. He received a bachApollo 1 Crew

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Apollo 1 astronaut Roger Chaffee. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

elor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue in 1957. Commissioned an ensign in the navy that same year, he went through flight training and was subsequently assigned to a photographic squadron in Florida. In January 1963, Chaffee entered the Air Force Institute of Technology to work toward a master’s degree. When NASA announced that it was recruiting a third group of astronaut trainees, he applied and was selected in 1963. By the time he had completed basic astronaut training, the Gemini program was well under way and Apollo flights were being planned. Chaffee was assigned to flightcontrol communications systems and spacecraft control sys18


tems. In March 1966, he was selected as a crew member of Apollo 1.

Crew dies in fire On January 27, 1967, the Apollo spacecraft, then called Apollo/Saturn 204, was scheduled to go into space in less than a month. At 1:00 P.M. that day, Grissom, White, and Chaffee entered the crew module on the launchpad at Cape Kennedy. They began conducting a “plugs-out” test. This test is an exact simulation of launch activities, or count, but without fuel in the rocket. Almost immediately the crew encountered minor problems that delayed the process. The count was suspended at 5:40 P.M. after a communications failure. Then, at 6:31 P.M. technicians in the control room, who were monitoring radio communications with the module, heard someone (later determined to be Chaffee) say, “Fire, I smell fire.” At 6:33 P.M., they heard White say, “Fire in the cockpit.” The voices then became garbled, but the last moments of the crew were clearly audible in the control room until the transmission was cut off at 6:48 P.M. In the meantime, rescuers had rushed to the spacecraft, but it took them five minutes to open the hatch (door to the module). The hatch was secured by several latches that had to be pried loose. The hatch swung inward, so pressure had to be released before it could be pushed open and the crew members pulled out of the module. Efforts were made to resuscitate Grissom, Chaffee, and White, but by that time they were all dead. The fire had spread with incredible speed, for the atmosphere in the vehicle was pure oxygen and the materials inside were highly flammable. Within thirty seconds, the three crewmen were unconscious and probably completely asphyxiated (made unable to breathe) by toxic gases. They thus became the first American astronauts to die in an accident directly related to space activity. An investigating board concluded that the fire was most likely started by a spark from an electrical short circuit that ignited the flammable materials. As a result of the accident, the Apollo program was temporarily delayed. After an extensive investigation, NASA issued new safety precautions. In the future, spacecraft would contain self-extinguishing materials, and a nitrogen-oxygen mixture would replace pure oxygen. The hatch door was Apollo 1 Crew

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The charred interior of the Apollo 1 spacecraft, following the fire that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. (AP/ Wide World Photos)

redesigned to swing outward, and an improved latch system allowed quick removal. In honor of Grissom, White, and Chafee, Apollo/Saturn 204 was officially renamed Apollo 1.

Space program takes new direction The next Project Apollo missions were unmanned flights that tested the safety of the equipment. The first manned flight was Apollo 7 in October 1968. The most famous was Apollo 11, which successfully landed Neil Armstrong (1930–; see entry) and Buzz Aldrin (1930–; see entry) on the Moon. The last flight was Apollo 17 in December 1972, which ended one of the most productive periods of exploration in U.S. history. After Project Apollo, NASA concentrated its efforts on space shuttle missions to space stations. (A space shuttle is a 20


vehicle that transports people and cargo between Earth and space. A space station is a scientific research laboratory that orbits in space.) By 2004, U.S. shuttles had made several missions to the International Space Station (ISS; see entry), a space research endeavor that involves astronauts from nations throughout the world. Tragedy struck NASA two more times. In 1986, the shuttle Challenger (see entry) exploded shortly after launch, killing seven astronauts. In 2003, seven other astronauts died when the shuttle Columbia (see box in Challenger Crew entry) broke up over the western United States. Since Apollo 17, there have been no other flights to the Moon, either by the United States or any other nation. In 2003, however, China sent its first person into space (see Yang Liwei [1965–] entry) and announced plans to go to the Moon. In 2004, President George W. Bush (1946–; served 2001–) renewed the U.S. commitment to a continuation of the Moon exploration program in the near future.

For More Information Books Brooks, Courtney G., James M. Grimwood, and Loyd S. Swenson, Jr. Chariots for Apollo. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1979. Brubaker, Paul. Apollo 1 Tragedy: Fire in the Capsule. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2002. Carpenter, M. Scott, Virgil I. Grissom, and others. We Seven, by the Astronauts Themselves. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1962. DeAngelis, Gina. The Apollo 1 and Challenger Disasters. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2001. Greenberger, Robert. Gus Grissom: The Tragedy of Apollo 1. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2004.

Web Sites “Apollo 1 Fire.” AboutSpace.com. http://www.space.about.com/astronautbios/ a/apollo1 (accessed on May 28, 2004). “Apollo 1 Web site.” NASA. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ Apollo204/ (accessed on May 28, 2004).

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Neil Armstrong Born August 5, 1930 (Wapakoneta, Ohio) American astronaut

“[The Apollo 11 mission] was a culmination of the work of 300,000 to 400,000 people over a decade, and . . . the nation’s hopes and outward appearance largely rested on how the results came out.”

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n 1957, the former Soviet Union launched the first Sputnik satellite (an object that orbits in space) to study the atmosphere of Earth, sending shock waves through American society. Since the end of World War II (1939–45), the United States and the Soviet Union had been engaged in a period of hostile relations known as the Cold War (1945–91). Not only were the two powers involved in an arms race for military superiority, but they were also competing for dominance in space. The Sputnik satellites were therefore a sign that the Soviet Union was moving ahead in the Cold War. In 1958 the United States responded by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which combined U.S. space research agencies and established an astronaut training program. Then, in the early 1960s, President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63) made a pledge to put an American on the Moon by the end of the decade. On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong achieved that goal by stepping onto the surface of the Moon as millions of people throughout the world watched on television. Armstrong immediately became identified with human exploration of the Moon.

Neil Armstrong. (NASA)

Young pilot becomes war hero Neil Alden Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, on a farm near Wapakoneta, Ohio, the oldest of three children of Stephen Armstrong and Viola Engel Armstrong. Neil became fascinated with flying at an early age. Among his first memories was attending air races in Cleveland as a two-year-old with his father. Four years later he took his first airplane ride in the skies above his hometown. Pursuing his interest in flight throughout his childhood and teenage years, Armstrong subscribed to aviation magazines and built model airplanes. To test the durability of his models, he constructed a wind tunNeil Armstrong

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nel with a fan in the basement of the family home. When he was fourteen Armstrong decided he wanted to take flying lessons. The lessons were expensive—nine dollars an hour— so he got a job at a local drugstore to earn the money. Paid forty cents an hour, he swept floors and stacked boxes. He rode his bicycle 3 miles to the Wapak Flying Service to take lessons. Within a year he flew solo, then earned his pilot’s wings on his sixteenth birthday, even before he had gotten a driver’s license. A good student throughout his school years, Armstrong skipped first grade and did especially well in science and mathematics. He also enjoyed reading books on astronomy. While in high school he formed a small jazz band and played baritone horn; music continued to be his hobby during adulthood. Armstrong was active in Boy Scouts, and at age seventeen he became an Eagle Scout. After graduating from high school in 1947 he was awarded a U.S. Navy scholarship at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Majoring in aeronautical engineering, he joined the Naval Air Cadet program. Armstrong’s college studies were interrupted two years later when he was called to active duty at the beginning of the Korean War (1950–53). Trained to fly fighter jets at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida, the twenty-year-old was the youngest pilot in his squadron. During his service in Korea, Armstrong flew seventy-eight combat missions in F9F-2 fighter jets, winning three air medals. When the war was over he returned to Purdue and, in 1955, completed a degree in aeronautical engineering. After graduation he took a job with the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in Cleveland. In 1956 Armstrong married Janet Shearon, whom he had met at Purdue. The couple later had two sons, Mark and Eric; their daughter, Karen, died at age three.

Sets records as test pilot Armstrong soon transferred to the NACA High Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base in California, where he became a test pilot. He flew numerous experimental aircraft, including the B-29, a “drop plane” used for launching rocket-propelled planes. He also piloted the X-1B rocket plane, 24


The Astronaut and the Boy Scout When Neil Armstrong was a freshman in college, he became an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scout program. Years later, after he had gained fame as an astronaut hero, Armstrong helped another young Scout earn a merit badge. The Scout was Ken Drayton, who recalled the experience in an American Heritage magazine article in 1999. In 1973, four years after Armstrong’s walk on the Moon, Drayton was seventeen years old and living in Marietta, Ohio. He wanted to work on a space-exploration badge, which he needed to advance to Star rank in the Boy Scouts. This badge had only recently been added to the scouting program, so there were no counselors in Marietta who could help Drayton meet the requirements. After doing some research, he found that Armstrong was a professor of aeronautical engineering at the University of Cincinnati and lived on a farm near Lebanon, Ohio. Drayton decided to make

the 150-mile drive to Armstrong’s farm, hoping to meet the former astronaut and request his assistance. When Drayton arrived, he caught sight of Armstrong, who was dressed in jeans and a work shirt, remodeling the old farmhouse. Much to Drayton’s surprise, Armstrong was open to the idea of assisting with the badge. He outlined a list of items he wanted Drayton to complete for the space-exploration badge. An elated Drayton drove back home and set to work. After finishing the assignment, he waited anxiously for word from Armstrong. Finally, Armstrong sent a letter to Drayton’s scoutmaster, stating, “In my opinion, [Drayton] has completed all requirements satisfactorily.” On the thirtieth anniversary of Armstrong’s walk on the Moon, Drayton wrote his article to pay tribute to the “former Eagle Scout [who] took the time to help another Scout achieve a goal.”

a version of the first plane that had earlier broken the sound barrier (a sudden increase of air pressure on an airplane as it approaches the speed of sound). Armstrong was one of the first three NACA pilots to fly the X-15 rocket plane, an experimental spacecraft on which he made seven flights. Once, he set a record altitude of 207,500 feet (63,246 meters) and a speed of 3,989 miles (6,418 kilometers) per hour aboard the X-15. While at Edwards he was invited to join the NASA astronaut program, but he declined. He was now a civilian pilot (at that time all astronauts were in the military). Moreover, he believed the X-15, which had wings, had greater potential for space travel than the Mercury capsule (small pressurized compartment or vehicle) being used by NASA. His experience Neil Armstrong

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with the X-15 led to his assignment by NACA to test the Dynasoar, an experimental craft that could leave the atmosphere (the whole mass of air surrounding Earth), orbit Earth, reenter the atmosphere, and land like a conventional airplane. When it became apparent that the Dynasoar project was destined for cancellation, in 1962—the year American astronaut John Glenn (1921–; see entry) successfully orbited Earth—Armstrong decided to apply to the NASA program. Upon acceptance with the second group of U.S. astronauts, he became America‘s first civilian astronaut and began training on the Gemini mission in Houston, Texas. Four years later he made his first space flight as a command pilot: On March 16, 1966, Armstrong and his copilot, David Scott (1932–), were launched aboard Gemini 8 from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral) in Florida. Successfully entering orbit, they flew 105,000 miles (168,945 kilometers) and docked (connected) as planned with an unmanned orbiting spacecraft, the Agena. The docking of two orbiting spacecraft was a historic first. Armstrong’s job was to hook the nose of Gemini 8 onto a docking collar on the Agena. One-half hour after the linkup, however, the two vehicles started spinning out of control. Armstrong thought the Agena was causing the problem, so he disconnected the Gemini 8. But then the Gemini 8 began spinning wildly—one revolution per second—and lost contact with the ground control facility at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. The ground control crew thought Gemini 8 was lost in space. Armstrong then brought the spacecraft down in the Pacific Ocean, only 1.1 nautical miles (measurement of distance at sea; one nautical mile is equal to 6076 feet or 1852 meters) from the targeted landing point. Armstrong’s handling of the near disaster earned him a reputation as a brave, cool pilot.

Known for coolness under pressure Although Armstrong continued training on Gemini spacecraft, he did not fly another Gemini mission. In January 1969 he was named commander of the Apollo 11 mission, which was to be the first attempt to land a human on the Moon. Training in laboratories that simulated the Moon environment, Armstrong and his fellow astronauts studied Moon maps and practiced walking in their space suits, which were 26


Neil Armstrong and pilot David R. Scott in the Gemini 8 spacecraft after an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean. The landing came after a historic mission that docked two orbiting crafts in space. (AP/Wide World Photos)

sturdy enough to resist small meteoroids (a small meteor in orbit around the Sun). Risk could not be completely eliminated, but every possible precaution was taken. Once, during a routine training flight, Armstrong’s lunar landing research vehicle went out of control. (A lunar landing research vehicle permits astronauts to practice landing on the Moon.) Armstrong ejected himself and landed by parachute only yards away from the training vehicle, which had crashed in flames. Neil Armstrong

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He calmly walked away and made his report, again showing an ability to remain cool under pressure. On July 16, 1969, Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin (1930–; see entry) and Michael Collins (1930–) blasted off from Cape Kennedy aboard Apollo 11. The spacecraft consisted of three stages, or separate components—the Saturn 5 rocket (the booster that propelled the craft into space), the Eagle lunar module (the vehicle that would land on the Moon), and the Columbia command module (the craft that would remain in orbit during the Moon landing). Armstrong and his crew took with them small sections of the wing and propeller of the plane that aviation pioneers Orville (1871–1948) and Wilbur (1867–1912) Wright flew on their first successful flight in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On July 19, Saturn 5 entered lunar orbit and circled the Moon twice. The next day Armstrong and Aldrin transferred to the Eagle, which would later separate from the Columbia. Armstrong would be the commander, with Aldrin as the copilot, while Collins would pilot the Columbia. After about five hours of tests, the crafts separated successfully and the Eagle entered its own orbit. Within two hours Armstrong and Aldrin began the 300-mile descent toward the Moon. At that point the computer system suddenly became overloaded, but under continuous instructions from the mission control center in Houston, Texas, Armstrong continued the gradual touchdown. The targeted computer-guided landing site was in an area called the Sea of Tranquility. When Armstrong looked out the window, however, he saw a field of boulders looming in front of the Eagle. Realizing he would have to land without computer assistance, he quickly switched to manual control and searched for a new site. He guided the Eagle over the boulders to a smooth landing about 4 miles (6.44 kilometers) away, with only ten seconds of fuel left. At 4:17:40 P.M. EDT on July 20, 1969, people around the world heard Armstrong send an important radio message: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

Walks on the Moon Seven hours after touchdown, Armstrong and Aldrin opened the Eagle’s hatch. Climbing down a nine-step ladder at 10:56 P.M., Armstrong became the first human to set foot 28


Neil Armstrong stands near the lunar module Eagle during the historic Apollo 11 mission, the first manned mission to land on the moon. (NASA)

on the Moon. His words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” were transmitted around the world. (Later, he stated that he had intended to say, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”) Aldrin joined him shortly thereafter. Armstrong and Aldrin spent nearly twenty-one hours on the Moon. During this time they installed a television camera, conducted scientific experiments, took photographs, and collected rock and soil samples. They left an American flag, a mission patch, and medals commemorating American and Russian space explorers who had died in the line of duty. They also set up a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. We came in peace for all mankind.” The astronauts’ Moon walk was televised live on Earth, and President Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994; served 1969–74) made a telephone call to them from the White House. Neil Armstrong

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After returning to the Eagle, Armstrong and Aldrin rested for eight hours. Then they launched off the surface of the Moon and, two hours later, docked with the Columbia, in which Collins had been circling the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin unloaded their equipment onto Columbia and abandoned the Eagle. The Columbia set out for Earth on its thirtyfirst orbit of the Moon. Sixty hours later, at 12:50 PM EDT on July 24, the spacecraft splashed down in the sea some 950 miles (1,526 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii, only 2.7 miles (4.34 kilometers) from its destination point. The astronauts were picked up by Navy frogmen (divers) from the aircraft carrier Hornet. As the Hornet sailed for Hawaii, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins remained aboard for eighteen days of quarantine (isolated from others) to control any microorganisms they may have carried from the Moon. From Hawaii the astronauts were flown to Houston, where they received a heroes’ welcome. They were also honored in a parade in New York City, and they were greeted enthusiastically when they toured twenty-two foreign countries. They were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.

Gains worldwide fame Armstrong was regarded as a hero. He addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress on September 16, 1969, about his adventures on the Moon. In his hometown of Wapakoneta, the local airport and the street where his parents lived were named after him. A Neil Armstrong Museum was also built in the city. The Moon mission brought him numerous other honors, including the Harmon International Aviation Trophy, the Royal Geographic Society’s Hubbard Gold Medal, and praise and awards from many nations. He became a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the American Astronautical Society, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and he earned the Wright Award from the National Aeronautic Association. Apollo 11 was Armstrong’s final space mission. After the Moon voyage he joined the NASA Office of Advanced Research and Technology as deputy associate administrator for aeronautics. One of his main responsibilities was to conduct research into controlling high-performance aircraft by computer. In 1970 he earned a master’s degree in aerospace 30


Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment At the end of the twentieth century, scientists were still receiving results from the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment, which Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin started during the Apollo 11 mission. The experiment consists of four reflectors set in different locations on the surface of the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin positioned the first reflector, Apollo 14 and Apollo 15 astronauts placed the second and third, and a Russian lander installed the fourth. Resembling flat computer screens, the reflectors are composed of silica cubes attached to tilted aluminum panels. The cubes function as prisms that reflect laser beams sent from optical telescopes at observatories in Texas and France. The beams bounce back from the Moon to Earth within 2.3 to 2.6 seconds. Scientists then

multiply laser beam return time by the speed of light to calculate the distance between Earth and the Moon at a particular moment. The Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment has enabled astrophysicists to study the Moon’s orbit and movement. They have discovered, for instance, that the force of gravity has not changed with time. They have also measured the distance—239,000 miles (384,551 kilometers)—from the center of the Moon to the center of Earth, using this data to observe the effects of tides on the interaction between the Moon and Earth. In 1999 Jim Williams (1944–), a lunar ranging researcher at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, caused a stir when he announced that the Moon has a liquid core.

engineering from the University of Southern California. Armstrong left NASA the following year, moving back to Ohio with his family and settling on a dairy farm near the town of Lebanon. From 1971 until 1980 Armstrong was a professor of aeronautical engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He took special interest in the application of space technology to such challenges as improving medical devices and providing data on the environment. In 1978 Armstrong was among the first six astronauts who were awarded the congressional Space Medal of Honor. Since leaving NASA, Armstrong has served on the boards of directors of numerous corporations, and he chaired the board of trustees of the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. While he was on the board of Gates Learjet Corporation, in 1979, he piloted the company’s new business jet to five world-altitude records and time-to-climb records for that class of aircraft. In 1979 he also founded a computer systems firm. Neil Armstrong

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Armstrong accepted two further government appointments. In 1984 he was named to the National Commission on Space, which two years later completed a report outlining an ambitious future for American space programs. In 1986 Armstrong was appointed deputy chair of the Rogers Commission to investigate the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger (see entry). The commission’s work resulted in major changes in NASA’s management structure and safety practices.

Reflects on Moon mission An intensely private man, Armstrong rejected most opportunities to profit from his fame, and he was noted for his reluctance to speak publicly about his achievements. In 2001, however, he agreed to conduct a rare, seven-hour interview with two historians at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Details from the interview were reported a year later in an article in the Chicago Tribune newspaper. During the conversation, the historians noted that other astronauts have said Earth seems very fragile when viewed from space. Armstrong agreed: “And I think everybody shares that observation. And I don’t know why you have that impression, but it’s so small, it’s very colorful . . . you see an ocean and a gaseous layer, a little bit, just a tiny bit, of atmosphere around it. And, compared with all the other celestial objects—which, in many cases, are much more massive, more terrifying—it looks like it couldn’t put up a very good defense against a celestial onslaught.” When asked how he felt about being the first human to walk on the Moon, Armstrong responded with typical modesty. “I was certainly aware,” he said, “that this was a culmination of the work of 300,000 to 400,000 people over a decade, and that the nation’s hopes and outward appearance largely rested on how the results came out. With those pressures, it seemed the most important thing to do was focus on our job as best we were able to try to allow nothing to distract us from doing the very best job we could.” He attributed the low rate of equipment failure during the Moon mission “to the fact that every guy in the project, every guy at the bench building something, every assembler, every inspector, every guy that’s setting up the tests, cranking the torque wrench, and so on, is saying, man or woman, ‘If anything goes wrong here, 32


it’s not going to be my fault because my part is going to be better than I have to make it.’”

For More Information Books Armstrong, Neil, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin. The First Lunar Landing: 20th Anniversary. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989. Armstrong, Neil, Michael Collins, and Malcolm McConnell. First on the Moon. New York: Little, Brown, 1970. Chaikin, Andrew. A Man on the Moon: One Giant Leap. New York: TimeLife, 1999. Dunham, Montrew. Neil Armstrong: Young Pilot. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s, 1995.

Periodicals Drayton, Ken. “My Moon Shot.” American Heritage (July 1999): p. 26. Gaffney, Timothy R. “‘The Eagle Has Landed.’” Boys’ Life (July 1999): p. 18. Reardon, Patrick T. “A Quiet Hero Speaks: Neil Armstrong Finally Opens Up—A Little Bit.” Chicago Tribune (October 2, 2002).

Web Sites Lloyd, Robin. “Apollo 11 Experiment Still Returning Results.” CNN. July 21, 1999. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/21/apollo.experiment/ index.html (accessed on June 17, 2004). “Neil Armstrong.” Johnson Space Center, NASA. www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/ htmlbios/armstrong-na.html (accessed on July 9, 2004).

Neil Armstrong

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Guy Bluford Born November 22, 1942 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) American astronaut, engineer, pilot

“Flying in space is well worth the risks in order to help all of us improve our way of life.”

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n the 1950s and 1960s, the early years of the U.S. space program, all astronauts were white males (see Buzz Aldrin [1930–], Neil Armstrong [1930–], and John Glenn [1921–] entries). This situation changed during the late 1960s and 1970s when the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) recognized that many talented scientists were being overlooked by the astronaut training program. Consequently, NASA began opening the application process to minorities and women. Since then, astronauts from these groups have made contributions to space exploration (see Franklin Chang-Diaz [1950–], Mae Jemison [1956–], Shannon Lucid [1943–], Mercury 13, Ellen Ochoa [1958–], and Sally Ride [1951–] entries; also see box on page 37). Among them was Guy Bluford, an aerospace engineer who was one of the first African Americans in space and a pilot on four U.S. space shuttle missions. Bluford is frequently hailed as a pioneer, but he has rejected this label. He told an interviewer for the Philadelphia Inquirer that he was only one member of a hard-working team: “I felt an awesome responsibility,” he said, “and I took the responsibility very seriously, of being a role model and open-

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Guy Bluford. (NASA)

ing another door to black Americans. But the important thing is not that I am black, but that I did a good job as a scientist and an astronaut. There will be black astronauts flying in later missions . . . and they, too, will be people who excel, not simply who are black . . . who can ably represent their people, their communities, their country.”

Determination pays off Guion S. (Guy) Bluford Jr. was born in Philadelphia, one of three sons of Guion and Lolita Bluford. Nicknamed Guy Bluford

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“Bunny” as a child, he grew up in a well-educated family in a racially mixed neighborhood. His father, a mechanical engineer, was forced into early retirement by epilepsy (a neurological condition that causes seizures). His mother worked as a special-education teacher in the Philadelphia public schools. Lolita was also related to Carol Brice Carey, a noted singer and voice coach, and Guion Sr. was the brother of the editor of the Kansas City Call newspaper. During his school years Bluford preferred to spend his spare time building model airplanes and working crossword puzzles. Inspired by his father’s struggle with ill health, he was determined to become an aeronautics engineer. Although Bluford devoted himself to his studies at Overbrook, a mostly white high school, a guidance counselor once suggested that he might not be college material. Nevertheless, he maintained a C-plus average in difficult math and science courses before graduating in 1960. In 1960 Bluford was admitted to Pennsylvania State University, where he was the only black student in the engineering school. During his senior year he married Linda Tull, who had also grown up in Philadelphia. After graduating with a bachelor of science degree he enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) in the U.S. Air Force and attended flight school. He earned his pilot’s wings in 1966. By this time the United States had become deeply involved in the Vietnam War (1954–75; a conflict in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and rebel forces aided by North Vietnam). Bluford was assigned to active duty with the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Cam Ram Bay in Vietnam, where he eventually flew 144 combat missions, 65 of them over North Vietnam. During his one-year tour in Vietnam he earned numerous medals and citations, including an air force commendation medal. After returning home as a lieutenant colonel, he was a flight instructor and a test pilot at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas for five years.

“The cloak of prejudice was raised” A turning point in Bluford’s career came when he was chosen to be one of only a few candidates to attend the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), a graduate-education program, near Dayton, Ohio. In 1974 he received a master of science degree in aerospace engineering, and in 1978 he earned a doc36


Women and Minority Astronaut Firsts In the late 1960s and 1970s NASA opened the astronaut training program to women and minorities. The following astronauts from these groups achieved significant “firsts.” Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. (1935–1967) was the first African American to be selected for astronaut training. An air force officer and a test pilot, he was killed during a training flight in 1967. Had Lawrence lived, he probably would have traveled to space in a Gemini B spacecraft. Sally Ride (1951–) entered the astronaut program in 1978. Five years later she became the first American woman to fly in space, aboard the shuttle Challenger. Ellison S. Onizuka (1946–1986) was the first Asian American in space. Joining the astronaut corps in 1978, he was a mission specialist on the Discovery space shuttle in 1985. Onizuka died during his second shuttle mission, aboard the Challenger shuttle, which exploded shortly after takeoff in 1986.

California native Ellen Ochoa (1958–) became the first Latina in space in 1993, when she served as the sole female crew member of the Discovery space shuttle. She followed the first Latino astronaut, Mexico native Rodolfo Neri (1952–), who flew his first space shuttle mission in 1985. Mae Jemison (1956–) was the first African American woman to be admitted to the astronaut training program. Her eightday flight aboard the shuttle Endeavor in 1992 established her as the first female African American space traveler. John Bennett Herrington (1958–) made history as the first Native American to walk in space. The flight engineer on the shuttle Endeavor in 2002, he traveled to the International Space Station and installed equipment on the outside of the spacecraft. In honor of his Native American heritage, Herrington carried a Chickasaw Nation flag during the trip.

toral degree in aerospace engineering with a minor in laser physics. During his years at AFIT he ranked consistently among the top 10 percent of his class. He also continued to work as a test pilot and an instructor for military aviators. After receiving his doctorate Bluford applied to the space shuttle program. (A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.) As one of nearly eight thousand other military personnel competing for only thirtyfive openings, he assumed he had little chance of being accepted. He was therefore surprised when he received the call informing him that he was chosen for astronaut training. Guy Bluford

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Guy Bluford, the first African-American space flight member, and mission commander Richard Truly in their sleeping positions aboard the space shuttle Challenger. (© NASA/Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

Bluford quietly celebrated the news with his wife and two sons. He later told the Philadelphia Inquirer that it was an important moment: He and several other black aviators who are now astronauts “had to be ready in 1977 and 1978, when the doors of opportunity were opened to us and the cloak of prej38


udice was raised. As black scientists and engineers and aviators, we had to prove that black people could excel.” Bluford completed the training program and was named to the eighth mission of the space shuttle, aboard the Challenger. He was neither the first African American astronaut nor the first black man in space: Robert Lawrence (1935–1967) was the first African American astronaut (see box on page 37), and Cuban astronaut Arnaldo Tamayo-Méndez (1942–) had flown with the Soviet Union’s space program. Nevertheless, Bluford was the first African American to be a member of a space flight. After launching from Cape Canaveral in Florida on August 30, 1983, the Challenger crew conducted a variety of experiments during the week-long mission. Setting a record for the first nighttime shuttle launch and landing, the Challenger touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California on September 5. Upon returning to Earth, Bluford discovered that he was a national celebrity. He was greeted in a number of America’s biggest cities, especially Philadelphia, and was in great demand as a public speaker. Bluford accepted this role reluctantly, protesting that he was simply another member of the space shuttle team.

Involvement in space continues In 1986 the Challenger (see entry) exploded shortly after takeoff. Aboard the shuttle was Ronald E. McNair (1950–1986), the second black American in space. Only months earlier Bluford had completed a Challenger mission, yet the disaster did little to dampen his enthusiasm for space travel. In 1991 he participated in a Discovery flight that was launched to observe Earth’s atmosphere and such phenomena as the Northern Lights (aurora borealis; streamers or arcs of light that occur in polar regions) and cirrus (wispy white) clouds. Before retiring from NASA and the air force in 1993, Bluford clocked about 314 hours in space. Once asked by a Philadelphia Inquirer interviewer to describe how it feels to rocket into space, Bluford replied: “Imagine driving down the street, and you look out the window, and all you see are flames. And your car is being driven by remote control, and you’re saying to yourself, ‘I hope this thing doesn’t blow up.’” In 2003 he reflected on his career in a NASA Web site article. Guy Bluford

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Commenting on his role as one of the first African Americans in space, he said, “I wanted to set the standard, do the best job possible so that other people would be comfortable with African Americans flying in space and African Americans would be proud of being participants in the space program.” Bluford has retained his ties to the space program. In 1993 he became vice president and general manager of the engineering and computer software company NYMA, Inc., based in Cleveland, Ohio. Later renamed Logicon Federal Data Corporation (FDC), it was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 1997. Bluford was responsible for overseeing FDC’s programs related to aerospace engineering and research. He has also served on the board of directors of such organizations as the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Board of the Space Foundation. In 2001 Bluford became a speaker with The Space Agency, a public relations firm that represents former astronauts and space pioneers. The following year he was featured in a cameo role in the music video by Will Smith (1968–) for “Black Suits Comin’, Nod Ya Head,” from the Men in Black II movie soundtrack. Bluford has received numerous awards and honors, including two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, four NASA Space Flight Medals, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and the Air Force Legion of Merit. He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1997. On that occasion Bluford observed, “Flying in space is well worth the risks in order to help all of us improve our way of life.”

For More Information Books Beck, Isabel, et al. Guion Bluford: A Space Biography. New York: Harcourt, 2003. Haskins, James S. Space Challenger: The Story of Guion Bluford: An Authorized Biography. Minneapolis: Lerner, 1988.

Periodicals “Profiles in African American History: Guion Bluford Jr.” Time for Kids (February 14, 2003): p. 2.

Web Sites “Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr.” Military.com. http://www.military.com/Content/ MoreContent?file=ML_bluford_bkp (accessed on June 29, 2004). 40


“Guion ‘Guy’ Bluford—NASA Astronaut.” About Space/Astronomy. http://space.about.com/cs/formerastronauts/a/guionbluford.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Guy Bluford Remembered Twenty Years Later.” NASA. http://www. nasa.gov/news/highlights/Bluford_feature.html (accessed on June 29, 2004).

Guy Bluford

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Challenger Crew Date of mission January 28, 1986 American astronauts

“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye.” President Ronald Reagan

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n January 28, 1986, seven astronauts died in the midair explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger. (A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.) Other American astronauts have lost their lives—in 1967 the three crewmembers of Apollo 1 (see entry) were killed in an accident on the ground, and in 2003 the shuttle Columbia broke apart over the western United States, killing the entire crew (see box on page 44). The Challenger mission, however, was the first to come to a fatal end while a vehicle was in space. Mourned by the nation, the loss of the crew and the shuttle resulted in an official investigation that called for far-ranging reforms in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The Challenger crew The seven-person Challenger crew was commanded by Francis Scobee (1939–1986), and the pilot was Michael Smith (1945–1986). Mission specialists were Ellison Onizuka (1946– 1986), Ronald McNair (1950–1986), and Judith Resnick (1949– 1986), who were responsible for deploying satellites (objects 42

The Challenger shuttle crew. (AP/Wide World Photos)

that orbit in space) and conducting experiments. Payload specialist Gregory Jarvis (1944–1986) was in charge of a Tracking and Data-Relay Satellite (TDRS), and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe (1948–1986) was to be the first civilian in space.

Francis R. Scobee Commanding officer Francis R. Scobee was born in 1939 in Elum, Washington. The son of a railroad engineer, he grew up south of Seattle. At age eighteen, after graduating from Auburn High School, he enrolled in the U.S. Air Force. While working as an air force mechanic, he was able to attend night school and earn a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Arizona. He later became an air force pilot, flying thousands of hours in many different types of aircraft. He also flew missions in the Vietnam War. Scobee was selected as an astronaut in 1978. He had piloted the Challenger into space once before, in 1984, to retrieve and repair a damaged satellite. Challenger Crew

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The Columbia Accident On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart over the western United States while returning to Earth from a sixteen-day mission. All seven crew members were killed, as pieces of the descending craft fell from the sky. The day after the accident NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe (1956–) organized the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). On August 26 the CAIB issued a final report. The most immediate cause of the crash was a piece of insulating foam that had separated from the shuttle’s left wing during takeoff. This piece left a hole near a reinforced carbon panel. When the Columbia started on its descent to Earth, superheated air penetrated the hole and began melting the wing. Soon the spacecraft was becoming increasingly disabled, and as it entered the atmosphere over Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, the damaged wing caused it to spin completely out of control. Among the other CAIB findings was that the Columbia was not properly equipped for its final mission, a trip to the International Space Station (ISS; see entry). Built earlier than other existing shuttles—the Columbia was the first shuttle to leave Earth orbit— the vehicle had been used primarily for sci-

Debris from the space shuttle Columbia as it streaked across the sky over Texas. (AP/Wide World Photos)

entific missions and for servicing the Hubble Space Telescope (see entry). On the flight to the ISS it was required to carry larger cargo, which the crew had difficulty handling because the Columbia did not have a space station docking system. The CAIB report concluded that the Columbia accident was caused in large part by deficiencies within NASA and by a lack of government oversight.

Michael J. Smith The Challenger pilot, Michael J. Smith, was born in 1945 in Beaufort, North Carolina, and grew up on a fourteen-acre farm in that state. He attended Beaufort High School, where he was a quarterback on the football team and an honors stu44


dent. He began piloting an airplane while still a teenager. Smith attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and became a pilot. During the Vietnam War, he flew 225 combat missions. He was selected by NASA to become an astronaut in 1980, but he had never flown in space.

Ellison S. Onizuka Mission specialist Ellison S. Onizuka was born in 1946 in Kealakekua, Hawaii, and grew up on the Kona Coast of Hawaii. The grandson of Japanese immigrants, he was the first Hawaiian and first person of Japanese descent to fly in space. He was an honors student in high school and an Eagle Scout. He later attended the University of Colorado and received undergraduate and graduate degrees in aerospace engineering. After completing his education he spent eight years in the air force as a test pilot. He was selected to become an astronaut in 1978. In 1985 he rode aboard the space shuttle Discovery, performing various tasks such as the filming of Halley’s comet.

Ronald McNair Mission specialist Ronald McNair was born in 1950 in Lake City, South Carolina. He attended North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro and went on to earn a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After receiving his doctorate, he worked at Hughes Research Laboratories in California. In the late 1970s, NASA began looking for a new breed of astronaut, a “scientist-astronaut” whose background was in science training rather than test piloting. In 1977 McNair applied for admission to the space program as a scientistastronaut and was accepted to the program in 1978. In 1984 McNair became the second African American man in space (the first was Guy Bluford [1942–]; see entry). On that mission he flew aboard Challenger and helped to launch a communications satellite.

Judith A. Resnik Judith A. Resnik, the third mission specialist, was born in 1949 in Akron, Ohio. She attended Firestone High School in Akron, and excelled in mathematics and at playing the piano. She later attended Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland. After earning her doctorate, Resnik went Challenger Crew

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to work for Xerox Corporation. In 1978 she was selected from thousands of applicants as one of the first six female astronauts. (Also in that group was Sally Ride [1951–], the first American woman in space; see entry.) Resnik became the second American woman in space in 1984, when she rode aboard the shuttle Discovery. Her duties aboard that flight included operating the Discovery’s remote-control arm.

Gregory Jarvis Payload specialist Gregory Jarvis was born in 1944 in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Mohawk, New York. After graduating from Mohawk High School, he attended the State University of New York at Buffalo and received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He then earned a master’s degree in engineering from Northeastern University. Joining the U.S. Air Force in 1969, he became a specialist in tactical communications satellites. In 1973 he went to work for the Hughes Aircraft Corporation and continued to work on satellite design. The Columbia mission was Jarvis’s first trip in space.

Christa McAuliffe Christa McAuliffe was born on September 2, 1948, in Framingham, Massachusetts, the daughter of an accountant. She attended high school in Framingham and later graduated from Framingham State College in 1970. In the early 1970s McAuliffe and her husband moved to Washington, D.C., where she earned a master’s degree in education from Bowie State College while her husband earned a law degree. They later moved to Concord, New Hampshire, where she became a high-school social studies teacher. McAuliffe was selected from among eleven thousand applicants to be the first “Teacher in Space.” She was an instant media celebrity and promoted as a role model for American women.

Setbacks plague mission The Challenger crew was embarking on a routine mission when they entered the spacecraft at Cape Canaveral. By that time there had already been a series of setbacks. NASA had scrambled to meet an ambitious schedule for 1986: In January the space agency announced that it would launch fifteen missions, using all four of its shuttles—Columbia, Challenger, 46


Atlantis, and Discovery—during the next twelve months. The year did not get off to a good start. During the month of January, NASA had to postpone at least seven missions of various shuttles and to abort yet another. In the days that followed, everyone worked feverishly to prepare the Challenger for a January mission. Challenger had completed its ninth flight in November 1985, slightly more than two months earlier. NASA was under pressure because this mission would involve the much-publicized “Teacher in Space” program. McAuliffe would be broadcasting live satellite reports about space travel to students throughout the world. NASA was also launching the TDRS and the highpriority Spartan-Halley comet research observatory into space. The flight was scheduled to last six days, during which time the Spartan observatory would be recovered from orbit. Because of tight schedule requirements, the Spartan could be orbited no later than January 31. The Challenger launch was set for January 22, but it was delayed. Additional postponements followed on January 24 and January 25. Then a forecast of bad weather on the 26th held up the flight until Monday the 27th. On this date a further delay was caused by a problem with a hatch bolt. During the night of January 27, the temperature at Cape Canaveral dropped as low as 19°F (-7.2°C). This prompted a late-night meeting of NASA managers and engineers with managers from Morton Thiokol, the government contractor that manufactured the O-rings on the booster rockets. (A booster rocket is fired to propel the spacecraft into space. The booster rocket is built in sections and then strapped onto the shuttle. The rubber O-rings are required to seal the sections together.) The Thiokol engineers were concerned that the O-rings would stiffen in the cold, causing the seal to fail. Since the O-rings had never been tested at low temperatures, the Thiokol managers overruled the engineers. They signed a statement claiming that the boosters were safe for launch at a temperature lower than 53°F (11.6°C).

Commission investigates disaster Other problems arose on the morning of January 28 because a thin layer of ice had formed on the shuttle and the launch pad. Liftoff was delayed twice because officials at the Challenger Crew

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The space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (AP/Wide World Photos)

site were concerned about icicles potentially breaking off during launch and damaging insulation tiles that protected the shuttle from intense heat as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere. Inspection teams examined the Challenger and reported no abnormalities. Countdown proceeded, and at 11:38 A.M. the Challenger lifted off into the blue sky. After two explosions— the first at fifty-four seconds into launch and the second at seventy-three seconds—the shuttle disintegrated, vanishing in a trail of smoke as a crowd on the ground and millions of television viewers throughout the world watched in disbelief. Among the spectators on the ground were McAuliffe’s husband and two children and a group of her students. A few days after the disaster, President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004; served 1981–89) praised the Challenger crew during a televised memorial ceremony at the Johnson Space Cen48


ter in Houston, Texas. On February 3, 1986, he established a presidential commission to investigate the accident, appointing former secretary of state William B. Rogers (1913–2001) as head. Six weeks after the crash the shuttle’s crew module was recovered from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. The crew members were subsequently buried with full honors. There was considerable speculation about whether they had survived the initial explosion. Evidence gathered later by NASA indicated that they had survived the breakup and separation of the boosters from the shuttle. They had also begun to take emergency action inside the crew cabin. Whether all seven astronauts remained conscious throughout the two-minute, forty-five-second fall into the ocean remains unknown. NASA investigators determined that at least two were breathing from emergency air packs they had activated. On June 6, 1986, the Rogers Commission released a 256page report stating that the explosion was caused by destruction of the O-rings. After checking into the history and performance of the sealing system, the commission discovered that the O-rings had failed regularly, though only partially, on previous shuttle flights. Both NASA and Thiokol were concerned about weaknesses in the seals, but they had chosen not to undertake a time-consuming redesign of the system. They regarded O-ring erosion as an “acceptable risk” because the seal had never failed completely. But when the Challenger flew in the dead of winter, frigid temperatures made the O-rings so brittle that they never sealed the joint. Even before the shuttle had cleared the launch tower, hot gas was already seeping through the rings. Investigators blamed NASA and Thiokol management procedures for not allowing critical information to reach the right people. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology then conducted hearings on the matter. The committee determined that NASA and Thiokol had sufficient time to correct the O-ring problem, but the space agency and the manufacturer had sacrificed safety to meet flight schedules and cut costs.

NASA suffers setbacks The charges had a grave impact on NASA. Public confidence was shaken, and the astronaut corps was highly conChallenger Crew

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cerned. Astronauts had never been consulted or informed about the dangers posed by the O-ring sealing system. The Rogers Commission made nine recommendations to NASA, among them allowing astronauts and engineers a greater role in approving launches. The other recommendations included a complete redesign of the rocket booster joints, a review of astronaut escape systems, regulation of scheduling of shuttle flights to assure safety, and sweeping reform of the shuttle program management structure. Following these decisions, several top officials left NASA. A number of experienced astronauts also resigned as a result of disillusionment with NASA and frustration over the long redesign process that delayed their chances to fly in space. An American shuttle was not launched again until September 29, 1988. NASA eventually built the Endeavour to replace the Challenger, and it flew for the first time in 1992.

For More Information Books Lewis, Richard S. Challenger: The Final Voyage. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. McConnell, Malcolm. Challenger: A Major Malfunction. New York: Doubleday, 1987.

Periodicals “Looking for What Went Wrong.” Time (February 10, 1986): pp. 36–38. “NASA Faces Wide Probe.” U.S. News and World Report (February 17, 1986): pp. 18–19. “Out of Challenger’s Ashes—Full Speed Ahead.” U.S. News and World Report (February 10, 1986): pp. 16–19. “Seven Who Flew for All of Us.” Time (February 10, 1986): pp. 32–35. “What Happened?” Newsweek (February 17, 1986): pp. 32–33.

Web Sites “Information on the STS–51L/Challenger Accident.” NASA. http://www. hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sts51l.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Jan. 28, 1986: The Challenger Disaster.” http://www.chron.com/content/ interactive/special/challenger (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Space Shuttle Columbia and Her Crew.” NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/ columbia (accessed on June 29, 2004). 50


Franklin Chang-Díaz Born April 5, 1950 (San José, Costa Rica) Costa Rican-born American astronaut, physicist

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hile growing up in Costa Rica and Venezuela, Franklin R. Chang-Díaz dreamed of exploring space. He achieved his goal when he became an astronaut in the United States, eventually completing seven space shuttle missions in 2002 and tying the world record for the most trips in space. As the director of the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center, he conducts research on conquering the next space frontier: human flights to Mars. Chang-Díaz is a national hero in his native Costa Rica.

“Humans began exploring space the day they chose to walk out of their caves in search of food. Space exploration is nothing less than human survival.”

Inspired by “Atoms for Peace” Franklin R. Chang-Díaz was born on April 5, 1950, in San José, Costa Rica, the son of Maria Eugenia Díaz and Ramón Chang Morales, an oil worker of Costa Rican-Chinese descent. When Franklin was about one year old, the family moved to Venezuela. In 1957, while they were living in Venezuela, his mother told him about the launch of the Sputnik 1 Soviet satellite. The first man-made craft to orbit Earth, the satellite captured the imagination of six-year-old 51

Franklin Chang-Díaz. (NASA)

Franklin. Climbing a mango tree, he gazed at the sky for hours in search of Sputnik. By the time the family returned to Costa Rica, Chang-Díaz was already interested in science. When he was in grade school he had an experience that shaped his life. In 2003 he recalled this experience in a speech on rocket research that he gave to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy: “A traveling scientific exhibition, sponsored by the United States, was set up in a large inflatable dome at the national airport in San José,” Chang-Díaz told his audience. “It was entitled ‘Atoms for Peace’ and was sent throughout Latin Amer52


ica to inform and educate the public about atomic energy. The exhibition spent several days in the country and, while it was there, every day after school I delighted myself in examining the new universe of atomic particles, their magical and amazing power for converting their mass into energy.” An equally important event took place when Chang-Díaz was in high school and found a NASA brochure titled “Should You Be a Rocket Scientist?” It was written by Wernher von Braun (1912–1977; see entry), the leading rocket researcher of the time. The scientist was then living in the United States after an earlier career developing the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany. Chang-Díaz told the energy subcommittee members, “I immediately sent [von Braun] a letter with a resounding ’yes.’ The NASA form letter response . . . came months later and had a simple message: to pursue such a career I would have to come to the United States.” After completing high school in Costa Rica, Chang-Díaz decided to earn some money so he could travel to the United States and attend college. Taking a job at the National Bank of Costa Rica, he saved fifty dollars in eight weeks. Chang-Díaz moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where he lived with an uncle and cousins. He spoke no English, however, and he lacked sufficient academic credits to enter an American university. In order to learn English he enrolled in transitional classes as a senior at Hartford High School. ChangDíaz impressed his teachers with his performance in mathematics and science, so they urged him to apply for a scholarship at the University of Connecticut. Admissions officials granted the scholarship because they thought ChangDíaz was from Puerto Rico and therefore a U.S. citizen. Upon learning that he was from Costa Rica, they withdrew the offer. Finally his Hartford teachers persuaded the university to accept him. Chang-Díaz entered the University of Connecticut in 1969 and obtained a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering four years later. In 1977 he earned a doctorate in plasma physics (science that deals with the structure and interaction of plasma, a collection of charged particles that resembles some gases) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He immediately applied to the NASA astronaut program, but he was not accepted. Chang-Díaz then Franklin Chang-Díaz

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joined the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, where he conducted research on a fusion reactor (a device that converts the nucleus of an atom to usable energy) technology. During this time he married his first wife, the former Canoce Buker; after their divorce, he later married Peggy Doncaster. He is the father of four children.

Ties space-flight record In 1980 Chang-Díaz reapplied to the astronaut corps and was accepted as one of only nineteen candidates from three thousand applicants. During his astronaut training he worked at the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, and he contributed to early design studies for the International Space Station (ISS; see entry). (A space station is a large artificial satellite, or a body that orbits in space; it is designed to be occupied for long periods and to serve as a base for conducting research. The International Space Station, completed in 1998, is used by various nations for research.) In 1982 he was named to the support crew (astronauts who assist the pilot and copilot) for the first Space Lab mission (a research laboratory in space). He went on to fly seven space shuttle missions between 1986 and 2002. (A space shuttle, also called a shuttle orbiter, is a space plane that transports cargo and passengers between Earth and space. NASA has operated five space shuttles: Discovery, Challenger, Columbia, Atlantis, and Endeavour. Enterprise was the first shuttle to be built; however, it never went into orbit and was used primarily for “captured flights” involving takeoff and re-entry exercises.) Chang-Díaz’s first flight, in 1986, was a six-day mission aboard the Columbia. The space shuttle completed ninety-six orbits of Earth and launched the SATCOM KU (a satellite used to make observations pertaining to astronomy, the ionosphere [the part of Earth’s atmosphere in which radiation waves are converted into ions, or positive and negative electrons], Earth’s atmosphere, the Sun, and other scientific areas). His next flight was in 1989 on the space shuttle Atlantis. He and fellow crewmembers deployed (launched in space) the Galileo, an unmanned satellite programmed to explore the planet Jupiter. Completing seventy-nine orbits, the Atlantis crew also operated the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument, which mapped ozone (a gas that produces air 54


The space shuttle Discovery, on which Franklin Chang-Díaz served during the first joint U.S.-Russian space program. (© Corbis)

pollution) in Earth’s atmosphere. Again aboard the Atlantis, Chang-Díaz helped to launch the European Retrievable Carrier satellite and test the first Tethered Satellite System. (The European Retrievable Carrier satellite contained experiments for studying microgravity [the virtual absence of gravity], the Sun, and matter. The Tethered Satellite System consists of a small satellite attached to the space shuttle with a tether, or connecting cable; it is a tool for research in space plasma physics.) Lasting eight days in 1992, this mission involved 126 orbits of Earth. Chang-Díaz’s fourth mission, in 1994, was on the space shuttle Discovery, which completed 130 orbits of Earth. The first joint U.S.-Russian space shuttle mission to include a Russian cosmonaut (astronaut) as a crew member, it was also the first flight of the Wake Shield Facility (a disc-shaped Franklin Chang-Díaz

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Franklin Chang-Díaz on one of three spacewalks during his recordsetting mission to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. (AP/Wide World Photos)

platform for the development of space-based manufacturing of film materials) and the second flight of the Space Habitation Module-2 (Spacelab 2; used to carry equipment for the International Space Station). During the mission Chang-Díaz participated in several experiments involving biological materials, Earth observation, and life science. His next flight was aboard the Columbia, which completed 252 orbits of Earth in 1996. On this fifteen-day mission the shuttle crew conducted additional Tethered Satellite System experiments. In addition, they conducted research with the U.S. Microgravity Payload, which provided information that helps improve the production of medicines, metal alloys (combinations of metals), and semiconductors (solids that act both as conductors and as insulators of electrical energy). 56


In 1998 Chang-Díaz flew on the Discovery. It was the ninth and final mission for the U.S. space shuttle and the Russian space station Mir in the first phase of the joint U.S.-Russian space shuttle program. Chang-Díaz and other Discovery crewmembers brought supplies and equipment to Mir. They also ran experiments on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, the first research project of its kind on antimatter (matter composed of subatomic particles) in space. Chang-Díaz took his seventh flight, on the Endeavor, in June 2002. He tied a record for the number of space flights set by U.S. astronaut Jerry Ross (1948–; see box on this page) the previous month. During the twelve-day mission, Chang-Díaz participated in three space walks.

Conducts pioneering research

Jerry Lynn Ross In June 2002 Franklin R. Chang-Díaz tied the world record of seven space flights set by U.S. astronaut Jerry Lynn Ross (1948–) the previous month. Ross is a Crown Point, Indiana, native and Purdue University graduate who joined the astronaut corps in 1980. From 1985 through 2002 he flew seven missions aboard the space shuttles Atlantis, Columbia, and Endeavor. During an Atlantis flight in 1991 he helped deploy the 35,000-pound Gamma Ray Observatory (an orbiting telescope that observes highenergy radiation) and to test prototype space station Freedom hardware. In 1993 he flew aboard the Columbia on a German-sponsored Space Lab mission. Ross and the crew conducted nearly ninety experiments in areas such as physics, robotics, astronomy, and Earth and its atmosphere. Two years later he flew on the Atlantis during the second U.S. space shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian space station Mir. In 1998 Ross was involved in assembling the International Space Station. By 2002 he had spent 58 days in space.

In 1993, at the height of his astronaut career, Chang-Díaz was appointed director of the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He supervises research on plasma rocket engines. Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory research could lead to technology that would significantly reduce the amount of time required to travel from Earth to Mars. Rockets using chemical-based propulsion can achieve a speed of only ten thousand miles per hour. At this rate, a trip to Mars would take at least ten months each way. Higher rocket speeds could be reached if a spacecraft’s propellant (the substance used to power the craft into space) were superheated, but the extreme heat would melt the rocket. After more than twenty years of research and experimentation, Chang-Díaz may have found a solution—the variable specific impulse magnetic resonance Franklin Chang-Díaz

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(VASIMR) propulsion system. Chang-Díaz and his team discovered that the VASIMR prevents a rocket from melting by using magnetic fields (portions of space where magnetic forces can be detected) to contain and guide propellant gases. The VASIMR can be compared the process to that of a microwave oven. With a VASIMR engine, rockets could achieve speeds of 650,000 miles (1,045,850 kilometers) per hour. At the same time, VASIMR’s superior fuel efficiency would significantly reduce the weight of the spacecraft and decrease the high cost of space missions. Chang-Díaz calculated that a VASIMRpowered mission to Mars, including one spacecraft for astronauts and another for supplies, would weigh only about four hundred tons (362.8 metric tons), half the weight of an earlier spacecraft design for a Mars mission. VASIMR technology could cut the time of a mission from Earth to Mars from ten months to only ninety-three days. Chang-Díaz has predicted that the VASIMR could be ready for a Mars flight in 2018. This achievement would fulfill the dream of Robert Goddard (1882–1945; see entry), the American physicist who launched the first liquid-propellant rocket in 1926. Goddard’s inspiration for conducting his rocket experiments was sending a person to Mars. Chang-Díaz works in other areas of space-related research as well. He travels widely in the United States, Mexico, and Latin America, speaking on the importance of sharing spaceage technologies with developing nations. In 1991, while visiting Costa Rica, he became interested in finding a cure for Chagas’s disease. It is caused by a parasite (an organism that lives within another organism) called Trypanosoma and kills some 45,000 people a year, mostly in Latin America. Because the microgravity (virtual absence of gravity) of space creates ideal conditions for the production of crystals (the basic structure of some drugs), Chang-Díaz theorized that the space shuttle could become an important laboratory for studying Chagas’s disease. On the Columbia flight in 1996 he and NASA biochemist Lawrence J. DeLucas (1950–) started a study of proteins (complex substances in plants and animals) made by the Chagas parasite, but they did not have time to complete the experiment. Astronauts on four later flights, however, made crystal forms of an enzyme (a complex protein that produces a chemical reaction in the body) produced in the disease and 58


researched compounds that could be used in treatment. Chang-Díaz predicted that the Chagas project could lead to other innovations, such as new agricultural techniques based on study of the interconnection of rain forests (tropical woodlands with rainfall of at least 100 inches annually), biodiversity (an environment that contains numerous plants and animals), and space. Chang-Díaz has been active in community service throughout his career. In 1987 he founded the Astronaut Science Colloquium Program to build closer relationships between astronauts and scientists. The following year he helped organize the Astronaut Science Support Group to utilize the expertise of astronauts who have flown space shuttle missions. The group advised the National Space Transportation System and the Space Station programs on science and technology issues. For two and one-half years he was a house manager in an experimental residence for people with severe mental illness who were being released from institutionalized care. He has also been an instructor and advisor in a Massachusetts rehabilitation program for Hispanic drug abusers.

Promotes space education Along with fellow team members at the Johnson Research Center, Chang-Díaz introduced a space-education program at Odyssey Academy, a predominantly Hispanic middle school in Galveston, Texas. Twenty students from the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades were chosen for participation in eleven weeks of classes on plasma rockets. Each class was taught by two members of the team. As Chang-Díaz reported to the House Subcommittee on Energy in 2003, the project was so successful that the Johnson Space Center is planning to expand the program to other schools in the area. A strong advocate of space education for the younger generation, Chang-Díaz closed his statement with these words: “Humans began exploring space the day they chose to walk out of their caves in search of food. Space exploration is nothing less than human survival. You probably have heard us say that the first human being to set foot on Mars is alive now somewhere on planet Earth, a young girl or boy sitting in one of our classrooms at this very moment. Will they be discouraged or encouraged by their elders? I was blessed with the best Franklin Chang-Díaz

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parents anyone could ever have and perhaps fortunate to find a traveling display on atomic power and a NASA brochure on rocket science to keep nudging me on.” The recipient of numerous honors and awards—including two NASA Distinguished Service Medals (1995, 1997), the Liberty Medal (1986), and the Medal of Excellence from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (1987) in the United States— Chang-Díaz was named “Honorary Citizen” by the government of Costa Rica in 1995. This is the highest award given by Costa Rica to a foreign citizen, and since the astronaut came from that country he became the first honoree who was born there. In addition to his work at Johnson Space Center, Chang-Díaz is a part-time professor of physics at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and the University of Houston. He has also presented papers at technical conferences and published articles in scientific journals.

For More Information Periodicals “2000 Hispanic Achievement Award.” Hispanic Magazine (July 2000): p. 80. Chang, Kenneth. “Novel rockets speed dreams of sending people to Mars.” The New York Times (June 20, 2000): p. D5. Eng, Dinah. “From Jungle to Space in Pursuit of New Drugs.” The New York Times (November 28, 2000): p. F8.

Web Sites “Astronaut Statistics.” Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix. com/articles/aststics.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Franklin Chang-Díaz (Astronaut).” infoCostaRica.com. http://www.infocostarica.com/people/franklin.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Jerry Lynn Ross.” Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix. com/astros/ross.htm (accessed on June 30, 2004). “Statement of Franklin Chang-Díaz before the Subcommittee on Energy, Committee on Science, House of Representatives.” House Committee on Science. http://www.house.gov/science/hearings/energy03/dec04/ changdiaz.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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Yuri Gagarin Born March 9, 1934 (Klushino, Russia) Died March 27, 1968 (Near Moscow, Russia) Russian cosmonaut

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n 1957 the former Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made space satellite (an object that orbits in space). Four years later, on April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut (astronaut) Yuri Gagarin made a successful orbit of Earth aboard the spacecraft Vostok. As the first human to fly in space, Gagarin represented a technical triumph for the Soviet Union. Since the end of World War II (1939–45) the Soviet Union had been engaged in the Cold War (1945–91), a period of hostile relations, with the United States. The two world powers were not only competing for military superiority but also racing to be the first to explore space. Gagarin’s achievement, therefore, signaled that the Soviet Union was moving ahead in the Cold War. Although Gagarin did not make another space flight, he remained a national hero and a leader in Russia’s cosmonaut training program. His death during a training mission in 1968 was mourned throughout the Soviet Union.

“He invited us all into space.” Neil Armstrong, Aviation Week and Space Technology

Prepares for aviation career Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934, the third of four children of Aleksey Ivanovich and Anna Gagarin. 61

Yuri Gagarin. (Getty Images)

The family lived on a collective farm in Klushino, Russia, where his father was a carpenter and his mother was a dairymaid. Gagarin grew up helping them with their work. Lacking extensive formal education themselves, his parents encouraged him to stay in school in the nearby town of Gzhatsk. Gagarin’s education was interrupted in 1941, however, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union during World War II. German troops evicted the Gagarins from their home, forcing them to live in a dug-out shelter. When the Germans retreated they took two of Gagarin’s sisters with them as slave laborers. The sisters were able to return home after the war. 62


When the war was over, Gagarin completed school in Gzhatsk and moved to a suburb of Moscow to work in a steel factory. Apprenticing as a foundryman (a skilled steel worker), he attended a vocational college in Moscow. After a year he was accepted into a technical college in the town of Saratov. Prior to graduation in 1955 he began attending night courses in aviation at a nearby flying school, where he took his first airplane ride and made a parachute jump. This introduction to flying, Gagarin later wrote in Road to the Stars, “gave meaning to [his] whole life.” He graduated from college with honors and also earned a diploma from the aviation school. The following summer he went to an aviation camp and learned how to fly. Gagarin was then accepted at the Orenburg Flight Training School, graduating two years later. In the town of Orenburg, Gagarin met Valentina Ivanova Goryacheva, a nursing student and his future wife. After graduation he joined the Soviet Air Force and volunteered for a difficult assignment in the Russian Arctic while Valentina finished nurse’s training in Moscow. Yuri and Valentina were married in 1957; they later had two children, a daughter and a son. In 1958 Gagarin joined the Communist Party, the political organization that controlled Soviet government and society. Since the first Sputnik flight the previous year, Gagarin had been closely following news of other Sputnik launches. He knew that manned space flights would be the next challenge, so he volunteered for the secret cosmonaut training program in 1959. The following year, just before his twenty-sixth birthday, he completed physical examinations and testing. After being accepted as a member of the first group of twelve cosmonauts, he could not tell even his wife that he was training to go into space. Finally, in 1961, he was allowed to reveal the truth when his family was settled into the new spaceprogram complex called Zvezdniy Gorodok (Star Town), 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Moscow.

Pioneers human space flight By the time Gagarin entered the cosmonaut program, the Soviets had been preparing for the first manned space flight for a year. In May 1960 they launched a series of Vostok test rockets. (“Vostok” is the Russian word for east.) Although the first two rockets failed, the third launched two dogs into space Yuri Gagarin

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Laika: First Animal in Space In 1961Yuri Gagarin made history as the first human to travel in space. The distinction of being the first living creature to orbit in space, however, is held by a Russian dog named Laika (Barker). A perky three-year-old mixed breed with pointy ears, Laika was launched from Earth on November 3, 1957, aboard Sputnik 2. Wearing a special harness, she traveled in a padded capsule equipped with life-support instruments. Electrodes had been attached to her body before takeoff so her reactions could be monitored by the ground control crew. Even though she was weightless during the flight, Laika was able to eat food and drink water. She also barked, and she could move around within the confines of her harness. Sputnik 2 circled Earth for 163 days, completing 2,370 orbits. Laika was not alive when the spacecraft touched down on April 15, 1958. Soviet officials never released details of the flight, so it is not known how long she lived—estimates range from twenty-four hours to one week—or how she died. According to some theories, she was deliberately poisoned or gassed to prevent

Laika, the dog inside Sputnik 2. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

her from suffering, but Russian scientists believe she died from extreme heat the day after the launch. In 1997 a plaque was placed at the Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine at Star City, in honor of Laika and other animals used for space experimentation. Laika’s image has also appeared on postage stamps issued by many countries around the world.

and brought them safely back to Earth. The program was shut down for three months, however, after two rockets crashed with dogs on board in December 1960. The Vostok was then redesigned. After Sputnik 9 and Sputnik 10 were successfully launched in March 1961, the Soviets decided to go ahead with a Vostok manned flight. The final phase of the rocket was secretly assembled at the space center in Tyuratam in Kazakhstan, which was then a republic of the Soviet Union. 64


On April 8, 1961, Gagarin was selected to be the first human to go into space. Gherman Titov (1935–2000) was named as his backup, or the person who would take Gagarin’s place if necessary. Two days later plans were finalized for a launch on April 12. At 5:00 A.M. on April 11 Vostok was towed to the launch pad, and at 1:00 P.M. Gagarin was driven to the site, accompanied by Sergei Korolev (1907–1966), the chief architect of the Soviet space program. After Gagarin was presented to the workers who had assembled the rocket, he and Korolev made final preparations for the launch. Gagarin and Titov were awakened at 5:30 A.M. on April 12. Sensors were attached to their bodies to monitor pulse, blood pressure, and other functions. Two hours later Gagarin boarded Vostok, then waited ninety minutes for the final countdown. The spacecraft blasted off at 9:07 A.M., reaching a maximum pressure of six g’s (six times the weight of gravity) in nine minutes. At 10:00 A.M. the manned Vostok mission was announced on Moscow radio. Vostok was operated by a ground control crew. In the event of a malfunction, Gagarin would use a secret code that would allow him to operate the controls manually. Vostok reached an altitude of 327 kilometers and the flight proceeded smoothly. Gagarin was therefore free to make observations of Earth and to record his own reactions to being weightless. He proved that people can perform physical tasks, eat food, and drink liquids in space. Gagarin frequently commenting on the beauty of Earth from space—he was the first human to observe that Earth has a spherical shape. He also reported that weightlessness was a pleasant feeling. During the 108-minute flight Vostok made nearly one complete orbit of Earth. At 10:25 A.M., while passing over West Africa, the spacecraft reentered Earth’s atmosphere. At an altitude of 26,247 feet (8,000 meters) the hatch of Vostok blew off and Gagarin parachuted to Earth, landing safely near the village of Smelovka in Russia.

Hailed as a hero Although ejecting from a spacecraft was standard procedure for Vostok pilots, Soviet officials reported that Gagarin had remained aboard all the way to the ground. This was required for international certification of the Vostok flight as a record. Gagarin never revealed the truth, and for many Yuri Gagarin

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Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space when he flew inside the Vostok, pictured here. (© Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

decades the Soviets concealed the actual facts of the landing. On April 14 Gagarin was presented to the public in Moscow as a hero. Greeted by Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971), the leader of the Soviet Union, he appeared before an enormous crowd. Gagarin’s mother and father also came from their village to greet him. The event was broadcast live throughout the world—another technological first. Gagarin was instantly promoted to the rank of major and he made appearances around the world. In addition to being named a Hero of the Soviet Union and a Hero of Socialist Labor, he became an honorary citizen of fourteen cities in six countries. He received the Tsiolkovsky Gold Medal of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the Gold Medal of the British Interplanetary Society, and two awards from the International Aeronautical Federation. Gagarin became commander of the 66


cosmonaut team. In 1964 he was made deputy director of the cosmonaut training center at the space program headquarters complex, where he oversaw the selection and training of the first women cosmonauts. He served as capsule communicator (the link between cosmonauts and ground controllers) for four later space flights in the Vostok and Voskhod programs. He also held various political posts.

Dies in training crash Gagarin always wanted to venture back into space. In 1966 he was returned to active status to serve as back-up cosmonaut for Vladimir Komarov (1927–1967) in the first flight of the new Soyuz spacecraft. Soyuz 1 was launched on April 23, 1967, but Komarov died as the result of a parachute malfunction on reentry. Gagarin was then assigned to command the upcoming Soyuz 3, but he would not fly the mission. On March 27, 1968, he took off for a routine proficiency flight in a two-seat MiG-15 training jet with his flight instructor. (A MiG jet is a Russian-made jet fighter designed to fly at an altitude of 80,000 feet [24,384 meters] and three times the speed of sound.) During low-level maneuvers with two other jets, Gagarin’s plane crossed close behind another jet and was caught in its wind path. He lost control and the jet crashed into the tundra at high speed, instantly killing both Gagarin and the instructor. Gagarin was given a hero’s funeral. At the time it was said that his ashes were buried in the wall of the Kremlin (the Soviet capitol building in Moscow). In 1984 it was revealed that his body was never found. The cosmonaut training center was renamed in Gagarin’s honor, as were his former hometown, a space tracking ship, and a lunar crater. His office at the center was preserved as a museum, and a huge statue of him was erected in Moscow. His book Survival in Space was published after his death. Written with space-program physician Vladimir Lebedev, the work outlines Gagarin’s views on the problems and requirements for successful long-term space flights. On April 12, 1991, thirty years after Gagarin’s flight, his cosmonaut successors, along with eighteen American astronauts, gathered in Russia to salute his achievements. Yuri Gagarin

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For More Information Books Gagarin, Yuri. Road to the Stars. Translated by G. Hanna and D. Myshne. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1962. Gagarin, Yuri, and Vladimir Lebedev. Psychology and Space. Translated by Boris Belitsky. Moscow: Mir Publishers, 1970. Gagarin, Yuri, and Vladimir Lebedev. Survival in Space. Translated by Gabriella Azrael. New York: Bantam Books, 1969. Oberg, James E. Red Star in Orbit. New York: Random House, 1981.

Periodicals Oberg, James E. Aviation Week and Space Technology (April 8, 1991): p. 7.

Web Sites Memorial to Laika. http://www.novareinna.com/bridge/laika.html (accessed on June 30, 2004). “Yuri Gagarin.” Guardian Unlimited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/netnotes/ article/0,6729,470879,00.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Yuri Gagarin.” Starchild. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/ whos_who_level1/gagarin.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). The Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center. http://howe.iki.rssi.ru/ GCTC/gctc_e.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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John Glenn Born July 18, 1921 (Cambridge, Ohio) American astronaut, senator, businessman

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ohn Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth. He achieved this feat in 1962, at a time when the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a space race. Five years earlier the Soviets had stunned the world by launching unmanned Sputnik space satellites (objects that orbit in space). Then, in 1961, Soviet cosmonaut (astronaut) Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968; see entry) became the first human to orbit Earth. The ultimate goal for both the United States and the Soviet Union was to land a person on the Moon, so Gagarin’s flight had clearly pulled the Soviet Union ahead in the race. Yet Glenn’s three complete orbits paved the way for the U.S. victory scored by Neil Armstrong (1930–; see entry) and Buzz Aldrin (1930–; see entry) when, in 1969, they became the first humans to walk on the Moon. In 1998 Glenn made history again as the oldest American to travel in space. During his long career he has also been a U.S. senator and a successful businessman.

“I say you should live life based on how you feel and not by the calendar.”

Pilots war planes John Herschel Glenn Jr. was born on July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio. His parents, John Herschel Glenn, a plumb69

John Glenn. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

ing contractor, and Clara Sproat Glenn, had two other children who died in infancy. The Glenns later adopted a daughter, Jean. Glenn grew up in nearby New Concord, where he attended high school. A serious student, he earned top grades and he excelled in athletics. After graduating in 1939 he entered Muskingum College in New Concord to study chemical engineering. His high school sweetheart, Anna (Annie) Castor, also attended the college. When the United States entered World War II (1939–45) in 1941, Glenn enrolled in a civilian pilot training program and learned to fly aircraft. He then left college to enter the naval aviation cadet program, graduating 70


in March 1943 with a commission in the Marine Corps Reserve. The following April, before he went on to advanced training and combat duty, he and Annie were married. The couple later had two children, John David and Carolyn Ann. Glenn was assigned to squadron VMO-155, which was based on Majuro in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. During the war he flew F4U Corsair fighter-bombers on fiftynine missions. When the war ended in 1945, Glenn remained in the marine reserves as a fighter pilot and then as a flight instructor. Promoted to captain the following year, he entered the regular marine corps. In 1952 he was assigned to combat duty as a pilot in the Korean War (1950–53). Initially he flew ground-support missions, often returning in planes riddled with bullet holes and shrapnel (shell-fragment) holes. Just before the end of the war, Glenn transferred to a U.S. Air Force squadron through an exchange program. Flying F-86 Sabre jets, he shot down three North Korean MiG fighters (Russianmade jet fighters designed to fly at an altitude of 80,000 feet [24,384 meters] and three times the speed of sound) in nine days. He flew a total of ninety missions and was promoted to the rank of major in 1953. During his service in the wars he was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and numerous other medals. Upon returning from Korea, Glenn entered the Patuxent River naval test pilot school in Maryland. After graduation he spent two years evaluating new aircraft. He then moved to the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington, D.C., where he continued to oversee development of new fighters, including the F8U Crusader. Glenn made this plane famous in Project Bullet, an effort to break the non-stop transcontinental supersonic flight record, refueling in midair three times. On July 16, 1957, he flew a Crusader from Los Angeles to New York in three hours and twenty-three minutes, earning a fifth Distinguished Flying Cross.

Orbits Earth In 1958, in response to Soviet progress in space exploration, the United States created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This new government agency integrated U.S. space research agencies and established Project Mercury, an astronaut training program. The goal of Project John Glenn

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Mercury was to place a human in orbit around Earth. When Glenn learned about the astronaut program, he immediately began to prepare for application. He began to strengthen his qualifications by improving his physical condition and volunteering for centrifuge tests and other research projects. He also took courses at the University of Maryland to work on his college degree. (Glenn received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Muskingum College in Ohio in 1962, after he had flown in space.) In April 1959 Glenn, now a lieutenant colonel, was selected as one of America’s seven Mercury astronauts. Glenn was involved in designing the cockpit layout and the control instruments for the Mercury space capsule. He became the unofficial spokesperson for the Mercury team, so he was disappointed when fellow astronaut Alan Shepard (1923–1998; see box on page 74) was chosen to make the first U.S. spaceflight. It took place in 1961, shortly followed by a second flight piloted by Virgil “Gus” Grissom (1926–1967). Like Shepard, Grissom made a suborbital flight (a flight lasting less than one orbit) in the Mercury craft, which was launched by a Redstone rocket. Glenn was back-up pilot (one who will take the place of the command pilot if necessary) for both Shepard and Grissom. These efforts were overshadowed by Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin’s successful orbit around Earth. Under pressure to match the Russian feat as soon as possible, NASA chose Glenn to make the first U.S. Earth orbit, officially known as Mercury-Atlas 6. The launch of Glenn’s space capsule, the Friendship 7, was postponed several times by unsuitable weather and technical problems. It finally roared into orbit on February 20, 1962, from Cape Canaveral (renamed Cape Kennedy after President John F. Kennedy’s assasination in 1963) in Florida. Glenn performed many experiments, constantly giving observations and physiological reports to NASA ground controllers in Houston, Texas. Among the experiments was pulling on an elastic cord to determine the effects of physical work in weightlessness. Unlike the secrecy surrounding the Soviet space program, Glenn’s flight received extensive publicity. One incident not revealed at the time, however, was that the ground control crew had received a signal that the heat shield might not be secured to the Friendship 7. The heat shield is a panel that protects the 72


John Glenn next to the Mercury-Atlas 6 spacecraft known as Friendship 7. On February 20, 1962, Glenn orbited Earth in Friendship 7, becoming the first American to complete a full orbit. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

capsule from intense heat produced by flames from the rockets that propel the craft into space and back to Earth. The heat shield was therefore vital for Glenn’s safe reentry to Earth’s atmosphere. John Glenn

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First American in Space On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard became the first American in space. He piloted the Mercury space capsule 115 miles (185 kilometers) above Earth’s surface and 302 miles (486 kilometers) across the Atlantic Ocean. Although the trip lasted for only about fifteen minutes, his journey was almost technically perfect, paving the way for many more flights by U.S. astronauts. In 1963 Shepard was diagnosed as having Ménière’s syndrome, a disease of the inner ear. NASA removed him from active flight duty and reassigned him to the NASA center in Houston, Texas, where he became chief of the astronaut office. In 1968 Shepard underwent a successful operation in which a small drain tube was implanted in his inner ear. He then applied for readmission to active duty, and the following year NASA chose him to command the Apollo 14 flight to the Moon. On January 31, 1971, Apollo 14 blasted off from Cape Kennedy (Cape Canaveral), nearly ten years after Shepard’s first space flight. Five days later Shepard and fellow astronaut Edgar Mitchell (1930–) landed on the Moon‘s surface. From their lunar module, the two astronauts stepped out into the Fra Mauro Highlands as the world watched on television. (The Fra Mauro Highlands are a widespread hilly geological area covering large portions of the lunar surface, with an eighty-kilometer-diameter crater, the Fra Mauro crater, located within it. The Fra

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Alan Shepard, the first American in space. (AP/ Wide World Photos)

Mauro crater and surrounding formation take their names from a 15th century Italian monk and mapmaker.) The astronauts had brought a lunar cart with them, and during two trips outside the lunar module they conducted experiments and gathered rock specimens. On one excursion Shepard hit a golf ball across the Moon’s surface. In addition, the astronauts left behind a miniature scientific station that would continue to send messages to scientists on Earth. The story of the flight was immortalized in a book by author Tom Wolfe (1931–) and in a movie, both titled The Right Stuff.


Ground controllers told Glenn to change the original plan of releasing the retro-rocket apparatus, a rocket attached to the capsule that is used to slow its descent to Earth. Instead, the rocket would be kept in place, strapped over the heat shield, to keep the shield from coming loose. When Glenn was informed about the problem, he left the rocket on the capsule as directed and then began operating the Friendship 7 manually. After three orbits of Earth he guided the spacecraft to a perfectly safe reentry. It was later determined that the signal had been a false alarm, but the incident proved to Glenn that astronauts must be prepared to respond to unexpected events.

Pursues new careers Glenn became an instant hero after his successful flight. Awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal by President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1963–61), he addressed a joint session of Congress. This honor is normally reserved for top officials and visiting heads of state. He received hundreds of thousands of letters, some of which he collected in a book, Letters to John Glenn. He also befriended President Kennedy and the president’s brother, Robert Kennedy (1925– 1968), who was the U.S. attorney general. The president urged Glenn to enter politics and, without Glenn’s knowledge, directed that the famous astronaut’s life not be risked by another spaceflight. Glenn left NASA after working on preliminary designs for Project Apollo, which had the goal of putting a man on the Moon. Glenn applied for military retirement to enter the Ohio senate race in 1964, but he had to withdraw after suffering a serious head injury in a bathroom fall. He retired from the marines in January 1965, having logged over 5,400 hours of flying time. His space adventures brought numerous civilian honors, including induction into the Aviation Hall of Fame and the National Space Hall of Fame, and the award of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. He was granted honorary doctorates in engineering by four universities. After retirement Glenn went into business, first with the Royal Crown cola company and later with a management group that operated Holiday Inn hotels. Although Glenn became a successful businessman, he was still interested in a political career. In 1970 he again declared John Glenn

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“Pretty Good for a 40-year-old Guy” During his second flight in space, at age seventy-seven, John Glenn participated in numerous tests that monitored the effects of space travel on older people. The tests focused primarily on problems associated with weightlessness. When NASA released the results, however, there were some surprising findings. At a conference sponsored by NASA and the National Institute on Aging in 1999, researchers revealed that stress had more impact than weightlessness, and that age was not necessarily a factor. Instead, the tests— which were conducted on the younger Discovery astronauts along with Glenn—showed that further study was needed on stressproducing hormone changes in the digestive and immune systems.

The researchers reported that Glenn endured the flight with few aftereffects, mainly because he was in good physical shape. A healthy lifestyle proved to be the best preparation for space travel, regardless of age. Another consideration was that the Discovery flight was so short that there was no significant difference between test results for Glenn and those for men and women half his age. Dr. John Charles (1955–), the NASA senior life scientist for the mission, was referring to Glenn’s excellent physical condition when he joked in “Aging in Space” in the magazine titled Simply Family: “Basically, he [Glenn] did pretty good for a 40-year-old guy.”

his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, narrowly losing in the Democratic primary (a contest to choose a political party’s candidate) to Howard Metzenbaum (1917–). When another Senate seat opened in 1974, Glenn ran a more effective campaign and won the election. He went on to serve four terms, or twentyfour years, in the Senate, earning respect among colleagues and the public for his honesty and hard work. Glenn supported increased funding for education, space exploration, and basic scientific research. He was a strong advocate of the International Space Station (ISS; see entry), a research facility maintained in space by nations throughout the world. In 1984 he ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee for the presidency. He retired from the senate in 1999.

Test space travel for older people Glenn enjoyed his work in politics, but he longed to return to space. In 1998, at age seventy-seven, he asked NASA 76


if he could fly again. Glenn later told National Geographic magazine interviewer William R. Newcott that he had a specific reason for making the request: While doing research for the ISS he became interested in studying the effects of space travel on young people and older people. “Over the years,” Glenn noted, “NASA has observed more than fifty changes that occur in the human body in space. And nine or ten of these are very similar to things that happen in the process of aging. Things like loss of muscle strength. Bone density loss. Cardiovascular changes. Changes in balance and coordination. . . . My idea was to send an older person up and study the body’s reaction to space flight—see if there were differences between younger and older people.” In January 1998, NASA announced that Glenn, who had made history thirty-six years earlier as the first American to orbit Earth, would fly in space again. As a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-95, he would test the effects of weightlessness on older space travelers. Amid excited media coverage, the Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on October 29 and returned to Earth on November 7. Having endured the flight surprisingly well, Glenn was a hero once again. He was also an inspiration to older Americans. Reflecting on their reaction to his flight, Glenn remarked to Newcott, “I’ve noticed that because of all this, people are seeing themselves in a way they hadn’t before. They’re realizing that older people have the same ambitions, hopes, and dreams as anybody else. I say you should live life based on how you feel and not by the calendar.” Glenn’s second flight inspired the idea behind Space Cowboys (2000) a high-tech space adventure film about aging former astronauts who try to prevent a satellite from slamming into Earth. Space Cowboys was made in cooperation with NASA.

For More Information Books Glenn, John H. Letters to John Glenn: With Comments by J. H. Glenn, Jr. New York: World Book Encyclopedia Science Service,1964. Montgomery, Scott, and Timothy R. Gaffney. Back in Orbit. Atlanta, GA: Longstreet, 1998. John Glenn

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Pierce, Philip N., and Karl Schuon. John H. Glenn: Astronaut. New York: Franklin Watts, 1962. Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff. New York: Farrar, Straus, 1979.

Periodicals Newcott, William R. “John Glenn: Man with a Mission.” National Geographic (June 1999): p. 60+. “Space Cowboys.” Astronomy (September 2000): p. 107. “Victory Lap.” Time (November 9, 1998): p. 64.

Web Sites “Astronaut Bio: John H. Glenn. NASA. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/ PAO/html/glennbio.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). Bowman, Lee. “Aging in Space.” Simply Family. http://www.simplyfamily. com/display.cfm?articleID=000207_John_Glenn.cfm (accessed on June 29, 2004). The John Glenn Institute at Ohio State University. www.glenninstitute.org (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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Robert H. Goddard Born October 5, 1882 (Worcester, Massachusetts) Died August 10, 1945 (Annapolis, Maryland) American physicist, rocket pioneer

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obert Goddard is credited with launching the world’s first liquid-propellant rocket. (A liquid-propellant rocket is fired with liquid fuel. Prior to the twentieth century rockets were fired with gun powder, known as solid fuel.) For centuries, scientists had realized that rockets were the only way to reach distant space. Among the important modern theorists was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935; see entry), a Russian teacher who promoted spaceflight and wrote books on the subject. Goddard was the first to succeed in firing a rocket a significant distance, however, and his research produced a technological revolution. By the end of his life he held more than two hundred patents for such inventions as turbo-fed rockets powered by gas generators, automatic rocket launching and guidance controls, and optical-telescope tracking methods.

“I was a different boy when I descended the tree from when I ascended, for existence at last seemed very purposive.”

At the end of World War II (1939–45) German scientists, headed by Wernher von Braun (1912–1977; see entry), used Goddard’s innovations to build V-2 rockets. Germany used the V-2 against the Allies (the military forces of Great Britain, the United States, and several other countries) but with limited 79

Robert Goddard. (Library of Congress)

effectiveness. After the war Goddard’s innovations formed the basis of missile and space programs in the United States and in the former Soviet Union. Goddard’s influence on rocket science may have been even greater if he had not worked alone and if he had been more willing to publish the results of his research.

Climbs cherry tree, dreams about Mars Robert Hutchings Goddard was born on October 5, 1882, in Worcester, Massachusetts. During his early childhood his 80


family moved to Boston, where his father, Nahum Danford Goddard, became part-owner of a machine shop. Robert’s mother, Fannie Louise Hoyt Goddard, suffered from tuberculosis, a severe lung disease that kept her bedridden. Nahum and Fannie Goddard had a second son who died in infancy. Thin and frail as a boy, Robert was frequently ill and he missed school so often that he fell years behind in his education. Spending most of his days at home alone, he entertained himself by playing with kites, slingshots, and rifles. Thus began his lifelong interest in flying projectiles, objects that are shot into the air by force. In 1898, after Fannie Goddard was diagnosed with tuberculosis, the family moved back to Worcester. Around this time Goddard, who was now sixteen years old, discovered science fiction when he read War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (1866–1946; see entry). This classic tale describes an invasion of Earth by aliens from the planet Mars. The following year Goddard had a life-changing experience. According to biographical accounts, he was doing yardwork one day and needed to trim a cherry tree behind his house. Climbing the tree, he gazed out into a nearby meadow and began daydreaming about a spaceship that could go to Mars. This moment gave him such a sense of purpose that he never forgot the date—October 19, 1899. He later wrote in his autobiography, “I was a different boy when I descended the tree from when I ascended, for existence at last seemed very purposive.” For the rest of his life he recorded October 19 as “anniversary day” in his diary, and he revisited the tree on that date whenever he was in Worcester. Goddard’s experience in the cherry tree compelled him to excel in math and physics. Up to this point, however, his formal education had been deficient, especially in algebra, because of his illnesses. So in 1899, at age seventeen, Goddard entered Worcester South High as a sophomore. When he graduated in 1904, he ranked at the top of his class and, at twentyone, had the distinction of being the oldest graduate in the history of the school. A few months later he enrolled at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a small college where he majored in physics. By his senior year he was experimenting with rockets in the small basement laboratory at the college. At that time the only rockets available were fired with powder ignited by a flame, so they were little more than fireworks. Goddard Robert H. Goddard

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envisioned developing a manned rocket (one that carries a person). After testing the amount of energy released by a powder rocket, he concluded that he needed to find a more powerful source of propulsion (a force that causes forward motion). In 1908 Goddard earned a bachelor’s degree from Worcester Polytechnic. Shortly after being hired as a physics instructor at the college, he began graduate studies at nearby Clark University. He received a doctorate from Clark in 1911, then became a research instructor in physics at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. When Goddard fell dangerously ill in 1913 he was, like his mother, diagnosed with tuberculosis. Initially given only two weeks to live, he recovered sufficiently the following year to return to Clark as a physics instructor. Promoted to assistant professor in 1915, he would remain at Clark throughout most of his academic career, except for leaves of absence to pursue rocket research. Goddard was eventually named head of the physics department and director of the physical laboratories, becoming a full professor in 1934. In 1924 he married Esther Christine Kisk, the secretary to the president of Clark. Although the couple had no children, they were devoted to one another and to Goddard’s rocket research. Esther became his assistant, keeping notes and photographic records of his work.

Invents two-stage rocket In 1914 Goddard obtained a patent for a two-stage powder rocket. A two-stage rocket fires twice—first to begin motion and again to keep moving or to move faster. He later received a patent for a rocket that burned a mixture of gasoline and liquid nitrous oxide (a colorless gas; also called laughing gas). Although Goddard knew that liquid propellants were more effective, they were difficult to obtain. He therefore continued experiments with smokeless powder. Goddard eventually achieved higher rates of energy efficiency and exhaust power than previous rockets had exhibited. In 1917, after the United States had entered World War I (1914–18), Goddard wrote to the Smithsonian Institution, suggesting the possible military application of his rocket. Convinced of Goddard’s vision, the Smithsonian asked the U.S. Department of War to contribute up to fifty thousand dollars—a considerable amount of money in those days—toward his research. Soon 82


he had his own well-equipped laboratory and shop at Clark, with seven men working for him full-time. When Goddard relocated his shop to Pasadena, California, in 1918 he and his team had already developed two military rocket launchers. The same year, at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, Goddard demonstrated his launcher, which could propel a rocket through a hand-held tube. Intended as a portable weapon for foot soldiers, it was the first bazooka (a light weapon that launches armor-piercing rockets and is fired from the shoulder). Military observers were impressed with Goddard’s invention, and they requested immediate production. The launcher was never used in World War I combat, however, because hostilities ended five days after the demonstration. After the war Goddard returned to Clark, where he taught physics and continued his research on high-altitude rockets. Meanwhile, the Smithsonian published “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes,” his paper on sending rockets into space. Unfortunately, reaction to the paper was shaped by a Smithsonian press release that emphasized a point Goddard had not intended to be the focus of his work. Specifically, the press release concentrated on his method of proving that a rocket had reached a high altitude. To do so, Goddard suggested sending a small quantity of flash powder on a rocket to the dark side of the Moon. He theorized that once the rocket had arrived at its destination, the powder would be ignited and the flash of light could be viewed from Earth through telescopes. Playing up the idea of a “Moon rocket,” the press completely ignored the rest of his theory. In fact, some even called Goddard “Moon Man.” He had always been reluctant to publicize his work—in fact, the chairman of the Clark physics department had pressured him into publishing the paper—so he became even more secretive about his theories in the future.

Starts rocket-science center Goddard continued his rocket research, switching to liquid propellants in 1921. Five years later, on March 16, 1926, he launched the world’s first liquid-propellant rocket from a hill in Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket traveled 184 feet (56 meters) in 2.5 seconds. Still wary of publicity, he did not Robert H. Goddard

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Robert Goddard teaching a physics class at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1924. At Clark Goddard developed many of his ideas for liquid rocket propellants. (AP/Wide World Photos)

announce his success for several months. In 1930 Goddard received a fifty-thousand-dollar grant from philanthropist Daniel Guggenheim (1856–1930). (A philanthropist donates money to help others.) Taking a leave of absence from Clark University, he moved with his wife and a few technical assistants to a rented farmhouse near Roswell, New Mexico. Goddard’s laboratory eventually became the world center of rocket science. Hundreds of tests were performed and forty-eight launches were attempted at a site in the desert. The rockets grew progressively larger and more sophisticated, approaching 22 feet (6.7 meters) in length and weighing up to one-quarter ton. Goddard invented and patented a large number of innovations, including a guidance system controlled by a gyroscope (a wheel or disk that spins and rotates at the same time), which 84


permitted a rocket to “correct“ its path during flight. The greatest height one of his rockets reached was estimated at 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,438 to 2,743 meters) on March 26, 1937. This was considerably short of the 100 to 200 miles (161 to 322 kilometers) of altitude he had originally expected to achieve. In 1941 Goddard returned to defense-related rocket research. The following year he moved his crew of assistants to the Naval Engineering Experimental Station in Annapolis, Maryland. They worked on various devices, including a rocket motor that became the basis for the first aircraft in America to use an engine operated with a throttle. Like the bazooka, this was an important advance. Despite his technical achievements, Goddard’s career remained somewhat flawed by his failure to reach the extreme altitudes he sought, and by his secretive nature. In 1936 he did publish another paper, titled “Liquid-Propellant Rocket Development,” but it provided little useful information to other scientists.

Honored for achievements

WAC Corporal Surpasses Goddard Rockets Robert Goddard was extremely reluctant to publicize the results of his experiments. This unwillingness to share information eventually damaged his career, because scientific progress depends to a great degree on the free exchange of ideas and achievement. In 1936 Goddard published a paper titled “Liquid-Propellant Rocket Development”—only the second, and last, paper he published in his lifetime—but it did not provide useful information to other scientists. For the most part, rocket researchers had to develop their own models of Goddard’s innovations because they lacked a detailed knowledge of his pioneering inventions. This was notably the case with Frank J. Malina (1912–1981) and his rocket team, who worked at a laboratory, which eventually would become the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in southern California. This group developed solid-propellant rocket technology that was important for later missile technology. On October 11, 1945, the Malina team succeeded in launching a rocket, named the WAC Corporal, to an altitude of some 230,000 feet (7,010 meters)—far higher than any of Goddard’s rockets had ever reached.

Goddard died on August 10, 1945, of throat cancer, which had been diagnosed only two months earlier. His importance to the United States is shown by the numerous memorials to his work. Many streets, buildings, and awards were named in his honor, perhaps the most significant being the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center. It was dedicated on March 16, 1961, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the first flight of Goddard’s liquid-propellant rocket. On that occasion Esther Goddard accepted a Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of her deceased husband. Nine years later Clark University named Robert H. Goddard

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its new library after Goddard. Since 1958, the National Space Club in Washington, D.C., has awarded a Goddard Memorial Trophy for achievement in missiles, rocketry, and space flight. In 1960 Goddard became the ninth recipient of the Langley Gold Medal, an honor awarded only a few times since 1910 by the Smithsonian Institution for excellence in aviation.

For More Information Books Goddard, Robert H. The Autobiography of Robert Hutchings Goddard, Father of the Space Age; Early Years to 1927. Worcester, MA: A. J. St. Onge, 1966. Goddard, Robert H. Rockets. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2002. Lehman, Milton. Robert H. Goddard: Pioneer of Space Research. New York: Da Capo, 1988. Winter, Frank H. Rockets into Space. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990.

Periodicals Crouch, Tom D. “Reaching Toward Space: His 1935 Rocket Was a Technological Tour de Force, But Robert H. Goddard Hid It from History.” Smithsonian (February 2001): p. 38. Goddard, Robert H. “Liquid-Propellant Rocket Development.” Smithsonian (1936). Goddard, Robert H. “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.” Smithsonian (1919).

Web Sites “Robert Goddard (1882–1945).” About.com. http://inventors.about.com/ library/inventors/blgoddard.htm (accessed on July 21, 2004). “Robert Goddard and His Rockets.” NASA. http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa. gov/stargaze/Sgoddard.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Robert H. Goddard: American Rocket Pioneer.” NASA. http://www. gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/service/gallery/fact_sheets/general/goddard/goddard. htm (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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Claudie Haigneré Born May 13, 1957 (Le Creusot, France) French astronaut

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laudie Haigneré grew up during the dawn of the space age. In October 1957, slightly more than five months after her birth, the former Soviet Union surprised the world by launching Sputnik 1. The first artificial satellite (an object that orbits in space), it was followed four years later by the flight of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968; see entry), the first human to orbit in space. In 1969, when Haigneré was twelve years old, American astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930–; see entry) became the first human to walk on the Moon. By 2001 Haigneré herself had made space exploration history: She was the first European woman astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS; see entry). She had the further distinction of being only the second European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut to make the trip. After her flight to the ISS, Haigneré was appointed minister of research and new technologies in the French government.

“Men and women are different but complementary. . . . When we explore the planets, it will be a huge step forward for the entire human race. And the human race has two sexes.”

Inspired by Armstrong Claudie André-Deshays Haigneré (pronounced cloh-dee ahn-DRAY day-shay heh-nyair-AY) was born on May 13, 1957, 87

Claudie Haigneré. (AP/Wide World Photos)

in Le Creusot, France, where she grew up. (She married fellow astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré in 2001. For most of her career she was known as Claudie André-Deshays, but in most recent publications she is generally called Claudie Haigneré.) In an interview published on the ESA website, she said that Armstrong’s moon walk inspired her fascination with space. “For me, it was a kind of revelation,” Haigneré recalled. “I was watching a dream turn into reality. A door was open. I didn’t immediately imagine that it was open for me, but the lunar landing gave me a taste for space.” As a space exploration enthusiast, she read books and watched television documentaries 88


on the subject. Before becoming an astronaut, however, she pursued a career in medicine. Graduating from high school at age fifteen, she went on to earn degrees in biology (the study of plant and animal life), sports medicine, and rheumatology (the study of inflammation and pain in joints of the body). In 1985, while practicing as a doctor at a hospital in Paris, Haigneré happened to see a National Center for Space Studies (CNES) notice on a bulletin board: The agency was seeking applications from scientists to work in its microgravity research program (research on the virtual absence of gravity). She leaped at the chance, knowing this was an opportunity to become involved in space exploration. After a lengthy selection process she was chosen as one of only seven candidates—and the only woman—from one thousand applicants. While waiting for her first flight she continued her scientific career. In 1986 she received a diploma in the biomechanics and physiology of movement (the study of biological and physical processes of the body), then six years later she completed a Ph.D. in neuroscience (the study of the nervous system). During this time she was involved in studying human reactions to weightlessness. Her experiments were part of preparations for the French-Soviet Aragatz mission to the Russian space station Mir, which took place in 1988. (A space station is a research laboratory that orbits in space.) Since France does not maintain its own space vehicles, French astronauts participated in missions sponsored by the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosoviakosmos). They prepared for flights at Star City, the Russian cosmonaut (astronaut) training center near Moscow. Beginning in 1989, Haigneré coordinated preflight scientific experiments for the French-Russian Antarès mission, which took place in 1992. She also headed space physiology and medical programs in the Life Sciences Division of CNES in Paris. In 1992 she was chosen as a backup crew member for Jean-Pierre Haigneré on the French-Russian Altair mission. (A backup crew member is an astronaut trained to take the place of a main-crew astronaut who is not approved to go on a flight.) Jean-Pierre completed the flight—the Altair was launched on July 1, 1993, and returned to Earth on July 22— so Claudie remained on the ground at the mission control center in Kaliningrad, Russia. She monitored biological and medical experiments that were being conducted in space by Claudie Haigneré

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Jean-Pierre Haigneré Jean-Pierre Haigneré (1948–) became an astronaut with the French National Space Agency in 1985. He made two trips to the Russian space station Mir. The first was a three-week stay in 1992; the second was a historic six-month visit launched on February 20, 1999. Traveling on the Soyuz craft Perseus, Haigneré was the first non-Russian to serve as onboard engineer both for a Soyuz flight and for the Mir. During his stay on the space station he participated in life science, physics, and biology experiments. He also took a spacewalk to perform biological and comet dust experiments outside the station. When the Perseus landed in Kazakhstan nearly 189 days later, on August 28, Haigneré had made the longest flight by a non-Russian astronaut. The record was previously held by American astronaut Shannon Lucid (1943–; see entry), whose Mir mission had lasted 188 days, 4 hours, and 14 seconds. The Perseus crew members were the last people to stay on Mir. Before returning to Earth they left the space station in a “standby” mode, with no occupants onboard. (Russia took Mir out of service in

Jean-Pierre Haigneré returns to Earth after six months aboard Mir. (© Reuters/Corbis)

2004, crashing it in the Pacific Ocean.) Upon returning from the Mir mission, Haigneré was appointed head of the Astronaut Division of the European Astronaut Corps (EAC). In 2003 he became senior advisor to the director of launchers, a position in which he oversees the Soyuz human spaceflight program at the EAC spaceport in French Guiana.

the Altair crew. The following year she supervised French experiments for the ESA Euromir 94 space station mission.

Makes two space flights Haigneré was finally selected for her first flight in 1994. As a scientific research consultant and main crew member on the Soyuz vehicle Cassiopeé, she started training in January 90


1995 at Star City. (Soyuz is the name of a Russian manned space capsule. A name such as Cassiopeé refers to a specific mission of a Soyuz capsule.) The Cassiopeé was launched into space on August 17, 1996, returning safely to Earth sixteen days later, on September 2. Haigneré then remained in Moscow as the French representative of Starsem, a FrenchRussian space technology firm. In 1998 she was again selected as the backup for Jean-Pierre, this time on the French-Russian Perseus mission to Mir. During training she qualified as a cosmonaut engineer for a Soyuz spacecraft and for the Mir space station. She thus became the first woman to achieve the rank of Soyuz return commander, a position in which she was responsible for the reentry of a three-person Soyuz capsule from space. Jean-Pierre participated in the Perseus flight, which took place in February 1999, while Claudie was stationed at the ground control center in Korolev, Russia. She coordinated communication between the Perseus crew and ground control. In 1998 Claudie Haigneré was selected for the European Astronaut Corps (EAC), which had been formed by the ESA. The ESA had participated in manned spaceflight prior to that time, but it did not have a formal astronaut program. The ESA first recruited astronauts in 1978 for flights to Skylab, a U.S. space station. The ESA selected its next group of astronauts in 1992 for the ESA Hermes and Columbus programs. The ESA created the EAC, which is based in Cologne, Germany, to train astronauts for the ISS program. The EAC constitution established a permanent corps of sixteen astronauts: four from Germany, four from France, four from Italy, and four from member states of the European Union. Claudie Haigneré and Jean-Pierre Haigneré were among the first seven EAC astronauts chosen in 1998. After joining the EAC, Claudie Haigneré was involved in microgravity and medical projects for the European space program. In 2001, after three months of training at Star City for her second flight, she went into space with a Russian crew onboard the Soyuz vehicle Andromede. On this flight she became the first woman to visit the ISS and the first non-Russian woman to be a Soyuz flight engineer. The goal of the mission, called a “taxi flight,” was to replace the old Soyuz capsule presently on the ISS with a new one. This meant that the astronauts would leave the capsule they arrived in at the space station and then return to Earth in the old capsule. After Claudie Haigneré

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Claudie Haigneré and her husband Jean-Pierre Haigneré. Both served as astronauts for the European Astronaut Corps. (© Alain Nogues/Corbis Sygma)

completing the eight-day mission, Haigneré and the two other members of her crew returned to Earth, landing in Kazakhstan, where Russian support crews pulled them out of the capsule, wrapped them in double fur bags, and put them in special chairs to ease their readjustment to Earth’s gravity.

Takes government post Claudie and Jean-Pierre were married in 2001. The following year she was appointed to the post of minister for research and new technologies in the French government. She was also awarded the French Legion of Honor. Haigneré sees part of her mission as educational: showing young Europeans that Europe has a strong space program and that careers in science and technology can be fulfilling. She also would like to see more women involved in the European Astronaut 92


Corps. Only one in sixteen European astronauts, or 6 percent, is female, and Haigneré believes this number could be higher. As she commented to an ESA interviewer, however, she also realizes that it is difficult for women to have “100 percent commitment and 100 percent availability” for the program. Women are usually more constrained than men by work and family responsibilities. Yet, she added, “I am confident that the new generation will be in better shape to choose its own future without any constraints of inequality.” Haigneré also noted that women do well in space, and that teams that included both men and women have been shown to perform better than all-male teams. “Men and women are different but complementary,” she concluded. “When we explore the planets, it will be a huge step forward for the entire human race. And the human race has two sexes.”

For More Information Periodicals Balter, Michael. “France’s Highflier Comes Down to Earth.” Science (August 16, 2002): pp. 1112–13.

Web Sites “Claudie Haigneré.” WorldSpaceFlight.com. http://www.worldspaceflight. com/bios/h/haignere-c.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). “ESA Astronaut Claudie Haigneré Appointed Minister.” ESA (June 18, 2002). http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/ESAU80OED2D_Life_0.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “First European Woman Heads for Space Station Alpha.” Spaceflight Now (October 20, 2001). http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0110/ 20haignere/ (accessed on June 29, 2004). “An Interview with Claudie Haigneré.” ESA. http://www.esa.int/ export/esaHS/ESA2CU0VMOC_astronauts_0.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Jean-Pierre Haigneré.” Encyclopedia Astronomica. http://www.astronautix. com/astros/haignere.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004).

Claudie Haigneré

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Hubble Space Telescope April 25, 1990

“We do not know why we are born into the world, but we can try to find out what sort of a world it is at least in its physical aspects.” Edwin P. Hubble

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he Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is the most significant advance in astronomy since Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) perfected the telescope in the seventeenth century. (An astronomer is a scientist who studies bodies in space.) Named for twentieth-century astronomer Edwin P. Hubble (1889–1953), the HST orbits Earth in outer space, taking pictures of stars, galaxies, planets, and vast regions previously unknown to humans. (A galaxy is a large group of stars and associated matter.) Since it is positioned beyond Earth’s atmosphere, the space observatory receives images that are brighter and more detailed than those captured by telescopes based on land. Launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1990, the HST has taken spectacular pictures of the universe. In 2004, a year after the Columbia space shuttle disaster (see box in Challenger Crew entry), NASA canceled the final service mission to the HST. Supporters of the orbiting observatory began seeking ways to prolong the life of the largest, most successful astronomy project in history.

The Hubble Space Telescope. (© Corbis)

How the HST works The HST is an observatory (a structure that houses a telescope for astronomical viewing) approximately the size of a school bus that orbits Earth at a speed of 5 miles (about 8 kilometers) per second. The cylinder-shaped body of the spacecraft holds a reflecting telescope and scientific instruments. The telescope contains a primary mirror and a secondary mirror, which operate in conjunction with five main recording instruments: a faint-object camera, a wide-field planetary camera, a faint-object spectrograph (an instrument that sends out radiation), a high-resolution (rendering of detail) spectrograph, and a high-speed photometer (an instrument that measures light intensity). The reflecting telescope collects light from objects in space. The primary mirror, which measures 94 inches (2.4 meters), and the smaller secondary mirror then direct the light into the two cameras and the two spectrographs.

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The wide-field planetary camera can record images with a resolution that is ten times greater than that of any telescope based on Earth. It can take pictures of wide expanses of space, or it can take more focused pictures of objects such as planets and bodies inside and outside of galaxies. The faint-object camera can detect objects that are fifty times fainter than those that can be observed by any telescope on Earth. The highresolution spectrograph receives ultraviolet light (light at the violet end of the light spectrum) that cannot reach Earth because it is absorbed by the atmospheric layer. The faint-object spectrograph records data about the chemical composition of an object. The telescope is pointed in the right direction by six gyroscopes (wheels or disks that spin horizontally and perpendicularly), which also keep it stable. Attached to the HST are two solar arrays (panels that capture light from the Sun) that resemble wings. Each measuring 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide and 40 feet (12 meters) long, the arrays supply the spacecraft with electrical power. A solar cell blanket (layer) on each array converts sunlight into energy and charges six nickel-hydrogen batteries during the sunlit part of orbit. The batteries then provide power when the HST is in Earth’s shadow.

Telescopes make revolutionary discoveries Since ancient times, astronomers have been developing theories about the universe. Prior to the invention of the telescope, they had to depend entirely on the naked eye to make their observations. Although they produced knowledge about stars and planets, their theories about the relation of Earth to other celestial bodies were wrong. By the third century B.C.E. astronomers were asserting that Earth was a sphere at rest at the center of the universe, with twenty-seven concentric (having a common center) spheres rotating around it. This theory was not questioned until the late sixteenth century C.E., when Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) published an opposite view. Using the naked-eye method and complex mathematical formulas, Copernicus proposed that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and that the planets—including Earth— orbit around the Sun. He also came to believe that Earth is a relatively small and unimportant component of the universe. 96


Copernicus’s theory was proven in the early seventeenth century by Galileo, when he perfected his telescope. Made with two lenses (pieces of glass ground and polished to magnify objects), the telescope magnified objects thirty-two times their original size and was strong enough for astronomical viewing. From Galileo’s time onward, astronomers all over the world developed larger and more powerful telescopes. They were able to collect records of stars, planets, and other bodies that previously could not be seen by the naked eye. Although the Sun-centered universe was now an accepted theory, astronomers still believed that there was only one galaxy—the Milky Way, which contains Earth and its known solar system. According to this theory, nothing existed outside the Milky Way except a vast, empty space. In 1924 Edwin Hubble (see box on page 98) made a revolutionary discovery: Using the 100-inch (254 centimeters) telescope at Mount Wilson near Los Angeles, California, he observed billions of other galaxies. Moreover, Hubble found that the galaxies were moving away from one another, an indication that the universe is expanding. As a result of Hubble’s discovery, astronomers engaged in speculation about the beginning and end of the universe, producing such ideas as the big-bang theory. The big-bang theory states that the universe was formed ten to twenty billion years ago when a highly condensed form of energy and matter exploded. According to this view, effects of the huge explosion are still taking place with the expansion of the universe.

History of the HST Despite the benefits of advanced technology, modern astronomers were unable to receive precise images from their telescopes. Like the naked-eye observers before them, they encountered a limitation—in this case Earth’s atmosphere (air surrounding Earth). Even the most powerful telescopes situated atop the highest mountains could not penetrate the thick layer of dust and gases that make up the atmosphere. As early as 1923 the German rocket scientist Hermann Oberth (1894–1989; see entry) had come upon a solution to the problem. He envisioned attaching a telescope to a rocket and sending it into Earth orbit. In 1946 American astrophysicist Lyman Hubble Space Telescope

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Edwin P. Hubble The Hubble Space Telescope was named for astronomer Edwin P. Hubble (1889–1953), who added important basic knowledge to the field of astronomy. Among his contributions was the discovery of other galaxies, which proves that the universe is constantly expanding. In simplified terms, he basically discovered the universe. At a time when scientists did not believe any other galaxies existed outside the Milky Way, Hubble proved otherwise. He also showed that the universe is expanding, and he developed a mathematical model known as Hubble’s law for observing this expansion. Although he was not the first to suggest that the universe is expanding, he was the first to recognize the existence of other galaxies and to form a clear theory along with a law to prove it. Generally speaking, Hubble’s law states that the farther away a galaxy exists from Earth’s galaxy (the Milky Way), the faster it is moving away from Earth. This concept later became part of the big-bang the-

Edwin P. Hubble. (Library of Congress)

ory of the creation of the universe. In 1990 NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope in honor of the astronomer. Orbiting 370 miles (595 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, the device was designed to collect data that would build upon Hubble’s earlier findings.

Spitzer Jr. (1914–1997) expanded this idea, proposing a spacebased observatory that would orbit above Earth’s atmosphere. In the late 1950s NASA launched two Orbital Astronomical Observatories (OAOs) into Earth orbit. The OAOs led to the construction of the HST over twenty-five years later. The first step was the Large Space Telescope (LST) project, which was initiated in 1969. An immediate result of the LST was the introduction of the space shuttle, a reusable vehicle that would launch the LST into orbit. Five space shuttles—Columbia, Challenger, Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour—have been built since establishment of the program. (Enterprise was the first shuttle 98


to be built; however, it never went into orbit and was used primarily for “captured flights” involving takeoff and re-entry exercises.) The space shuttle represented a major shift in direction for the U.S. manned space flight program. During the 1960s NASA had concentrated its efforts on reaching the Moon by developing Project Mercury, Project Gemini, and Project Apollo (see Buzz Aldrin [1930–], Neil Armstrong [1930–], John Glenn [1921–], and Christopher Kraft [1924–] entries). Interest in further Moon exploration had steadily declined in the early 1970s, and NASA’s attention was refocused on space research that could be conducted by the LST. Technical issues and lack of funding caused a series of delays before the LST project was finally approved by the U.S. Congress in 1977. Collaborating with the European Space Agency, NASA began building the telescope, which was first renamed the Space Telescope and then the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble was assembled and ready for launch in 1985, but the Challenger (see entry) disaster forced a two-year delay. During that time NASA improved the solar panels, made modifications for easier instrument replacement and servicing, and upgraded computer systems. On April 24, 1990, the HST was lifted into space during a five-day mission by the space shuttle Discovery. The five crew members were commander Loren J. Shriver (1944–), pilot Charles F. Bolden Jr. (1946–), and mission specialists Steven A. Hawley (1951–), Bruce McCandless II (1937–), and Kathryn D. Sullivan (1951–). They released the HST into orbit on April 25.

HST fulfills mission The HST had been orbiting for about a month when NASA scientists became concerned about fuzzy images it was sending back to Earth. The scientists determined that the primary mirror had a defect called spherical aberration. This means the manufacturer had made the mirror the wrong shape, which prevented it from reflecting sharp, clear images. In addition, there were problems with the gyroscopes and solar panels. On December 2, 1993, NASA launched the space shuttle Endeavour on an eleven-day mission to the HST. (The Endeavour was the newest shuttle in the NASA fleet, having been built to replace the Challenger.) The five crew members were commander Kenneth D. Cameron (1949–), pilot Stephen S. Oswald Hubble Space Telescope

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(1951–), and mission specialists C. Michael Foale (1957–), Kenneth D. Cockrell (1950–), and Ellen Ochoa (1958–; see entry), who was the first Hispanic woman to travel in space. To correct the problem with the primary mirror, the crew installed a device containing ten small mirrors that redirect the light paths from the primary mirror to the spectrographs and the photometer. Making a total of five spacewalks, the crew also replaced the wide-field planetary camera and changed a bent solar panel. (The panel could not be taken back to Earth, so it was released into space. It reentered Earth’s atmosphere nearly five years later, in October 1998.) The HST worked perfectly after the repair mission, capturing spectacular images and making many astronomical advances and discoveries. The orbiting observatory has provided the sharpest view of Mars ever obtained by a telescope, showing icy white clouds and orange dust storms that swirl above the rust-red planet. The HST also confirmed the existence of black holes. (A black hole is a region with intense gravitational force caused by the collapse of a star.) The HST revealed black holes to be at the center of most galaxies. Moreover, it proved that quasars (bright, distant objects that resemble stars) are nuclei (centers) of galaxies and that they are powered by black holes. Another important discovery is that gamma rays (photons emitted by a radioactive substance) originated from distant galaxies in the early universe. Other observations include the expansion of the universe by an unknown force, the birth and death of stars, and the collisions of comets. Images sent back to Earth by the HST reveal a vast blue-black space full of dazzling light, brilliant colors, swirling clouds and dust, and endless galaxies. The telescope is still making new discoveries about the universe, which astronomers once thought to be nothing but a deep, dark void beyond the Milky Way.

The future of the HST Although the HST has reached expectations, it was designed to have a limited life span. After the observatory was launched in 1990, astronauts were to make periodic visits to do maintenance work and install new equipment. By 2003 three service missions were completed, and the fourth and final mission was scheduled for 2006. It was canceled after the Columbia disaster (see box in Challenger Crew entry). In 100


View of the planet Mars taken from the Hubble Telescope, showing clouds and dust storms not viewable with previous technology. (Photograph by David Crisp and the WFPC2 Science Team [JPL/Caltech]. NASA Photoplanetary Journal)


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February 2003 the Columbia broke apart over the western United States while returning to Earth from a mission to the International Space Station (ISS; see entry). All seven crew members were killed. Built earlier than other existing shuttles, the Columbia had been used primarily for scientific missions and for servicing the HST. The day after the accident NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe (1956–) appointed the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). In August the CAIB issued a final report, which stated that shuttle flights were becoming increasingly dangerous and that NASA should fly a minimum number only when necessary. The following January, as a result of new safety guidelines stated in the report, O’Keefe canceled the final service mission to the HST. In April of that year, O’Keefe reported to a House subcommittee that preliminary experiments indicated that robots (devices designed to perform human activities) possibly could be used to service the HST. The HST continued to operate normally, but it could not be expected to last indefinitely. Its original mission was expected to last fifteen years, and that had been extended to twenty years, or until 2010. Without servicing and repair, the components of the observatory will eventually wear out. The HST was built to dock with a space shuttle, so another type of spacecraft could not be used for a service mission. Concern over the fate of the HST prompted O’Keefe to ask the National Academy of Science (NAS) to study possible ways to prolong its life. In 2004 NAS appointed a committee of former astronauts, professors, scientists, and engineers to explore alternatives.

For More Information Books Goodwin, Simon. Hubble’s Universe: A Portrait of Our Cosmos. New York: Viking Penguin, 1997. Kerrod, Robin. Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2003.

Periodicals “HST, Keck Find a Galaxy from the ‘Dark Ages.’” (May 2004): p. 30. “Hubble’s Gifts.” Kids Discover (May 2004): pp. 10–11. 102


Muir, Hazel. “I Spy with My Little Eye.” New Scientist (April 3, 2004): pp. 40+. Reddy, Francis. “Swirling Echoes of Light.” Astronomy (June 2004): p. 22. Reichhardt, Tony. “NASA Seeks Robotic Rescuers to Give Hubble Extra Lease on Life.” Nature (March 25, 2004): p. 353.

Web Sites “The Hubble Project.” NASA. http://hubble.nasa.gov (accessed on June 25, 2004). HubbleSite. http://hubblesite.org (accessed on June 25, 2004).

Other Sources The Big Bang. World Almanac Video, 1999. Exploding Stars and Black Holes. PBS Home Video, 1997.


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International Space Station November 20, 1998

“I think . . . having a space station is somewhat an evolutionary step in where we are going in this next millennium.” William M. “Bill” Shepherd, Space Station Commander Expedition 1

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he International Space Station (ISS), under construction since 1998, is the largest international scientific partnership in history. The project involves seventeen countries: the United States, the eleven member nations of the European Space Agency, Canada, Japan, Russia, Italy, and Brazil. When the ISS is completed, astronauts will have assembled a total of one hundred separate parts during forty-five missions while the station orbits 240 miles (384 kilometers) above Earth. The ISS will eventually consist of several modules, and as many as seven crew members will live on board, conducting scientific experiments and space research. By 2004 eight crews had already stayed on the ISS for months at a time. Construction had been postponed in 2003, however, as a result of the Columbia space shuttle disaster, and the future of the ISS remained uncertain. (A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.)

Soviets launch first space stations Although the former Soviet Union built the first space stations, which ultimately led to the development of the ISS, the 104

International Space Station (ISS). (NASA)

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actual concept has roots in the nineteenth century. The idea of a space station has been traced back to “The Brick Moon: From the Papers of Captain Frederic Ingham,” a story by author Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909) published in the Atlantic Monthly magazine (1869–70). “The Brick Moon” describes how Captain Frederic Ingham and his former college friends build an artificial Moon made of brick. According to Elizabeth Paulhaus, writer of the online article “Brick Moon Rising.” The first known mention of the term “space station” was made by the German rocket engineer Hermann Oberth (1894–1989; see entry) in 1923. He envisioned a wheel-like vehicle that would orbit Earth and provide a launching place for trips to the Moon and Mars. About two decades later the German-born American rocket engineer Wernher von Braun (1912–1977; see entry) proposed a more detailed concept of a space station in a series of articles in Collier’s magazine. He described a giant vehicle, 250 feet (762 meters) in diameter, that would spin to create its own gravity as it orbited 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) above Earth. The Soviets launched the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, in 1971, during a time of intense competition between the Soviet Union and the United States. Since World War II (1939– 45) the two superpowers had been engaged in a period of hostile relations known as the Cold War (1945–91), which involved not only a race for military superiority but also a race for dominance in space. In 1957 the Soviets had launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite (an object that orbits in space), sending shock waves through American society. Sputnik 1 was a sign that the Soviet Union was moving ahead in the Cold War. The next year the United States responded by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)—and the space race began. In April 1961 the Soviets stunned the world again by achieving the first manned space flight when cosmonaut (astronaut) Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968; see entry) made a nearly complete orbit of Earth. The following month U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard (1923–1998; see box in John Glenn entry) made a brief but successful trip into orbit. Two years later Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937–; see entry) became the first woman in space. Then, in the early 1960s, President John 106


F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63) publicly pledged to put an American on the Moon by the end of the decade (see Christopher Kraft [1924–] entry). In 1969, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930–; see entry) and Buzz Aldrin (1930–; see entry) accomplished that goal by stepping onto the surface of the Moon.

Mir: first permanent space station By the 1970s the United States lacked funding for further Moon exploration. The Soviet Union was in a similar situation and therefore never attempted a Moon flight. Instead the Soviets focused on the Salyut program, launching seven Salyut space stations between 1971 and 1982. The United States put the Skylab space station into orbit in 1973, but it remained in space for only one year and was visited by three crews of astronauts. Soviet cosmonauts regularly traveled to the Salyuts, but they did not stay for long periods of time because the space stations did not have adequate living accommodations. Improving upon the Salyut design, the Soviets built Mir, the first permanent residence in space, which was launched in 1986. Mir provided valuable information about building, maintaining, and living on a space station. Remaining in orbit for more than fifteen years, until 2001, it was officially taken out of service in 1999. During that time astronauts conducted nearly 16,500 experiments, primarily on how humans adapt to long-term space flight. From 1986 until 1999 the space station was almost continually occupied by a total of one hundred cosmonauts and astronauts. Among them were seven NASA astronauts, a Japanese journalist, a British candy maker, and visitors from other countries that did not have their own space programs. In 1995 Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov (1942–) set the record for the longest mission aboard Mir, having stayed 438 days. The same year American astronaut Shannon Lucid (1943–; see entry) set the record for a non-Russian, on a mission that lasted 188 days, 4 hours and 14 seconds. Lucid’s record was broken in 1999 by French astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré (see box in Claudie Haigneré entry), when he stayed nearly 189 complete days. Haigneré was also a member of the last crew to visit Mir. Before returning to Earth the crew left the space station in a standby mode, with International Space Station

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no occupants onboard. When Russia took Mir out of service in 2001, most of the spacecraft burned up over the Pacific Ocean. The remaining remnants of the space station crashed into the Pacific in 2004.

United States and Russia strike a deal Mir became an international effort, eventually providing a model for the ISS. Before the first two components of the ISS were launched in 1998, however, the United States had attempted to develop its own space station. In 1984 President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004; served 1981–89) provided funding to NASA for development of a space station to be named Freedom. By 1990 cost overruns and poor management had forced NASA to scale back its plans and to design a new space station, the Alpha. Confronted with continuing financial problems, NASA approached Russian officials in 1993 about collaborating on a space station that would merge the Alpha with a second version of Mir. Russia was running out of money to build a Mir 2 that would replace the retired Mir, so a deal was struck. Thus the idea for an international space station was born, and initial on-ground construction began the following year.

ISS is built in space The ISS is being assembled in three phases, which involve shuttle missions with specific goals, such as delivering and assembling parts, transporting crews, delivering cargo and supplies, and maintaining and servicing the station. A total of twenty-eight missions had been completed by 2004. Selected highlights of the three construction phases are described below. Phase 1 (1994–98). During the first phase the first two modules and various other elements were constructed for assembly in space. A total of seven U.S. astronauts also gained experience with living in space by spending twenty-seven months aboard the Mir. Phase 2 (1999–2000). The second phase involved initial in-orbit construction by crews from Russia and the United States. On November 20, 1998, Russia lifted the first component, the cargo block Zarya (Sunrise), into orbit on a Proton 108


Working on the ISS Upon completion the ISS will weigh one million pounds and consist of several modules, which astronauts assemble while walking in space. The main components are a port for a Soyuz rescue craft (Soyuz is a Russian space shuttle), a Russian service module, a cargo block, a NASA docking module, a U.S. habitat (living space) module, a U.S. laboratory module, European and Japanese modules for scientific experiments, and a docking port for a U.S. space shuttle. Attached to the modules are trusses (leg-like structures), which will be as long as a football field. The trusses support solar panels (devices for capturing radiation from the Sun), which provide energy for powering the station and scientific experiments. The energy is stored in radiators mounted on the trusses. Communications equipment is also installed on the trusses. Astronauts receive extensive training in performing extravehicular activities (activities outside a space vehicle). More commonly known as spacewalks, extravehicular trips allow astronauts to work on the ISS. During a spacewalk an astronaut remains connected to the station by means of a device on his or her spacesuit, which is attached to a joint airlock module. The joint

airlock module consists of two sections—a crew lock and an equipment lock. An astronaut hooks the device on the spacesuit to the crew lock when exiting the station or while spending extended periods of time outside the station. The equipment lock is used for storing gear. A spacesuit is adjustable so it will fit different crew members. It is equipped with special features such as gloves that allow free movement of the hands, a radio that permits five people to talk with one another at the same time, and heating and cooling systems. Floodlights and spotlights are mounted on the astronaut’s helmet, and the astronaut carries a jet-pack life jacket to be used if he or she is accidentally disconnected from the space station. Astronauts also work with robotic arms to assist them in maneuvering large components and in moving around work areas. While living and working on the ISS, crews must keep track of more than fifty thousand items. To facilitate this process, an electronic tag—roughly one-fourth the size of a postage stamp—is attached to each item. Astronauts read the tags with a solarpowered infrared transmitter, which can scan fifteen thousand tags per minute at a distance of up to 40 feet (12 meters).

rocket. On December 4, 1998, the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour transported the second component, the Unity node, which is a docking hub where major sections of the ISS are locked together. During this mission the Endeavour crew, which included American astronaut Ellen Ochoa (1958–; see entry), International Space Station

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Astronauts work on the construction of an antenna on the Russianmade space station module Zarya, the first of three modules that were constructed in space that would make up the International Space Station. (AP/Wide World Photos)

conducted spacewalks and attached the Unity to the Zarya. The third component, the Russian-built service module Zvedza (Star), was launched on July 12, 2000. It provided initial living quarters and life support systems. The first ISS expeditionary crew (astronauts and cosmonauts who live on the space station) was launched aboard a Soyuz capsule on October 31, 2000. The expedition commander was U.S. astronaut William M. “Bill” Shepherd (1949–); the Soyuz commander was Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko (1962–); and the flight engineer was Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev (1958–). With their four-month mission the crew began living aboard the ISS. An Endeavour crew visited the ISS in December 2000 to attach a truss structure, on which they in110


stalled solar panels, radiators, and communications systems. When the solar panels were installed, the ISS became the thirdbrightest object in the night sky. Phase 3 (2001–06). According to the original plan, construction of the ISS is to be completed during the third phase. A considerable amount of work was accomplished from February 2001 until October 2003. Seven more expeditionary crews lived on the station, assembling main modules and other elements. The U.S. Destiny laboratory was attached to the Unity, adding facilities for scientific research on near-zero gravity conditions in space. The Italian-made Leonardo multipurpose module was installed to provide “moving vans” that carry equipment, supplies, and experiments between the station and a shuttle. The Russian Pirs (Pier) docking port was added, a Canadian-made robotic arm was installed for use in future construction projects, and work continued on the complex truss system. During this period three Soyuz “taxi flights” visited the ISS to exchange the old Soyuz with a new one. This means that the taxi crew left the capsule they arrived in at the space station, then returned to Earth in the old capsule. In October 2001, French astronaut Claudie Haigneré (1957–; see entry) arrived with the third taxi crew aboard the Soyuz vehicle Andromede. On this flight she became the first woman to visit the ISS and the first non-Russian woman to serve as a Soyuz flight engineer.

Columbia tragedy causes delay Further construction on the ISS was delayed after the space shuttle Columbia accident. On February 1, 2003, the Columbia broke apart over the western United States while returning to Earth from a visit to the ISS (see Challenger Crew entry). All seven crew members were killed as pieces of the descending craft fell from the sky. The day after the incident NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe (1956–) organized the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). On August 26 the CAIB issued a final report. The most immediate cause of the disintegration was a piece of insulating foam that had separated from the shuttle’s left wing during takeoff. The missing foam International Space Station

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left a hole through which leaking gas was ignited by the intense heat of the rocket that propelled the Columbia. The board also found that the Columbia was not properly equipped for its mission to the ISS. Built earlier than other U.S. shuttles—the Columbia was the first shuttle to leave Earth orbit—the vehicle had been used primarily for scientific missions and for servicing the Hubble Space Telescope (see entry). On the flight to the ISS it was required to carry larger cargo, which the crew had difficulty handling because the Columbia did not have a space station docking system. The CAIB report concluded that the Columbia accident was caused in large part by deficiencies within NASA and by a lack of government oversight. The report stated that shuttle flights were becoming increasingly dangerous and that a minimum number should be flown only when necessary. Completion of the ISS was consequently postponed while NASA studied space shuttle safety issues.

For More Information Books Bond, Peter. The Continuing Story of the International Space Station. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2002. Launius, Roger D. D. Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.

Periodicals Hanson, Torbjorn. “Deep Space 1999.” Boys’ Life (June 1999): p. 28. Scott, Phil. “Eye on the Junk: Space Station Noises Renew Worry about Orbital Debris.” Scientific American (May 3, 2004): p. 27. Sietzen, Frank Jr. “A New Vision for Space.” Astronomy (May 2004): pp. 48+.

Web Sites “Human Spaceflight.” NASA. http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ (accessed on June 25, 2004). “International Space Station.” Discovery.com. http://www.discovery.com/ stories/science/iss/iss.html (accessed on June 24, 2004). Paulhus, Elizabeth. “Brick Moon Rising.” International Space Station Challenge. http://voyager.cet.edu/iss/cafe/articles/brickmoonrising.asp (accessed on June 25, 2004). 112


“Where Is the International Space Station?” NASA. http://www.science. nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html (accessed on June 25, 2004).

Other Sources Super Structures of the World: International Space Station—Cities in Space. Unapix/Ardustry, 2000 (Video).


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Mae Jemison Born October 17, 1956 (Decatur, Alabama) American astronaut, physician

“I felt like I belonged right there in space. I realized I would feel comfortable anywhere in the universe—because I belonged to and was a part of it, as much as any star, planet, asteroid, comet, or nebula.”

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ae Jemison went into space in 1992 aboard the space shuttle Endeavour. (A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.) Having been a physician before she became an astronaut, she performed scientific experiments during the eight-day voyage. The first science mission specialist sent into orbit by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), she was also the first woman of African descent to travel in space. After leaving NASA, Jemison founded her own advanced technology companies and has been active in the field of education. Her goal is to use her knowledge and experience to solve problems faced by people on Earth.

Inspired by science fiction Mae Carol Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. She was the youngest of three children of Charlie Jemison, a custodian and contractor, and Dorothy Jemison, a teacher. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, when Mae was a small child. By the time she entered kindergarten in 1961 she knew how to read, and she had already 114

Mae Jemison. (NASA)

decided to be a scientist when she grew up. She enjoyed reading about science, becoming a science-fiction enthusiast. Jemison told a SuperScience magazine writer that, in sixth grade, two of her favorite books were A Wrinkle in Time and Arm of the Starfish by author Madeline L’Engle (1918–). “Those books stand out,” Jemison said, “because they had women scientists and heroines.” In 1968, at age twelve, Jemison had a disturbing experience. Near her predominantly African American neighborhood civil rights demonstrations were being held prior to a major political event. Seeking to prevent disorder, the Chicago Mae Jemison

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mayor sent in the National Guard. As Mae watched the guardsmen march through the streets carrying rifles, she felt both frightened and defiant. Recalling the event almost twenty-five years later, she told SuperScience, “I reminded myself that I was as much a part of the United States as the guardsmen.” During high school Jemison concentrated on science, studied dance and art, and participated in student government. After graduation she entered Stanford University in California, where she majored in chemical engineering and African studies and learned the Russian and Swahili (an African dialect) languages. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Stanford in 1977, Jemison studied medicine for four years at Cornell University in New York. While at Cornell she traveled to Thailand and Kenya to provide primary medical care services. Upon completing her medical internship (supervision by a certified doctor) at Los Angeles/USC Medical Center in 1982, Jemison joined the Peace Corps in West Africa. (The Peace Corps is a volunteer organization for service in developing countries sponsored by the U.S. government.) She served as a staff physician until 1985, when she returned to Los Angeles to practice general medicine.

Flies in space Jemison applied to the NASA astronaut training program in October 1985. Three months later, in January 1986, the space shuttle Challenger (see entry) exploded shortly after takeoff. Seven astronauts died in the disaster, and NASA postponed the application process. After reapplying later in the year, Jemison became one of only fifteen candidates selected from a field of nearly two thousand aspiring astronauts. Trained for the position of mission specialist (scientist astronaut), she awaited a shuttle assignment and worked as a liaison between the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and NASA crew members in Cape Canaveral, Florida. On her first assignment Jemison was a mission specialist with the ground crew in Houston for the space shuttle Discovery, or SpacelabJ. (Spacelab is a research laboratory that orbits in space.) Launched in June 1991 at Cape Canaveral, Spacelab-J was a joint venture with Japan. The purpose of the flight was to conduct experiments in space to help scientists better understand Earth’s environment. Jemison learned the procedures involved 116


in operating a shuttle, conducting experiments in orbit, launching payloads (equipment and supplies) or satellites (orbiting spacecraft), and performing space walks. On September 12, 1992, over five years after joining NASA, Jemison served as a science mission specialist during an eight-day voyage aboard the space shuttle Endeavour. Although Patricia Cowings (1948–; see box on page 119) was the first African American woman to be trained as an astronaut, Jemison became the first female of African descent to go into space. Her job was to study the effects of weightlessness and motion sickness on the seven-person crew. She also conducted an experiment with tadpoles. “We wanted to know how the tadpoles would develop in space with no gravity,” she explained in an interview with Essence magazine. “When we got back to Earth,” she continued, “the tadpoles were right on track, and they have [sic] turned into frogs.” Jemison commented to the SuperScience reMae Jemison in her flight suit prepares for a shuttle mission. (AP/Wide World Photos) porter that while she was still aboard the Endeavour she looked down and saw her hometown of Chicago. At that moment she thought about her student days and then, she said, “I felt like I belonged right there in space. I realized I would feel comfortable anywhere in the universe—because I belonged to and was a part of it, as much as any star, planet, asteroid, comet, or nebula.”

Starts her own companies Soon after Jemison resigned from NASA in 1992 she started The Jemison Group to use advanced technology to improve the quality of life in developing countries. For instance, she envisioned using satellite mapping to survey a country’s Mae Jemison

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topography (details of the surface of the land) in order to locate resources and to build roads. As Jemison observed to a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, drawing a map on the ground is too time consuming. But “From space, you can take one picture and get incredible amounts of data, even though one picture may cost $5,000.” Another possible use of technology, she added, is to make fuels from plants to replace fossil fuels such as coal. In 1999 Jemison founded BioSentient Corporation to explore the commercial applications of Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE), a technology developed by Patricia Cowings for NASA in 1979. A research psychologist at Ames Research Center in California, Cowings originally designed AFTE, which monitors biofeedback (biological processes of the body), to ease the effects of space adaptation syndrome in astronauts. (Space adaptation syndrome is similar to motion sickness.) After extensive testing, in 2003 BioSentient was preparing to offer AFTE as a drugfree treatment for stress-related disorders such as anxiety and nausea. The plan was to market the equipment to psychiatrists, neurologists, and other health care professionals.

Promotes science education Since leaving NASA Jemison has made significant contributions in science education. In 1993 she joined the faculty at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she became director of The Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries. Jemison has cosponsored an annual International Science Camp for students age twelve to sixteen. The month-long summer camp is free to qualified applicants and focuses on critical thinking (a way of thinking about a topic or problem by using careful analysis and judgment) and experiential learning (learning by experience: by doing, as opposed to reading or listening). She also promoted science for children by serving as the National School Literacy Advocate for the Bayer Corporation’s program “Making Science Make Sense.” In 2001 Jemison published a memoir, Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life, for readers in grades seven through twelve. Jemison has received extensive recognition for her achievements. In 1988 she was presented the Essence Award, two years later she was named the Gamma Sigma Gamma 118


Patricia Cowings, Pioneering Scientist In 1977 Patricia S. Cowings (1948–) became the first female scientist, as well as the first African American woman, to be trained as an astronaut. A research psychologist at the Ames Research Center (ARC) in California, Cowings studied the physical effects of flying in space. She developed the Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE) to ease the effects of space adaptation syndrome, which is similar to motion sickness. Cowings described her early career in the following excerpts from an essay she wrote for the NASA website: I was the first female scientist trained to be an astronaut. This was way before

[first U.S. female astronaut in space] Sally Ride’s day [see Sally Ride (1951–) entry] and they didn’t even have a uniform for me. I was the alternate and never got a chance to fly but that experience is something I will never forget. The event was Spacelab Mission Development-3, a joint effort between Johnson Space Center (JSC) and ARC and was the first simulation of a life-sciencesdedicated space shuttle mission. . . . There were two years of fairly intense science development and crew training—half of the time at Ames and the other half at JSC. There was also training at university sites. It was a good two years in which “much ado” was made about my inclusion. . . . In 1979, my own flight experiment [AFTE] was selected by NASA and it flew on STS [space transport system] 51-B, STS 51C (1984) and Spacelab-1 (1992).

Woman of the Year, and in 1992 she received the Ebony Black Achievement Award. She also received an honorary doctorate from Lincoln University in 1991. Then, in 1992, an alternative public school in Detroit was named The Mae C. Jemison Academy in her honor. During those years she conducted science experiments for NASA and kept up her interests in medicine and science with various board memberships, including a one-year appointment (1990–92) to the Board of Directors of the World Sickle Cell Foundation. (Sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease affecting African Americans in which unusually shaped red blood cells do not carry oxygen properly.) Jemison also held memberships in the American Medical Association, the American Chemical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has gone on to serve on the advisory committee of the American Express Geography Competition and as an honorary board member of the Center for the Prevention of Childhood Malnutrition. Jemison was the subject of a Public Broadcasting System television documentary, The New Explorers: Endeavour, and she apMae Jemison

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peared in an episode of the television show Star Trek: The Next Generation.

For More Information Books Alagna, Magdalena. Mae Jemison: The First African American Woman in Space. New York: Rosen Central, 2004. Gelletly, LeeAnne. Mae Jemison. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002. Jemison, Mae. Find Where the Wind Blows: Moments from My Life. New York: Scholastic, 2001. Naden, Corinne J., and Rose Blue. Mae Jemison: Out of This World. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 2003.

Periodicals “Dr. Mae Jemison: First in Space.” SuperScience (February 2001): p. 10. Eze, Paschal. “Mae Jemison Honoured.” New African (February 2002): p. 25. Giovanni, Nikki. “Shooting for the Moon.” Essence (April 1993): pp. 58+. Leach, Susan Llewelyn. “How One Woman Is Bringing Space Technology Down to Earth.” Christian Science Monitor (April 5, 2001): p. 14. Marshall, M. “Child of 60s Set to Become First Black Woman in Space.” Ebony (August 1989): pp. 50+. Sykes, Tanisha A., and Sonya A. Donaldson. “A Space-Age Idea.” Black Enterprise (July 2003): p. 43.

Web Sites Cowings, Patricia S. “Women of NASA.” NASA. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ people/bios/women/pc.html (accessed on June 30, 2004). “Dr. Mae Jemison.” NASA Quest: Women of NASA. http://quest.arc. nasa.gov/women/TODTWD/jemison.bio.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Mae C. Jemison.” The Faces of Science: African Americans in Science. http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/display/faces.html (accessed on July 2, 2004).

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Sergei Korolev Born December 30, 1906 (Zhitomir, Ukraine) Died January 14, 1966 (Moscow, Russia) Russian engineer

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uring the 1950s and 1960s the former Soviet Union and the United States were engaged in a space race. This competition for superiority in space exploration was part of the Cold War (1945–91), which resulted from political differences that arose between the two superpowers after World War II (1939–45). The Cold War also pitted the Soviet Union and United States against one another in an arms race to gain military domination through advanced weapons technology. In 1957 the Soviets scored a stunning victory by launching Sputnik 1, the first artificial space satellite (an object that orbits in space). Realizing that the Soviet Union was now ahead in the space race, the United States immediately responded by integrating U.S. space research agencies into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and establishing an astronaut training program. Then, in 1961, Soviet cosmonaut (astronaut) Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968; see entry) made a nearly complete orbit of Earth aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1. Gagarin’s flight represented yet another a technical triumph for the Soviet Union.

“Not long after [Joseph] Stalin’s death, Korolev came to a . . . meeting to report on his work. I don’t want to exaggerate, but I’d say we gawked at what he showed us as if we were a bunch of sheep seeing a new gate for the first time.” Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Premier

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Sergei Korolev. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

In the 1970s and 1980s Sergei Korolev was a legendary figure in the Russian space program. Soviet officials portrayed him as being the person who single-handedly invented the first long-range ballistic missiles, rocket launchers for spacecraft, and the artificial satellite. Russians were also told that Korolev alone was responsible for Gagarin’s successful space flight. The collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1980s and early 1990s made possible more realistic information about Korolev’s career. Although he is still considered an important force in the Russian space program, it is now known that he was influenced by the ideas of interplanetary flight put forth 122


by the Russian inventor Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935; see entry). Korolev also worked closely with other scientists to train the scientists and engineers who later formed the core of Russia’s space program. Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was born on December 30, 1906 (January 12, 1907, in the Gregorian calendar used in Russia), in the Ukranian town of Zhitomir. As a young child he wanted to be a pilot, and by age seventeen he had designed a glider (an aircraft that relies on air currents to stay aloft). He attended the Kiev Polytechnic Institute before enrolling at the Moscow Higher Technical University. While studying at the university Korolev designed and constructed a series of gliders, the most advanced being a glider called the SK-4, which he made for flying in the stratosphere (outside Earth’s atmosphere). Having become interested in rocket-propelled aircraft, he helped to organize the Group for Investigation of Reactive Motion (GIRD) in 1931. GIRD launched the Soviet Union’s first liquid-propelled rockets, the GIRD-9 and GIRD-10.

Sent to prison In 1933 the Soviet military replaced GIRD with the Reaction Propulsion Scientific Research Institute (RNII), which developed rocket-propelled missiles and gliders. Korolev was in charge of aircraft body frames and engineer Valentin Petrovich Glushko (1908–1989) headed rocket-engine design. RNII produced Russia’s first rocket-propelled manned aircraft. In 1938, even before the rocket plane could be flown, Soviet authorities sent Korolev and Glushko to the gulag (prison system). At that time Joseph Stalin (1879–1953), the Soviet premier, was waging one of many purges to imprison or execute people he considered enemies of the communist state. (Communism is a political philosophy that advocates state operation of all aspects of society. The Soviet Union had been under communist rule since the Communist Revolution in 1917.) Particular targets were members of the intelligentsia (educated people). After being arrested in March, Glushko denounced Korolev to the Soviet authorities, who arrested Korolev in September. In July 1940 Korolev was sentenced to ten years of hard labor in gold mines in Kolyma, the worst part of the gulag. Two months later another prisoner, aircraft Sergei Korolev

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Rocket Technology Developed In 1931 Sergei Korolev helped to organize the Group for Investigation of Reactive Motion, which launched the Soviet Union’s first liquidpropelled rockets, the GIRD-9 and GIRD-10.

designer Sergei Tupolev (1906–1966), saved Korolev from almost certain death from overwork and starvation.

Develops R-7 rocket

Tupolev had been recruited by Stalin to head a sharashka (bureau) in Moscow, where prisoners were used to Efforts to develop rocket-propelled aircraft build missiles and rockets. World War were also underway in the United States and II (then a conflict waged by Germany Germany. American physicist Robert Goddard and its allies against countries in Eu(1882–1945; see entry) had already flown rope) had been underway for about a liquid-propellant rockets, and German scienyear, and Stalin was preparing for a tists with the Society for Spaceship Travel were German invasion. Tupolev recomtesting liquid-fueled rockets. The Society for mended Korolev to work in Moscow. Spaceship Travel disbanded in 1933, and a few In 1942 Korolev was transferred to a of those scientists—the foremost being Wernsharashka in Kazan and served as her von Braun (1912–1977; see entry)—evendeputy director of flight training. tually developed the V-2 missile, the forerunner Then, two years later, he was given the of all liquid-fuel rockets. In the meantime Godassignment that began his career as dard’s work remained generally unknown bethe top Soviet rocket scientist— cause Goddard insisted upon keeping his supervision of sixty engineers who research and experiments secret. After World were required to design a Soviet verWar II, Soviet researchers headed by Korolev sion of the German V-2 missile. The Vused V-2 technology to develop the R-7, which 2 had a range of 300 kilometers (186 became the most widely used rocket in the miles; see box on this page) and was world. ten years ahead of Soviet technology. Korolev’s team was given only three days to produce a design. The results were the D-1 and D-2, two-stage, liquidfuel rockets guided by an automatic pilot. (A two-stage rocket is fired first on takeoff and a second time after it is in the air.) Progress on a Soviet rocket was slow until 1945, when the war ended with the Allied defeat of Germany. (The major Allies were the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.) Russian engineers then had a chance to inspect leftover V-2 rockets in German factories. Though Korolev was still a prisoner, he was sent to Germany, where he interviewed German rocket scientists. The following year the Scientific Research Institute NII-88 was established to produce the Soviet version of the V-2. German workers were used as laborers in 124


the rocket factory in Gordodomlya, located between Moscow and Leningrad. Over the next decade Korolev succeeded in developing the R-7 rocket, which was launched on August 21, 1957. The rocket was a modified Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) about 100 feet (30.48 meters) in length with a weight of 300 tons (272,400 kilograms). It became the most widely used rocket in the world. On October 4, 1957, the R-7 was used to launch Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. Another success associated with Korolev was Luna 3, a probe satellite that provided the first views of the far side of the Moon. In 1959 it looped around the Moon, took pictures, developed them, and radioed them back to Earth. The Luna 3 flight improved the prestige of the Soviet Union throughout the world. During this time Korolev was apparently released from prison and declared fully rehabilitated (no longer an enemy of the state). Korolev then persuaded the Soviets to concentrate exclusively on manned spaceflight. He was authorized to oversee development of Vostok 1, the first manned spacecraft, which sent Gagarin into space on April 12, 1961. The Vostok was modified for other space exploits: the first multicrew space flight in 1964 and the first space walk in 1965. Korolev was also in charge of the Venera 3 mission, the first spacecraft to come in contact with another planet. It landed on Venus in 1966. Even though Venera 3 failed to return any information due to loss of contact with Earth, it was able to relay extensive information about interplanetary space before it crashed.

Hailed as space hero The Soviet space program was dealt a stunning blow when Korolev died on January 24, 1966. He had been diagnosed with cancer the previous year but had concealed the news from his colleagues. Korolev was buried in Kremlin Wall, an honor reserved for Russians of exceptional distinction. Two weeks after his death the Luna 9 made the first soft landing on the Moon, taking the first close-up views of the lunar surface. Luna 9 sent back television images showing that the feared deep layers of lunar dust did not exist. Once Korolev’s role in the space program was revealed to the public, he became a hero praised for his inexhaustible Sergei Korolev

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energy and talent as a researcher, his engineering intuition, and his creative boldness in solving difficult tasks. He left behind a group of dedicated and highly trained scientists and engineers, many of whom are still working at space and rocket engineering research institutes and design bureaus. Another Korolev legacy was the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the large complex where all Russian spacecraft have been launched since Sputnik 1 was sent into orbit in 1957. Yet the Soviet space program essentially died with Korolev, for several complex reasons. No other scientist was able match his skills and dedication, but a more important factor was intense political rivalry within the Soviet system. Throughout his career Korolev had competed with other rocket researchers, principally Valentin The Baikonur Cosmodrome, where all space craft from Glushko and Vladimir Nikolayev CheRussia are launched. Sergei Korolev was influential in lomei (1914–1984). Along with Kothe design of, as well as obtaining financial support for, rolev, these men are now regarded as the facility. (© Reuters NewMedia Inc./Corbis) the founders of the Soviet space program. Korolev’s former colleague Glushko designed innovative rockets that frequently competed with those developed by Korolev. In fact, Korolev’s refusal to compromise with Glushko reportedly resulted in the loss of many years of vital new technology. Chelomei had close political ties with Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971; the Soviet premier who followed Stalin), which he often used against Korolev and other scientists. Equally problematic was the Soviet military, who wanted to use rockets and spacecraft to win the arms race. Finally, the Soviet Union was running out of funds at a crucial time in the space race, which was now being won by the United States. In 1965 the United States initiated Project Gemini (see Christopher Kraft [1924–] entry), the manned space program that ultimately led to putting the first humans on the Moon (see Buzz Aldrin [1930–] and Neil Armstrong [1930–] entries). After Luna 9 the Soviets did 126


not send any other flights to the Moon. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has trained cosmonauts for the International Space Station program (see entry).

For More Information Books Harford, James. Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon. New York: Wiley, 1997.

Periodicals Gautier, Daniel James. “Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.” As Astra. (July/August 1991): p. 27. Heppenheimer, T.A., and Peter Gorin. “Match Race.” Air and Space Smithsonian. (February/March 1996): pp. 78+.

Web Sites “Sergei Korolev.” Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/ astros/korolev.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Sergei Korolev.” Russian SpaceWeb. www.russianspaceweb.com/korolev. html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Sergei Korolev—Sputnik Biographies.” NASA. www.hq.nasa.gov/office/ pao/History/sputnik/korolev.html (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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Christopher Kraft Born February 28, 1924 (Phoebus, Virginia) American flight director for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

“With a man on the end of a rocket, if you’re not shaking, you don’t understand the problem.”

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hristopher Kraft played a significant role in the development of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He was recruited by NASA in 1958, at a crucial time in U.S. history. In 1957 the former Soviet Union surprised the Americans and the rest of the world by launching the Sputnik 1 satellite (an object that orbits in space) to study the atmosphere of Earth. Since the end of World War II (1939– 45), the United States and the Soviet Union had been engaged in a period of hostile relations known as the Cold War (1945– 91). Not only were the two powers involved in an arms race for military superiority, but they were also competing for dominance in space. Sputnik 1 was therefore a sign that the Soviet Union was moving ahead in the Cold War. The United States immediately responded by creating NASA, which integrated all U.S. space research agencies and established an astronaut training program. Kraft’s career as NASA flight director spanned twenty-four years, encompassing the major achievements of American manned space exploration.

Christopher Kraft. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

Joins NASA Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr. was born in Phoebus, Virginia, on February 28, 1924, the son of Christopher Columbus and Vanda Suddreth Kraft. In 1944 he received a degree in aeronautical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The following year he took a job conducting flight tests for new military airplanes at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at Langley Field, Virginia. In 1950 he married Betty Ann Turnbull, with whom he later had a son and a daughter. Kraft

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joined NASA in 1958 as a member of the Space Task Group, which was developing Project Mercury. The first stage of the U.S. manned space program, Project Mercury developed the basic technology for manned space flight and investigated a human’s ability to survive and perform in space. Kraft remained in Langley until 1962, when he moved with the Space Task Group to Houston, Texas. Kraft was named flight director for the Mercury missions. He was also put in charge of designing mission control facilities at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center) in Houston. The position of flight director was a new concept at the time. Although preparing for a space flight seemed fairly basic, the job turned out to be extremely challenging. Kraft had to develop a system to coordinate hundreds of pieces of equipment for the spacecraft; for the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida; and for the facilities at the ground control center in Houston and at numerous other NASA control sites around the world. The nature of his job was also controversial, because he was in charge of all aspects of a mission.

Directs Mercury flights The first Mercury flight was made by astronaut Alan Shepard (1923–1998; see box in John Glenn entry) on May 5, 1961, from Cape Canaveral. Forty years later Kraft recalled his own experience on that day. In an interview with Barbara Bogave on Fresh Air, a National Public Radio program, he revealed that he was nervous. As he prepared to announce the countdown for the launch of Shepard’s space capsule, Kraft told Bogave, he was shaking so hard that he could not even see his microphone. “With a man on the end of a rocket,” he explained, “if you’re not shaking, you don’t understand the problem.” Kraft managed to announce the countdown, and he continued to do so for the next twenty-one years. His voice was identified with U.S. space flights in the minds of many Americans who grew up during the early days of manned space flight. The Mercury flight was a success, and Shepard became the first American in space. He piloted the Mercury space capsule 115 miles (185 kilometers) above Earth’s surface and 302 miles (486 kilometers) across the Atlantic Ocean. Although the trip lasted for only about fifteen minutes, his journey was almost technically perfect. Shepard was not the first human in space, 130


“. . . It Will Be an Entire Nation.” On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in which he announced that the United States would put a man on the Moon. In the following excerpt from the speech, available on the John F. Kennedy Libary and Museum Web site, Kennedy asks for the nation’s commitment to this goal: First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters [rockets], much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations—explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring

President John F. Kennedy addresses a joint session of Congress, announcing that the United States faced an “extraordinary challenge” of putting a man on the moon before the next decade. (© Bettmann/Corbis) flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon—if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.

however: Less than a month earlier, on April 12, Soviet cosmonaut (astronaut) Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968; see entry) had made a nearly complete orbit of Earth aboard the spacecraft Vostok. Gagarin’s flight, which had been surrounded by intense secrecy, represented yet another technical triumph for the Soviet Union. Americans saw this event as a potentially fatal blow to the prestige of the United States. Immediately confronting the Soviet challenge, on May 25 President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63) made a momentous speech before a joint session of the U.S. Christopher Kraft

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Congress. He announced that the United States would put a man on the Moon within the next ten years (see box on page 131). Kennedy’s vision captured the imagination of the American people, and it greatly expanded the mission of NASA. Kraft had been so focused on the Mercury goal of getting a man into orbit that he was completely surprised by the president’s commitment to go to the Moon. “Frankly, it was beyond my comprehension,” he admitted in the interview with Bogave.

Recalls Glenn flight Under pressure to match the Russian feat as soon as possible, NASA chose John Glenn (1921–; see entry) to be the first American to orbit Earth. On February 20, 1962, Glenn successfully made three orbits aboard the Friendship 7. As Glenn was preparing to land, Kraft and his ground control crew received a signal that the heat shield (a panel that protects the capsule from intense heat) might not be secured to the Friendship 7. Many engineers at ground control felt that Glenn should change the original plan of releasing the retrorocket apparatus, a rocket attached to the capsule that is used to slow its descent to Earth. Instead, they argued, the rocket would be kept in place, strapped over the heat shield, to keep the shield from coming loose. Glenn was instructed to leave the rocket on the capsule, then he guided the Friendship 7 manually back to Earth. The signal was later determined to be a false alarm. Kraft recalled the heat-shield incident during an interview with MSNBC television correspondent Alan Boyle in 1998. Kraft contended that the event had been made to seem “a lot more dramatic than it was.” He knew the heat shield was not loose, and he was more concerned about leaving the retrorocket in place. As a result of this experience Kraft decided that “from then on I was going to make my own . . . decisions about those kinds of things and not worry too much about what other people thought.” In 1964 NASA initiated Project Gemini, and Kraft served as flight director for many of the missions. The Gemini program provided astronauts with experience in returning to Earth from space as well as successfully linking space vehicles and “walking” in space. Gemini also involved the launching of a series of unmanned satellites, which would gain infor132


mation about the Moon and its surface to determine whether humans could survive there. Gemini was the transition between Mercury’s short flights and the Apollo Project, which would safely land a man on the Moon.

Helps land men on Moon Kraft was appointed chief of flight operations for the Apollo Project. The program’s first mission, Apollo 1 (see entry) ended tragically on January 27, 1967, when three astronauts died in a launch-pad fire in their module. (Two other tragedies later struck NASA programs. In 1986 the space shuttle Challenger [see entry] exploded shortly after takeoff. [A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.] In 2003 the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated after it reentered Earth’s atmosphere [see box in Challenger Crew entry].) Kraft was wearing a headset that transmitted the horrifying sounds of the last moments of the astronauts— Gus Grissom (1926–1967), Edward White (1930– 1967), and Roger Chaffee (1935–1967). The cause of the fire was determined to be an electrical short circuit near Grissom’s seat. As a result of the accident the program was temporarily delayed while safety precautions were reviewed. The next five Apollo missions were unmanned flights that tested the safety of the equipment. The first manned flight was Apollo 7 (October 1968) and the last was Apollo 17 (December 1972). The most famous was Apollo 11, which successfully landed Neil Armstrong (1930–; see entry) and Buzz Aldrin (1930–; see entry) on the Moon. Kraft told Boyle that his favorite mission was Apollo 8 because “the firsts associated with that were unbelievable.” The first Moon flight in history, Apollo 8 received considerable public attention, especially because it took place during the Christmas season. The spacecraft was launched on December 21, 1968, from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral), with Frank Borman (1928–), James Lovell (1928–), and William Anders (1933–) onboard. As the astronauts entered lunar orbit on December 24, they moved to the far side of the Moon, where they were beyond voice contact with Earth. Starting at 7:00 P.M., after they regained contact, they broadcast live pictures from the Moon’s surface. That night the crew members read verses one through ten from Genesis, the first book in the Old Christopher Kraft

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Testament of the Bible (the holy book of the Jewish and Christian religions). After making ten orbits around the Moon, Apollo 8 headed back to Earth on Christmas morning, December 25. During the mission Borman, Lovell, and Anders became the first humans to leave Earth’s orbit, the first to orbit another world, and the first to reenter Earth’s orbit from outer space. During a conversation with American History writer Mark Wolverton in 2001, Kraft revealed that NASA officials had opposed putting television cameras on the Apollo flights. “They thought we could do without it,” Kraft recalled, “that the motion picture and still cameras we took along would be sufficient and that it wasn’t worth the weight [on the space craft].” He eventually succeeded in persuading NASA to install cameras, thus making it possible for the world to witness such historic moments as Armstrong’s first step onto the surface of the Moon. Small color television cameras were not yet available, so the images were in black and white. “It was a lousy picture,” Kraft said, “but better than nothing.”

Advocates future exploration After Apollo 17 the United States did not undertake any other Moon flights. Instead, NASA concentrated its efforts on space shuttle missions in conjunction with Spacelab and the International Space Station (ISS; see entry). A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and outer space. Spacelab is an orbiting research laboratory operated by the United States. The International Space Station is an orbiting research laboratory operated by the United States and other nations. Following the Apollo missions, Kraft was promoted to director of the Johnson Space Center, the position he held until his retirement in 1982. Kraft wrote about his NASA experiences in Flight: My Life in Mission Control. Discussing the book with Bogave, Kraft said he had been content not to travel into space himself: “I never wanted to go. I was on every flight.” In the interview with Wolverton, Kraft expressed his disappointment at the lack of government and public interest in continuing lunar exploration after Project Apollo. “I think we ought to set the goal of going back to the moon and to Mars,” he said. NASA should “lay out the steps which would 134


get us a permanent base on the back side of the moon,” he continued. “That would lead to the tools to live on Mars.” Kraft’s hopes seemed closer to becoming a reality in January 2004. Speaking at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., President George W. Bush (1946–; served 2001–) announced that he would authorize a new program for exploration of the Moon and Mars.

For More Information Books Kraft, Christopher. Flight: My Life in Mission Control. New York: Dutton, 2001.

Periodicals Wolverton, Mark. “Talking with: Chris Kraft.” American History (August 2000): p. 66.

Web Sites Bogave, Barbara. Interview with Chris Kraft. Fresh Air (March 5, 2001). http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml?display=day&todayDate=03/05/ 2001 (accessed on June 29, 2004). Boyle, Alan. “Christopher Kraft: The Maestro of Mission Control.” http://www.geocities.com/drmwm/wizzbo.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Christopher Kraft.” Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix. com/astros/kraft.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). Kennedy, John F. Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. http://www.cs.umb.edu/ jfklibrary/j052561.htm (accessed on July 2, 2004). Kraft, Christopher. “The Kraft Report on Space Shuttle Operations” (March 15, 1995). NASA Watch. http://www.nasawatch.com/shuttle/ 03.15.95.kraft.sts.html (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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Shannon Lucid Born January 14, 1943 (Shanghai, China) American astronaut, biochemist, administrator

“What could be more exciting than working in a laboratory that hurtles around the earth at 17,000 miles per hour?”

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omen’s contributions to space exploration began in 1963, when Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937–; see entry) became the first woman to fly in space. Tereshkova’s legacy was continued by such women as American astronauts Sally Ride (1951–; see entry) and Mae Jemison (1956–; see entry) and French cosmonaut Claudie Haigneré (1957–; see entry). More than thirty years after Tereshkova’s flight, American astronaut Shannon Lucid achieved another milestone. During a six-month mission on the Russian space station Mir, she logged the most flight hours in space by a woman. (A space station is a research laboratory that orbits in space.) She also set the international record for the most flight hours in orbit by a non-Russian.

Combines studies with family life Shannon Lucid was born on January 14, 1943, in Shanghai, China, the daughter of Joseph and Myrtle Wells. Her parents were American citizens, but they were serving as Baptist missionaries in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45; a conflict between China and Japan over territory 136

Shannon Lucid. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

in China). At the time of Shannon’s birth, China was occupied by Japan and the family was being held in a Japanese prison camp. She would not have survived had her parents not saved their rations (supply of food) to feed her. When she was nearly a year old, the family moved back to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange program. They returned to China after the war, remaining there until Shannon was six. Once again the Wellses were forced to leave China, this time by the Chinese Communists, who had seized control of the government. They went to Bethany, Oklahoma, where Joseph Wells became an evangelical preacher. He travShannon Lucid

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eled around the country giving sermons, while the family remained in Bethany. While attending public school in Bethany, Lucid excelled in mathematics and science. She was also interested in space exploration, but she received little encouragement. In Biography Today Lucid is quoted as saying, “People thought I was crazy because that was long before America had a space program.” When she was in junior high school she discovered a book on Robert Goddard (1882–1945; see entry), the father of modern rocketry. She decided to follow in his footsteps, and in eighth grade she even worked on a science experiment to make her own rocket fuel. One junior-high teacher told her girls were not allowed to be rocket scientists, but a high-school science teacher encouraged her to pursue a science career. Lucid also became interested in flying when she was in high school, finally earning her private pilot’s license at age twenty. Later she earned commercial, instrument, and multiengine aircraft licenses. Lucid graduated from Bethany High School in 1960, placing second in her class. She attended the University of Oklahoma, where in 1963 she became the first woman to receive a bachelor of science degree in chemistry. She was a teaching assistant at the university for a year before taking a job as a senior lab technician at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. Lucid left the foundation in 1966 to work as a chemist for Kerr-McGee, where she met her husband, Michael Lucid. They married in 1968, and their first daughter was born about a year later. Lucid returned to the University of Oklahoma in 1969 as a graduate assistant in the biochemistry and molecular biology department. She earned her master of science and doctor of philosophy degrees in biochemistry in 1970 and 1973, respectively. Lucid was such a dedicated student that she even took an exam the day after the birth of her second daughter. In 1974 Lucid returned as a research associate to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, where she investigated the effect of cancer-causing agents on rats. She remained at the foundation until she joined the astronaut candidate training program in 1978. Her third child, a son, was born in 1976. 138


Begins astronaut career Lucid was a member of the first group of women chosen from eight thousand applicants for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut training program. She joined surgeon Margaret Rhea Seddon (1947–), geophysicist Kathryn D. Sullivan (1951–), electrical engineer Judith A. Resnik (1949–1986; see Challenger Crew entry), physicist Sally Ride, and physician Anna Lee Fisher (1949–). In 1979 Lucid and her five colleagues became the first women to achieve the full rank of astronaut. Yet they were not the first women to be selected as candidates for astronaut training. In the 1960s thirteen women were chosen for Project Mercury, the first stage of the U.S. manned spaceflight mission. Known as the Mercury 13 (see entry), they were ultimately not allowed to go on to astronaut training because they were not military pilots. Lucid was trained as a mission specialist (one who conducts research and other specialized tasks) on space shuttles and served in this capacity on all of her space flights. (A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.) She took her first trip into space on June 17, 1985, aboard the space shuttle Discovery. During this sevenday mission the crew deployed (released into orbit) three international communications satellites (objects that orbit in space)—the Morelos for Mexico, the Arabsat for the Arab League, and the AT&T Telstar for the United States. Using the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), they deployed and retrieved the SPARTAN satellite. The SPARTAN performed seventeen hours of x-ray astronomy experiments while separated from the space shuttle. In addition, the crew activated the Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF), which determines how gravity-driven convection (transfer of heat) affects alloys (mixtures of two or more materials, usually metal). They also activated six Small, Self-Contained Payloads (also known as Getaway Specials, or GAS payloads), which offer individuals or groups the opportunity to fly small experiments aboard a space shuttle. Finally, they participated in biomedical experiments. Lucid’s next flight was a five-day mission on the space shuttle Atlantis in October 1989. She and fellow crew members deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its journey to explore Shannon Lucid

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Shannon Lucid in a space shuttle corridor during one of her many trips where she served as a mission specialist conducting scientific experiments. (© NASA/Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

the planet Jupiter. In addition, they operated the shuttle solar backscatter ultraviolet instrument (SSBUV), which maps ozone (air pollution) in Earth’s atmosphere, and performed numerous secondary experiments. In August 1991 Lucid returned to space on a nine-day Atlantis mission to deploy the fifth tracking-and-data-relay satellite. This particular satellite provides telecommunication services to orbiting spacecraft. The crew also conducted thirty-two experiments, most of them relating to a U.S. space station called Freedom, which was never constructed. In November 1991, Lucid went into space a fourth time, spending fourteen days aboard the space shuttle Columbia. She and the crew tested the effects of space flight on humans and rats and conducted various engineering tests. On this flight 140


Lucid set a record as the American woman with the most hours in space—a total of 838. The Columbia orbited Earth 225 times, traveling 5.8 million miles (9.33 kilometers) in 336 hours.

Prepares for Mir mission Lucid’s involvement with the Mir program began in 1994. Robert “Hoot” Gibson (1946–), then head of the NASA astronaut office, asked if she would be interested in starting fulltime Russian-language instruction with the possibility of going to Russia to train for a Mir mission. Lucid accepted the assignment, though this did not necessarily mean she would be going to Russia, much less flying on Mir. As she explained in an article for Scientific American magazine, “From a personal standpoint, I viewed the Mir mission as a perfect opportunity to combine two of my passions: flying airplanes and working in laboratories. . . . For a scientist who loves flying, what could be more exciting than working in a laboratory that hurtles around the earth at 17,000 miles per hour?” Lucid was eventually selected to participate in the mission. After three months of intensive language study, she began training at Star City, the cosmonaut instruction center outside Moscow, in January 1995. Every morning she woke at 5:00 to begin studying. She spent most of the day in classrooms listening to lectures on the Mir and Soyuz systems—all in Russian. (Soyuz is the longest-serving spacecraft in the world.) In the evenings Lucid continued to study the language and struggled with workbooks written in technical Russian. “I worked harder during that year than at any other time in my life. Going to graduate school while raising toddlers was child’s play in comparison,” Lucid wrote in Scientific American. In February 1996, after passing the required medical and technical exams, Lucid was certified as a Mir crew member by the Russian spaceflight commission. She then traveled to Baikonur, Kazakhstan, to watch the launch of the Soyuz, which carried her crewmates, both named Yuri—Commander Yuri Onufrienko (1961–), a Russian air force officer, and Yuri Usachev (1957–), a Russian civilian—to the Mir space station. Lucid then went back to the United States for three weeks of training with the crew of the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis, which would take her to Mir. On March 22, 1996, Atlantis lifted off Shannon Lucid

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Shannon Lucid (center) aboard the Russian space station Mir with cosmonauts Yuri Usachev and Yuri Onufrienko. Lucid conducted science experiments aboard Mir for six months. (AP/Wide World Photos)

from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Three days later the shuttle docked with Mir.

Spends six months in space Lucid stayed busy while living aboard Mir. The day began when the alarm rang at 8:00 A.M. The first activity for the crew members was to put on their headphones and talk with mission control. Next they had breakfast, first adding water to their food and then eating it while floating around a table. In the afternoon they had a long lunch—again floating around the table—which usually consisted of Russian potatoes and meat casseroles. Although the crew had many responsibilities, they still had time for conversations about their own lives and experiences. They also had fun. One time Lucid lost a shoe 142


Letter from a “Cosmic Outpost” Shannon Lucid wrote a letter from Mir on May 19, 1996. In the excerpt below she described the arrival of the resupply vehicle Progress. Usually about every six weeks one [a resupply vehicle] is sent to Mir with food, equipment, clothes—everything that, on Earth, you would have to go to the store and buy in order to live. . . . I saw it [the Progress] first. There were big thunderstorms out in the Atlantic, with a brilliant display of lightening [sic] like visual tom toms. The cities were strung out like Christmas tree lights along the coast—and there was the Progress like a bright morning star skimming along the top!!! Suddenly, its brightness increased dramatically and Yuri

said, “The engine just fired.” Soon, it was close enough that we could see the deployed solar arrays. To me, it looked like some alien insect headed straight toward us. All of a sudden I really did feel like I was in a “cosmic outpost” anxiously awaiting supplies—and really hoping that my family did remember to send me some books and candy!!! . . . The first things we took out were our personal packages and, yes, I quickly peeked in to see if my family had remembered the books and candy I’d requested. Of course they had. Then we started to unpack. We found the fresh food and stopped right there for lunch. We had fresh tomatoes and onions; I never have had such a good lunch. For the next week we had fresh tomatoes three times a day. It was a sad meal when we ate the last ones!!!

and a cosmonaut found it, so she gave him a gelatin dessert as a reward. The crew performed thirty-five life science and physical science experiments, such as determining how protein crystals grow in space and how quail embryos develop in zero gravity. Many of the experiments also provided useful data for the engineers designing the International Space Station (ISS; see entry). The results from investigations in fluid physics, for example, helped the space station’s planners build better ventilation and life-support systems. Research on combustion in microgravity may also lead to improved procedures for fighting fires on the station. Exercise was essential to counteract the effects of weightlessness. Lucid spent two hours every day running on a treadmill, attaching herself to the machine with a bungee cord. This prevented significant weight and muscle loss normally encountered by astronauts. When Lucid returned to Earth aboard the Atlantis on September 26, she was in such good physical shape that she was able to walk off the space shutShannon Lucid

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tle without assistance. She had flown 75.2 million miles (121 kilometers) in 188 days, 4 hours, and 14 seconds, setting a new record for a woman—a total of 5,354 hours (223 days) in space. The previous female record, 170 days, had been held by Russian cosmonaut Yelena Vladimirovna Kondakova (1957–).

Honored for achievements In 2002, NASA named Lucid the new chief scientist of the Solar System Exploration division of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a NASA agency based in California. In this position she oversaw the agency’s science agenda, leading a three-person science council that would shape the future of U.S. space exploration. Lucid is the only woman to be awarded the U.S. Congressional Space Medal of Honor. She also received the Order of Friendship Medal, one of the most prestigious Russian civilian honors and the highest award that can be presented to a non-citizen. In 1997 the Freedom Forum presented Lucid the Free Spirit Award in recognition of her work and accomplishments in the space program.

For More Information Books Atkins, Jeannine. The Story of Women in Space. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. Crouch, Tom D. Aiming for the Stars: The Dreamers and Doers of the Space Age. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999. Harris, Laurie, and Cherie Abbey, eds. Biography Today, Scientists and Inventors Series. Detroit: Omnigraphics, Inc., 1998. Woodmansee, Laura S. Women Astronauts. Burlington, Ontario: Collector’s Guide Publishing, 2002.

Periodicals Danes, Mary K. “Space Woman on Mir.“ Hopscotch (October/November 2002): p. 2. “Just Let Her Fly.” Discover (April 1999): p. 18. Lucid, Shannon. “Six Months on Mir.” Scientific American (May 1998): pp. 46–55. 144


Web Sites “Astronaut Bio: Shannon Lucid.” Johnson Space Center, NASA. http:// www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lucid.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Pink Socks and Jello: Shannon Lucid Writes a Letter Home.” http:// www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4411/lucid.htm (accessed on June 30, 2004).

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Mercury 13 1960–61

“They gave us a history.” Eileen Collins

“M

ercury 13” is the popular name given to a group of thirteen women who were tested for Project Mercury astronaut training in 1960 and 1961. They passed the same seventy-five tests that were taken by their famous male counterparts, the Mercury 7 astronauts. The women never had a chance to fly in space, however, because the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. military were unwilling to accept women into their ranks. By the early twenty-first century, women had been regularly serving as astronauts for over twenty years. Historians have credited the Mercury 13, as well as the doctor and the brigadier general who initiated the women’s testing program, as a pioneering event in the U.S. space program.

Mercury 7 are heroes In 1958 the United States established NASA, which integrated U.S. space research agencies and started an astronaut training program. The formation of NASA was a direct response to Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite (an object that orbits in space) that the former Soviet Union had launched 146

Seven crew members of Mercury 13 in 1995 (from left): Gene Nora Jessen, Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk, Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Ratley, Myrtle “K” Cagle, and Bernice “B” Steadman. (NASA)

the previous year. This event sent shock waves through American society because at the time the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a political standoff known as the Cold War (1945–91). Not only were the two superpowers involved in an arms race for military superiority, but they were also competing for dominance in space. Sputnik 1 was a sign that the Soviet Union was winning the space race. Determined to move ahead of the Soviets, NASA developed a manned space flight program with the goal of sending the first person into Earth orbit. According to the plan, the program would progress in three stages: Project Mercury, Project Gemini, and Project Apollo. Project Mercury developed the basic technology for manned space flight and investigated Mercury 13

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The original seven members of the Mercury Project (from left): (front row) Walter M. Schirra Jr., Donald “Deke” K. Slayton, John Glenn, M. Scott Carpenter; (back row) Alan Shepard, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, and Leroy G. Cooper. (© NASA/Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis)

a human’s ability to survive and perform in space. Project Gemini provided astronauts with experience in returning to Earth from space as well as successfully linking space vehicles and “walking” in space. Integrating the information and experience gained from Mercury and Gemini, Project Apollo would land a person safely on the Moon. NASA aggressively promoted Project Mercury, seeking a pool of applicants from whom a few would be selected to train as the first U.S. astronauts. NASA administrator T. Keith Glennan (1905–1995) convinced President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; served 1953–61) that military jet test pilots would be the most qualified astronauts, so experience as a military pilot became the primary requirement. In April 1959, after applicants had been screened and tested, Glennan presented 148


seven astronaut candidates—all males and all military test pilots—to the American public. Called the “Mercury 7” and immediately acclaimed as heroes, they were Malcolm Scott Carpenter (1925–), Leroy G. Cooper Jr. (1927–), John Glenn (1921–; see entry), Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom (1926–1967), Walter M. Schirra Jr. (1923–), Alan Shepard (1923–1998; see box in John Glenn entry), and Donald “Deke” K. Slayton (1924– 1993).

Cobb leads the way The Mercury 7 had undergone extensive medical testing at the Lovelace Foundation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The medical testing program, which involved three phases, was designed by Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace II (1929–), chair of the NASA Life Sciences Committee, and Brigadier General Donald Flickinger (1907–1997) of the U.S. Air Force. When the Mercury 7 were selected, Lovelace and Flickinger had for some time been interested in testing women as astronauts. The main reason was that women generally weigh less than men. Women’s lighter body weight could offer several advantages in space, such as reducing the load in the capsule, increasing the booster power of the rocket that propels the capsule, and decreasing the amount of food and oxygen required during a flight. Lovelace and Flickinger were also intrigued by the possibility that women could match men in physical stamina and endurance. In addition, the Soviet Union was rumored to be training women cosmonauts (astronauts), so the doctor and the general were keenly aware that the United States must not lag behind the Soviets again in the space race. Lovelace and Flickinger initiated a secret search for women they could test for the astronaut program. In late 1959 they met their ideal applicant: Oklahoma native Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb (1931–). An experienced pilot, Cobb had already set three world records for distance and speed in a twin-engine Aero Commander plane. She was the first woman test pilot hired by the manufacturer of the Commander, and she had flown a variety of aircraft, including crop dusters, gliders, blimps, and B-17s. Lovelace and Flickinger were impressed with Cobb’s credentials, so they asked her to report to the Lovelace Clinic for the first phase of NASA astronaut qualification tests. By the Mercury 13

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time Cobb arrived at the clinic in early 1960, she had logged ten thousand flight hours, more than twice the number accumulated by some of the Mercury 7 astronauts. Cobb underwent the same seventy-five tests that had been administered to male candidates. The tests evaluated heart rate; lung capacity; loneliness level; pain level; noise tolerance; sensory deprivation; and spinning, tilting, and dropping into water tanks to measure resistance to vertigo (a state of extreme dizziness). Placing in the top 2 percent of all applicants, Cobb proceeded to phase two testing at the Naval School of Aviation at Pensacola, Florida. In the meantime, the Lovelace Clinic had recruited twenty-five other women for testing. The criteria included being in good health, having a college education, and logging a significant number of flying hours. In 1961, after undergoing the first phase of testing, twelve of the women met NASA qualifications. Like Cobb, they were all licensed pilots. They had varying degrees of flying experience, and many had logged more flying hours than had the Mercury 7 astronauts. Ranging in age from twenty-one to forty, a few were married but most were single at the time. Many of the women never met one another. The testing program had not been revealed to the public, so the women signed a pledge that they would keep it secret.

The Mercury 13 In addition to Cobb, the women who became known as the Mercury 13 were Myrtle “K” Cagle (1922–), Jan Dietrich (1924–), Marion Dietrich (1924–1974), Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk (1938–), Jane (Janey) Briggs Hart (1920–), Jean Hixson (1921–1962), Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen (1934–), Irene Leverton (1924–), Sarah Lee Gorelick Ratley (1931–), Bernice “B” Steadman (1923–), Jerri Sloan Truhill (1928–), and Rhea Allison Woltman (1928–). Myrtle Cagle, age thirty-six, was a flight instructor in Macon, Georgia. Having flown a variety of airplanes since she was twelve, she had logged 4,300 hours of flying time. Jan and Marion Dietrich were thirty-four-year-old identical twins who had degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. After graduation Jan became a flight instructor and commercial pilot, logging eight thousand flight hours by 1961. 150


Marion was a reporter and writer for a newspaper in Oakland, California, and she pursued flying in her spare time. When she came to the Loveland Clinic she had logged 1,500 flight hours. The youngest member of the training group was Wally Funk. Age twenty-one, she was a civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, a military base in Oklahoma. She placed second, after Cobb, in the phase-one tests. Janey Hart, at age forty, was the oldest—and the mother of eight children. The first licensed female pilot in the state of Michigan, she was married to Phil Hart (1912–1976), a U.S. senator from Michigan. The most experienced member of the group was Jean Hixson, age thirty-seven. She had served in the WASP (the women’s branch of the Army Air Force) during World War II. After the war she worked as a flight instructor, earned a college degree, and became a school teacher in Ohio. Gene Nora (pronounced Janora) Stumbough Jessen was serving on the faculty at the University of Oklahoma when she entered the Lovelace program. Although she passed the phase-one tests at age twenty-four, she was not aware at the time that she had qualified for astronaut training. She quit her job to take the phase-two tests in 1962, but the program was discontinued a few days later. Irene Leverton, a thirtyfour-year-old flight instructor from the University of Oklahoma, held a commercial pilot‘s license. She had logged more than nine thousand flight hours when she arrived at Lovelace. Kansas City native Sarah Ratley, who was twenty-eight, had a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Working as an electrical engineer at AT&T, she held a commercial pilot’s license and had won women’s air races such as the Powder Puff Derby and the International Air Race. Jerri Sloan Truhill, who began taking flying lessons as a teenager, was an experienced pilot when she entered the Lovelace program at age thirty-two. In partnership with Joe Truhill (whom she later married), she tested Terrain Following Radar (TFR) and “smart bombs” for Texas Instruments, a company based in Dallas, Texas. Rhea Allison Woltman was a professional pilot with licenses to fly a variety of aircraft. She had also towed gliders for cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, where she was a flight instructor. Mercury 13

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Two Would-be “Astronettes” Mercury 13 members Jerrie Cobb and Janey Hart actively protested against NASA’s cancellation of the women’s astronaut testing program. In 1962, when they realized that NASA was not going to change its position, they met with Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973; served as vice president 1961–63) and asked him to intervene on their behalf. Johnson had been a major force in establishing the space agency, so his word would carry considerable weight. In the following excerpt from her book The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight, writer Martha Ackmann describes the end of the meeting, when the vice president dismisses Cobb and Hart. Many minority groups were asking for attention from NASA, the Vice President

[told Cobb and Hart]. They want to be astronauts, too. If the United States allowed women in space, then blacks, Mexicans, Chinese, and other minorities would want to fly too. . . . Leaning toward the women with a pained expression on his face, Lyndon Johnson looked directly at Cobb and Hart and gave them his final thought. As much as he would like to help the cause of women astronauts, it was really an issue for [NASA administrator] James Webb (1906–1992) and those at NASA. It hurt him to have to say it because he was eager to help, but the question was not his to address. Johnson called an end to the meeting and started talking on his private phone. Hart and Cobb left Johnson’s chambers and met with a crowd of reporters outside in the Capitol hallway. Hart stood with her arms tightly folded across her chest, her pocketbook stuffed into the crook of her arm. Her goal at this point seemed to be to mind her manners and hold her temper in

Women’s program canceled Cobb, Funk, and Woltman passed phase-two testing. Cobb and Funk completed phase three, which means that they achieved equal status with their male counterparts, the Mercury 7. Yet they were never accepted into the astronaut corps, and they never flew in space. In July 1961, while Cobb and Funk were waiting for the next stage of training, NASA canceled the women’s testing program. No explanation was given. Many people protested NASA’s decision and pressured the U.S. Congress to hold hearings on discrimination against women in the space program. A Congressional subcommittee reviewed the matter and asked NASA for clarification of its policies. NASA officials responded by saying that the women trainees were ineligible to become astronauts because they had not gone through the military jet-pilot training program at Ed152


check. Cobb leaned near the wall, her face set rigidly in a practiced smile. “I’m hoping that something will come of these meetings,” she politely said as reporters scribbled into their notebooks. Later, newspaper reporters declared that two would-be “astronettes” had pleaded their case in Washington. The vice president—using the current jargon from Cape Canaveral [the NASA launch site in Florida]—had said the women were “A-OK” but the decision was not his to make.

Jerrie Cobb (left) and Janey Hart (right) lobby for women’s participation in the U.S. space program. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

Ironically, people from all of the groups mentioned by Johnson—women, blacks, Mexicans, and Chinese—eventually became U.S. astronauts (see separate entries): Sally Ride (1951–) was the first American woman; Guy Bluford (1946–) was the first African American male, and Mae Jemison (1956–) was the first African American woman; Ellen Ochoa (1958–) was the first Hispanic woman, and Franklin Chang-Díaz (1950–) is of Chinese-Hispanic descent.

wards Air Force Base in California. Since women were not allowed to train as military pilots at the time, historians note that NASA was simply making an excuse. The truth was that male military officers, both in the armed forces and at NASA, did not want women to fly in space. In April 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968; see entry) became the first man in space, setting this record one month before Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard made a successful flight into space. Then in 1963, the year after NASA canceled the women’s astronaut testing program, the Soviet Union scored yet another victory in the space race: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937–; see entry) became the first woman to travel in orbit. No American woman was given a chance to accomplish this feat until 1983, when Sally Ride (1951–; see entry) flew aboard the space Mercury 13

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shuttle Challenger. (A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.) The Mercury 13 returned to active private lives, remaining in the aviation field as commercial pilots, flight instructors, owners of aviation-related businesses, air race competitors, and flying hobbyists. In 1995 ten of the Mercury thirteen members, some meeting for the first time, gathered at Cape Canaveral, Florida. They were there to witness the launch of Eileen Collins (1956–), the first American woman pilot astronaut to travel in space. Before entering the space shuttle Discovery, Collins paid tribute to the Mercury 13 pioneers, saying, “They gave us [women astronauts] a history.” Although most of the Mercury 13 were disappointed about NASA’s decision to cancel the testing program, they did not make any further efforts to pursue a career in spaceflight. Jerrie Cobb and Wally Funk were the exceptions: Hoping to fly in space one day, both stayed physically fit and were still flying airplanes as they approached the age of seventy. In 1998, when Mercury 7 hero John Glenn took his second flight at age seventy-six, Cobb and her supporters started a movement to pressure NASA to give her a mission in space. Once again, NASA ignored her. In 2001 Funk signed a contract with a civilian space launch company, Interorbital Systems, to take a suborbital flight. Her trip had been delayed several times by 2004, but she remained optimistic about finally traveling in space.

For More Information Books Ackmann, Martha. The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight. New York: Random House, 2003. Cobb, Jerrie. Jerrie Cobb, Solo Pilot. Sun City, FL: Jerrie Cobb Foundation, 1997. Nolen, Stephanie. Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003.

Periodicals “‘Mercury 13’ Project Helped Pave Way for Female Astronauts.” Government CustomWire (April 8, 2004). 154


“Star Struck.” Weekly Reader—Senior (April 2, 2004): pp. 2–3. “Stars in Their Eyes.” People (July 7, 2003): pp. 111–14.

Web Sites Burbank, Sam. “Mercury 13’s Wally Funk Fights for Her Place in Space.” National Geographic.com. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/ 2003/07/0709_030709_tvspacewoman.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). DeFrange, Ann. “State-Born Aviatrix Yearns for Space. 2nd Astronaut Bid Supported.” The Sunday Oklahoman (May 17, 1998): pp. 1–2. http:// freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ñswokla/family/jerricobb.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). Funk, Wally. “The Mercury 13 Story.” The Ninety-Nines, Inc. www.ninetynines.org/mercury.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Mercury 13—The Women of the Mercury Era.” http://www.mercury13. com/ (accessed May 22, 2004).

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Hermann Oberth Born June 25, 1894 (Hermannstadt, Transylvania) Died December 29, 1989 (Nuremberg, West Germany) Austro-Hungarian-born German scientist

“Because that is the goal: To secure any place on which life can exist and prosper, give life to any dead world, and to give purpose to any living world.”

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erman scientist Hermann Oberth ranks with Russian aerospace engineer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935; see entry) and American physicist Robert Goddard (1882–1945; see entry) as one of the founders of space flight. Tsiolkovsky and Goddard made many discoveries before Oberth, but Oberth’s writings on a variety of subjects reached a wider audience. His most important contributions were two books that led first to the development of the German V-2 long-range guided missile (a rocket that carries a weapon) and then to human spaceflight. Oberth also published and expressed intriguing but often controversial views. These included claims that unidentified flying objects could be space vehicles carrying intelligent people from beyond our world.

Becomes fascinated by spaceflight Hermann Julius Oberth was born on June 25, 1894, in the German town of Hermannstadt, Transylvania; formerly a part of Austria-Hungary, the town is now known as Sibiu, Romania. His father, Julius Gotthold Oberth, was a medical doctor who was the director and chief surgeon of the county hospi156

Hermann Oberth. (AP/Wide World Photos)

tal in Schässburg, Transylvania, where Oberth grew up. His mother, Valerie Emma (Krassner) Oberth, was the daughter of a doctor who had prophesied accurately in July 1869 that humans would land on the Moon in a hundred years. In an autobiographical piece published in Astronautics journal, Oberth recalled that “at the age of eleven, I received from my mother as a gift the famous books, From the Earth to the Moon and Travel to the Moon by Jules Verne [1828–1905], which I . . . read at least five or six times and, finally, knew by heart.” Fascinated by space flight as a child, he began to perform various calculations about how humans could travel to the Moon. Hermann Oberth

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Although Oberth learned infinitesimal calculus (calculus is a variety of methods of mathematical calculation using symbols) at the Schässburg secondary school, he taught himself differential calculus, and he successfully verified the magnitude of escape velocity (the minimum force needed to propel a rocket out of Earth orbit into space). Oberth began studying medicine at the University of Munich in Germany in 1913, but he also attended lectures in physics (the study of energy and matter and their interactions) and related subjects at the nearby technical institute. His education was interrupted by World War I (1914–18), in which he served with an infantry regiment (soldiers trained and armed to fight on foot). After being wounded in 1916, he was assigned to a reserve hospital, where he continued experiments with weightlessness that he had begun as a teenager. He also experimented on himself with drugs, including scopolamine, which is still used to treat motion sickness. When Oberth left the army he worked on solutions to the problems posed by space flight. In 1918 he submitted a proposal to the German Ministry of Armament for a long-range rocket that could be used as a weapon. Powered by ethyl alcohol, water, and liquid air, the rocket was larger and less complicated than the V-2 missile, which Oberth later developed with engineer Wernher von Braun (1912–1977; see entry). The ministry turned down Oberth’s proposal. On June 6, 1918, Oberth married Mathilde Hummel, with whom he later had four children. Two of the children died during World War II (1939–45).

Publishes rocket theories In 1919 Oberth resumed his schooling, this time studying physics at the University of Klausenburg in Transylvania. He soon returned to the University of Munich and the nearby technical institute, then he attended the University of Göttingen, and finally he completed his studies for a Ph.D. at the University of Heidelberg. He submitted his doctoral dissertation (a long research paper on a specialized topic) on rockets and spaceflight theory at Heidelberg, but it was not accepted. From 1922 until 1938 Oberth taught physics and mathematics at secondary schools in Transylvania. In 1923 the University of Klausenburg granted him the title of professor. Five 158


From the Earth to the Moon Hermann Oberth enjoyed reading science fiction. One of his favorite works was From the Earth to the Moon: Passage Direct in Ninety-seven Hours and Twenty Minutes, (1865) by the French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). It is a tale about the adventures of members of the Baltimore Gun Club, who travel to the Moon onboard a gigantic cannon that they had made into a rocket. In the final chapter the cannon becomes a satellite (an object that orbits in space), an event that is witnessed by their friends J. Belfast and J. T. Maston “thanks to the gigantic reflector of Long’s Peak!” Belfast sends a note of confirmation to the Observatory of Cambridge. At the close of the chapter Maston contemplates the significance of the Gun Club’s achievement: When the dispatch from Long’s Peak had once become known, there was but one universal feeling of surprise and alarm. Was it possible to go to the aid of these bold travelers? No! for they had placed themselves beyond the pale of humanity, by crossing

the limits imposed by the Creator on his earthly creatures. They had air enough for two months; they had victuals enough for twelve;—but after that? There was only one man who would not admit that the situation was desperate—he alone had confidence; and that was their devoted friend J. T. Maston. Besides, he never let them get out of sight. His home was henceforth the post at Long’s Peak; his horizon, the mirror of that immense reflector. As soon as the moon rose above the horizon, he immediately caught her in the field of the telescope; he never let her go for an instant out of his sight, and followed her assiduously [steadily worked at tracking the Moon] in her course through the stellar spaces. He watched with untiring patience the passage of the projectile across her silvery disc, and really the worthy man remained in perpetual communication with his three friends, whom he did not despair of seeing again some day. “Those three men [members of the Gun Club],” said he, “have carried into space all the resources of art, science, and industry. With that, one can do anything; and you will see that, some day, they will come out all right.”

years later Oberth published his doctoral dissertation as a book titled Die Rakete zu den Planeträumen (The Rocket into Planetary Space). Although filled with complicated equations, Oberth’s book sold well. He set forth the basic principles of space flight and discussed possible solutions to a number of specific problems. For instance, he examined such matters as liquidpropellant rocket construction and the use of propellants for different stages of rockets. (A liquid-propellant rocket is fired with liquid fuel. Prior to the twentieth century rockets were fired with gun powder, known as solid fuel.) He discussed the Hermann Oberth

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use of pumps to inject propellants into a rocket’s combustion chamber and speculated on the effects of space flight upon humans. He also proposed the idea of a space station. In 1929 Oberth published a considerably expanded version of this book, now titled Wege zur Raumschiffahrt (Ways to Spaceflight). Both the German version and the English translation of the book provided inspiration to other spaceflight pioneers. One of the most important consequences was the German Rocket Society (Verein für Raumschiffahrt), which was founded in 1927 to raise money for Oberth’s rocket experiments. Oberth served as president from 1929 until 1930. The German Rocket Society provided practical training in rocketry to several of its members. Among them was von Braun, who later joined the German army’s rocket center at Peenemünde, where he participated in developing the V-2 guided missile. As public interest in space flight increased, the German film director Fritz Lang (1890–1976) made the movie Frau im Mond (Woman on the Moon), with Oberth as the technical advisor. Lang and his film company also provided funds for Oberth to construct a liquid-propellant rocket that would be launched at the movie’s premier. Oberth was unable to meet the deadline. During production of the film Oberth lost the sight in his left eye while conducting an experiment. He went on to build a rocket that never flew, but it did undergo a static test on July 23, 1930. Although his rocket design was certified by the Government Institute for Chemistry and Technology, Oberth returned to teaching in Romania when he could not obtain funding to develop it. The German Rocket Society continued its work, benefiting from the certification of Oberth’s design.

Describes space ships After 1930 Oberth resumed liquid-propellant rocket experiments. He succeeded in launching one rocket in 1935, but he remained outside the mainstream of rocket development. In 1938 he received an appointment to the Technical Institute in Vienna, Austria, to work on liquid-propellant rockets under a contract with the German Air Force. He was unable to accomplish anything of significance because he did not have adequate facilities or sufficient staff. In 1940 he was transferred to the Technical Institute of Dresden in Germany to develop 160


a fuel pump for what turned out to be the V-2 rocket. The rocket system, including a fuel pump, had already been designed, so Oberth went to Peenemünde to work with von Braun. By this time, however, the V-2 rocket was essentially developed. Since Oberth had become a German citizen in 1941, he was put in charge examining patents and other technical information for possible use on rockets. After doing some analytical work with a supersonic wind tunnel at Peenemünde in 1943, he began work on an anti-aircraft rocket, using a solid propellant. He was then transferred to a firm that dealt in solid fuels, Westfälisch-Anhaltische Sprengstoff A.G., where he remained until the end of the war. After World War II, Oberth moved to Feucht in what became West Germany. In 1948 he took a position in Switzerland as an advisor and technical writer on matters related to rocketry. Two years later he was hired by the Italian navy to develop a solidpropellant rocket, but the project was discontinued in 1953. Returning to Feucht, he published Menschen im Weltraum (Man into Space) the following year. In the book he discussed electric spaceships and a vehicle for moving about on the Moon, as well as many of the topics covered in his previous books. In 1955 Oberth published Das Mondauto (The Moon Car), in which he elaborated on his conception for a vehicle to operate on the Moon. That year Oberth also went to the United States to work with von Braun at the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Huntsville, Alabama. Shortly before the

Hermann Oberth meets with engineer Werner von Braun. During his time with von Braun, Oberth helped to develop propulsion for rockets, guidance devices for spacecrafts, and vehicles for use in zero gravity. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

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von Braun and 112 of his Peenemünde colleagues had surrendered to American military forces. They had been taken to the United States to work on rockets for the U.S. weapons and space programs, and von Braun was now head of the ABMA.

Contributes to Moon exploration At ABMA, Oberth was involved in advanced planning for projects in space, including electrical and thermonuclear (energy produced from the nucleus of an atom with high temperatures) propulsion for rockets, guidance devices, and vehicles for the Moon. Von Braun believed that Oberth had inspired the roving vehicle used on the Apollo 15 flight to the Moon. Inspiration is what best characterizes Oberth’s other designs at Huntsville as well, for they seem to have contributed little directly to the space effort. In 1958 he returned to Feucht, where he resided for the rest of his life. He returned briefly to the United States in July 1969 to witness the launch of Apollo 11, which carried the first humans to the Moon (see Buzz Aldrin [1930–] and Neil Armstrong [1930–] entries). In recognition of his contributions to space flight, Oberth was the first recipient of the international R. E. P. Hirsch Astronautics Prize in 1929. He also received the Diesel medal of the Association of German Inventors in 1954, the American Astronautical Society Award in 1955, and the Federal Service Cross First Class from the German Federal Republic in 1961. Of the three preeminent founders of spaceflight, Oberth alone lived to witness the results of his early ideas. He died at age ninety-five in Nuremberg, West Germany, on December 29, 1989. Throughout his life he remained committed to the dream of human exploration of space. In 1954, thirty-five years before his death, he wrote in Men into Space, “Because that is the goal: To secure any place on which life can exist and prosper, give life to any dead world, and to give purpose to any living world.”

For More Information Books Freeman, Marsha, Christina Huth, and Konrad Dannenberg, eds. How We Got to the Moon: The Story of German Space Pioneers. Washington, DC: Twenty-First Century Science Associates, 1994. 162


Heppenheimer, T.A. Countdown: A History of Space Flight. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987. Oberth, Hermann. Men into Space. Translated by G.P.H. De Freville. New York: Harper, 1957. Oberth, Hermann. The Moon Car. Translated by Willy Ley. New York: Harper, 1959. Walters, Helen B. Hermann Oberth: Father of Space Travel. New York: Macmillan, 1962; 2003.

Periodicals Frazier, Allison. “They Gave Us Space: Space Pioneers of the 20th Century.” Ad Astra (January/February 2000): pp. 25–26. Oberth, Hermann. “From My Life.” Astronautics (June 1959): pp. 38–39, 100–105. Winter, Frank H. “Was Hermann Oberth the True Father of Spaceflight?” Ad Astra (November/December 1996): pp. 40+. Yeomans, Donald. “‘Space Travel Is Utter Bilge.’” Astronomy (January 2004): pp. 48+.

Web Sites The Hermann Oberth Raumfahrt Museum. http://www.oberth-museum. org/index_e.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). Lethbridge, Cliff. “History of Rocketry Chapter 3: Early 20th Century— Hermann Oberth.” Spaceline. http://spaceline.org/history/25.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). Strange, Christiaan. “Hermann Oberth: Father of Space Travel.” http:// www.kiosek.com/oberth (accessed on June 29, 2004). Verne, Jules. “Chapter 28. The Star.” From the Earth to the Moon. http://vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/chapter28.htm (accessed June 29, 2004).

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Ellen Ochoa Born May 10, 1958 (Los Angeles, California) American astronaut, electrical engineer

“I never got tired of watching the Earth, day or night, as we passed over it.”

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llen Ochoa began training as an astronaut in 1990, twelve years after the program was opened to women. In 1993 she became the first Latina (woman of Hispanic descent) to travel in space, and by 2002 she had participated in three more missions. An inventor and optics expert (one who studies the origin and uses of light), Ochoa continues her active career in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Her achievements have made her a popular role model for other Hispanics, yet she prefers to see herself simply as an astronaut. After her first trip into space, Ochoa was given a medal by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. In her acceptance speech she said, “What everyone in the astronaut corps shares in common is not gender or ethnic background, but motivation, perseverance, and desire—the desire to participate in a voyage of discovery.”

Begins career as engineer Ellen Ochoa was born on May 10, 1958, in Los Angeles, California, the third of five children of Rosanne Deardorff Ochoa and Joseph Ochoa. She grew up in La Mesa, a suburb 164

Ellen Ochoa. (AP/Wide World Photos)

of San Diego. Her father, a native of Mexico, was the manager of a retail store and her mother was a homemaker. When Ellen was in junior high school, Joseph left the family and Rosanne struggled to raise five children alone. Described by Ellen as a “super-mentor,” Rosanne took college courses in her spare time and, over a period of twenty years, earned three degrees. Ellen, her sister, and her three brothers were outstanding students in the public schools. During high school Ellen gained recognition as an outstanding classical flutist, and she was the valedictorian of her graduation class in 1975. (The valedictorian is generally the highest ranking student in Ellen Ochoa

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Rodolfo Neri Vela Mexican astronaut Rodolfo Neri Vela became the first Latino to go into space in 1985. Flying aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, he participated in a seven-day, joint NASA–European Space Agency (ESA) mission. A specialist in communications technology, he carried out multiple experiments and placed in orbit the Mexican satellite Morelos 2. From 1989 until 1990 Neri Vela worked on the International Space Station (ISS; see entry) for the ESA in Holland. He later held academic positions at universities in Mexico and other countries, teaching courses on satellites and astronautics. He has written numerous articles and published ten books on subjects such as communications satellites, the solar system, and space travel.

the class who has earned the right to give the farewell speech during the graduation ceremony.) Although she was offered a four-year scholarship to Stanford University in Palo Alto, she chose instead to attend San Diego State University. She wanted to stay near her two younger brothers, who were still in high school at the time.

Ochoa was planning to study journalism when she entered college, but she eventually changed her major to physics. After graduating from San Diego State in 1980—once again as valedictorian—she enrolled in graduate school at Stanford University. She earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1981 and a doctorate in the same field in 1985. During this time she also performed as a flute soloist with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. Ochoa became interested in the NASA astronaut training program when several other graduate students submitted applications. NASA had been accepting women and minorities into the candidates’ program only since the late 1970s (see Guy Bluford [1942–] and Sally Ride [1951–] entries). The first Latino astronaut, Rodolfo Neri Vela (1952–; see box on this page), flew his first space shuttle mission in 1985, the same year Ochoa applied to the program. (A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.)

Takes first trip in space While awaiting acceptance as an astronaut candidate, Ochoa took a research position at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1987 she learned she was among one hundred finalists for the NASA training program. The following year she was hired as chief of the Intelligent Systems Technology Branch at Ames Research Center at Moffett Field Naval Air Station in Mountain View, California. During this period she was the coinventor of three patented 166


Ellen Ochoa photographing one of Earth’s oceans from aboard the Discovery space shuttle during her first mission in 1993. (NASA)

devices: one for an optical inspection system, a second for an optical object recognition method, and a third for a method to reduce noise in images. In her spare time, Ochoa took flying lessons and became a certified private pilot. Ochoa continued to persevere throughout the lengthy and difficult NASA selection process. She finally achieved her goal Ellen Ochoa

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in 1990, becoming the first female Hispanic astronaut in NASA history. Training began in late 1990 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The program was physically and mentally demanding, involving academic subjects such as geology, oceanography, meteorology, astronomy, orbital mechanics, and medicine as well as land and water survival techniques and even parachuting. Each astronaut also devoted considerable time to learning about the space shuttle itself. Ochoa passed the rigorous course and officially became an astronaut in July 1991. She began as a flight software specialist in the development of robots (remote-controlled devices that perform human activities). She was also involved in flight testing and training. Ochoa participated in her first mission, a nine-day flight aboard the space shuttle Discovery, in April 1993. The only woman on the five-member crew, she was a specialist for the second mission of ATLAS (Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science). Ochoa and her crewmates conducted research on solar activity to gain a better understanding of Earth’s climate and environment. She operated the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), a fifty-foot (15.42 meters) robotic arm, to deploy (release into orbit) and capture the Spartan satellite, which retrieved data about the solar corona (colored circle around the Sun) and solar winds (plasma continuously ejected from the Sun’s surface into and through planetary space). Ochoa later recalled that observing the universe from the shuttle’s windows was an awe-inspiring experience. “I never got tired of watching the Earth, day or night, as we passed over it,” she told Nora López, a reporter for Latina magazine. “Even though we brought back some pretty incredible pictures, they don’t quite compare with being there.”

Helps assemble space station Ochoa’s next space flight, an eight-day trip, took place in November 1994 on the space shuttle Atlantis. As payload commander, she again collected data on solar energy. Her third mission, aboard the Discovery in 1999, was a ten-day journey (May 27–June 6) for which she served as a mission specialist and flight engineer. The seven-person crew included representatives from the Canadian Space Agency, the Russian Space Agency, and a French representative of the ESA. May 29 was 168


a particularly momentous day, in that it marked the first time the shuttle docked with the International Space Station (ISS; see entry), an orbiting research laboratory being constructed for use by many nations. The Discovery crew was preparing for the arrival of the first crew to live onboard the space station the following year. Ochoa’s responsibilities included coordinating the transfer of nearly two tons of supplies such as clothing, sleeping bags, medical equipment, spare parts, and water from Discovery to the ISS craft. She also operated the RMS during a lengthy space walk by two of her fellow astronauts. Ochoa’s most recent space journey, in April 2002, was on the Atlantis, which visited the ISS and marked the thirteenth shuttle flight to the space station. During the eleven-day mission the three-person crew installed the S-Zero (SO) truss on the ISS. The truss was the first segment of the main backbone of the station, which would be expanded to carry solar panel wings and radiators. The crew also moved around the station for the first time. Between space shuttle flights, Ochoa has held a variety of other positions with NASA at the Johnson Space Center. She has tested flight software, served as crew representative for robotics, and worked at mission control (communications base for all spaceflight) as spacecraft communicator. She also directed the crew involved in the ISS project, a high priority for NASA in the twenty-first century. In 2003 she held the position of deputy director of flight crew operations.

Shares experiences with students In addition to receiving the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Medallion of Excellence Role Model Award in 1993, Ochoa holds numerous other honors for her achievements. These include Space Act Tech Brief Awards in 1992; Space Flight Medals in 1993, 1994, and 1999; an Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1995; and an Exceptional Service Medal in 1997. Others are the Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award, the Hispanic Engineer Albert Baez Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution to Humanity, and the Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award. In addition, Ochoa has served as a member of the Presidential Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History. Ochoa is frequently asked to speak to students and teachers about her Ellen Ochoa

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career and the success she has achieved as NASA’s first Hispanic female astronaut. She regards this part of her job as an unexpected bonus and enjoys having the chance to inspire young people to study mathematics and science. Ochoa and her husband, Coe Fulmer Miles, have two children. She flies her own single-engine plane for recreation, and still plays the flute, as she did in high school. As a veteran of four shuttle flights and countless hours of training, Ochoa compares her experiences with the life of a student. “Being an astronaut allows you to learn continuously, like you do in school,” she remarked in an article published in the Stanford University School of Engineering Annual Report, 1997–98. “One flight you’re working on atmospheric research. The next, it’s bone density studies or space station design.” But she readily admitted that other components of space flight such as the launch, weightlessness, and seeing Earth from afar have a strong appeal as well: “What engineer wouldn’t want those experiences?”

For More Information Books Camp, Carole Ann. American Women Inventors. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2004. Machamer, Gene. Hispanic American Profiles. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. Stille, Darlene R. Extraordinary Women Scientists. New York: Scholastic Library, 1995.

Periodicals López, Nora. “La Primera Astronaut [The First Astronaut].” Latina. (May 1998): pp. 60–63.

Web Sites “Astronaut Bio: Ellen Ochoa.” Johnson Space Center, NASA. http:// www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ochoa.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Ellen Ochoa.” Inventors.About.com. http://inventors.about.com/library/ inventors/blochoa.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Ellen Ochoa.” Stanford University School of Engineering Annual Report, 1997–98. http://soe.stanford.edu/AR02-03/index.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). 170


“Rodolfo Neri Vela.” Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix. com/astros/nerivela.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004).

Other Sources Ochoa, Ellen. Speech to Congressional Hispanic Caucus, 1993. Cited in Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, Book IV. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000.

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Sally Ride Born May 26, 1951 (Encino, California) American astronaut

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“Our future lies with today’s kids and tomorrow’s space exploration.”

ally Ride was the first American woman to travel into outer space. With this feat she became, at age thirty-one, the youngest American sent into orbit. For women, Ride’s historic flight was a significant step forward. It also represented the end to a story that began more than twenty years earlier with the Mercury 13 (see entry). Thirteen women fliers had met the same qualifications as the first male astronauts, but they were not permitted to enter the training program. After her ventures into space, Ride rose to prominence within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She currently holds an academic position, and she is a vital force in promoting math and science education for young students.

Trains as astronaut Sally Kristen Ride was born on May 26, 1951, in Encino, California, near Los Angeles. She is the older daughter of Dale Burdell, a political science professor, and Carol Joyce (Anderson) Ride. During her childhood, Sally’s parents encouraged her curiosity and sense of adventure. When she was nine years old, her father took a sabbatical (temporary leave) from his 172

Sally Ride. (NASA)

teaching position at Santa Monica Community College and the family traveled throughout Europe for a year. An outstanding athlete who started playing tennis at age ten, Ride won a scholarship to Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles. Ride eventually ranked eighteenth nationally on the junior circuit. After graduating from Westlake in 1968, Ride enrolled at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, but she soon dropped out to pursue a tennis career. Within three months, however, she decided she did not have the skills to become a professional player. Ride then entered Stanford University in California, where she received two bachelor’s degrees—in Sally Ride

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science and in literature—in 1973. She remained at Stanford, earning a master’s degree in physics two years later and a doctorate degree in physics, astronomy, and astrophysics in 1978. After completing her Ph.D. dissertation (a long research paper on a topic in one’s field of specialization) in 1978, Ride applied for astronaut training. She simply responded to a NASA advertisement seeking applicants for the program, which had recently begun accepting women. Ride told interviewers for Scholastic Scope magazine that “In the 1970s, many professions were being opened to women. And NASA recognized that this was a time of change. There was no reason a woman couldn’t become an astronaut.” Ride was working as a research assistant when she was chosen as one of thirty-five candidates (six of them women) from an original field of eight thousand applicants. Even after three years of studying X-ray astrophysics, she had to go back to the classroom to gain skills to be part of a team of astronauts. The program included basic science and math, meteorology, guidance, navigation, and computers as well as flight training on a T-38 jet trainer and other operational simulations. Ride was selected as part of the ground-support crew for the second (November 1981) and third (March 1982) space shuttle flights. (A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.) Among her duties was being the capsule communicator, or “capcom,” which involves relaying commands from the ground to the shuttle crew. This experience prepared her to be an astronaut.

Makes historic flight Ride took her first trip into space in 1983 aboard the space shuttle Challenger. The mission was launched on June 18 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, orbited Earth for six days, and landed on June 24 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Among the shuttle team’s tasks were the deployment (the release while in orbit) of international satellites (objects that orbit in space) and numerous research experiments supplied by a range of groups, such as a naval research lab and various high school students. Ride and fellow crew member John M. Fabian (1939–) operated the shuttle’s robot arm, accomplishing the first satellite deployment and retrieval using such a device. Ride’s second flight, again on the Challenger, took place 174


between October 5 and October 13, 1984. This time, the robot arm was put to some unusual applications, including “ice-busting” (removing ice) on the shuttle’s exterior and readjusting a radar antenna. Objectives during this longer period in orbit covered scientific observations of Earth, demonstrations of potential satellite refueling techniques, and deployment of (releasing into orbit) a satellite. Sixteen years after her first venture into space, Ride reflected on the experience in the Scholastic Scope interview. “The thing I’ll remember most about the flight,” she said, “is that it was fun. I’m sure it was the most fun I‘ll ever have in my life.” When asked what she thought about being the only woman in a five-member crew, she answered, “It was like flying with four brothers, except there were no fights.” Ride was preparing for a third flight, but training was cut short in January 1986, when the Challenger (see entry) exploded in midair shortly after takeoff. The entire crew was killed. President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004; served 1981–89) immediately formed the Rogers Commission to investigate the disaster, and he appointed Ride as the only astronaut member of the panel. According to the commission’s final report the 12-foot rubber washers called O-rings, which are placed between the steel segments of booster rockets, had failed under stress. The O-rings had long been considered a problem by NASA technicians. According to a Chicago Tribune article at the time, many people at NASA began to feel that their safety had been endangered without their knowledge. Ride was quoted as saying, “I think that we may have been misleading people into thinking that this [a space shuttle flight] is a routine operation.” Following her work on the Rogers Commission, Ride was named special assistant for long-range and strategic planning to NASA administrator James C. Fletcher (1919–1991) in Washington, D.C. Ride created the Office of Exploration, a task force on the future of the space program, and wrote a status report titled Leadership and America’s Future in Space. In the report Ride proposed changing NASA goals in order to prevent a “space race” mentality that might pressure management and personnel into taking risks. She suggested that NASA take environmental and international research goals into consideration, and that the agency pledge to inform the public Sally Ride

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about space missions. In addition, Ride cited the lack of math and science proficiency among American high school graduates as a potential problem. For instance, only 6 percent of Americans tested that they had competent knowledge in these fields, compared with up to 90 percent in other nations.

Serves on disaster commissions Ride left NASA in 1987 to join the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford. Two years later she became the director of the California Space Institute and a physics professor at the University of California at San Diego. In 2003 Ride was once again called upon to provide her expertise in the investigation of a NASA disaster. On February 1 the space shuttle Columbia (see box in Challenger Crew entry) broke apart over the western United States while returning to Earth from a sixteen-day mission. The day after the accident NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe (1956–) organized the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). By the end of the month, however, the board had not made significant progress. After special hearings the U.S. Congress determined that, among other shortcomings, board members lacked sufficient technical knowledge. Pressured to bring in outside experts, in early March O’Keefe appointed Ride; Douglas Osheroff (1945–), a Nobel prizewinner in physics; and John Logsdon (1937–), director of the Space Policy Institute. On August 26 the CAIB issued a final report stating that the Columbia accident was caused in large part by deficiencies within NASA and by a lack of government oversight.

Promotes math and science education In addition to her professional duties, Ride is active in promoting math and science education for children and young adults. Interviewed by T. H. E. Journal in 1999, Ride was asked how boys and girls could be encouraged to become interested in scientific exploration. “It’s pretty clear,” Ride responded, “that the key is to start very early, in elementary school and middle school. Kids are naturally curious when they’re in second and third and fourth grade. . . . You can start them on a path toward scientific literacy [knowledge] and appreciating that these are interesting topics. Then, as they get older, they’ll appreciate that they’re important topics.” 176


Sally Ride’s Club and Science Festivals In collaboration with Imaginary Lines Inc., in 2001 Sally Ride launched the Sally Ride Club and the Sally Ride Science Festival. These organizations were created for girls who want to learn more about science. Sally Ride Clubs have been started in cities throughout the country by teachers, YMCAs, Girl Scouts, Girls Clubs, and even Boys Clubs. Activities and materials are provided by Imaginary Lines. Using the club’s interactive Web site, participants can chat with one another and send suggestions for space projects to astronauts. The Sally Ride Science Festival is held each year in several U.S. cities. At these events girls have a chance to interact with Ride, participate in workshops, and build projects. Typical projects include recreating a volcano, using kitchen chemicals, and making a rocket out of Legos. According to an article in the Christian Science Monitor, six hundred girls, teachers, and parents attended the San Diego festival in 2002.

Sally Ride showing her website for the Sally Ride Club. (AP/Wide World Photos)

The Sally Ride Club Web site is http://www.sallyrideclub.com; the Sally Ride Science Festival Web site is http://www. sallyridefestivals.com.

After serving for a year as president of space.com, an information Web site for the space industry, Ride founded EarthKAM in 1999. This Internet-based NASA project provides middle-school students with an opportunity to take pictures of Earth from space and then download them. Ride’s most recent endeavor is Imaginary Lines, an organization that encourages girls to become interested in science, math, and technology through the Sally Ride Club and the Sally Ride Science Festivals (see box on this page). Ride is also the author or coauthor of five books for children: To Space and Back, Voyager: An Adventure to the Edge of the Solar System, The Third Sally Ride

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Planet: Exploring the Earth from Space, The Mystery of Mars, and Exploring Our Solar System. For her work in education Ride was presented the Jefferson Award for Public Service by the American Institute for Public Service in 1984. Among her other honors are two National Spaceflight Medals in recognition of her two groundbreaking shuttle missions in 1983 and 1984. She also served on the transition team of newly elected president Bill Clinton (1946–; served 1993–2001) in 1992. Her most recent honor came in 2003, when she was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Besides being the first American woman astronaut and the youngest American astronaut, Ride was the first to marry another astronaut during active duty. In 1982 she married Steven Alan Hawley (1951–), a Ph.D. from the University of California, who had joined NASA with a background in astronomy and astrophysics. They were divorced five years later.

For More Information Books Holden, Henry M. Pioneering Astronaut Sally Ride. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2004. Hurwitz, Sue. Sally Ride: Shooting for the Stars. New York: Fawcett, 1989. Woodmansee, Laura S. Women Astronauts. Burlington, Ontario: Collector’s Guide, 2002.

Periodicals Cohen, Russell, and Laine Falk. “On Top of the World.” Scholastic Scope (March 11, 2002): p. 12. “From the Cosmos to the Classroom: Q and A with Sally Ride.” T. H. E. Journal (March 1999): pp. 20+. Rowley, Storer, and Michael Tackett. “Internal Memo Charges NASA Compromised Safety.” Chicago Tribune (March 6, 1986): section 1, p. 8. Steindorf, Sara. “Sally Ride Enters New Frontier: Convincing Girls That Science Is Cool.” Christian Science Monitor (March 19, 2002): p. 12.

Web Sites “Sally Kristen Ride: First American Woman in Space.” Lucidcafé. http:// www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96may/ride.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). 178


Sally Ride Science Club. http://www.sallyrideclub.com (accessed on June 29, 2004). Sally Ride Science Festival. http://www.sallyridefestivals.com (accessed on June 29, 2004).

Other Sources Intimate Portrait: Sally Ride. Unapix Video, 2000. Women in Space. Vision Quest Video, 2000.

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Valentina Tereshkova Born March 6, 1937 (Maslennikovo, Russia) Russian cosmonaut

“I’m trying to memorize, fix all the feelings, the peculiarities of this descending, to tell those, who will be conquering space after me.”

V

alentina Tereshkova made history by becoming the first woman to fly in space. She accomplished this feat in 1963, at the height of the former Soviet Union’s space program. In 1957 the Soviets had launched Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite (an object that orbits in space), and in 1961 cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968; see entry) had made the first successful orbit of Earth onboard the spacecraft Vostok 1. These triumphs took place during the Cold War (1945–91), a period of hostile relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. Since World War II (1939–45) the two super-powers had been engaged in an arms race for military superiority. Now the competition included a space race, and the Soviets were winning. The United States had sent its first astronaut, Alan Shepard (1923–1998; see box in John Glenn [1921–] entry), into orbit, but this was the only real U.S. space accomplishment so far. Tereshkova’s flight therefore had added significance because it represented yet another Soviet victory. Tereshkova did not participate in any other space missions, but she became an instant celebrity throughout the world. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, however,

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Valentina Tereshkova. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

there was minimal publicity about her outside of Russia. At the turn of the twenty-first century, attention was once again focused on the first woman in space, who celebrated the fortieth anniversary of her flight in 2003. That year the American journal Quest: The History of Spaceflight published the English translation of Tereshkova’s memoir, originally titled “Stars Are Calling,” which she wrote in 1963.

Applies to cosmonaut program Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born on March 6, 1937, in the small village of Maslennikovo near the Russian Valentina Tereshkova

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city of Yaroslavl. Her father, Vladimir Tereshkova, was a tractor driver on a collective farm and her mother, Elena Fyodorovna Tereshkova, worked at the Krasny Perekop cotton mill. Vladimir was killed while serving with the Soviet army in World War II, leaving Elena to raise two-year-old Valentina and two other children—a daughter, Ludmilla, and a son, Vladimir. Valentina was not able to attend school until she was ten because she stayed at home to help her mother. Eventually Elena moved the family to Yaroslavl, where she found work in a textile factory. At age sixteen Valentina was an apprentice (a person being trained for a skill) in the Yaroslavl tire factory, and in 1955 she took a job as a loom operator at the Red Canal Cotton Mill. In the meantime she graduated from the Light Industry Technical School after taking correspondence courses. She was also politically active, first joining the Komsomol (Young Communist League) and then advancing to membership in the Communist Party (the political organization that controlled the Soviet Union). In 1959 she joined the Yaroslavl Air Sports Club and became a skilled amateur parachutist, making 126 successful jumps. Recalling her first parachute jump in the article published in Quest, she wrote, “I came home later than usual. Perhaps there was something unusual in my appearance, because mom asked, ‘Has anything happened? You are so strange today.’ To tell her that I joined the parachute club was too hard for me. I didn’t want to trouble her; besides, I was not completely sure about the success of my new adventure.” Following the Soviet Union’s first successful unmanned space launch in May 1960, Tereshkova became interested in the idea of space flight. After Gagarin made the first manned space flight, she was so enthusiastic that she wrote a letter to the Soviet Space Commission asking to be considered for cosmonaut training. The Space Commission filed her letter along with several thousand others it had received. In early 1962, however, Sergei Korolev (1907–1966; see entry), head of the Soviet Space commission, came up with the idea that the Soviet Union could score an important public relations coup against the United States by sending a woman into space. (The United States did not accept women for astronaut training for another twenty years; see Sally Ride [1951–] entry.) 182


Trains as cosmonaut Although Korolev had originated the idea of sending a woman into space, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev (1894– 1971) made the final decision. He wanted the choice to be an ordinary Russian worker, so he was not interested in applicants who were highly skilled scientists or airplane pilots. On February 16, 1962, Tereshkova and four other women were chosen for cosmonaut training. Tereshkova was instructed not to tell her friends or family what she would be doing. Instead she told them that she was training for a women’s precision skydiving team. All five candidates participated in an intensive, eighteenmonth training program at the Baikonur space center. They worked in a centrifuge and an isolation chamber, underwent tests in weightless conditions, and made 120 parachute jumps in spacesuits. They were also given jet pilot training. Since Tereshkova had no scientific background, she had difficulty with rocket theory and spacecraft engineering. Nevertheless, she reportedly applied herself to the course and mastered it.

Makes historic flight At 12:30 P.M. on June 16, 1963, Junior Lieutenant Tereshkova became the first woman to be launched into space. Her radio call sign, Chaika (Seagull), would become the nickname by which Russians know her even today. Tereshkova reported the view from space, remarking on the beauty of Earth and the universe. She was later seen smiling on Soviet and European television, pencil and logbook floating weightlessly before her face. Vostok 6 made forty–eight orbits (1.2 million miles; 1.93 million kilometers) in 70 hours, 50 minutes, coming within 3.1 miles (4.98 kilometers) of Vostok 5. The Vostok 5 had been launched on June 14 in a separate orbit and was piloted by Valery Bykovsky (1934–). A dual female flight had been planned, but Bykovsky, a male cosmonaut, had been substituted at the last minute (see box on page 184). While in space the two cosmonauts conversed through radio contact and sent television pictures back to Earth. Tereshkova carried out a series of physiological tests to learn about the effects of weightlessness and space travel on humans. To return to Earth she fired the retro-engine to brake the rocket. As the space capsule reentered Earth’s atmosphere, flames surrounded the capsule. In her memoir Tereshkova described this Valentina Tereshkova

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Plan for Dual Female Flight Canceled While the first women cosmonauts underwent training, Soviet officials were having intense discussions behind the scenes. When Sergei Korolev suggested sending a woman into space, officials had conceived an even more dramatic idea—a dual female flight, with women pilots for both the Vostok 5 and the Vostok 6. The two spacecraft would be launched a day apart and fly for three days in March and April 1963. There was a problem with the plan, however. Tereshkova was an acceptable choice for Vostok 5, but some officials were concerned about the candidate for Vostok 6. The candidate was Valentina Leonidovna Ponomaryova (1933–), a Ukranian who had scored the best test results. But officials considered her to be too aggressive and not sufficiently loyal to the Soviet cause. In response to the question “What do you want from life?” she said in Encyclopedia As-

tronautica, “I want to take everything it can offer.” This answer proved that she was promoting herself and not committed to glorifying the Communist Party. Ponomaryova also traveled without a male escort, which was regarded as unseemly behavior for a woman. The idea for a dual female flight was finally discarded at the last minute. It was decided that Tereshkova would pilot Vostok 6 and a male cosmonaut, Valery Bykovsky (1934–), would pilot Vostok 5. The flights were delayed two months, until June. Ponomaryova and the three other women cosmonauts never flew in space. A civilian pilot and a member of the Academy of Sciences, Ponomaryova left space service in 1969. She works in orbital mechanics at the spaceflight training center. Ponomaryova is married to cosmonaut Yuri Ponomaryov (1932–), with whom she has two children.

moment: “Again the pressure pushes me in the chair, shuts my eyes. I notice the dark red tongues of flame outside the windows. I’m trying to memorize, fix all the feelings, the peculiarities of this descending, to tell those who will be conquering space after me.” The spacecraft stabilized under a small parachute, and Tereshkova was ejected through the side hatch. She landed with the aid of a regular parachute. Her flight confirmed Soviet test results that women had the same resistance as men to the physical and psychological stresses of space.

Becomes world celebrity After their return, Tereshkova and Bykovsky were hailed in Moscow’s Red Square. On June 22, at the Kremlin, 184


Valentina Tereshkova and fellow cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky are honored by the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev for their historic space flight that made Tereshkova the first woman in space. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

Tereshkova was named a Hero of the Soviet Union and was decorated by Presidium Chairman Leonid Brezhnev (1906– 1982) with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal. A symbol of emancipated Soviet women, she toured the world as a goodwill ambassador promoting the equality of the sexes in the Soviet Union. She received a standing ovation at the United Nations. With Gagarin, she traveled to Cuba in October as a guest of the Cuban Women’s Federation, and then went to the International Aeronautical Federation Conference in Mexico. On November 3, 1963, Tereshkova married Soviet cosmonaut Colonel Andrian Nikolayev (1929–), who had orbited Earth sixty-four times in 1962 onboard the Vostok 3. Their daughter Yelena Adrianovna Nikolayeva was born on June 8, Valentina Tereshkova

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1964, and was carefully studied by doctors, who were fearful that her parents’ space exposure may have damaged her. No ill effects were found. After the flight, Tereshkova continued as an aerospace engineer in the space program, while at the same time becoming active in Soviet politics, feminism, and culture. She was a deputy to the Supreme Soviet (1966–89), a People’s Deputy (1989–91), and a member of the Supreme Soviet Presidium (1974–89). She also served on the Soviet Women’s Committee (1968–87), becoming its head in 1977. Tereshkova led the USSR’s International Cultural and Friendship Union (1987–91) and chaired the Russian Association of International Cooperation. In 2003 she held the rank of general and headed the Russian Centre for International Science and Cultural Cooperation. Tereshkova summarized her views on women and science in “Women in Space,” an article published in the American journal Impact of Science on Society: “I believe a woman should always remain a woman and nothing feminine should be alien to her,” Tereshkova wrote. “At the same time I strongly feel that no work done by a woman in the field of science or culture or whatever, however vigorous or demanding, can enter into conflict with her ancient ‘wonderful mission’—to love, to be loved—and with her craving for the bliss of motherhood. On the contrary, these two aspects of her life can complement each other perfectly.”

For More Information Books Edmonson, Catherine M. Extraordinary Women: Women Who Have Changed History. Avon, MA: Adams Media Corp., 1999. Oberg, James E. Red Star in Orbit. New York: Macmillan, 1977. Woodmansee, Laura S. Women Astronauts. Burlington, Ontario: Collector’s Guide Publishing, 2002.

Periodicals Block, Jen, and Marissa Ferrari. “Who Knew?” Ms. (December 1999/January 2000): pp. 52+. “The Extraordinary Destiny of an ‘Ordinary’ Woman.” Russian Life (May/ June 2003): pp. 19–20. O’Neil, Bill. “Whatever Became of Valentina Tereshkova?” New Scientist (August 14, 1993): pp. 21+. 186


Tereshkova, Valentina. “The First Lady of Space Remembers.” Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly 10, No 2 (2003): pp. 6–21. “Women in Space.” Impact of Science on Society. (January–March, 1970): pp. 5–12.

Web Sites “Valentina Leonidovna Ponomaryova.”Encyclopedia Astronautica. http:// www.astronautix.com/astros/ponryova.htm (accessed on June 30, 2004). “Valentina Tereshkova.” Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix. com/astros/terhkova.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Valentina Tereshkova.” Fun Social Studies. http://www.funsocialstudies. learninghaven.com/articles/valentina_tereshkova.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Valentina Tereshkova.” StarChild. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ StarChild/whos_who_level1/tereshkova.html (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Born September 17, 1857 (Izhevskoye, Russia) Died September 19, 1935 (Kaluga, Russia) Russian aerospace engineer

“I had to figure out everything by myself.”

K

onstantin Tsiolkovsky (pronounced KAHN-stan-tyeen tsee-ohl-KAHV-skee) was one of the greatest Russian scientists of the early twentieth century. Along with American physicist Robert Goddard (1882–1945; see entry) and German physicist Hermann Oberth (1894–1989; see entry), he is considered a founding father of spaceflight. Almost entirely self-educated, Tsiolkovsky studied and wrote about a wide range of scientific topics, but he is best known for his pioneering work in astronautics. In the 1890s he began calculations on the mathematics and physics of spaceflight, which he saw as the first step in the colonization of space by humans. Throughout his life Tsiolkovsky saw himself as a scientist who not only worked on abstract problems but also strived for the betterment of human existence. On October 4, 1957, twenty-two years after his death, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite (an object that orbits in space; see Sergei Korolev [1907–1966] entry). Soviet officials attempted to send the satellite into space on September 17, the one hundredth anniversary of Tsiolkovsky’s birth. Although that deadline was not met, the flight was dedicated to Tsiolkovsky.

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Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. (Library of Congress)

Loses his hearing Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was born on September 17, 1857, in the Russian village of Izhevskoye in the province of Ryazan. His mother was the former Maria Yumasheva and his father, Eduard Tsiolkovsky, was a forester, teacher, and minor government official. The Tsiolkovsky family moved frequently while Konstantin was young, and their financial situation was often difficult. Until age ten he led a typical childhood, playing games, ice skating, flying kites, and climbing fences. Then disaster struck in 1867, when Tsiolkovsky became seriously ill and lost his hearing. For a long Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

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time he was deeply depressed about his misfortune, but he gradually worked his way through this difficult period. He then pursued an intense interest in science, teaching himself at every step along the way. In his autobiography Tsiolkovsky explained that “there were very few books, and I had no teachers at all. . . . There were no hints, no aid from anywhere; there was a great deal that I couldn’t understand in those books and I had to figure out everything by myself.” In 1873 Tsiolkovsky’s father acquired enough money to send him to Moscow. Tsiolkovsky continued his self-education in the rich intellectual environment of the city. He devised an ear trumpet that enabled him to hear lectures, but he could not afford to enroll in a formal college or university program. At the end of three years in Moscow, Tsiolkovsky returned to his hometown. He continued to teach himself science, building models of various kinds of machines and carrying out original experiments.

Writes about his ideas In 1879 Tsiolkovsky passed the examination for a teacher’s license and took a job as instructor of arithmetic and geometry at the Borovsk Uyzed School in Kaluga. Continuing his research, in 1880 he wrote his first scientific paper, “The Graphical Depiction of Sensations,” an effort to express human sensations in strict mathematical formulas. A year later Tsiolkovsky wrote “The Theory of Gasses,” which he submitted to the Russian Physico-Chemical Society. The group admired his work and offered support for his future research but decided that the paper did not qualify for publication. In 1883 he completed “On the Theoretical Mechanics of Living,” an analysis of the ways natural forces, such as gravity, affect the structure and movement of human beings. Although this paper was not published, the Physico-Chemical Society was impressed and accepted Tsiolkovsky as a member. Tsiolkovsky started the next phase of his work, developing theories of flight and aircraft, in the mid-1880s. His interest in flight can be traced at least to age fifteen, when he posed for himself the problem of determining the size a balloon must be in order to carry people into the air. More than a decade later he wrote on this subject in “The Theory and Experiment of a Horizontally Elongated Balloon.” He designed 190


a metal lighter-than-air machine, now called a dirigible, but he could not obtain funding to build a working model. Those who granted money for scientific research saw no practical use for such an invention. Tsiolkovsky was also thinking about heavier-than-air craft. One of his first papers on the subject was “On the Problem of Flying by Means of Wings,” which he wrote in 1890. In this work he completed one of the earliest mathematical studies of forces operating on the wings and body of an aircraft. He then produced studies on the shape of aircraft fuselages (FYOO-seh-lahg-ez; the main bodies of airplanes), the use of internal engines, the shape of wings, and other important features of heavier-than-air machines. During this time he married Barbara E. Sokolova, the daughter of a local preacher. They later had three daughters and four sons. Tsiolkovsky was aware that most of his ideas needed to be tested in actual experiments. Taking a step toward this goal, he designed the first wind tunnel built in Russia. Put in operation in Kaluga in 1897, the wind tunnel produced a stream of air that could be forced over aircraft bodies and wings of various sizes, shapes, and designs. Tsiolkovsky described the preliminary results of his experiments in “Air Pressure on Surfaces Introduced into an Artificial Air Flow.” Encouraged by his success, he appealed to the Russian Academy of Sciences for a grant that would allow him to expand his wind tunnel experiments. He was successful in getting an award of 470 rubles (about $235 at the time) to build a larger wind tunnel. In May 1900 he began construction of a larger wind tunnel, and he undertook experiments before the end of that year.

Develops theories of space travel Tsiolkovsky will be remembered probably best for his accomplishments in the field of astronautics, or space travel. He had started thinking about space travel during his stay in Moscow. By the late 1870s he was producing ideas about spacecraft and space travel at an astonishing rate, touching on virtually every aspect of the subject. In about 1879, for example, he designed an instrument for measuring the effects of gravitational acceleration (an increase in the force of gravity) on the human body. Four years later, he outlined the mechanism by which a jet rocket could carry an object into space. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

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Launch of Gemini 3 in 1965. (NASA)

In the early 1890s Tsiolkovsky wrote about travel to the Moon, other planets, and beyond. Published in 1895, his paper “Dreams of the Earth and Sky and the Effects of Universal Gravitation” introduced the concept of an artificial Earth. He described it as being somewhat similar to the Moon. By the following year Tsiolkovsky had identified the mathematical formulas needed to describe the movement of a spacecraft. A year later he worked out the fundamental relationship between the velocity (speed) and mass of a rocket and the exhaust velocity of the propellant used to send it into space. That formula is now known as the basic rocket equation. As a result of his research Tsiolkovsky realized that the most efficient way of placing rockets into space is to arrange them in packets, or “cosmic rocket trains.” Writing about rocket trains in an article in 1929, he originated the concept 192


that is today called “rocket staging.” This process involves a series of rocket engines being fired at specific intervals to put an object into space. By the end of his life Tsiolkovsky had investigated virtually every technical question pertaining to space travel. He determined the kinds of fuels that would work best as rocket propellants, eventually settling on a mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as the best choice.

Envisions colonization of space In 1903 Tsiolkovsky completed a historic paper, “Investigations of Outer Space by Reaction Devices,” which summarized his work. The paper did not actually appear in print until it was published in the journal Vestnik vozdukhoplavaniya (Herald of Aeronautics; 1911–12). This paper also outlined Tsiolkovsky’s views on the colonization of space. He argued that space travel should not be viewed as some abstract scientific experiment but as a way of creating new human communities outside Earth. In 1920 Tsiolkovsky published Beyond the Earth, a popular book that described space travel and living in space to nonscientists. Tsiolkovsky’s first sixty years were extremely difficult, not only because he lived in poverty but also because his colleagues were indifferent to his work. The October Revolution (an overthrow of the Russian monarchy by the Communist Party) of 1917 brought a dramatic change in Tsiolkovsky’s situation. He was elected a member of the Socialist Academy and given a pension by the Council of the Peoples’ Commissariats of the Russian Federation. For the first time in his life he could concentrate on scientific research with some degree of comfort. An indication of the impact of this pension on Tsiolkovsky’s productivity is the fact that about 25 percent of his more than five hundred papers were written in the six decades between 1857 and 1917. He wrote the remaining 75 percent in the last two decades of his life. In the late 1920s Tsiolkovsky spent more time on problems of aeronautics (the science of flight). Typical of his papers from this period were “A New Airplane” and “Reactive Airplane” as well as studies of topics unrelated to air and space travel. Among them were a common alphabet, the future of Earth and humanity, and solar energy. During his lifetime he also wrote science-fiction books, including On the Moon Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

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(1895), Dreams of the Earth and Sky (1895), and Beyond the Earth (1920). In an effort to secure a pension for his family, on September 13, 1935, Tsiolkovsky willed his books and papers to the Communist Party and the Soviet government. He died at his home in Kaluga six days later, and the government honored him with a state funeral. He was buried in the Kaluga cemetery near his home, which was later made into a museum. During World War II (1939–45) the museum was badly damaged. After the launching of Sputnik 1, the Tsiolkovsky home-museum became a popular sightseeing stop for visitors.

For More Information Books Dickson, Paul. Sputnik: The Launch of the Space Race. Toronto, Ontario: MacFarlane, Walter & Ross, 2002. Heppenheimer, T. A. Countdown: A History of Space Flight. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987. Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin. K. E. Tsiolkovsky: Selected Works. Translated by G. Yankovsky. Moscow: Mir, 1968.

Periodicals Frazier, Allison. “They Gave Us Space: Space Pioneers of the 20th Century.” Ad Astra (January/February 2000): pp. 25–26. Yeomans, Donald. “‘Space Travel Is Utter Bilge.’” Astronomy (January 2004): pp. 48+. Zak, Anatoly. “Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Slept Here.” Air & Space Smithsonian (August/September 2002): pp. 62+.

Web Sites “Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.” Inventors.About.com http://www.inventors. about.com/library/inventors/blrocketTsiolkovsky.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). Lethbridge, Cliff. “Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky.” Spaceline. http://www.spaceline.org/history/21.html (accessed on July 2, 2004). The Life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky, 1857–1935. www.informatics. org/museum/tsiol.html (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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Wernher von Braun Born March 23, 1912 (Wirsitz, Germany) Died June 16, 1977 (Alexandria, Virginia) German-born American rocket engineer

W

ernher von Braun was the most famous rocket engineer of the twentieth century. He began his career in Germany, where he developed the revolutionary V-2 rocket during World War II (1939–45). Fleeing to the United States at the end of the war, he became an important figure in the American rocket and space programs. Teams of engineers under his direction designed the Redstone, Jupiter, and Pershing missiles (rockets that carry weapons). Von Braun then led development of the Jupiter C, Juno, and Saturn launch vehicles, which carried early U.S. satellites (objects that orbit in space) and spacecraft beyond Earth’s atmosphere and ultimately to the Moon. Von Braun was both a celebrity and a national hero in the United States.

“To millions of Americans, [Wernher von Braun’s] name was inextricably linked to our exploration of space and to the creative application of technology.” President Jimmy Carter

Begins developing rockets Wernher Magnus Maximilian von Braun was born on March 23, 1912, in the town of Wirsitz (later Wyrzysk, Poland) in eastern Germany. He was the second of three sons of Baron Magnus Alexander Maximilian von Braun, a banker and government official, and Emmy (von Quistorp) von Braun, an 195

Wernher von Braun. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

accomplished musician and talented amateur astronomer (one who studies stars and planets). She encouraged her son’s fascination with spaceflight by giving him a telescope and books by science-fiction writers Jules Verne (1828–1905) and H. G. Wells (1866–1946; see entry). Wernher attended the French Gymnasium (high school), where he excelled in languages but failed physics (the science that deals with matter and energy and their interactions) and mathematics. He then attended the Hermann Lietz School at Ettersburg Castle, a school famous for its advanced teaching methods and emphasis on practical trades. At age thirteen he attempted to read Rockets 196


to Planetary Space by the space pioneer Hermann Oberth (1894–1989; see entry), but he could not understand Oberth’s complicated mathematical formulas. He then vowed to master math and physics. Before he graduated, he was teaching mathematics and tutoring struggling students. In 1930 von Braun enrolled at the Charlottenburg Institute of Technology in Berlin. He also joined the German Rocket Society, which was founded in part by Oberth. Von Braun soon became Oberth’s student assistant, and together they successfully developed a small rocket engine. Funding for the project ended, however, and Oberth returned to his native Romania. Von Braun and his associates continued their work at an abandoned field outside Berlin, using the old buildings for laboratories and living quarters. For a time von Braun attended the Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. There he began the study of the physiological effects of space flight, conducting crude experiments with mice in a centrifuge (a machine used for simulating gravitational force). The experiments convinced him that humans could withstand the rapid acceleration and deceleration of space flight. He then returned to Charlottenburg Institute and to his work at the field where he launched his rockets.

Develops V-2 rocket While von Braun and his associates were developing their rocket, Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) had manipulated his way to power as head of the Nazi Party. Elected chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, Hitler took over the parliament (legislative body) and suspended the constitution. He began ruling by decree (an order that has the force of law) and rebuilding the German army, which had been virtually dismantled by the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I (1914–18). The treaty had forbidden Germany to have any gun, cannon, or weapon with a bore (barrel) exceeding three inches. But the Nazis saw a loophole. The treaty did not envision rockets and made no mention of them, so German military planners hoped to develop rockets as weapons. German army ordnance (weapons) experts began frequent visits to von Braun’s rocket field and monitored his team’s rocket development work. Impressed with von Braun’s knowledge and the scope of his Wernher von Braun

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imagination, ordnance officials invited him to continue his research at the army’s facilities at Kummersdorf. On October 1, 1932, von Braun officially joined the German Army Ordnance Office rocket program. Two years later he received a doctorate in physics from the University of Berlin. By that time he was technical director at Kummersdorf with a staff of eighty scientists and technicians. They had completed the preliminary design for the A-4 rocket, which became known as the V-2. This was an ambitious undertaking, since the missile was to be 45 feet (13.7 meters) long, deliver a one-ton (.97 metric ton) warhead (the section of a missile containing the explosive or chemical) to a target nearly 160 miles (257.4 kilometers) away. The rocket motor was also far more powerful than the largest liquid-fueled rocket motors then available. It could deliver a 25-ton (22.6 metric ton) thrust (upward force) for 60 seconds, compared to the 1.5 tons (1.36 metric tons) of thrust supplied by other rockets. The following year the group moved to new military facilities at Peenemünde, a town on the Baltic coast. When Hitler started World War II by invading Poland in 1939, Germany gave rocket development the highest priority. Hitler envisioned using this new weapon in his quest to take over Europe. Von Braun’s team encountered difficulties in perfecting their rocket, however, so the first launch did not occur at Peenemünde until October 3, 1942. Failures continued to plague the project, and fully operational V-2s were not fired until September 1944. By the end of the war in June 1945, approximately six thousand rockets were manufactured at an underground production site named Mittelwerk. The factory used the slave labor of concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war. (Concentration camps were compounds where the Nazis imprisoned and executed millions of people, including Jews and other “enemies of the state.”) Although several thousand V-2s struck London, England; Antwerp, Belgium; and other Allied targets, they were not strategically significant in the German war effort. (The Allies were military forces led by Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union.)

Heads U.S. rocket program The Nazis wanted the rocket as a weapon of war, but von Braun had a different vision: space travel. His interest in space 198


Von Braun’s Nazi Connections Wernher Von Braun’s prominence in American spaceflight efforts often overshadows his responsibility in the suffering and loss of life associated with the German V-2 rocket. Although he always gave credit to his team for the technical success of this and other programs, he clearly played a key role in the development of the missile. He and his army superior, General Walter Dornberger (1895– 1980), were also successful in obtaining funding and other support for the V-2. Although he had no direct responsibility for production at Mittelwerk, von Braun was aware of conditions in the concentration camp that provided the factory’s labor. Moreover, he had joined the Nazi Party on May 1, 1937, and became an officer in the elite SS (an abbreviation of Schutzstaffel,

German for “Protective Corps”) in 1940. (The SS started as Hitler’s bodyguards, but under Heinrich Himmler [1900–1945] it came to control military police activities, Nazi intelligence, and the administration and maintenance of the death camps.) While historians note that more research is needed on this subject, available American records support von Braun’s claim that he was forced to join both organizations to avoid abandoning his rocketry work. He further stated that his motivation in building army missiles was their ultimate use in space travel and scientific endeavors. He said he was arrested by the Nazis in 1944 because he was not interested in using the V-2 as a weapon.

exploration rather than military application led to his arrest and imprisonment by the German secret police in 1944. The Nazis released him only after they realized that jailing their leading rocket scientist was an unwise political move. The program lurched backward without von Braun’s leadership, disrupting Hitler’s timetable for the war. When Germany was near collapse, von Braun led his associates and their families from Peenemünde to the Bavarian coast so they could surrender to the Americans. He reasoned that the United States was the nation most likely to use its resources for space exploration. The rocket team surrendered to U.S. forces on May 2, 1945, just before the Russians advanced into the abandoned rocket development center. During interrogation by Allied intelligence officers, von Braun prepared a report in which he forecast trips to the Moon, orbiting satellites, and space stations. Recognizing the scope of von Braun’s work, the U.S. Army authorized the Wernher von Braun

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Various images of the V-2 rocket as it is launched during altitude tests at White Sands Proving Ground, near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Wernher von Braun, the creator of the V-2, helped the United States to improve their own missile capabilities as well as adapt the technology for use in space travel. (AP/Wide World Photos)

transfer of von Braun, 112 of his engineers and scientists, 100 V-2 rockets, and rocket technical data to the United States. They went to Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas, as part of a military operation called Project Paperclip. (Project Paperclip was a program in which the United States military employed and protected numerous Nazi scientists and intelligence agents.) In 1946 they worked on rocket development and used captured V-2s for high-altitude research at the nearby White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico.

Promotes spaceflight In his free time von Braun wrote about space travel and corresponded with his family and his cousin, Maria von Quis200


torp. In early 1947 he obtained permission to return to Germany to marry Maria. The couple returned to Texas after the wedding; they later had three children. Von Braun continued work on V-2 launchings, conducting some of the earliest experiments in recording atmospheric conditions, photographing Earth from high altitudes, perfecting guidance systems, and conducting medical experiments with animals in space. He also completed his book, The Mars Project, an account of planetary exploration, but he was unable to interest a publisher until much later. In 1950 the von Braun team transferred to the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama, where between April 1950 and February 1956 it developed the Redstone rocket. On April 15, 1955, von Braun and forty of his associates became naturalized U.S. citizens. The Redstone eventually played a significant role in America’s early space program. During the 1950s, however, the Russian space program moved ahead of U.S. efforts. This development caused considerable alarm in the United States. Immediately after World War II, the United States and the former Soviet Union became engaged in the Cold War (1945–91), a period of political hostility that resulted in an arms race to achieve military superiority and a space race to be the first to send humans into space. Von Braun repeatedly warned American officials of Soviet advances in the space race, but his requests for permission to orbit a satellite (a man-made object that orbits in space) were denied.

Satellite delayed by politics When the Soviet Union successfully orbited the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957, the U.S. government finally authorized von Braun’s group to work on a satellite. Within ninety days the team developed the Explorer 1 satellite from a modified Redstone rocket (the Jupiter C), with the cooperation of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology. The Explorer 1 was launched into orbit on January 31, 1958. Nearly four decades later, newly released government documents revealed information that had been kept secret: The administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; served 1953-61), the U.S. president at the time of the Sputnik 1 launch, had deliberately delayed production of an American Wernher von Braun

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satellite. This political strategy, unknown to von Braun, was a gamble to gain an edge over the Soviets in the use of spy satellites. In 1995 Christian Science Monitor reporter Robert C. Cowen published an article about the documents after they were declassified, or made public. According to Cowen, “when Sputnik 1 caught most Americans napping on Oct. 4, 1957, it also helped fulfill one of the Eisenhower administration’s secret strategic goals. It helped legalize the future use of spy satellites.” Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971), Cowen wrote, “basked in a propaganda coup . . . [but he] also implicitly acknowledged a new limit to nation sovereignty. It ends short of the lowest orbit in which an earth satellite can travel. And that meant that the Soviet Union had nothing to complain about when the United States later orbited unarmed reconnaissance [spy] satellites.”

Heads space center In 1958 the United States created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Two years later von Braun was appointed director of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, a NASA agency at Huntsville. On October 27, 1961, NASA launched the first Saturn 1 vehicle. It was 162 feet (49.37 meters) long, weighed 460 tons (417 metric tons) at liftoff, and rose to a height of 85 miles (136.76 kilometers). On November 9, 1967, the newer Saturn 5 made its debut, and it was more than twice as long as the Saturn 1. Just before Christmas in 1968, a Saturn 5 launch vehicle, developed under von Braun’s direction, launched Apollo 8, the world’s first spacecraft to travel to the Moon (see Buzz Aldrin [1930–] and Neil Armstrong [1930–] entries). In 1970 NASA transferred von Braun to its headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he became deputy associate administrator. Von Braun resigned from NASA in 1972 to become vice president for engineering and development with Fairchild Industries of Germantown, Maryland. Besides his work for that aerospace firm, he promoted human space flight, helping to found the National Space Institute in 1975 and serving as its first president. An enthusiastic advocate for spaceflight, von Braun published numerous books and magazine articles, served as a consultant for television programs and films, and testified before the U.S. Congress about the possibilities of 202


space flight. Perhaps most important in this regard were his contributions, with others, to a series of Collier’s magazine articles (1952–53) and to a Walt Disney television series (1955– 57). The articles and the series were enormously influential and, along with the fears aroused by the Soviet space program, energized American efforts to conquer space. Von Braun received numerous awards, including the first Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy in 1958. The award was named for American physicist Robert Goddard (1882–1945; see entry), who was conducting rocket experiments around the time von Braun began working on the A-4. Goddard was highly secretive and rarely shared his research, but some historians suggest that the Germans may have managed to learn about his work. Von Braun also received the Distinguished Federal Civilian Service Award (presented by President Dwight D. Eisenhower) in 1959 and the National Medal of Science in 1977. In addition to his role as a space pioneer, von Braun pursued a wide range of interests. An accomplished musician, he played the piano and cello. He was also an ardent outdoorsman who enjoyed scuba diving, fishing, hunting, sailing, and flying. Von Braun died of cancer at a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 16, 1977.

For More Information Books Hunt, Linda. Secret Agenda: The United States Government, Nazi Scientists, and Project Paperclip, 1945 to 1990. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991. Ward, Bob. Mr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Press, 2004.

Periodicals Cowan, Robert C. “Declassified Papers Show U.S. Won Space Race After All.” Christian Science Monitor (October 23, 1999): p. 15. “Previously Unpublished von Braun Drawings.” Ad Astra (July/August 2000): pp. 46–47. Von Braun, Wernher. “Man on the Moon—The Journey.” Collier’s (October 18, 1952): pp. 52–60. Von Braun, Wernher, with Cornelius Ryan. “Baby Space Station.” Collier’s (June 27, 1953): pp. 33–40. Von Braun, Wernher, with Cornelius Ryan. “Can We Get to Mars?” Collier’s (April 30, 1954): pp. 22–28. Wernher von Braun

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Web Sites Graham, John F. “A Biography of Wernher von Braun.” Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA. http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/history/ VonBraun/VonBraun.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Wernher von Braun.” http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAbraun. htm (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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H. G. Wells Born September 21, 1866 (Bromley, Kent, England) Died August 13, 1946 (London, England) British writer

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ritish writer H. G. Wells made significant contributions to the literary genre of science fiction. Although science fiction was not new to the modern age—scholars have traced its roots back to ancient mythology—writers of scientific fantasy had a profound influence in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For instance, spaceflight pioneers Hermann Oberth (1894–1989; see entry) and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935; see entry) read science-fiction novels and stories by such writers as Wells and French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Most writers at that time, however, concentrated mainly on bizarre tales of alien beings, spaceships, and trips to the Moon and other worlds.

“Those who have never seen a living Martian can scarcely imagine the strange horror of its appearance.” The War of the Worlds

A committed socialist (advocate of state control of production and services), Wells provided an added dimension in his novels, which he called scientific romances: He depicted the dark side of human nature and warned about the misuse of technology. In these and other works he predicted devastating global conflicts, the development of atomic weaponry, and the advent of chemical warfare. Wells is best remembered today for four of his early science-fiction novels—The Time 205

H. G. Wells. (AP/Wide World Photos)

Machine: An Invention, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, and The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Possibility. During an extremely prolific career that spanned fifty years, Wells wrote other types of novels as well as social criticism, journalism, literary criticism, film scripts, and political manifestos (statements of belief).

Education shapes his ideas Herbert George Wells was born in Bromley, Kent, England, on September 21, 1866. He was the youngest of three sons of 206


Joseph Wells and Sarah Neal Wells. Joseph was a well-known cricket player who worked as a gardener for an upper-class employer, and he had once been an unsuccessful shopkeeper. Sarah Wells was a housekeeper and lady’s maid who wanted a better life for her sons. Wells entered Morley’s School in Bromley at age seven. In 1880, at his mother’s insistence, he left when he was fourteen to become an apprentice to a draper (a clothing and dry goods merchant). Wells hated the job, and three years later his mother let him take a pupil-teacher position at a private school. In 1884 he won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science at South Kensington. Although he studied all branches of science, he was interested only in the classes taught by biologist Thomas Huxley (1825–1895), one of the founders of the school. (A biologist is a scientist who studies living organisms.) Wells’s thinking was shaped by Huxley, who supported the theory of evolution, which states that species (forms of life) evolve through natural selection (survival of dominant traits) over long periods of time. This idea was controversial because it contradicted the teachings of the Christian religion, which stated that all of nature was created at the beginning of time by a divine being. Huxley’s students, including Wells, came to think of science in general and biology in particular as revolutionary, and they began to question previously held views. Huxley’s definition of biology also took in social and cultural studies, now classified as sociology (the science of social institutions and other aspects of society) and anthropology (the study of human cultures), providing the basis for Wells’s later political views. The Normal School was important for Wells because it gave him a way to escape his lower-middle-class origins by obtaining a higher education. Schools like Oxford and Cambridge, where scholarships were usually limited to the sons of gentlemen, were far beyond the means of families like the Wellses. In addition, these elite schools tended to concentrate on classics and humanities (Latin, Greek, theology, and literature) rather than on the sciences, which were regarded as lower-class studies. Even after Wells became famous, with a worldwide reputation, some of his contemporaries regarded him as a “counter-jumper,” a former draper’s assistant unworthy of being ranked among the great men of the British nation. H. G. Wells

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Begins writing career Wells left Kensington without a degree in 1887 and returned to teaching in private schools in London and Wales for three years. While living in Wales, a serious sports injury prevented him from returning to teaching full time. One of his kidneys was severely damaged and his lungs hemorrhaged (bled excessively), the latter leading to tuberculosis (a severe lung infection) from which he suffered for the rest of his life. Wells received his degree from the University of London in 1890, and the next year he married his cousin, Isabel Mary Wells. Settling with his wife in a suburb of London, he began teaching at a correspondence college and writing articles on education. In 1893 he suffered another severe lung hemorrhage that eventually forced him to leave teaching altogether. As he slowly recovered, he struck up a close friendship with one of his biology students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Wells obtained a divorce from Isabel in 1895 and married Robbins the same year. Wells had not planned to make his living by writing, but his bouts of tuberculosis left him few other options. His work for newspapers and magazines led to a position as fiction reviewer for the English Saturday Review magazine. He worked at this job for three years but gave it up to concentrate on his own writing. His first project was to revise and expand a story he had published in his college paper in 1888, under the title “The Chronic Argonauts.” In 1895 he published the story as The Time Machine, the first of his scientific novels. The Time Machine tells the tale of an inventor, known only as the Time Traveller, who creates a machine that can navigate into the past or into the future. When the machine is completed, the Time Traveller takes a journey into the distant future, to the year 802,701 C.E. He discovers a world inhabited by pretty, childlike beings called the Eloi, who enjoy lives of pure leisure. He also discovers an underworld inhabited by the Morlocks. The Morlocks manage the technology that keeps the Eloi in comfort and in turn use the Eloi as a food source. The Time Traveller makes friends with an Eloi named Weena and loses the time machine to the Morlocks. After returning to share his story with his friends on Earth, he starts on another voyage in time. He is never seen again. In Wells’s second scientific novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), a young diplomat is found floating adrift af208


Cover illustration of The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. The story tells of a man who is able to conquer time travel but also provides a political commentary on the dangers of technology and their misuse. (Illustration by Matt Gabel. © Worthington Press)

ter a tragic shipwreck. His rescuer is an assistant of the infamous Doctor Moreau, a scientist who fled his homeland because of charges of unethical treatment of animals. Moreau has created half-human and half-animal Beast People by means of a surgical process that involves assembling body H. G. Wells

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parts with plastic surgery. The Beast People are frightened of him and worship him only so they can hold onto their human characteristics. After Moreau’s death, the Beast People return to being animals. Wells’s next novel, The Invisible Man (1897) is about a character named Griffin who, like Moreau, is a “mad scientist.” Griffin invents a way to make skin, bones, and blood invisible. He then uses the formula on himself so he can go anywhere and threaten anyone without being seen. He can never become visible again, however, and he goes insane. Today, Wells is best known for The War of the Worlds (1898), which describes a Martian invasion of Earth. The story takes place over a ten-day period in England during the late nineteenth century. As the novel opens, astronomers observe a series of large explosions on the surface of the planet Mars. Within a few days, huge cylinder-shaped objects begin landing outside London. From the cylinders emerge the Martians: giant octopuslike creatures possessed of greatly superior technology. The Martians attack and drive the inhabitants of London out of the city. Only two or three Martians are killed by resisting people, but suddenly they begin to die from the Earth’s microorganisms (bacteria), which cause them to rot and decay. Forty years later The War of the Worlds was the basis of one of the most memorable events of the twentieth century: On an October evening in 1938, the actor Orson Welles (1825–1895) and his Mercury Theater players broadcast a live radio dramatization of the novel. The performance was so realistic that listeners in New Jersey fled their homes in panic, believing they were actually being invaded by Martians.

Promotes worldwide socialism Wells considered his scientific romances to be unimportant, and most critics agreed with him at the time. Wells was more respected for his comic novels, including Kipps (1905) and The History of Mr. Polly (1909), and his social criticism, such as Tono-Bungay (1908). These works gained Wells a reputation as the foremost British novelist of the early twentieth century. He wrote his best science fiction before 1901, when he was firmly established as a professional writer. By that time he had earned enough from sales of his writing to build a home, Spade House, near the English coast in the county of 210


The War of the Worlds In this excerpt from Chapter 4 of The War of the Worlds, the narrator expresses his horror upon seeing Martians for the first time. I think everyone expected to see a man emerge—possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men, but in all essentials a man. I know I did. But, looking, I presently saw something stirring within the shadow: greyish billowy movements, one above another, and then two luminous disklike eyes. Then something resembling a little grey snake, about the thickness of a walking stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air towards me—and then another. . . . A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and painfully out of the cylinder. As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather. Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly. The mass that framed them, the head of the thing, was rounded, and had, one might say, a face.

There was a mouth under the eyes, the lipless brim of which quivered and panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and pulsated convulsively. A lank tentacular appendage gripped the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air. Those who have never seen a living Martian can scarcely imagine the strange horror of its appearance. The peculiar Vshaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational energy of the earth—above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes— were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and monstrous. There was something fungoid in the oily brown skin, something in the clumsy deliberation of the tedious movements unspeakably nasty. Even at this first encounter, this first glimpse, I was overcome with disgust and dread.

Kent. As social conditions in England changed, his novels became less relevant. He turned instead to a long, drawn-out campaign to promote worldwide socialism, but the works he wrote in support of socialism were not taken seriously. Wells had more success with Outline of History (1920), which he wrote with the assistance of prominent advisors. It was the first attempt to present the story of human existence using biological, anthropological, and sociological studies. It proposed world socialism as a means of promoting world peace. If The Outline of History was taught in schools, Wells believed, people would reject such empty values as nationalism and patriotism in favor of a world society based on socialism. The work was enormously popular. History for Wells H. G. Wells

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was not simply a story about the past, however, and he revealed his ideas and hopes for the future in a film script, The Shape of Things to Come. The motion picture was filmed by director Alexander Korda (1893–1956) in 1936. It was the first big-budget science-fiction film, an ancestor of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars. Things to Come failed at box offices, mainly because its message about the “war to end all wars” was regarded as unconvincing and meaningless. Wells lived mainly in France between the years 1924 and 1933, but he had returned to London by the outbreak of World War II (1939–45). During the German blitz (air bombardment) he refused to be driven out of the city, remaining at his house in Regent’s Park. He contributed to the war effort with the book The Rights of Man (1940), which later formed the basis for the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights. Although Wells made lasting contributions to the problem of human rights abuses, his last book, Mind at the End of its Tether (1945), expressed his gloomy outlook about the future of the human race. He died in London on August 13, 1946. His body was cremated in accordance with his wishes, and his ashes were scattered over the English Channel. In the 1960s Wells’s science-fiction novels finally began receiving serious attention.

For More Information Books Wells, H.G. The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance (first published serially in Pearson’s Weekly, June–July, 1897). New York: Arnold, 1897; large print edition, Waterville, ME: G. K. Hall (Thorndike), 1996; edited by David Lake, with an introduction by John Sutherland, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Wells, H.G. The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Possibility. New York: Stone & Kimball, 1896; expanded, with notes by Leon E. Stover, Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1996. Wells, H.G. The Time Machine: An Invention (first published in Science Schools Journal as “The Chronic Argonauts,” 1888). London: Heinemann, 1895, and New York: Holt, 1895; reprinted, New York: Dover, 1995. Wells, H.G. The War of the Worlds (first published serially in Pearson’s Magazine, April-December, 1897). New York: Harper, 1898; large print edition, Waterville, ME: G. K. Hall (Thorndike), 1995. 212


Periodicals Achenbach, Joel. “The World According to Wells.” Smithsonian (April 2001): p. 110.

Web Sites The Complete War of the Worlds Web site. http://www.war-of-the-worlds. org (accessed on June 29, 2004). Wells, H. G. “Chapter Four: The Cylinder Opens.” The War of the Worlds. http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/warworlds/4/ (accessed on June 30, 2004).

Other Sources Welles, Orson. The War of the Worlds. 1938 Mercury Theatre Broadcast. Radio Spirits, 2001.

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Yang Liwei Born June 21, 1965 (Suizhong, Liaoning, China) Chinese astronaut

“To establish myself as a qualified astronaut, I have studied harder than in my college years and have received training much tougher than for a fighter pilot.”

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n October 15, 2003, Yang Liwei became the first Chinese man to travel in space. His flight on the Shenzhou-5 marked a historic moment: China was now the third nation in the world capable of developing and launching a manned space vehicle. Since 1961, when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968; see entry) and American astronaut Alan Shepard (1923–1998; see box in John Glenn [1921–] entry) became the first humans to orbit Earth, the former Soviet Union and the United States had been the dominant forces in space exploration. This is not to say astronauts and cosmonauts from other countries had never traveled into space. France and Germany had operated astronaut programs since the 1970s and had recruited astronauts of many nationalities. The European Space Agency established an astronaut corps in 1998 (see Claudie Haigneré [1957–] entry), providing an even greater global reach. Yet no other nation maintained its own fleet of spacecraft, so space adventurers flew aboard vehicles originating only in the United States and Russia. Yang’s achievement, coming forty-two years after those of Gagarin and Shepard, was therefore hailed throughout the world as a step forward in the exploration of space.

Yang Liwei. (AP/Wide World Photos)

Undergoes rigorous training Yang Liwei (pronounced yahng lee-way) was born on June 21, 1965, in Suizhong, a county in the Liaoning province of northeast China. As a child he dreamed of flying, and at age eighteen he entered a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force college, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in 1987. After graduation he became a fighter pilot. In 1998, Yang, now a lieutenant colonel, was chosen as one of fourteen (some sources state twelve, others thirteen) astronaut candidates from 1,500 applicants. By this time he had accumulated 1,350 flight-hours as a pilot. He was also married and had an eightYang Liwei

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From Rockets to Space Historians note it is only fitting that China should have a space program, since the first projectile—the rocket—was invented by the ancient Chinese. They fired their rockets by igniting black powder, an explosive mixture similar to gunpowder. Basic rocket technology did not change until the early twentieth century, when Western (non-Asian) scientists perfected the liquid-propellant rocket. This revolutionary technological advance provided the foundation of future space flight. Pioneers in liquidpropellant rocket development and spaceflight theory include Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857– 1935), Robert Goddard (1882–1945), Hermann Oberth (1894–1989), and Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) (see entries). In 1955 Chinese engineer Tsien Hsue-Shen (1911–), who had been working on rocket research in the United States, returned to his native country. He brought with him the advanced technology he had helped to develop in America. The following year China started its own rocket and space programs, paving the way for Yang Liwei’s flight in 2003.

year-old son. Yang’s wife, Zhang Yumei, is a teacher who served in China’s space program. As preparation for navigating the Project 921 spacecraft (later called Shenzhou), Yang and the other candidates went to the Astronaut Training Base in Beijing for five years of training. In addition to undergoing rigorous physical exercises, they studied aviation dynamics, air dynamics, geophysics, meteorology, astronomy, space navigation, and the design principles and structure of rockets and spacecraft. They also practiced on spaceflight simulators and learned skills for surviving under extreme conditions in the event that their capsule crashed on Earth or at sea. Reflecting on this experience, Yang later told an interviewer for China Through a Lens that the training was a difficult challenge. “To establish myself as a qualified astronaut,” Yang said. “I have studied harder than in my college years and have received training much tougher than for a fighter pilot.”

Flight surrounded in secrecy The candidates began training on the actual Shenzhou-5 spacecraft in September 2003, at the Jiuquan Launch Center in the Gobi desert in the Gansu Province of northwest China. The following month Yang was chosen as one of three finalists for the position of astronaut on the twenty-one-hour flight aboard Shenzhou-5. The selection was finally narrowed to Yang, but he was not informed until October 14, the evening before liftoff. The morning of October 15 dawned with perfect weather and a clear blue sky. The flight had been made public shortly before the scheduled 9:00 A.M. launch. A few selected Chinese journalists had gathered outside the main 216


building of the launch center when Yang walked to the spacecraft. (The Chinese government continued to surround the details of the mission in secrecy until Yang had landed safely. No foreign journalists were permitted to witness the event.) Waving and smiling to the crowd, he entered the Shenzhou-5 launch capsule at 9:00 A.M. (Beijing time) on the dot. Liftoff also took place on time, and ten minutes after launch the Shenzhou-5 went into orbit. Naval rescue vessels stood by in ports on the Sea of Japan. The mission plan required Yang to remain in the reentry capsule of the Shenzhou-5 throughout the flight. For this reason he did not enter the orbital module. (The spacecraft consisted of two components, or modules—the reentry capsule, which would take Yang back to Earth, and an orbital module, which would be released into space before returning to Earth.) During the mission he took two three-hour rest periods and had two meals. He maintained communication with ground control via links, including color television, with four tracking ships stationed in the oceans throughout the world. He also spoke with his wife and son by telephone. As reported in China Through a Lens, he told his son, “I caught the sight of our beautiful home [Earth] and recorded all that I’ve seen there.” When the Shenzhou-5 was in its fourteenth orbit, the reentry capsule separated from the orbital module. The orbital module would stay in space for six months to conduct a reconnaissance (military information) mission. Then the retrorocket (the rocket that fired the reentry capsule on its return trip) was sent back to Earth by a triggering device on a tracking ship in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. The Shenzhou-5 landed only 4.8 kilometers (less than 60 miles) from its targeted destination in Inner Mongolia. Yang ejected from the capsule and as he floated to the ground with the aid of a parachute, he was sighted by recovery forces before his landing. He had spent twenty-one hours and twenty-three minutes in space.

Becomes national hero Yang was an instant national hero in China. His achievement was praised worldwide, and congratulations came in from space agencies and astronauts in the United States and Yang Liwei

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The Shenzhou-5 capsule, the first manned space craft launched by China. Yang Liwei flew in the Shenzhou-5 when he became the first Chinese man to travel in space. (AP/Wide World Photos)

Russia. Among them were Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1931–; see entry), the first woman to travel in space, and American astronaut Buzz Aldrin (1930–; see entry), the second person to walk on the Moon. In 2004 the high school in his hometown was renamed the Liwei Senior High School of Suizong County in his honor. That year the government also made an announcement pertaining to an important discovery Yang made during his flight. At that time Chinese elementary-school textbooks contained an essay claiming that a cosmonaut (Russian astronaut) had seen two structures from space—a Dutch sea wall and the Great Wall of China. Yang reported, however, that he could not see the Great Wall of China from space. (The Great Wall is one of the most famous structures in China. Stretching 1,500 miles [2,414 kilometers] across the northern part of the country, it 218


was built as a fortification against invaders in the third century B.C.E.) The government ordered that the essay be removed in 2004. The Chinese space agency is planning to build space shuttles and a space station and has set a goal to send astronauts to the Moon. (A space shuttle is a craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space; a space station is a scientific research laboratory that orbits in space.) In 2004 the government also announced that it was recruiting women astronauts, one of whom will be the nation’s first woman in space.

For More Information Periodicals “China to Correct Great-Wall-in-Space Myth.” Associated Press (March 12, 2004). Lynch, David J. “China’s ‘Space Hero’ Returns to Earth.” USA Today (October 16, 2003): A13. “School Changes Name to Honor China’s First Astronaut.” Xinhua News Agency (January 10, 2004). Yardley, Jim. “China in Space: The Return.” New York Times (October 16, 2003): p. A10.

Web Sites “China’s Astronaut Returns Safely.” CNN.com (October 16, 2003). http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/15/china.launch/ (accessed June 29, 2004). “China’s First Spaceman Yang Liwei.” Translated by Li Xiao. China Through a Lens (October 20, 2003). http://service.china.org.cn/ link/wcm/Show_Text?info_id=77494&p_qry=Yang%20and%20Liwei (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Yang Liwei.” Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/ astros/yanliwei.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004).

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Where to Learn More

Books Aaseng, Nathan. The Space Race. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2001. Andronik, Catherine M. Copernicus: Founder of Modern Astronomy. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2002. Asimov, Isaac. Astronomy in Ancient Times. Revised ed. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 1997. Aveni, Anthony. Stairways to the Stars: Skywatching in Three Great Ancient Cultures. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1997. Baker, David. Spaceflight and Rocketry: A Chronology. New York: Facts on File, 1996. Benson, Michael. Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes. New York: Abrams, 2003. Bille, Matt, and Erika Lishock. The First Space Race: Launching the World’s First Satellites. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2004. Bilstein, Roger E. Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915–1990. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989. Boerst, William J. Galileo Galilei and the Science of Motion. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 2003. xli

Bredeson, Carmen. NASA Planetary Spacecraft: Galileo, Magellan, Pathfinder, and Voyager. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2000. Caprara, Giovanni. Living in Space: From Science Fiction to the International Space Station. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2000. Catchpole, John. Project Mercury: NASA’s First Manned Space Programme. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Chaikin, Andrew L. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. New York: Penguin, 1998. Christianson, Gale E. Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebulae. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Clary, David A. Rocket Man: Robert H. Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age. New York: Hyperion Press, 2003. Cole, Michael D. The Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster: From First Liftoff to Tragic Final Flight. Revised ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2003. Collins, Michael. Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2001. Davies, John K. Astronomy from Space: The Design and Operation of Orbiting Observatories. Second ed. New York: Wiley, 1997. Dickinson, Terence. Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 1987. Dickson, Paul. Sputnik: The Shock of the Century. New York: Walker, 2001. Ezell, Edward Clinton, and Linda Neuman Ezell. The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1978. Florence, Ronald. The Perfect Machine: Building the Palomar Telescope. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Fox, Mary Virginia. Rockets. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark Books, 1996. Gleick, James. Isaac Newton. New York: Pantheon Books, 2003. Hall, Rex, and David J. Shayler. The Rocket Men: Vostok and Voskhod, the First Soviet Manned Spaceflights. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Hall, Rex D., and David J. Shayler. Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft. New York: Springer Verlag, 2003. Hamilton, John. The Viking Missions to Mars. Edina, MN: Abdo and Daughters Publishing, 1998. Harland, David M. The MIR Space Station: A Precursor to Space Colonization. New York: Wiley, 1997. Harland, David M., and John E. Catchpole. Creating the International Space Station. New York: Springer Verlag, 2002. xlii



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Web Sites “Ancient Astronomy.” Pomona College Astronomy Department. http:// www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Ancients Could Have Used Stonehenge to Predict Lunar Eclipses.” Space. com. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/stonehenge _eclipse_000119.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo Program.” NASA History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ office/pao/History/apollo.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo Soyuz Test Project.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http:// www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/astp/astp.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/astp/ index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/ASTP/SP24. htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Biographical Sketch of Dr. Wernher Von Braun.” Marshall Space Flight Center. http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). xliv



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“Kennedy Space Center: Gemini Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/gemini/gemini.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Kennedy Space Center: Mercury Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/mercury/mercury.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky.” Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics. http://www. informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Living and Working in Space.” NASA Spacelink. http://spacelink. nasa.gov/NASA.Projects/Human.Exploration.and.Development.of. Space/Living.and.Working.In.Space/.index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Mars Exploration Rover Mission.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). Mir. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). Mount Wilson Observatory. http://www.mtwilson.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “NASA: Robotic Explorers.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/roboticexplorers/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). NASA’s History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/index. html (accessed on September 17, 2004). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.nasa.gov/ home/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). National Radio Astronomy Observatory. http://www.nrao.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Newton’s Laws of Motion.” NASA Glenn Learning Technologies Project. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/newton.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Newton’s Third Law of Motion.” Physics Classroom Tutorial, Glenbrook South High School. http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/ newtlaws/u2l4a.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “One Giant Leap.” CNN Interactive. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/ apollo/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Paranal Observatory.” European Southern Observatory. http://www.eso. org/paranal/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Project Apollo-Soyuz Drawings and Technical Diagrams.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa. gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/astp/apol_soyuz.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). xlvi



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Space Exploration Primary Sources


Peggy Saari Deborah J. Baker and Sarah Hermsen, Project Editors

Space Exploration: Primary Sources Peggy Saari

Project Editors Deborah J. Baker and Sarah Hermsen Rights Acquisitions and Management Ann Taylor


Imaging and Multimedia Dean Dauphinais, Lezlie Light, Dan Newell Product Design Pamela Galbreath

taping, Web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. For permission to use material from this product, submit your request via Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions, or you may download our Permissions Request form and submit your request by fax or mail to: Permissions Department Thomson Gale 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Permissions Hotline: 248-699-8006 or 800-877-4253, ext. 8006 Fax: 248-699-8074 or 800-762-4058


Cover photographs reproduced by permission of NASA. While every effort has been made to ensure the reliability of the information presented in this publication, Thomson Gale does not guarantee the accuracy of the data contained herein. Thomson Gale accepts no payment for listing; and inclusion in the publication of any organization, agency, institution, publication, service, or individual does not imply endorsement by the editors or publisher. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Saari, Peggy. Space exploration. Primary sources / Peggy Saari. p. cm. – (Space exploration reference library) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7876-9213-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Astronautics–History–Sources–Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. TL794.5.S23 2004 629.4’09–dc22


2004015879

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Reader’s Guide .

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Timeline of Events .

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Words to Know .

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Text Credits

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Chapter 1: Jules Verne .

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Excerpt from “Chapter 8—History of the Cannon,” in From the Earth to the Moon: Passage Direct in Ninety-seven Hours and Twenty Minutes . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 2: Robert H. Goddard

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“Man on the Moon: The Journey” .

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Chapter 3: Wernher von Braun .

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Chapter 4: First Satellite.

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“Announcement of the First Satellite,” October 5, 1957 . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 5: John F. Kennedy

Chapter 6: Tom Wolfe .

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Excerpts from The Right Stuff.

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Excerpts from John Glenn: A Memoir .

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Excerpts from The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight Chapter 8: John Glenn, with Nick Taylor .

Chapter 9: Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 10: Space Shuttle

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James C. Fletcher—“NASA Document III-31: The Space Shuttle” . . . . .

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Richard M. Nixon—Remarks on the Space Shuttle Program, January 5, 1972

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George H. W. Bush—Remarks Announcing the Winner of the Teacher in Space Project, July 19, 1985 . . . .

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Chapter 11: Challenger .

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Ronald Reagan—Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, January 28, 1986. . . . .

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“Living on Mir: An Interview with Dr. Shannon Lucid” . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 13: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). . . . . . . . .

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Excerpts from The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 14: Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster .

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Remarks on a New Vision for Space Exploration Program, January 14, 2004 .

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Chapter 12: Patrick Meyer

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Chapter 15: George W. Bush

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Index

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Reader’s Guide

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Still, for centuries, humans did not understand what lay beyond the boundaries of Earth. In fact, with their limited vision, they saw a limited universe. Ancient astronomers relied on naked-eye observations to chart the positions of stars, planets, and the Sun. In the third century B.C.E., philosophers concluded that Earth was the center of the universe. A few dared to question this prevailing belief. In the face of overwhelmix

ing opposition and ridicule, they persisted in trying to understand the truth. This belief ruled human affairs until the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, when scientists used the newly invented telescope to prove that the Sun is the center of Earth’s galaxy. Over time, with advances in science and technology, ancient beliefs were exposed as false. The universe ever widened with humans’ growing understanding of it. The dream to explore its vast reaches passed from nineteenth-century fiction writers to twentieth-century visionaries to present-day engineers and scientists, pilots, and astronauts. The quest to explore space intensified around the turn of the twentieth century. By that time, astronomers had built better observatories and perfected more powerful telescopes. Increasingly sophisticated technologies led to the discovery that the universe extends far beyond the Milky Way and holds even deeper mysteries, such as limitless galaxies and unexplained phenomena like black holes. Scientists, yearning to solve those mysteries, determined that one way to accomplish this goal was to penetrate space itself. Even before the twentieth century, people had discussed ways to travel into space. Among them were science fiction writers, whose fantasies inspired the visions of scientists. Science fiction became especially popular in the late nineteenth century, having a direct impact on early twentieth-century rocket engineers who invented the fuel-propellant rocket. Initially developed as a weapon of war, this new projectile could be launched a greater distance than any human-made object in history, and it eventually unlocked the door to space. From the mid-twentieth century until the turn of the twenty-first century, the fuel-propellant rocket made possible dramatic advances in space exploration. It was used to propel unmanned satellites and manned space capsules, space shuttles, and space stations. It launched an orbiting telescope that sent spectacular images of the universe back to Earth. During this era of intense optimism and innovation, often called the space age, people confidently went forth to conquer the distant regions of space that have intrigued humans since early times. They traveled to the Moon, probed previously uncharted realms, and contemplated trips to Mars.

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Overcoming longstanding rivalries, nations embarked on international space ventures. Despite the seemingly unlimited technology at their command, research scientists, engineers, and astronauts encountered political maneuvering, lack of funds, aging spacecraft, and tragic accidents. As the world settled into the twenty-first century, space exploration faced an uncertain future. Yet, the ongoing exploration of space continued to represent the “final frontier” in the last great age of exploration. Space Exploration: Primary Sources tells the story of humanity’s quest to uncover the mysteries of space through the words of those involved. The work captures the highlights of the space age with full-text reprints and lengthy excerpts of seventeen documents that include science fiction, nonfiction, autobiography, official reports, articles, interviews, and speeches. The reader will be taken on an adventure spanning a period of more than one hundred twenty-five years, from nineteenth-century speculations about space travel through twenty-first century plans for human flights to Mars.

Format The excerpts in Space Exploration: Primary Sources are divided into fifteen chapters. These include sections on Jules Verne’s science fiction writings; Robert H. Goddard’s landmark study on space travel; Wernher von Braun’s ideas about putting a man on the Moon; the announcement of the first satellite in space; President John F. Kennedy’s special message to Congress asserting that the United States must be first to send a man to the Moon; Tom Wolfe’s account of America’s first astronauts; Martha Ackmann’s story of the women in the Mercury 13 program; John Glenn’s memoirs about his long career in space travel; Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin’s recollections of being on the first manned mission to the Moon; NASA administrator James C. Fletcher and President Richard Nixon’s comments on the space shuttle program; Vice President George H. W. Bush’s announcement concerning the first teacher selected to go into space and President Ronald Reagan’s address following the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger; Shannon Lucid’s memories of living on Mir; NASA’s strategic plan regarding the Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life; the findings of the Columbia space shuttle accident investigation board; and President George W. Reader’s Guide

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Bush’s new vision for space exploration. Every chapter opens with a historical overview, followed by reprinted documents. Each excerpt (or section of excerpts) includes the following additional features: • Introductory material places the document and its author in a historical context. • Things to remember while reading offers important background information about the featured text. • Excerpt presents the document in its original spelling and format. • What happened next. . . discusses the impact of the document and/or relevant historical events following the date of the document. • Did you know. . . provides interesting facts about the document and its author. • Consider the following. . . poses questions about the material for the reader to consider. • For More Information offers resources for further study of the document and its author as well as sources used by the authors in writing the material. Other features of Space Exploration: Primary Sources include sidebar boxes highlighting interesting, related information. More than fifty black-and-white photos illustrate the text. In addition, each excerpt is accompanied by a glossary running in the margin alongside the reprinted document that defines terms, people, and ideas. The volume begins with a timeline of events and a “Words to Know” section, and concludes with a general bibliography and subject index of people, places, and events discussed throughout Space Exploration: Primary Sources.

Space Exploration Reference Library Space Exploration: Primary Sources is only one component of the three-part Space Exploration Reference Library. The other two titles in this set are: • Space Exploration: Almanac (two volumes) presents, in fourteen chapters, key developments and milestones in the continuing history of space exploration. The focus ranges from ancient views of a Sun-centered universe to the scientific understanding of the laws of planetary motion and xii


gravity, from the launching of the first artificial satellite to be placed in orbit around Earth to current robotic explorations of near and distant planets in the solar system. Also covered is the development of the first telescopes by men such as Hans Lippershey, who called his device a “looker” and thought it would be useful in war, and Galileo Galilei, who built his own device to look at the stars. The work also details the construction of great modern observatories, both on ground and in orbit around Earth, that can peer billions of light-years into space and, in doing so, peer billions of years back in time. Also examined is the development of rocketry; the work of theorists and engineers Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert H. Goddard, and others; a discussion of the Cold War and its impact on space exploration; space missions such as the first lunar landing; and great tragedies, including the explosions of U.S. space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. • Space Exploration: Biographies captures the height of the space age in twenty-five entries that profile astronauts, scientists, theorists, writers, and spacecraft. Included are astronauts Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Mae Jemison, and Sally Ride; cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin; engineer Wernher von Braun; writer H. G. Wells; and the crew of the space shuttle Challenger. The volume also contains profiles of the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. Focusing on international contributions to the quest for knowledge about space, this volume takes readers on an adventure into the achievements and failures experienced by explorers of space. • A cumulative index of all three titles in the Space Exploration Reference Library is also available.

Comments and Suggestions We welcome your comments on Space Exploration: Primary Sources and suggestions for other topics to consider. Please write: Editors, Space Exploration: Primary Sources, U•X•L, 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331-3535; call tollfree: 1-800-877-4253; fax to (248) 699-8097; or send e-mail via http://www.gale.com.

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Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky describes travel to the Moon, other planets, and beyond in “Dreams of the Earth and Sky and the Effects of Universal Gravitation.” He also introduces the concept of an artificial Earth.

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1903


1919

American scientist Robert H. Goddard publishes “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes,” an article about propelling rockets into space. In the conclusion he suggests the possibility of sending a multi-stage rocket to the Moon.

1923

German physicist Hermann Oberth publishes a ninety-two-page pamphlet titled Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (The Rocket into Interplanetary Space) in which he explains the mathematical theory of rock-


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etry, speculates on the effects of spaceflight on the human body, and theorizes on the possibility of placing satellites in space. 1924

Using the 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson near Los Angeles, California, American astronomer Edwin Hubble observes billions of galaxies beyond the Milky Way.



1929

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky writes about placing rockets into space by arranging them in packets, or “cosmic rocket trains.” This becomes known as “rocket staging.”

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1942

German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun leads the Peenemünde team in the first successful launch of the V-2 rocket. By the end of World War II, Germany has fired approximately six thousand V-2s on Allied targets.

September 8, 1944 Germany launches V-2 rockets, the first true ballistic missiles, to strike targets in Paris, France, and London, England.

1910 Mexican Revolution begins 1910


1914–18 World War I 1920

1930

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1947


1952

Wernher von Braun publishes “Man on the Moon: The Journey,” the first in a series of articles on space travel in Collier’s magazine.

March 9, 1955 German-born American engineer Wernher von Braun appears on “Man in Space,” the first of three space-related television shows he and American movie producer Walt Disney create for American audiences. July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958 During this eighteenmonth period, known as the International Geophysical Year, more than ten thousand scientists and technicians representing sixty-seven countries engage in a comprehensive series of global geophysical activities. October 4, 1957 The Soviet newspaper Pravda releases “Announcement of the First Satellite,” revealing that Sputnik 1 had been launched the previous day. This event, which catches the world by surprise, intensifies the space race between the Soviets and the United States. January 31, 1958 Explorer 1, the United States’s first successful artificial satellite, is launched into space. March 17, 1958 The U.S. Navy launches the small, artificial satellite Vanguard 1. The oldest human-made object in space, it remains in orbit around Earth. October 1, 1958 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) begins work. January 2, 1959 The Soviet Union launches the space probe Luna 1, which becomes the first human-made object to escape Earth’s gravity.

1947 Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first prime minister of an independent India

1949 People’s Republic of China proclaimed

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1949

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1953 DNA’s molecular structure discovered

1950 Korean War begins


1951

1953

April 9, 1959 NASA announces the selection of the first American astronauts—the Mercury 7 astronauts: M. Scott Carpenter, Leroy G. “Gordo” Cooper Jr., John Glenn, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Walter M. “Wally” Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton. September 13, 1959 The Soviet space probe Luna 2 becomes the first human-made object to land on the Moon when it makes a hard landing east of the Sea of Serenity. 1960

The first of the Mercury 13 women aviators secretly begin testing for the Mercury astronaut training program.

August 18, 1960 The United States launches Discoverer 14, its first spy satellite. October 23, 1960 More than one hundred Soviet technicians are incinerated when a rocket explodes on a launch pad. Known as the Nedelin catastrophe, it is the worst accident in the history of the Soviet space program. 1961

NASA cancels the women’s astronaut testing program.

April 12, 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbits Earth aboard Vostok 1, becoming the first human in space. May 5, 1961 U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard makes a suborbital flight in the capsule Freedom 7, becoming the first American to fly into space. May 25, 1961 U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivers his speech, “Urgent National Needs,” in which he announces that the United States will put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. 1962

A Congressional hearing is held on discrimination against women in the U.S. space program. NASA announces that the Mercury 13 did not qualify as astronauts because they had not received jet-pilot training. No American woman travels in space until 1983.

1954 Measles vaccine developed

1955


1959 Hawaii proclaimed 50th state


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February 20, 1962 U.S. astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to circle Earth when he makes three orbits in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft. August 27, 1962 Mariner 2 is launched into orbit, becoming the first interplanetary space probe. June 16, 1963 Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova rides aboard Vostok 6, becoming the first woman in space. November 1, 1963 The world’s largest single radio telescope, at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, officially begins operation. March 18, 1965 During the Soviet Union’s Voskhod 2 orbital mission, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performs the first spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA). February 3, 1966 The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 soft-lands on the Moon and sends back to Earth the first images of the lunar surface. January 27, 1967 The Project Apollo mission begins tragically when astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Edward White die aboard Apollo 1. Their deaths are caused by a fire that ignites in the spacecraft on the launch pad during a practice session at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. April 24, 1967 Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov becomes the first fatality during an actual spaceflight when the parachute from Soyuz 1 fails to open and the capsule slams into the ground after reentry. December 24, 1968 Apollo 8, with three U.S. astronauts aboard, becomes the first manned spacecraft to enter orbit around the Moon. July 20, 1969 U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to set foot on the Moon. He is followed by fellow astronaut Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin.

1963 U.S. president John F. Kennedy is assassinated


1965 Malcolm X assassinated

1966 U.S. Department of Transportation founded

1963

1964

1965

1966

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April 14, 1970 An oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 service module explodes while the craft is in space, putting the lives of the three U.S. astronauts onboard into serious jeopardy. December 14, 1970 U.S. astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt lift off from the Moon after having spent seventy-five hours on the surface. They are the last humans to have set foot on the Moon as of the early twenty-first century. December 15, 1970 The Soviet space probe Venera 7 arrives at Venus, making the first-ever successful landing on another planet. 1971

NASA administrator James C. Fletcher publishes “The Space Shuttle,” an article in which he presents the argument for a U.S. space shuttle program.

April 19, 1971 The Soviet Union launches Salyut 1, the first human-made space station. November 13, 1971 The U.S. probe Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet when it enters orbit around Mars. January 5, 1972 In “The Statement by President Nixon,” U.S. president Richard M. Nixon announces the initiation of a space shuttle program as NASA’s follow-up human space flight effort. May 14, 1973 Skylab, the first and only U.S. space station, is launched. December 4, 1973 The U.S. space probe Pioneer 10 makes the first flyby of Jupiter. March 29, 1974 The U.S. space probe Mariner 10 makes the first of three flybys of Mercury.

1967

1968 Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated


1968

1969

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1970

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July 15 to 24, 1975 The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project is undertaken as an international docking mission between the United States and the Soviet Union. July 20, 1976 The lander of the U.S. space probe Viking 1 makes the first successful soft landing on Mars. September 17, 1976 The first space shuttle orbiter, known as OV-101, rolls out of an assembly facility in Palmdale, California. January 26, 1978 NASA launches the International Ultraviolet Explorer, considered the most successful UV satellite and perhaps the most productive astronomical telescope ever. 1979

American writer Tom Wolfe publishes The Right Stuff, a book about the U.S. space program in the 1950s and early 1960s.

July 11, 1979 Skylab falls into Earth’s atmosphere and burns up over the Indian Ocean. October 1979 The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, the world’s largest telescope dedicated solely to infrared astronomy, begins operation in Hawaii near the summit of Mauna Kea. November 12, 1980 The U.S. probe Voyager 1 makes a flyby of Saturn and sends back the first detailed photographs of the ringed planet. April 12, 1981 U.S. astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen fly the space shuttle Columbia on the first orbital flight of NASA’s new reusable spacecraft. 1983

The Right Stuff, the movie version of Tom Wolfe’s bestselling book of the same title, becomes a hit in the United States.

1973 General Motors offers automobile airbag

1971 Microprocessor introduced 1972

1977 Star Wars is released 1974

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1976


June 18, 1983 U.S. astronaut Sally Ride becomes America’s first woman in space when she rides aboard the space shuttle Challenger. August 30, 1983 U.S. astronaut Guy Bluford flies aboard the space shuttle Challenger, becoming the first African American in space. January 25, 1984 U.S. president Ronald Reagan directs NASA to develop a permanently manned space station within a decade. 1985

In “Remarks of the Vice President Announcing the Winner of the Teacher-in-Space Project,” U.S. vice president George H. W. Bush announces that gradeschool teacher Christa McAuliffe has been selected to become the first civilian in space. She will travel aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

January 28, 1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes seventy-three seconds after launch because of poorly sealing O-rings on the booster rocket, killing all seven astronauts aboard. January 28, 1986 President Ronald Reagan mourns the loss of the Challenger crew in his “Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger.” February 1986 Former U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong is appointed deputy chair of the Rogers Commission to investigate the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. February 20, 1986 The Soviet Union launches the core module of its new space station, Mir, into orbit. June 6, 1986 The Rogers Commission releases a report stating that the Challenger explosion was caused by defective O-rings. It recommends major changes at NASA, and an American shuttle is not launched again until 1988.


1981 AIDS is first recognized



1984

Timeline of Events

1986

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May 4, 1989 The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off carrying the Magellan probe, the first planetary explorer to be launched by a space shuttle. April 25, 1990 Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. April 7, 1991 The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory is placed into orbit by astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. December 1993 Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour complete repairs to the primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope. February 3, 1995 The space shuttle Discovery lifts off under the control of U.S. astronaut Eileen M. Collins, the first female pilot on a shuttle mission. December 2, 1995 The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is launched to study the Sun. December 7, 1995 The U.S. space probe Galileo goes into orbit around Jupiter, dropping a mini-probe to the planet’s surface. March 24, 1996 U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid begins her 188-day stay aboard Mir, a U.S. record for spaceflight endurance at that time. October 1996 The second of the twin 33-foot Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the world’s largest optical and infrared telescopes, begins science observations. The first began observations three years earlier. 1997

NASA publishes The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life, which outlines questions to be addressed in future space science missions.



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1993

1996 South Africa adopts democratic constitution 1996

July 2, 1997 The U.S. space probe Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars and releases Sojourner, the first Martian rover. October 15, 1997 The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, bound for Saturn, is launched. 1998

In Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, Apollo 11 crew members Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin reminisce about their flight to the Moon.

1998

In “Interview with Shannon Lucid,” astronaut Shannon Lucid discusses her record-setting stay on the Mir.

January 6, 1998 NASA launches the Lunar Prospector probe to improve understanding of the origin, evolution, current state, and resources of the Moon. October 29, 1998 At age seventy-seven, U.S. senator John Glenn, one of the original Mercury astronauts, becomes the oldest astronaut to fly into space when he lifts off aboard the space shuttle Discovery. November 11, 1998 Russia launches Zarya, the control module and first piece of the International Space Station, into orbit. 1999

Former U.S. astronaut John Glenn publishes John Glenn: A Memoir, an autobiography in which he recounts his two historic space flights: as the first American to orbit Earth and then as the oldest person to travel in space.

July 23, 1999 The Chandra X-ray Observatory is deployed from the space shuttle Columbia. February 21, 2001 The U.S. space probe NEAR Shoemaker becomes the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. March 23, 2001 After more than 86,000 orbits around Earth, Russia takes the Mir out of service. Most of the space


1998



1999

2000

Timeline of Events

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station burns up over the Pacific Ocean, and the remaining remnants crash into the Pacific Ocean in 2004. April 28, 2001 U.S. investment banker Dennis Tito, the world’s first space tourist, lifts off aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a week-long stay on the International Space Station. 2003

American author Martha Ackmann publishes The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight. In the book she gives an account of the pioneering efforts of the women who wanted to become astronauts.

February 1, 2003 The space shuttle Columbia breaks apart in flames above Texas, sixteen minutes before it is supposed to touch down in Florida, because of damage to the shuttle’s thermal-protection tiles. All seven astronauts aboard are killed. February 2, 2003 NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe appoints the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) to determine the causes of the Columbia accident. June 2003 The Canadian Space Agency launches MOST, its first space telescope successfully launched into space and also the smallest space telescope in the world. August 25, 2003 NASA launches the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, subsequently renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope, the most sensitive instrument ever to look at the infrared spectrum in the universe. August 26, 2003 The CAIB releases its official findings on August 26 in the “Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report.” The report calls for sweeping changes in NASA’s organization and the way the agency con-

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2001

2002


ducts its flights. The CAIB recommends grounding shuttle flights until safety procedures are reviewed. October 15, 2003 Astronaut Yang Liwei lifts off aboard the spacecraft Shenzhou 5, becoming the first Chinese to fly into space. 2004

The Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity begin sending back to Earth pictures of craters, hills, and empty landscape on Mars. Scientists seek to determine the existence of life on Mars.

January 14, 2004 U.S. president George W. Bush outlines a new course for U.S. space exploration in “Remarks by the President on U.S. Space Policy,” including plans to send future manned missions to the Moon and Mars. June 21, 2004 Civilian pilot Mike Melvill flies the rocket plane SpaceShipOne to an altitude of more than 62.5 miles, becoming the first person to pilot a privately built craft beyond the internationally recognized boundary of space. June 30, 2004 The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft becomes the first exploring vehicle to orbit Saturn.

2003 The United States declares war on Iraq 2003

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2004

Timeline of Events

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Words to Know

A Allies: Alliances of countries in military opposition to another group of nations. In World War II, the Allied powers included Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States. antimatter: Matter that is exactly the same as normal matter, but with the opposite spin and electrical charge. apogee: The point in the orbit of an artificial satellite or Moon that is farthest from Earth. artificial satellite: A human-made device that orbits Earth and other celestial bodies and that follows the same gravitational laws that govern the orbit of a natural satellite. asterism: A collection of stars within a constellation that forms an apparent pattern. astrology: The study of the supposed effects of celestial objects on the course of human affairs. astronautics: The science and technology of spaceflight. xxxi

astronomy: The scientific study of the physical universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. atomic bomb: An explosive device whose violent power is due to the sudden release of energy resulting from the splitting of nuclei of a heavy chemical element (plutonium or uranium), a process called fission. aurora: A brilliant display of streamers, arcs, or bands of light visible in the night sky, chiefly in the polar regions. It is caused by electrically charged particles from the Sun that are drawn into the atmosphere by Earth’s magnetic field.


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C capitalism: An economic system in which property and businesses are privately owned. Prices, production, and distribution of goods are determined by competition in a market relatively free of government intervention. celestial mechanics: The scientific study of the influence of gravity on the motions of celestial bodies. celestial sphere: An imaginary sphere of gigantic radius with Earth located at its center. Cepheid variable: A pulsating star that can be used to measure distance in space. chromatic aberration: Blurred coloring of the edge of an image when visible light passes through a lens, caused by the bending of the different wavelengths of the light at different angles. Cold War: A prolonged conflict for world dominance from 1945 to 1991 between the two superpowers: the democratic, capitalist United States and the Communist Soviet Union. The weapons of conflict were commonly words of propaganda and threats. Communism: A system of government in which the nation’s leaders are selected by a single political party that controls almost all aspects of society. Private ownership of property is eliminated and government directs all economic production. The goods produced and wealth accumulated are, in theory, shared relatively equally by all. All religious practices are banned. concave lens: A lens with a hollow bowl shape; it is thin in the middle and thick along the edges. constellation: One of eighty-eight recognized groups of stars that seems to make up a pattern or picture on the celestial sphere. convex lens: A lens with a bulging surface like the outer surface of a ball; it is thicker in the middle and thinner along the edges. corona: The outermost and hottest layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that extends out into space for millions of miles. cosmic radiation: High-energy radiation coming from all directions in space. Words to Know

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F flyby: A type of space mission in which the spacecraft passes close to its target but does not enter orbit around it or land on it. focus: The position at which rays of light from a lens converge to form a sharp image. xxxiv


force: A push or pull exerted on an object by an outside agent, producing an acceleration that changes the object’s state of motion.



xxxv




L light-year: The distance light travels in the near vacuum of space in one year, about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers). liquid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which both the fuel and the oxidizing agent are in a liquid state. xxxvi



N natural science: A science, such as biology, chemistry, or physics, that deals with the objects, occurrences, or laws of nature. neutron star: The extremely dense, compact, neutron-filled remains of a star following a supernova. nuclear fusion: The merging of two hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus, accompanied by a tremendous release of energy.

O observatory: A structure designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena. Words to Know

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oxidizing agent: A substance that can readily burn or promote the burning of any flammable material. ozone layer: An atmospheric layer that contains a high proportion of ozone molecules that absorb incoming ultraviolet radiation.



R radiation: The emission and movement of waves of atomic particles through space or other media. radio waves: The longest form of electromagnetic radiation, measuring up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from peak to peak in the wave. Red Scare: A great fear among U.S. citizens in the late 1940s and early 1950s that communist influences were infiltratxxxviii


ing U.S. society and government and could eventually lead to the overthrow of the American democratic system. redshift: The shift of an object’s light spectrum toward the red end of the visible light range, which is an indication that the object is moving away from the observer. reflector telescope: A telescope that directs light from an opening at one end to a concave mirror at the far end, which reflects the light back to a smaller mirror that directs it to an eyepiece on the side of the telescope. refractor telescope: A telescope that directs light waves through a convex lens (the objective lens), which bends the waves and brings them to a focus at a concave lens (the eyepiece) that acts as a magnifying glass. retrofire: The firing of a spacecraft’s engine in the direction opposite to which the spacecraft is moving in order to cut its orbital speed. rover: A remote-controlled robotic vehicle.

S sidereal day: The time for one complete rotation of Earth on its axis relative to a particular star. soft landing: The slow-speed landing of a space vehicle on a celestial object to avoid damage to or the destruction of the vehicle. solar arrays: Groups of solar cells or other solar collectors arranged to capture energy from the Sun and use it to generate electrical power. solar day: The average time span from one noon to the next. solar flare: Temporary bright spot that explodes on the Sun’s surface, releasing an incredible amount of energy. solar prominence: A tongue-like cloud of flaming gas projecting outward from the Sun’s surface. solar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from the Sun. solid-fuel rocket: A rocket in which the fuel and the oxidizing agent exist in a solid state. Words to Know

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solstice: Either of the two times during the year when the Sun, as seen from Earth, is farthest north or south of the equator; the solstices mark the beginning of the summer and winter seasons. space motion sickness: A condition similar to ordinary travel sickness, with symptoms that include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal disturbances, and fatigue. The precise cause of the condition is not fully understood, though most scientists agree the problem originates in the balance organs of the inner ear. space shuttle: A reusable winged spacecraft that transports astronauts and equipment into space and back. space station: A large orbiting structure designed for longterm human habitation in space. spacewalk: Technically known as an EVA, or extravehicular activity, an excursion outside a spacecraft or space station by an astronaut or cosmonaut wearing only a pressurized spacesuit and, possibly, some sort of maneuvering device. spectrograph: A device that separates light by wavelengths to produce a spectrum. splashdown: The landing of a manned spacecraft in the ocean. star: A hot, roughly spherical ball of gas that emits light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation as a result of nuclear fusion reactions in its core. stellar scintillation: The apparent twinkling of a star caused by the refraction of the star’s light as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere. stellar wind: Electrically charged subatomic particles that flow out from a star (like the solar wind, but from a star other than the Sun). sunspot: A cool area of magnetic disturbance that forms a dark blemish on the surface of the Sun. supernova: The massive explosion of a relatively large star at the end of its lifetime.

T telescope: An instrument that gathers light or some other form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by distant sources, such as celestial bodies, and brings it to a focus. xl


thrust: The forward force generated by a rocket.





Words to Know

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Text Credits

F

ollowing is list of the copyright holders who have granted us permission to reproduce excerpts from primary source documents in Space Exploration: Primary Sources. Every effort has been made to trace copyright; if omissions have been made, please contact us.

Copyrighted excerpts reproduced from the following books: Ackermann, Martha. From The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight. Random House, 2003. Copyright © 2003 by Martha Ackermann. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of Random House, Inc. Glenn, John with Nick Taylor. From John Glenn: A Memoir, Bantam Books, 1999. Copyright © 1999 by John Glenn. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. von Braun, Wernher. From “Man on the Moon: The Journey,” in Collier’s October 18, 1952. Reproduced by permission. xliii

Wolfe, Tom. From The Right Stuff, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1979. Copyright © 1979 by Tom Wolfe. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

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1 Jules Verne Excerpt from “Chapter 8—History of the Cannon,” in From the Earth to the Moon: Passage Direct in Ninety-seven Hours and Twenty Minutes Published in 1865; available at Space Educators’ Handbook, Johnson Space Center, NASA (Web site)

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cience fiction is imaginative literature that is based on scientific principles. This literary genre, or distinct type of literature, is unlike fantasy literature such as The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), which portrays fantastical events that have no basis in the real world. Science fiction emerged in the nineteenth century after science became increasingly important to society. It was not until the early part of the twentieth century, however, that a large number of authors began to write science fiction, mainly in the form of short stories. Magazines such as Amazing Stories and Astounding Science Fiction, both founded in the 1930s, brought science fiction into the homes of millions of readers. After the end of World War II (1939–45) there was a great boom in this kind of literature. The terrible devastation caused by the atomic bomb, dropped by the United States on Japan to end the war, prompted writers to imagine the advances, and the destruction, that could be created by science. Science fiction also became a popular subject in movies. By the 1950s science fiction was taken seriously as a literary and cinematic art form. 1

French author Jules Verne (1828–1905) is generally considered the father of science fiction. His immense catalogue of work, containing over forty science-fiction and adventure novels, has been translated from French into dozens of languages and has been read by people around the world. Although Verne wrote in the nineteenth century, his works foresaw the use of numerous scientific marvels, such as the submarine, television, the Aqua-LungTM (a device used for breathing under water), and, most importantly, space travel. That all of these phenomena were later invented or achieved conveys that Verne’s work was not fantasy, but rather a realistic glimpse into the future based on scientific speculation. Born in Nantes, France, in 1828, Verne was a product of his time. In the nineteenth century people began to question traditional ways of looking at the world around them. The Christian Church was losing its traditional authority, and many people began to listen less often to their priest or pastor and more often to news of discoveries made by scientists. The average person was more interested in politics and individual rights than ever before. People debated how society should be organized, what role government should have in individual life, and what economic system best served the nation. Verne was a socialist (one who believes in communal ownership of property and a strong central government), but he did not follow the teachings of German political philosopher Karl Marx (1818–1883), who is considered the founder of socialism. Rather, Verne embraced the ideas of the French philosopher Henri Saint-Simon (1720– 1825), believing that universal industrial and scientific production would unify the world. He was captivated by this vision and wove themes of harmonious industrial cooperation into his works. Verne was fascinated by science. His most notable novels, such as Journey to the Center of the Earth (1872) and Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1873), have scientific principles at their core. Although Verne’s stories contain elements of adventure tales, they were completely different from any other fiction being written at the time. Typically, Verne put his characters in specific places at specific times, requiring that they draw upon their knowledge of science to overcome obstacles within the natural world. 2


By using a mixture of imagination, practicality, and scientific training, Verne created visions of the future that, decades later, did not seem so fantastical as they did during the time when he was writing. Verne wrote his most political book, From the Earth to the Moon: Passage Direct in Ninety-seven Hours and Twenty Minutes, during the American Civil War (1861–65). He wondered how the American economy, which was completely dependent on the war industry, could survive after the war. More importantly, he wondered how the American people, who were putting all their energies into destroying one another, would redirect their energy when peace was declared. In the book he depicts the adventures of a group of Civil War veterans who organize the Baltimore Gun Club. Led Jules Verne. by club president Impey Barbicane, the club members theorize that by melting down all the cannons left over from the war, they will be able to make a cannon that is large enough to launch a projectile (a rocket-like object projected by external force and continuing in motion) carrying human cargo to the Moon. From the Moon they will be able to travel to other planets. The men call the cannon the Columbiad, and they draw up plans that attract international attention. Receiving funds from groups around the world, the club members soon build the cannon and a large telescope to monitor the projectile’s flight in space. After a huge cooperative effort, the Columbiad launches the projectile into space carrying humans bound for interplanetary travel. The projectile does not land on the Moon but instead is drawn into the Moon’s gravitational pull. At the end of the book it is unclear whether the projectile will be destroyed or will remain forever in orbit. Jules Verne

3

H. G. Wells The English author H. G. Wells (1866–1946) was another influential nineteenth-century science-fiction writer. Like Jules Verne, Wells was a committed socialist. Calling his novels “scientific romances,” he depicted the dark side of human nature and warned about the misuse of technology. In these works he predicted devastating global conflicts, the development of atomic weaponry, and the advent of chemical warfare. Among his most popular early science-fiction novels were The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Island of

Doctor Moreau. Today, Wells is perhaps best known for The War of the Worlds (1898), which describes a Martian invasion of Earth. This novel was the basis of one of the more memorable events of the twentieth century: On an October evening in 1938, the American actor Orson Welles (1915–1985) and his Mercury Theater players broadcast a live radio dramatization of The War of the Worlds. The performance was so realistic that listeners in New Jersey fled their homes in panic, believing they were actually being invaded by Martians.

Things to remember while reading an excerpt from “Chapter 8—History of the Cannon,” in From the Earth to the Moon: • Notice that Barbicane’s committee members are skeptical about his ideas for a space rocket. They ask him detailed questions that require him to explain how it will be built, the materials they will use, and the ability of the finished product to remain aloft in space. • Verne wrote From the Earth to the Moon almost one hundred years before the flight of Apollo 11, the first mission to the Moon (see Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. entry). He firmly believed that human beings could and would travel into space. • Although Verne’s cannon seems fantastical, notice that he discusses many of the same issues that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists had to consider when making the rockets that carried the Apollo spacecraft: the length of the apparatus, the materials needed to construct the vessel, the cost of the project, and the type of fuel needed to send the vessel into orbit. 4


Excerpt from “Chapter 8—History of the Cannon,” in From the Earth to the Moon The resolutions passed at the last meeting produced a great effect out of doors. Timid people took fright at the idea of a shot weighing 20,000 pounds being launched into space; they asked what cannon could ever transmit a sufficient velocity to such a mighty mass. The minutes of the second meeting were destined triumphantly to answer such questions. The following evening the discussion was renewed. “My dear colleagues,” said Barbicane, without further preamble, “the subject now before us is the construction of the engine, its length, its composition, and its weight. It is probable that we shall end by giving it gigantic dimensions; but however great may be the difficulties in the way, our mechanical genius will readily surmount them. Be good enough, then, to give me your attention, and do not hesitate to make objections at the close. I have no fear of them. The problem before us is how to communicate an initial force of 12,000 yards per second to a shell of 108 inches in diameter, weighing 20,000 pounds. Now when a projectile is launched into space, what happens to it? It is acted upon by three independent forces: the resistance of the air, the attraction of the earth, and the force of impulsion with which it is endowed. Let us examine these three forces. The resistance of the air is of little importance. The atmosphere of the earth does not exceed forty miles. Now, with the given rapidity, the projectile will have traversed this in five seconds, and the period is too brief for the resistance of the medium to be regarded otherwise than as insignificant. Proceding [sic], then, to the attraction of the earth, that is, the weight of the shell, we know that this weight will diminish in the inverse ratio of the square of the distance. When a body left to itself falls to the surface of the earth, it falls five feet in the first second; and if the same body were removed 257,542 miles further off, in other words, to the distance of the moon, its fall would be reduced to about half a line in the first second. That is almost equivalent to a state of perfect rest. Our business, then, is to overcome progressively this action of gravitation. The mode of accomplishing that is by the force of impulsion.” “There’s the difficulty,” broke in the major. “True,” replied the president; “but we will overcome that, for the force of impulsion will depend on the length of the engine and the Jules Verne

Velocity: Quickness of motion; speed. Preamble: Introductory statement. Surmount: Overcome. Impulsion: Forward motion. Endowed: Granted or given; contain. Traversed: Crossed. Inverse: Opposite in order, nature, or effect. Gravitation: A force manifested by acceleration of two free material particles or bodies toward each other. 5

Illustration from From the Earth to the Moon. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

powder employed, the latter being limited only by the resisting power of the former. Our business, then, today is with the dimensions of the cannon.” “Now, up to the present time,” said Barbicane, “our longest guns have not exceeded twenty-five feet in length. We shall therefore astonish the world by the dimensions we shall be obliged to adopt. It 6


must evidently be, then, a gun of great range, since the length of the piece will increase the detention of the gas accumulated behind the projectile; but there is no advantage in passing certain limits.” “Quite so,” said the major. “What is the rule in such a case?” “Ordinarily the length of a gun is twenty to twenty-five times the diameter of the shot, and its weight two hundred and thirty-five to two hundred and forty times that of the shot.” “That is not enough,” cried J. T. Maston impetuously. “I agree with you, my good friend; and, in fact, following this proportion for a projectile nine feet in diameter, weighing 30,000 pounds, the gun would only have a length of two hundred and twenty-five feet, and a weight of 7,200,000 pounds.” “Ridiculous!” rejoined Maston. “As well take a pistol.” “I think so too,” replied Barbicane; “that is why I propose to quadruple that length, and to construct a gun of nine hundred feet.” The general and the major offered some objections; nevertheless, the proposition, actively supported by the secretary, was definitely adopted. “But,” said Elphinstone, “what thickness must we give it?” Detention: Confinement.

“A thickness of six feet,” replied Barbicane. “You surely don’t think of mounting a mass like that upon a carriage?” asked the major.

Impetuously: Without consideration or forethought. Quadruple: Make four times as great or as many.

“It would be a superb idea, though,” said Maston. “But impracticable,” replied Barbicane. “No, I think of sinking this engine in the earth alone, binding it with hoops of wrought iron, and finally surrounding it with a thick mass of masonry of stone and cement. The piece once cast, must be bored with great precision, so as to preclude any possible windage. So there will be no loss whatever of gas, and all the expansive force of the powder will be employed in the propulsion.” “One simple question,” said Elphinstone: “is our gun to be rifled?” “No, certainly not,” replied Barbicane; “we require an enormous initial velocity; and you are well aware that a shot quits a rifled gun less rapidly than it does a smooth-bore.” “True,” rejoined the major. The committee here adjourned for a few minutes to tea and sandwiches. Jules Verne

Proposition: Suggestion. Impracticable: Impossible. Bored: Make a cylindrical hole by digging away. Windage: Space between the projectile of a smoothbore gun (an unrifled gun; that is, one without spiral grooves cut into the bore) and the surface of the bore. Rifled: Cut spiral groves into a bore, or cylindrical hollow part, of a gun. 7

Tenacity: Persistence or firmness. Infusible: Incapable of being fused or joined. Indissoluble: Incapable of being broken or undone; permanent.

Illustration of the projectile approaching the Moon, from From the Earth to the Moon. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

Inoxidable: Cannot be oxidized, or combined with oxygen.

On the discussion being renewed, “Gentlemen,” said Barbicane, “we must now take into consideration the metal to be employed. Our cannon must be possessed of great tenacity, great hardness, be infusible by heat, indissoluble, and inoxidable by the corrosive action of acids.”

Corrosive: Wearing away; able to corrode. 8


“There is no doubt about that,” replied the major; “and as we shall have to employ an immense quantity of metal, we shall not be at a loss for choice.” “Well, then,” said Morgan, “I propose the best alloy hitherto known, which consists of one hundred parts of copper, twelve of tin, and six of brass.” “I admit,” replied the president, “that this composition has yielded excellent results, but in the present case it would be too expensive, and very difficult to work. I think, then, that we ought to adopt a material excellent in its way and of low price, such as cast iron. What is your advice, major?” “I quite agree with you,” replied Elphinstone. “In fact,” continued Barbicane, “cast iron costs ten times less than bronze; it is easy to cast, it runs readily from the moulds of sand, it is easy of manipulation, it is at once economical of money and of time. In addition, it is excellent as a material, and I well remember that during the war, at the siege of Atlanta, some iron guns fired one thousand rounds at intervals of twenty minutes without injury.” “Cast iron is very brittle, though,” replied Morgan. “Yes, but it possesses great resistance. I will now ask our worthy secretary to calculate the weight of a cast-iron gun with a bore of nine feet and a thickness of six feet of metal.” “In a moment,” replied Maston. Then, dashing off some algebraical formulae with marvelous facility, in a minute or two he declared the following result: “The cannon will weigh 68,040 tons. And, at two cents a pound, it will cost—” “Two million five hundred and ten thousand seven hundred and one dollars.” Maston, the major, and the general regarded Barbicane with uneasy looks. “Well, gentlemen,” replied the president, “I repeat what I said yesterday. Make yourselves easy; the millions will not be wanting.” With this assurance of their president the committee separated, after having fixed their third meeting for the following evening. Jules Verne

Alloy: Substance composed of two or more metals. Hitherto: Up to this point. 9

What happened next . . . Jules Verne went on to write dozens of successful and popular novels, including Around the World in Eighty Days. In 1892 he was inducted as an officer into the French Foreign Legion of Honor. Several successful films have been made from Verne’s novels, including Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, (1916 and 1954), The Mysterious Island, (1929 and 1961), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1956 and 2004).

Did you know . . . • The term “science fiction” was not coined until 1926, when author Hugo Gernsback (1884–1967) used the term to describe the stories published in Amazing Stories magazine, a periodical dedicated exclusively to science fiction. • Preeminent twentieth-century authors such as Aldous Huxley (1894–1963), C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), and Kurt Vonnegut (1922–) wrote science fiction in addition to their many other works. These “crossover” works by noted “serious” authors helped lend credibility to the genre of science fiction.

Consider the following . . . • Jules Verne wrote his novels and stories before the invention of the automobile, telephone, airplane, television, and submarine—to name a few—yet his plots often involved such inventions. With all the advancements made in science today, can you think of an invention that might seem unthinkable today but could be used in everyday life one hundred years from now? • Science fiction is still popular. Who is your favorite science-fiction writer? Explain the reasons for your choice. 10


For More Information Books Lottmann, Herbert R. Jules Verne: An Exploratory Biography. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996. Verne, Jules. De la terre a la lune: Trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes. Hetzel, 1865. Translated as From the Earth to the Moon: Passage Direct in Ninety-seven Hours and Twenty Minutes. New York: Newark Printing and Publishing, 1869.

Periodicals Seelhorst, Mary. “Jules Verne.” Popular Mechanics (July 2003): pp. 36–37.

Web Sites “Jules Verne.” The Literature Network. http://www.online-literature.com/ verne/ (accessed on July 15, 2004). Science Fiction Weekly. http://www.scifi.com/sfw/ (accessed on July 15, 2004). Verne, Jules. “Chapter 8—History of the Cannon,” in From the Earth to the Moon. Space Educators’ Handbook, Johnson Space Center/NASA http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/chapter8.htm (accessed on July 15, 2004).

Jules Verne

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2 Robert H. Goddard Excerpt from A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes Published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1919; also available at Clark University (Web site)

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ince the late seventeenth century, scientists have been fascinated with the idea of space travel. The initial scientific work that allowed scientists to dream about traveling to the stars was performed by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727). His ideas were built upon in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, allowing for the development of primitive rockets—not for space travel, however, but for use in wartime. These rockets changed the face of modern warfare, but they were so inaccurate that large numbers were required to destroy a single target. By the end of the nineteenth century, warfare rockets momentarily became obsolete. Once again, some scientists turned their attention to the sky, believing rockets were the perfect vehicles to explore the cosmos. However, a majority of scientists believed that no rocket could travel outside of the upper atmosphere of Earth. American scientist Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882–1945) challenged this view. Goddard had dreamed of space travel since he was a young boy. He trained as a physicist and in 1908 obtained a doctor of philosophy degree (Ph.D.) from the prestigious Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Massachusetts. The fol-

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lowing year, he joined the faculty at the Institute and began work that revolutionized the field of space travel. In 1912 he developed the complicated and detailed mathematical theory of rocket propulsion; that is, what conditions and elements are required to propel a rocket successfully into space. In 1914 he received two patents for rockets: one for a rocket that used solid fuel and one for a rocket that used liquid fuel. In 1915 he publicly declared that space travel was possible. Although his work was sound, many of his fellow scientists continued to doubt him. Despite skepticism, in 1916 the Smithsonian Institution granted Goddard funds to continue his work on rockets. He began his research as World War I (1914–18) raged across Europe, and, like his predecessors, he developed rocket technology for use on the battlefield. His development of several types of solid-fuel rockets that could be Robert H. Goddard. (AP/Wide World Photos) fired from handheld devices or from devices mounted on tripods (threelegged supports) forever changed modern warfare. The bazooka (a portable military weapon consisting of a tube from which antitank rockets are launched) and the immensely powerful rockets used in World War II (1939–45) were developed as a result of Goddard’s work. Goddard’s most important work was not in the field of weapons development, but in space travel. In 1916 he used the funds awarded him by the Smithsonian Institute and began work on liquid rocket propulsion. He initially felt that liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen were the best fuels for rocket propulsion, but after conducting extensive research, he concluded that oxygen and gasoline, because of their less volatile (less explosive) compositions, were superior. He theorized that using these fuels in a properly designed apparatus (a rocket), the upper atmosphere, which was impossible to reach by hotair balloon, could be reached. The rocket would have to travel Robert H. Goddard

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at the speed of 6.95 miles (11.18 kilometers) per second (in a vacuum without air resistance) to overcome the pull of Earth’s gravity and soar into space. He also stated that, by using his calculations, human beings could reach the Moon. In 1919, he published these findings in the classic study A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. Goddard was ridiculed by his fellow scientists and the popular media. The New York Times was extremely critical, questioning Goddard’s scientific training and dismissing him as a misled dreamer in an editorial published on January 18, 1920. The following is an excerpt of Goddard’s revolutionary paper, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.

Things to remember while reading an excerpt from A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes: • Goddard wrote during a time when space travel was an idea in science fiction. Stating that human beings could actually send someone to the Moon and have that person return safely was revolutionary. • In this excerpt, Goddard discusses the amount of fuel necessary to carry a rocket away from Earth and into space. He reaches these conclusions by conducting experiments based on the amount of flash powder (powder that, once ignited, produces a large flash of light) needed to produce visible light at certain distances. With these figures he makes his fuel calculations.

Excerpt from A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes It is of extreme interest to speculate upon the possibility of proving that such extreme altitudes had been reached even if they actually were attained. In general, the proving would be a difficult matter. Thus, even if a mass of flash powder, arranged to be ignited automatically after a long interval of time, were projected vertically up14


ward, the light would at best be faint, and it would be difficult to foretell, even approximately, the direction in which it would most likely appear. The only reliable procedure would be to send the smallest mass of flash powder possible to the dark surface of the moon when in conjunction (i.e., the “new moon”), in such a way that it would be ignited on impact. The light would then be visible in a powerful telescope. Further, the larger the aperture of the telescope, the greater would be the ease of seeing the flash, from the fact that a telescope enhances the brightness of the point sources, and dims the faint background. An experiment was performed to find the minimum mass of flash powder that should be visible at any particular distance. In order to reproduce, approximately, the conditions that would obtain at the surface of the moon, the flash powder was placed in small capsules . . . held in glass tubes, closed by rubber stoppers. The tubes were exhausted to a pressure of from 3 to 10 centimeters of mercury, and sealed, the stoppers being painted with wax, to preserve the vacuum. Two shellacked wires, passing to the powder, permitted the firing of the powder by an automatic spark coil. It was found that Victor flash powder was slightly superior to a mixture of powdered magnesium and sodium nitrate, in atomic proportions, and much superior to a mixture of powdered magnesium and potassium chlorate, also in atomic proportions. In the actual test, six samples of Victor flash powder, varying in weight from 0.05 gram to 0.0029 gram were placed in tubes . . . and these tubes were fastened in blackened compartments of a box. The ignition system was placed in the back of the same box. . . . This system, comprised of a spark coil, operated by three triple cells of “Ever-ready” battery, placed two by two in parallel. The charge was firing on closing the primary switch at the left. The six-point switch at the right served to connect the tubes, in order, to the high-tension side of the coil. The flashes were observed at a distance of 2.24 miles on a fairly clear night; and it was found that a mass of 0.0029 grams of Victor flash powder was visible, and that 0.015 gram was strikingly visible, all the observations being made with the unaided eye. The minimum mass of flash powder visible is thus surprisingly small. From these experiments, it is seen that if this flash powder were exploded on the surface of the moon, distant 220,000 miles, and a Robert H. Goddard

Foretell: Predict. Aperture: Opening. Exhausted: Emptied. Vacuum: A space devoid of matter; emptiness of space. Shellacked: Sealed with a varnishlike substance. Magnesium: Metallic element used in chemical processes. Sodium nitrate: Form of salt used as an oxidizing (combined with oxygen) agent. Potassium chlorate: Oxidizing agent used in explosives. 15

telescope of one foot aperture were used—the exit pupil being not greater than the pupil of the eye (e.g., two millimeters)—we should need a mass of flash powder of 2.67 pounds, to be just visible, and 13.82 pounds or less, to be strikingly visible. If we consider the final mass of the last “secondary” rocket plus the mass of the flash powder and its container, to be four times the mass of the flash powder alone, we should have, for the final mass of the rocket, four times the above masses. These final masses correspond to the “one pound final mass” which has been mentioned throughout the calculations. The “total initial masses,” or the masses necessary for the start at the earth, are at once obtained from the data given in table VII [not included]. Thus if the start is made from sea-level, and the “effective velocity of ejection” is 7,000 feet/second, we need 602 pounds for every pound that is to be sent to “infinity.” We arrive, then, at the conclusion that the “total initial masses” necessary would be 6,436 pounds or 3.21 tons; flash just visible, and 33,278 pounds or 16.63 tons (or less); flash strikingly visible. A “total initial mass” of 8 or 10 tons would, without doubt, raise sufficient flash powder for clear visibility. These masses could, of course, be much reduced by the employment of a larger telescope. For example, with an aperture of two feet, the masses would be reduced to one-fourth of those just given. The use of such a large telescope would, however, limit considerably the possible number of observers. In all cases, the magnification should be so low that the entire lunar disk is in the field of the telescope. It should be added that the probability of collision of a small object with meteors of the visible type is negligible. . . .

Velocity: Quickness of motion; speed. Infinity: Unlimited extent of time, space, or quantity. 16

This plan of sending the mass of flash powder to the surface of the moon, although a matter of general interest, is not of obvious scientific importance. There are, however, developments of the general method under discussion, which involve a number of important features not herein mentioned, which could lead to results of much scientific interest. These developments involve many experimental difficulties, to be sure; but they depend upon nothing that is really impossible. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Summary 1. An important part of the atmosphere, that extends for many miles beyond the reach of sounding balloons, has up to the present time been considered inaccessible. Data of great value in meteorology and in solar physics could be obtained by recording instruments sent into this region. 2. The rocket, in principle, is ideally suited for reaching high altitudes, in that it carries apparatus without jar, and does not depend upon the presence of air for propulsion. A new form of rocket apparatus, which embodies a number of improvements over the common form, is described in the present paper. 3. A theoretical treatment of the rocket principles shows that, if the velocity of expulsion of the gases were considerably increased and the ratio of propellant material to the entire rocket were also increased, a tremendous increase in range would result, from the fact that these two quantities enter exponentially in the expression for the initial mass of the rocket necessary to raise a given mass to a given height. 4. Experiments with ordinary rockets show that the efficiency of such rockets is of the order of 2 percent, and the velocity of ejection of the gases, 1,000 feet/second. For small rockets the values are slightly less. With a special type of steel chamber and nozzle, an efficiency has been obtained with smokeless powder of over 64 percent (higher than that of any heat engine ever before tested); and a velocity of nearly 8,000 feet/second, which is the highest velocity so far obtained in any way except in electrical discharge work. 5. Experiments were repeated with the same chamber in vacuo, (in a vacuum) which demonstrated that the high velocity of the ejected gases was a real velocity and not merely an effort of reaction against the air. In fact, experiments performed at the pressures such as probably exist at an altitude of 30 miles gave velocities even higher than those obtained in air at atmospheric pressure, the increase in velocity probably being due to a difference in ignition. Results of the experiments indicate also that this velocity could be exceeded, with a modified form of apparatus. 6. Experiments with a large chamber demonstrated that not only are large chambers operative, but that the velocities and efficiencies are higher than for small chambers. Robert H. Goddard

Meteorology: Science that deals with the weather or weather forecasting. Solar physics: Science that deals with matter and energy and their interactions relating to the Sun. Expulsion: Ejection. Exponentially: Rapidly increasing in size. Ignition: Act of igniting; starting a fire. 17

Robert H. Goddard stands next to his first liquid-propelled rocket in anticipation of its first flight. (NASA)

7. A calculation based upon the theory, involving data that is in part obtained by experiments, and in part what is considered as realizable in practice, indicates that the initial mass required to raise recording instruments of the order of one 18


pound, even to the extreme upper atmosphere, is moderate. The initial mass necessary is likewise not excessive, even if the effective velocity is reduced by half. Calculations show, however, that any apparatus in which ordinary rockets are used would be impracticable owing to the very large initial mass that would be required. 8. The recovery of the apparatus, on its return, need not be a difficult matter, from the fact that the time of ascent even to great altitudes in the atmosphere will be comparatively short, due to the high speed of the rocket throughout the greater part of its course. The time of descent will also be short; but free fall can be satisfactorily prevented by a suitable parachute. A parachute will be operative for the reason that high velocities and small atmospheric densities are essentially the same as low velocities and ordinary density. 9. Even if a mass of the order of a pound were propelled by the apparatus under consideration until it possessed sufficient velocity to escape earth’s attraction, the initial mass need not be unreasonably large, for an effective velocity of ejection which is without doubt obtainable. A method is suggested whereby the passage of a body to such an extreme altitude could be demonstrated. Conclusion Although the present paper is not the description of a working model, it is believed, nevertheless, that the theory and experiments, herein described, together settle all points that could seriously be questioned, and that it remains only to perform certain necessary preliminary experiments before an apparatus can be constructed that will carry recording instruments to any desired altitude.

What happened next . . . The negative response to Goddard’s findings did not stop the scientist from conducting more work. Although he became more reclusive and was rarely seen in public, Goddard was awarded 214 patents (documents securing to an inventor for a term of years the exclusive right to make, use, or sell an invention) in the area of rocket science. He built the first Robert H. Goddard

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Early space rocket, designed by Robert H. Goddard, is prepared for launch near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1935. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

liquid-fueled rocket, and his designs for fuel pumps, motors, and other essential components provided the foundation upon which all future rockets were built. On March 16, 1926, Goddard launched his first rocket, powered by oxygen and gasoline. The apparatus took only 2.5 seconds to rise 184 feet (56 meters). Most historians regard this event as the birth of modern rocketry. Not satisfied with this accomplishment, Goddard achieved another first on July 17, 1929, near Auburn, Massachusetts, when he flew the first instrument carrying a rocket; aboard was a camera to record the readings of an aneroid (liquidless) barometer (an instrument for determining the pressure of the atmosphere and for assisting in forecasting weather and determining altitude) and a ther20


mometer. However, the launch was a failure. After rising 90 feet (27.43 meters), the rocket crashed. The fire caused by the crash was so severe that the neighbors complained and Goddard was forbidden to launch rockets in Massachusetts in the future. Goddard was able to continue his work, however, largely due to the interest of Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974), who conducted the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic. Goddard was awarded fifty thousand dollars by a private philanthropist, and used the money to establish a private experiment station near Roswell, New Mexico. There, from 1930 to 1941, Goddard launched a number of rockets, each more complex and advanced than the last. He developed the technology that allows a rocket to be steered by propelling the exhaust with a rudderlike device. In 1941, Goddard achieved his greatest success when he successfully launched a rocket to an altitude of 9,000 feet (2,743 meters). That same year, he worked with the naval service to develop rockets to assist jet planes taking off from aircraft carriers. He died in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 10, 1945, but his research affected science for decades to come.

Did you know . . . • Long before the first person walked on the Moon or even traveled in space, Goddard thought that human beings could travel to the Moon and many other planets. • Goddard theorized that jet planes could take off from aircraft carriers with minimal runway distance. He also envisioned a rocket-borne, or transported mail and express delivery service and pioneered research into nuclearpowered rockets. • After World War II, the United States wanted to develop its own rockets, but Goddard had died by that time. His work, however, allowed them to understand the intricacies of rocket science. • In 1960, the U.S. government officially recognized Goddard’s pioneering work by awarding his estate one million dollars for his 214 patents. Robert H. Goddard

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Consider the following . . . • Imagine you are a scientist living in the first half of the twentieth century. Automobiles are still a recent invention; airplane travel is less than fifty years old; more Americans listen to the radio than watch (or own) a television. How would you respond to someone who claimed that we could travel to the Moon? Would you believe this person? Why or why not? • Many scientists have worked closely with the armed forces to develop weapons. Some, such as Albert Einstein (1879–1955), later regretted such work. If you were a scientist, would you want to work in weapons development? Why or why not? • Goddard’s pioneering rocket research led to several advancements in space travel. If you could invent something for your own personal use that used rocket technology, what would it be?

For More Information Books Goddard, Robert H. The Autobiography of Robert Hutchings Goddard, Father of the Space Age; Early Years to 1927. Worcester, MA: A. J. St. Onge, 1966. Goddard, Robert H. Rockets. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2002. Lehman, Milton. Robert H. Goddard: Pioneer of Space Research. New York: Da Capo, 1988. Winter, Frank H. Rockets into Space. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990.

Periodicals Crouch, Tom D. “Reaching Toward Space: His 1935 Rocket Was a Technological Tour de Force, But Robert H. Goddard Hid It from History.” Smithsonian (February 2001): p. 38.

Web Sites Goddard, Robert H. A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1919; also available at Clark University. http://www.clarku.edu/offices/library/archives/GoddardSources. htm (accessed on July 19, 2004). 22


“Robert H. Goddard: American Rocket Pioneer.” Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA. http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/service/gallery/fact_ sheets/general/goddard/goddard.htm (accessed on July 19, 2004). “Robert Goddard (1882–1945).” About.com. http://inventors.about.com/ library/inventors/blgoddard.htm (accessed on July 19, 2004). “Robert Goddard and His Rockets.” Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA. http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sgoddard.htm (accessed on July 19, 2004).

Robert H. Goddard

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3 Wernher von Braun “Man on the Moon: The Journey” Originally published in Collier’s, October 18, 1952; reprinted from Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume I: Organizing for Exploration, published in 1995

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n March 22, 1952, Collier’s magazine began a series of issues that outlined, in impressive detail, how humans could and would explore space, land on the Moon, and visit the planet Mars. By the time the final issue reached newsstands in April 1954, the popular imagination had been changed forever. Exploring the outer reaches of space no longer seemed a fantastical dream, but an inevitable reality. The German-born physicist Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) was a central figure in ushering in this change. When von Braun was approached by Collier’s magazine to contribute to their series concerning space exploration, he was already an accomplished rocket scientist who dreamed of traveling to the stars. After the conclusion of World War II (1939– 45), von Braun moved from his native Germany to the United States. He brought with him 112 German engineers and scientists and one hundred V-2 rockets they had designed and developed for the Nazi military during the war. They also possessed technical data concerning rockets and detailed plans for trips to the Moon, orbiting satellites, and space stations. The U.S. government, recognizing von Braun’s brilliance, pro-

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vided him a research station at Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas. He and his team of former German scientists used their expertise to advance the developing U.S. rocket program, Project Paperclip. Von Braun was truly ahead of his time. While conducting his research for the U.S. rocket program, he photographed Earth from high altitudes and performed medical experiments with animals in space. He also wrote The Mars Project, in which he outlined the steps for launching a successful mission to Mars. Von Braun completed the book in 1948, but he was unable to find a publisher until much later. Consequently, long before Collier’s editors even dreamed of publishing their groundbreaking series, von Braun had already completed an entire study on future exploration of Mars.

Wernher von Braun. (Library of Congress)

On March 22, 1952, Collier’s released the first installment of its space series. Von Braun wrote the featured article, “Crossing the Last Frontier,” in which he provided intricate details regarding the materials, construction design and cost, and manpower necessary for building a 24story space station. The issue immediately captured the imagination of Americans and made von Braun a household name. Seven months later, on October 18, Collier’s published “Man on the Moon: The Journey.”

Things to remember while reading “Man on the Moon: The Journey”: • The scientists who contributed to the Collier’s series were told to write their articles in a straightforward, readable style. Although the following excerpt sometimes reads like a science-fiction story, von Braun supports his ideas with sound scientific research. Wernher von Braun

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Von Braun’s Nazi Connections Wernher von Braun’s prominence in American spaceflight efforts often overshadows his responsibility in the suffering and loss of life associated with the German V-2 rocket. By the end of the war in June 1945, approximately six thousand rockets were manufactured at an underground production site named Mittelwerk. The factory used the slave labor of concentration-camp inmates and prisoners of war. Although von Braun always gave credit to his team for the technical success of the V-2, he clearly played a key role in the development of the missile. He and his army superior, General Walter Dornberger (1895–1980), were also successful in obtaining funding and other support for development of the rocket. Von Braun had no direct responsibility for the production, yet he was aware of the dreadful conditions in concentration camps. Moreover, he joined the Nazi Party on May 1, 1937, and in 1940 he be-

came an officer in the elite SS (an abbreviation of Schutzstaffel, German for “Protective Corps”). The SS started as a corps of bodyguards who protected the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler (1889–1945). Under Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945) the SS came to control military police activities, Nazi intelligence, and the administration and maintenance of the concentration camps. While historians note that more research is needed on this subject, available American records support von Braun’s claim that he was forced to join both the Nazi Party and the SS to avoid abandoning his rocketry work. He further stated that his motivation in building army missiles was their ultimate use in space travel and scientific endeavors. He said he was arrested by the Nazis in 1944 because he was not interested in using the V-2 as a weapon.

• When writing his article, von Braun considered nearly every possible situation that could arise during a trip to the Moon. He packs tremendous detail into a few relatively short pages—everything from eating in space to sleeping arrangements to landing on the Moon. • Each Collier’s article was accompanied by the color illustrations of Chesley Bonestell (1888–1986), Fred Freeman (1906–1988), and Rolf Klep (1904–1981). Their artwork helped bring alive the scientists’s vision and impress upon the reader the awesome scope of the missions. 26


“Man on the Moon: The Journey” For five days, the expectation speeds through space on its historic voyage—50 men on three ungainly craft, bound for the great unknown. Here is how we shall go to the moon. The pioneer expedition, 50 scientists and technicians, will take off from the space station’s orbit in three clumsy-looking but highly efficient rocket ships. They won’t be streamlined: all travel will be in space, where there is no air to impede motion. Two will be loaded with propellant for the five day, 239,000-mile trip and the return journey. The third, which will not return, will carry only enough propellant for a one-way trip; the extra room will be filled with supplies and equipment for the scientists’ six-week stay. On the outward journey, the rocket ships will hit a top speed of 19,500 miles per hour about 33 minutes after departure. Then the motors will be stopped and the ships will fall the rest of the way to the moon. Such a trip takes a great deal of planning. For a beginning we must decide what flight path to follow, how to construct the ships and where to land. But the project could be completed within the next 25 years. There are no problems involved which we don’t have the answers—or the ability to find them—right now. First, where should we land? We may have a wide choice, once we have had a close look at the moon. We’ll get that look on a preliminary survey flight. A small rocket ship taking off from the space station will take us to within 50 miles of the moon to get a picture of its meteor-pitted surface—including the “back” part never visible from earth. We’ll study the photographs for a suitable site. Several considerations limit our selection. Because the Moon’s surface has 146,000,000 square miles—about one thirteenth that of the earth— we won’t be able to explore more than a small area in detail, perhaps part of a section 500 miles in diameter. Our scientists want to see as many kinds of lunar features as possible, so we’ll pick a spot of particular interest. We want radio contact with the earth, so that means we’ll have to stick to the moon’s “face,” for radio waves won’t reach across space to any point the eye won’t reach. Wernher von Braun

Ungainly: Awkward or clumsy. 27

Wernher von Braun, holding a space vehicle, stands next to a map depicting the distance from Earth to the Moon. (AP/Wide World Photos)

We can’t land at the moon’s equator because its noonday temperatures reach an unbearable 220-degrees Fahrenheit, more than hot enough to boil water. We can’t land where the surface is too rugged because we need a flat place to set down. Yet the site can’t be too flat either—grain sized meteors constantly bombard the moon at speeds several miles per second; we have to set camp in a crevice where we have protection from these bullets. There’s one section of the moon that meets all of our requirements, and unless something better turns up on closer inspection that’s where we land. It’s an area called Sinus Roris, or “Dewy Bay” on the northern branch of a plain known as Oceanus Procellarum, 28


or “Stormy Ocean” (so called by early astronomers who thought the moon’s plains were great seas). Dr. Fred L. Whipple [1906–2004], chairman of Harvard University astronomy department, says Sinus Rolis is ideal for our purposes—about 650 miles from the lunar north pole where the daylight temperature averages a reasonably pleasant 40 degrees and the terrain is flat enough to land on, yet irregular enough to hide in. With a satisfactory site located we start detailed planning. To save fuel and time, we want to take the shortest practical course. The moon moves around the earth in an elliptical path once every 271⁄3 days. The space station, our point of departure, circles the earth every two hours. Every two weeks their paths are such that a rocket ship from the space station will intercept the moon in just five days. The best conditions for the return trip will occur two weeks later, and again two weeks after that. With their stay limited to multiples of two weeks, our scientists have set themselves a six week limit for the first exploration of the moon—long enough to accomplish some constructive research, but not long enough to require a prohibitive supply of essentials like liquid oxygen, water and food. Six months before our scheduled take-off, we begin piling up construction materials, supplies and equipment at the space station. This operation is a massive, impressive one, involving huge shuttling cargo rocket ships, scores of hard working handlers, and tremendous amounts of equipment. Twice a day pairs of sleek rocket transports from the earth sweep into the satellite’s orbit and swarms of workers unload the 36 tons of cargo each carries. With the arrival of the first shipment of material, work on the first of the three moon-going space craft gets underway, picking up intensity as more and more equipment arrives. The supplies are not stacked inside the space station; they are just left floating in space. They don’t have to be secured and here’s why: the satellite is traveling around the earth at 15,840 miles per hour; at that speed, it can’t be affected by the earth’s gravity, so it doesn’t fall, and it never slows down because there’s no air resistance. The same applies to any other object brought into the orbit at the same speed: to park beside the space station a rocket ship merely adjusts its speed to 15,840 miles per hour: and it, too, becomes a satellite. Crates moved out of its hold are traveling at the same speed in relation to the earth, so they also are weightless satellites. As the weeks pass and the unloading of cargo continues, the construction area covers several littered square miles. Tons of equipment lie about—aluminum girders, collapsed nylon-and-plastic fuel tanks, Wernher von Braun

Elliptical: Oval or curved. Prohibitive: Excessive; unreasonable. Satellite: An object orbiting Earth, the Moon, or another celestial body. Girders: Support structures, such as joists or beams. 29

rocket motor units, turbopumps, bundles of thin aluminum plates [and] a great many nylon bags containing smaller parts. It’s a bewildering scene, but not to the moon-ship builders. All construction parts are color-coded—with blue tipped cross braces fitting into blue sockets, red joining members keyed to others of the same color and so forth. Work proceeds swiftly. In fact, the workers accomplish wonders, considering the obstacles confronting the man forced to struggle with unwieldy objects in space. The men move clumsily, hampered by bulky pressurized suits equipped with such necessities of space-life as air conditioning, oxygen tanks, walkie-talkie radios and tiny rocket motors for propulsion. The work is laborious, for although objects are weightless they still have inertia. A man who shoves a one-ton girder makes it move all right but he makes himself move too. As his inertia is less than the girders he shoots backward much farther than he pushes the big piece of metal forward. The small personal rocket motors help the workers move some of the construction parts; the big stuff is hitched to space taxis, tiny pressurized rocket vehicles used for short trips outside the space station.

Turbopumps: Pumps driven by a turbine, a kind of rotary engine. Inertia: A property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force. Astrodomes: Transparent observation domes. Silo: A tall cylinder sealed to keep air out. 30

As the framework of the new rocket ship takes form; big, folded nylon-and-plastic bundles are brought over. They’re the personal cabins; pumped full of air, they become spherical, and plastic astrodomes are fitted to the top of sides of each. Other stacks are pumped full of propellant and balloon into the shapes of globes and cylinders. Soon the three moon-going ships begin to emerge in their final form. The two round-trip ships resemble an arrangement of hourglasses inside a metal framework; the one-way cargo carrier has much the same framework, but instead of hourglasses it has a central structure which looks like a great silo.

Dimensions of the Rocket Ship Each ship is 160 feet long (nine feet more than the height of the Statue of Liberty) and about 110 feet wide. Each has at its base a battery of 30 rocket motors, and each is topped by the sphere which houses the crew members, scientists and technicians on five floors. Under the sphere are two long arms set on a circular track which enables them to rotate almost a full 360 degrees. These light booms, which fold against the vehicles during take-off and landing to avoid damage, carry two vital pieces of equipment: a radio antenna dish for short-wave communication and a solar mirror [for] generating power. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

A concept sketch of one of Wernher von Braun’s rockets, Saturn 5. (Marshall Flight Center, NASA)

The solar mirror is a curved sheet of highly polished metal which concentrates the sun’s rays on a mercury-filled pipe. The intense heat vaporizes the mercury, and the vapor drives a turbo-generator, producing 35 kilowatts of electric power—enough to run a small factory. Its work done, the vapor cools, returns to its liquid state, and starts the cycle all over again. Under the radio and mirror booms of the passenger ships hangs 18 propellant tanks carrying nearly 800,000 gallons of ammonialike hydrazine (our fuel) and oxygen-rich nitric acid (the combustion Wernher von Braun

Hydrazine: A colorless, fuming corrosive used especially in fuels for rocket and jet engines. 31

agent). Four of the 18 tanks are outsized spheres, more than 33 feet in diameter. They are attached to light frames on the outside of the rocket ship’s structure. More than half our propellant supply— 580,000 gallons—is in these large balls: that’s the amount needed for take-off. As soon as it’s exhausted, the big tanks will be jettisoned. Four other large tanks carry propellant for the landing. They will be left on the moon. We also carry a supply of hydrogen peroxide to run the turbopumps which also force the propellant into the rocket motors. Besides the 14 cylindrical propellant tanks and the four spherical ones, eight small helium containers are strung throughout the framework. The lighter-than-air helium will be pumped into partly emptied fuel tanks to keep their shape under acceleration and to create pressure for the turbopumps. The cost of the propellant required for the first trip to the moon, the bulk of it used for the supply ships during the build-up period, is enormous—about $300,000,000, roughly 60 percent of the halfbillion-dollar cost of the entire operation. (That doesn’t count the $4,000,000,000 cost of erecting the space station, whose main purpose is strategic rather than scientific.) The cargo ship carries only enough fuel for a one-way trip, so it has fewer tanks; four discardable spheres like those on the passenger craft, and four cylindrical containers with 162,000 gallons of propellant for the moon landing. In one respect, the cargo carrier is the most interesting of the space vehicles. Its big silo-like storage cabin, 75 feet long and 36 feet wide, was built to serve a double purpose. Once we reach the moon and the big cranes folded against the framework have swung out and unloaded the 285 tons of supplies in a cylinder, the silo will be detached from the rest of the rocket ship. The winch-driven cables slung from the cranes will then raise half of the cylinder, in sections, which it will deposit on trailers drawn by tractors. The tractors will take them to a protective crevice on the moon’s surface at the place chosen for our camp. Then the other lengthwise half will be similarly moved— giving us two ready-to-use Quonset huts.

Jettisoned: Discarded. Hydrogen peroxide: A compound used as an oxidizing (mixed with oxygen) and bleaching agent, an antiseptic, and a propellant.

Now that we have our space ships built and have provided ourselves with living quarters for our stay on the moon a couple of important items remain; we must protect ourselves against two of the principal hazards of space travel, flying meteors and extreme temperatures.

Winch: Hoist. 32


For Protection Against Meteors To guard against meteors, all vital parts of the three craft— propellant tanks, personnel spheres, cargo cabin—are given a thin covering of sheet metal, set on studs which leave at least one inch of space between this outer shield and inside wall. The covering, called meteor bumper, will take the full impact of the flying particles (we don’t expect to be struck by any meteors much larger than a grain of sand) and will cause them to disintegrate before they can do damage. For protection against excessive heat, all parts of the three rocket ships are painted white because white absorbs little of the sun’s radiation. Then, to guard against cold, small black patches are scattered over the tanks and personnel spheres. The patches are covered by white blinds, automatically controlled thermostats. When the blinds on the sunny side are open, the spots absorb heat and warm the cabins and tanks. When the blinds are closed, all the white surface is exposed to the sun, permitting little heat to enter. When the blinds on the shaded sides are open, the black spots radiate heat and the temperature drops. Now we’re ready to take off from the space station’s orbit to the moon. The bustle of our departure—hurrying space taxis, the nervous last-minute checks by engineers, the loading of late cargo and finally the take-off itself—will be watched by millions. Television cameras on the space station will transmit the scene to receivers all over the world. And people on earth’s dark side will be able to turn from their screens to catch a fleeting glimpse of light—high in the heavens—the combined flash of 90 rocket motors, looking from the earth like the birth of a new short lived star. Our departure is slow. The big rocket ships rise ponderously, one after the other, green flames streaming from their batteries of rockets, and then they pick up speed. Actually, we don’t need to gain much speed. The velocity required to get us to our destination is 19,500 miles an hour but we’ve had a running start, while “resting” in the space station’s orbit, we are really streaking through space at 15,840 miles an hour. We need an additional 3,660 miles an hour. Thirty-three minutes from take-off we have it. Now we cut our motors; momentum and the moon’s gravity will do the rest. The moon itself is visible to us as we coast through space, but it’s so far off [to] one side that it’s hard to believe we won’t miss it. In the five days of the journey, though, it will travel a great distance Wernher von Braun

Ponderously: Slowly and clumsily because of weight or size. 33

and so will we; at the end of that time we shall reach the farthest point, or apogee, of our elliptical course, and the moon shall be right in front of us. The earth is visible, too—an enormous ball, most of it bulking pale black against the deeper black of space but with a wide crescent of day light where the sun strikes it. Within the crescent, the continents enjoying summer stand out as vast green terrain maps surrounded by the brilliant blue of the oceans. Patches of white cloud obscure some of the detail; white blobs are snow and ice on mountain ranges and polar areas. Against the blackness of the earth’s night side is a gleaming spot—the space station, reflecting the light of the sun. Two hours and 54 minutes after departure we are 17,750 miles from the earth’s surface. Our speed has dropped sharply to 10,500 miles [an] hour. Five hours and eight minutes en route, the earth is 32,950 miles away, and our speed is 8,000 miles an hour; after 20 hours, we’re 132,000 miles from the earth traveling at 4,300 miles an hour. On this first day, we discard the empty departure tanks. Engineers in protective suits step outside the cabin, stand for a moment in space, then make their way down the girders to the big spheres. They pump any remaining propellant into reserve tanks, disconnect the useless containers, and give them a gentle shove. For a while the tanks drift along beside us; soon they float out of sight. Eventually they will crash on the moon. There is no hazard for the engineers in this operation. As a precaution they are secured to the ship by safety lines. But they could probably have done well without them. There is no air in space to blow them away. That’s just one of the peculiarities of space to which we must adapt ourselves. Lacking a natural sequence of night and day, we live by an arbitrary time schedule. Because nothing has weight[,] cooking and eating are special problems. Kitchen utensils have magnetic strips or clamps so they won’t float away. The heating of food is done on electric ranges. They have many advantages; they’re clean, easy to operate, and their short-wave rays don’t burn up precious oxygen.

Difficulties Dining in Space We have no knives, spoons or forks. All solid food is precut; all liquids are served in plastic bottles and forced directly into the mouth

Arbitrary: Random. 34


by squeezing. Our mess kits [have] spring operated covers; our only eating utensils are tonguelike devices; if we open the covers carefully, we can grab a mouthful of food without getting it all over the cabin. From the start of the trip, the ship’s crew has been maintaining a round-the-clock schedule, standing eight hour watches. Captains, navigators and radio men spend most of their time checking and rechecking our flight track, ready to start up the rockets for a change in course if an error turns up. Technicians back up this operation with reports from the complex and delicate “electronic brains”—computers, gyroscopes, switchboards and other instruments—on the control deck. Other specialists keep watch over the air conditioning, temperature, pressure and oxygen systems. But the busiest crew members are the maintenance engineers and their assistants, tireless men who [have] been bustling back and forth between ships shortly after the voyage started, anxiously checking propellant tanks, tubing, rocket motors, turbopumps and all other vital equipment. Excessive heat could cause dangerous hairline cracks in the rocket motors; unexpectedly large meteors could smash through the thin bumpers surrounding the propellant tanks; fittings could come loose. The engineers have to be careful. We are still slowing down. At the start of the fourth day, our speed has dropped to 800 miles an hour, only slightly more than the speed of a conventional jet fighter. Ahead, the harsh surface features of the moon are clearly outlined. Behind, the blue-green ball of the earth appears to be barely a yard in diameter. Our fleet of unpowered rocket ships is now passing the neutral point between the gravitational fields of earth and the moon. Our momentum has dripped off to almost nothing—yet we’re about to pick up speed. For now we must begin falling toward the moon, about 23,600 miles away. With no atmosphere to slow us we’ll smash into the moon at 6,000 miles an hour unless we do something about it.

Rotating the Moon Ship This is what we do: aboard each ship, near its center of gravity, is a positioning device consisting of three fly-wheels set at right angles to one another and operated by electric motors. One of the wheel heads is in the same direction as our flight path—in other words; along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, like the rear wheels of a car. Another parallels the latitudinal axis like the steering wheel of an ocean vessel. The third lies along the horizontal axis like the rear steering wheel of a hook and ladder truck. If we start any one of the Wernher von Braun

Gyroscopes: Wheels or disks mounted to spin rapidly about an axis. Longitudinal: Running lengthwise. Latitudinal: Distance from side to side; width. 35

wheels spinning, it causes our rocket ship to turn slowly in the other direction (pilots know this “torque” effect; as increased power causes a plane’s propeller to spin more rapidly in one direction, the pilot has to fight his controls to keep the plane rolling in the other direction). The captain of our space ship orders the longitudinal flywheel set in motion. Slowly our craft begins to cartwheel; when it has turned a revolution, it stops. We are going toward the moon tail-end-first, a position which will enable us to brake our fall with our rocket motors when the right time comes. Tension increases aboard the three ships. The landing is tricky— so tricky that it will be done entirely by automatic pilot to diminish the possibility of human error. Our scientists compute the rate of descent, the spot at which we expect to strike; the speed and direction of the moon (it’s traveling at 2,280 miles an hour at right angles to our path). These and other essential statistics are fed into a tape. The tape, based on the same principle as the player-piano roll and the automatic business-card machine, will control the automatic pilot. (Actually, a number of tapes intended to provide for all the eventualities will be fixed up along before the flight, but last minute-checks are necessary to see which tape to use and to see whether a manual correction of our course is required before the autopilot takes over.) Now we lower part of our landing gear—four spiderlike legs, hinged to the square rocket assembly, which have been folded against the framework. As we near the end of our trip, the gravity of the moon, which is still to one side of us, begins to pull us off our elliptical course, and we turn the ship to conform to this change of direction. At an altitude of 550 miles the rocket motors begin firing; we feel the shock of their blasts inside the personnel sphere and suddenly our weight returns. Objects which have not been secured beforehand tumble to the floor. The force of the rocket motors is such that we have about one third our normal earth weight.

Player-piano roll: The replaceable paper cylinder, attached to a mechanism that plays a piano automatically, that tells the piano what notes to play. Automatic business-card machine: A machine with a keyboard used to punch holes in cards to represent information to be fed into a computer. 36

The final 10 minutes are especially tense. The tape-guided automatic pilots are now in full control. We fall more and more slowly, floating over the landing area like descending helicopters as we approach, the fifth leg of our landing gear—a big telescoping shock absorber which has been housed in the center of the rocket assembly is lowered through the fiery blast of the motors. The long green rocket flames begin to slash against the baked lunar surface. Swirling clouds of brown-gray dust are thrown out sideways; they settle immediately instead of hanging in air, as they would on the earth. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

The broad round shoe of the telescopic landing leg digs into the soft volcanic ground. If it strikes too hard an electronic mechanism inside it immediately calls on the rocket motors for more power to cushion the blow. For a few seconds, we balance on the single leg[,] then the four outrigger legs slide out to help support the weight of the ship, and are locked into position. The whirring of machinery dies away. There is absolute silence. We have reached the moon. Now we shall explore it.

What happened next . . . The Collier’s series was immensely popular. Von Braun continued his work with the U.S. military. Between April 1950 and February 1956 he and his team developed the Redstone rocket. Von Braun wanted to launch a satellite (a man-made object that orbits space) before the former Soviet Union, but military officials continually denied his requests. After the Soviets launched the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 (see First Satellite entry), von Braun immediately received authorization from the U.S. government to develop and launch a satellite. Utilizing the technology of the Redstone rocket, von Braun and his team, in cooperation with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, developed the Explorer 1 satellite. Explorer 1 was launched on January 31, 1958. Later in 1958, the United States formed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1960 von Braun was appointed director of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, a NASA agency at Huntsville, Alabama. Von Braun was instrumental in the launching of the Saturn rockets and of Apollo 8, the first spacecraft to travel to the Moon. Von Braun retired from NASA in 1972 to take a post in a private engineering firm. He became an advocate for space travel and wrote a number of articles and books promoting the benefits of a well-funded and publicly supported space agency. Historians agree, however, that nothing did more to energize the American public and excite them about space travel than the articles he had published in Collier’s magazine. Wernher von Braun

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Von Braun died of cancer at a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 16, 1977.

Did you know . . . • Von Braun’s first article in the Collier’s series was about a manned space station, which required the use of rockets. Only fifteen years after writing this article, he helped design the Saturn 5 rocket, which was instrumental in the success of Apollo 8.

Wernher von Braun, with a Saturn rocket on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. (NASA)

• In the late 1990s the U.S. government released documents showing that, prior to the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1, President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; served 1953–61) had deliberately delayed the launch of a U.S. satellite. He wanted to use Sputnik 1 as an excuse for gaining public support for deploying a spy satellite against the Soviets. Eisenhower’s ploy was successful, but von Braun had been unaware of the plan.

• Part of von Braun’s book on Mars, originally titled Das Marsproject, appeared as the last installment of the Collier’s series. The entire book was published in German in 1952 and translated into English in 1953. Von Braun envisioned the Mars expedition requiring three “landing boats” and seven cargo or transport ships.

Consider the following . . . • Von Braun’s articles helped impress upon the American people the importance of space travel. Do you think space exploration is important today? • NASA, in cooperation with Russian cosmonauts and scientists, has conducted research on Mars, although no human being has yet traveled to the red planet. Do you think 38


a human being will ever walk on Mars? If you walked on Mars, what types of things would you look for?

For More Information Books Hunt, Linda. Secret Agenda: The United States Government, Nazi Scientists, and Project Paperclip, 1945 to 1990. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991. Von Braun, Wernher. “Man on the Moon: The Journey.” In Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume I: Organizing for Exploration. Edited by John M. Logsdon. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1995. Ward, Bob. Mr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Press, 2004.

Periodicals Cowan, Robert C. “Declassified Papers Show U.S. Won Space Race After All.” Christian Science Monitor (October 23, 1999): p. 15. “Previously Unpublished von Braun Drawings.” Ad Astra (July/August 2000): pp. 46–47. Von Braun, Wernher. “Man on the Moon—The Journey.” Collier’s (October 18, 1952): pp. 52–60. Von Braun, Wernher, with Cornelius Ryan. “Baby Space Station.” Collier’s (June 27, 1953): pp. 33–40. Von Braun, Wernher, with Cornelius Ryan. “Can We Get to Mars?” Collier’s (April 30, 1954): pp. 22–28.

Web Sites Graham, John F. “A Biography of Wernher von Braun.” Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA. http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/history/ VonBraun/VonBraun.html (accessed on July 19, 2004). “Wernher von Braun.” Spartacus Educational. http://www.spartacus. schoolnet.co.uk/USAbraun.htm (accessed on July 19, 2004).

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4 First Satellite “Announcement of the First Satellite” Originally published in Pravda, October 5, 1957; also available at NASA (Web site)

O

n October 4, 1957, the former Soviet Union launched the space satellite Sputnik 1, beating the United States to become the first nation to send an artificial body into Earth orbit. The Soviets’ success sparked America into action, and the “space race” reached a fevered pitch. Two Soviet men, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935; pronounced KAHN-stan-teen tsee-ohl-KAHV-skee) and Sergei Korolev (1907–1966; pronounced SEHR-gay KOR-o-lev), were instrumental in enabling the Soviets to launch Sputnik 1. Although Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957, the satellite had been many decades in the making. In fact, the origins of the satellite can be traced back to the nineteenth century, when Tsiolkovsky, a self-educated scientist, pioneered the field of aeronautics (study of flight). His work provided the essential formulas and research necessary for later successful flight efforts. He began his experiments in the 1870s, examining every aspect of space flight. He thought about designs for spacecrafts and launch plans, and he built a mechanism that could measure the effects that accelerated gravity has on the human body. Tsiolkovsky also produced revolutionary work con-

40

cerning aerodynamics (the study of the motion of air and gaseous fluids), the shape of aircraft wings, and internal combustion engines. By 1896 Tsiolkovsky had developed all the formulas necessary to plot the trajectory, or flight path, of a spacecraft. The following year he designed and built the first Russian wind tunnel, which propelled air over various types of aircraft and tested his theories. Then he wrote a well-received paper, “Air Pressure on Surfaces Introduced into an Artificial Air Flow,” which earned him a research grant from the Russian Academy of Sciences. This paper puts forth a formula known as the basic rocket equation (mathematical formulas that describe how to build and launch a rocket.) Throughout the remainder of his career, which lasted until 1935, Tsiolkovsky pioneered work in the field of aeronautics and asSputnik 1, the first satellite. tronautics (the study of the construction and operation of vehicles for space travel) that is now regarded as the basis upon which all rocket science—and subsequently the development of the first satellite—is built.

(AP/Wide World Photos)

Rocket engineer Korolev was a sharp contrast to Tsiolkovsky. Credited with developing the staged rocket (a rocket that ignites at specified stages in order to propel an object long distances into space), he was born a generation later and benefited from the best schooling and training. He designed his first glider (an aircraft similar to an airplane but without an engine) at the age of seventeen, later earning a spot at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute and then at the Moscow Higher Technical University. He continued working on gliders until 1931, when his interest in rocketry led him to found the Group for Investigation of Reactive Motion (GIRD). At the same time, the American scientist Robert H. Goddard (1882–1945; see entry) was conducting research on rocketpropelled aircraft. Although Korolev did not know it, Goddard First Satellite

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had already flown the first liquid-propelled rockets. Shortly after founding the agency, Korolev succeeded in accomplishing the same feat with the GIRD-9 and GIRD-10 rockets. For two years he and his partner conducted tests before the military placed GIRD under the supervision of the Reaction Propulsion Scientific Institute (RNII). During this time Korolev worked on his gliders and rockets, building the RP-318, the first rocket-propelled manned aircraft. Korolev’s partner, Soviet engineer Valentin Petrovich Glushko (1908–1989), designed the ORM-65 rocket engine that propelled the craft. In 1938, prior to the launch of the aircraft, Glushko was thrown into prison by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin (1879– 1953). Fearing for his life, Glushko denounced Korolev as an enemy of the state. Korolev was sentenced to ten years of hard labor. Stalin recognized the importance of aeronautics and began a program known as “sharashakas” to exploit prison laborers for work in scientific experiments. An aircraft designer who was also imprisoned and part of this program, Sergei Tupolev (1906–1966), stepped in on Korolev’s behalf and requested that the government allow Korolev to assist in experiments. In September 1940 Korolev, his health destroyed by the brutal labor camp, was transferred back to Moscow (capital city of Russia and of the former Soviet Union) to work for the TSKB-39 sharashaka. He was able to continue his work on rockets only in the evening, after his work for the government was completed. The rocket he spent a year designing and building, the RP-318, was flown on February 28, 1940. Korolev was not present for the launch. For the next twenty years Korolev worked on ballistic missile projects. (A ballistic missile propels itself upward for the first half of its flight but then falls freely downward toward its target.) He was also involved in the Soviet attempt to build a version of the British V-2 rocket. In the early 1950s Korolev began working with German scientists who were attempting to build the first intercontinental (capable of traveling between continents) booster rocket to be used as a ballistic missile. Without the knowledge of the German scientists, Korolev used some of their theories and began to develop a rocket of his own. Later known as the R-7, his rocket was capable of traveling farther than the rocket being designed by the Germans. After years of setbacks and problems, the R-7 was launched successfully on August 21, 1957. Less than two 42


months later the Soviets launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to be sent into orbit. Sputnik 1 was a small, spherical (globe-shaped) object 58 centimeters (22.8 inches) in diameter, which weighed just over 86 pounds (39 kilograms). Equipped with two transmitters, it was able to send signals back to scientific stations situated all over the Soviet Union. With the launch of Sputnik 1, the Soviets made the first significant impact in the field of astronautics.

Things to remember while reading “Announcement of the First Satellite”: • By sending an object into space and successfully putting it into orbit, Soviet scientists felt that manned spaceflight was the next logical step. This view was shared by American and German scientists. The success of Sputnik 1 allowed scientists all over the world to cease regarding interplanetary travel as a dream and start thinking about it as an eventual reality. • The successful launch of Sputnik 1 was a great shock to the United States. The Soviets heralded it as a victory and as proof that Communist nations could compete with democratic countries. In many ways, the space race was as much about proving the supremacy of a certain political ideology as it was about getting a man to the Moon. American president Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; served 1953–61) immediately signed an act forming the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to begin work on launching a manned spacecraft. • Many Americans feared that the launch of Sputnik 1 had initiated a new era in hostile relations with the Soviets. Afraid that the Soviet Union would be able to launch spy satellites and ballistic missiles, the American public was highly supportive of the NASA space program.

“Announcement of the First Satellite” On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first Earthorbiting satellite to support the scientific research effort undertaken First Satellite

Satellite: An object orbiting Earth, the Moon, or another celestial body. 43

International Geophysical Year: An eighteen-month period (July 1957–December 1958) of maximum sunspot activity, designated for cooperative study of the SunEarth environment by scientists of sixty-seven nations. Tersely: Shortly or abruptly. Bureaus: Specialized administrative units. Preliminary: Introductory; first. Velocity: Quickness of motion; speed. Elliptical trajectories: Oval or curved flight paths made in space. Optical: Visual. Inclination: Slope; deviation from the true vertical or horizontal. Equatorial: Located at the equator. Emitting: Releasing. Frequencies: Number of complete variations per second of energy in the form of waves. Telegraph: Apparatus or process for communication at a distance by electronic transmission over wire. 44

by several nations during the 1957–58 International Geophysical Year. The Soviets called the satellite “Sputnik,” or “fellow traveler,“ and reported the achievement in a tersely worded press release issued by the official news agency, Tass. The report was printed in the October 5 issue of Pravda. The United States had also been working on a scientific satellite program, Project Vanguard, but had not yet launched a satellite. For several years scientific research and experimental design work have been conducted in the Soviet Union on the creation of artificial satellites of the earth. As already reported in the press, the first launching of the satellites in the USSR [Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; the Soviet Union] were planned for realization in accordance with the scientific research program of the International Geophysical Year. As a result of very intensive work by scientific research institutes and design bureaus the first artificial satellite in the world has been created. On October 4, 1957, this first satellite was successfully launched in the USSR. According to preliminary data, the carrier rocket has imparted to the satellite the required orbital velocity of about 8000 meters per second. At the present time the satellite is describing elliptical trajectories around the earth, and its flight can be observed in the rays of the rising and setting sun with the aid of very simple optical instruments (binoculars, telescopes, etc.). According to calculations which now are being supplemented by direct observations, the satellite will travel at altitudes up to 900 kilometers above the surface of the earth; the time for a complete revolution of the satellite will be one hour and thirty-five minutes; the angle of inclination of its orbit to the equatorial plane is 65 degrees. On October 5 the satellite will pass over the Moscow area twice—at 1:46 A.M. and at 6:42 A.M. Moscow time. Reports about the subsequent movement of the first artificial satellite launched in the USSR on October 4 will be issued regularly by broadcasting stations. The satellite has a spherical shape 58 centimeters [22.8 inches] in diameter and weighs 83.6 kilograms. It is equipped with two radio transmitters continuously emitting signals at frequencies of 20.005 and 40.002 megacycles per second (wave lengths of about 15 and 7.5 meters, respectively). The power of the transmitters ensures reliable reception of the signals by a broad range of radio amateurs. The signals have the form of telegraph pulses of about 0.3 second’s duration with a pause of the same duration. The signal of one frequency is sent during the pause in the signal of the other frequency. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Scientific stations located at various points in the Soviet Union are tracking the satellite and determining the elements of its trajectory. Since the density of the rarified upper layers of the atmosphere is not accurately known, there are no data at present for the precise determination of the satellite’s lifetime and of the point of its entry into the dense layers of the atmosphere. Calculations have shown that owing to the tremendous velocity of the satellite, at the end of its existence it will burn up on reaching the dense layers of the atmosphere at an altitude of several tens of kilometers. As early as the end of the nineteenth century the possibility of realizing cosmic flights by means of rockets was first scientifically substantiated in Russia by the works of the outstanding Russian scientist K[onstatin] E. Tsiolkovskii [Tsiolkovsky].

Sputnik 1 satellite shown in the assembly shop as a Soviet technician puts finishing touches on it. (NASA)

The successful launching of the first man-made earth satellite makes a most important contribution to the treasure-house of world science and culture. The scientific experiment accomplished at such a great height is of tremendous importance for learning the properties of cosmic space and for studying the earth as a planet of our solar system. During the International Geophysical Year the Soviet Union proposes launching several more artificial earth satellites. These subsequent satellites will be larger and heavier and they will be used to carry out programs of scientific research. Artificial earth satellites will pave the way to interplanetary travel and, apparently our contemporaries will witness how the freed and conscientious labor of the people of the new socialist society makes the most daring dreams of mankind a reality.

Density: Thickness or solidity, having more mass per unit volume. Rarified: Very high. Substantiated: Verified by proof or evidence. Conscientious: Careful.

What happened next . . . The Soviets launched Sputnik 2 on October 5. The capsule not only carried a heavier payload, or cargo, than Sputnik 1, First Satellite

Socialist: System or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state. 45

but it also transported the first passenger into space: a dog named Laika. Korolev immediately began to pressure the Soviet government to focus on a manned spaceflight. Although reluctant, the government agreed and made Korolev the head of the effort to design the spacecraft. Korolev was not given complete freedom, however. He was required to design the spacecraft with specifications that allowed the government to fulfill its intentions to use spacecraft for spying purposes. He designed the Vostok manned space program, which sent the first human being, cosmonaut (astronaut) Yuri Gagarin (1934– 1968), into orbit on April 12, 1961. Korolev continued to work for the Soviet government, particularly in the development of ballistic missiles. This program contributed to the escalating arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Modifications of his Vostok rocket designs allowed the Soviets to build and launch the Soyuz, the world’s first reusable spacecraft, which is now called a space shuttle. (Still in operation in 2004, the Soyuz is the longest-serving spacecraft in the world. A space shuttle is a vehicle that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.) Korolev died unexpectedly in 1966 from complications following cancer surgery. Two weeks later, the Luna 9 probe he had designed landed on the Moon and sent back the first photographs ever taken from the surface. Political squabbling and lack of government funds prevented the Soviet Union from developing a manned Moon exploration program. Thus the United States was the first nation to land humans on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930–) stepped out of the Apollo 11 spacecraft onto the lunar surface. Within fifteen minutes he was followed by fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin (1930–) (see Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. entry). In the meantime, Russian scientists had been focusing their efforts on developing a space station called the Salyut. (Often termed a “hotel” or “house” in the sky, a space station is a craft that permanently orbits Earth and serves as a base for trips into outer space.) The Salyut was successfully launched in April 1971. The following October, Soyuz transported three cosmonauts to the Salyut, becoming the first craft to orbit Earth with a multimember crew. The cosmonauts also performed the first spacewalk. 46


After taking the Salyut out of service, the Soviet Union launched the Mir space station. It remained in orbit for more than fifteen years, until 2001, although it was officially vacated in 1999. During that time the space station was almost continually occupied. A total of one hundred cosmonauts and astronauts from other nations conducted nearly 16,500 experiments during those years, primarily on how humans adapt to long-term space flight. Civilians also visited Mir, among them a Japanese journalist and a British candy maker. When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Russia (formerly the largest Soviet state) began maintaining friendly relations with the United States. The two countries began working together on space ventures, including missions to Mir. By 1999 seven NASA astronauts had stayed aboard Mir. When the space station was taken out of orbit in 2001, most of the craft burned up over the Pacific Ocean. The remaining remnants crashed into the Pacific in 2004.

Did you know . . . • Recently declassified government documents reveal that President Eisenhower purposefully delayed American efforts to send a satellite into orbit. Eisenhower argued that by allowing the Soviets to launch a satellite first, the United States would have the legal right to launch subsequent spy satellites. He felt that the Soviets being the first to launch a satellite would have little or no effect on American morale. Eisenhower was wrong. Many wonder how the face of the space race would have changed had Eisenhower allowed the American and German scientists working for the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA; the forerunner to NASA) to launch their satellite in January 1957. • Before working for the Soviet space agency, Korolev was sentenced to ten years of hard labor in the Kolyma gold mines. This was essentially a death sentence. Had Sergei Tupolev not intervened on his behalf, Korolev would have died in prison. • Korolev’s Luna 9 lander marks the last time the Soviet Union achieved a significant accomplishment in space first. Historians feel that had Korolev lived, he might have enabled the Soviet space program to send a man to the Moon before the United States. First Satellite

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Consider the following . . . • When the Soviets launched Sputnik 1, many Americans felt as though the national pride of the United States had been hurt. If another nation, such as China or Russia, is able to send the first manned spacecraft to Mars, do you think Americans would be upset? Would you? Why or why not? • Ask your teacher to explain the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1957. If you had been the U.S. president and you knew that American scientists could send a satellite into orbit, would you have allowed them? Or do you think that President Eisenhower’s decision was a good one? For instance, do you think the president was correct in wanting to wait until the United States could launch spy satellites? Why or why not?

For More Information Books Dickson, Paul. Sputnik: The Shock of the Century. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Trade, 2003. Harford, James. Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon. New York: Wiley, 1997.

Periodicals Frazier, Allison. “They Gave Us Space: Space Pioneers of the 20th Century.” Ad Astra (January/February 2000): pp. 25–26. Gautier, Daniel James. “Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.” Ad Astra (July/August 1991): p. 27.

Web Sites “‘Announcement of the First Satellite.’ from Pravda, October 5, 1957.” NASA. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/14.html (accessed on August 2, 2004). “The Early Space Stations (1969–1985).” RussianSpaceWeb.com. http:// www.russianspaceweb.com/spacecraft_manned_salyut.html (accessed on August 2, 2004). Lethbridge, Cliff. “Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky.” Spaceline. http://www.spaceline.org/history/21.html (accessed on August 2, 2004). 48


“Mir.” RussianSpaceWeb. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_chronology. html (accessed on August 2, 2004). “Sergei Korolev—Sputnik Biographies.” NASA. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ office/pao/History/sputnik/korolev.html (accessed on August 2, 2004). “Soyuz Spacecraft.” RussianSpaceWeb. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/ soyuz.html (accessed on August 2, 2004). “Sputnik and the Dawn of the Space Age.” www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/ History/sputnik/ (accessed on August 2, 2004).

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5 John F. Kennedy Excerpt from Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs Presented on May 25, 1961

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n May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63) addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress and declared that the United States would be the first nation to put a man on the Moon. He vowed that this goal would be reached by the end of the decade. Kennedy’s announcement came at a crucial time in U.S. history. The United States and the former Soviet Union were engaged in a period of hostile relations known as the Cold War (1945– 91). They were competing for military superiority as well as dominance in space. Nearly four years earlier, on October 5, 1957, Americans had been stunned to learn that the former Soviet Union had launched the Sputnik 1 satellite (a manmade device that orbits Earth; see First Satellite entry). The Soviets had thus become the first country to put a craft into orbit successfully. American morale was shaken: Many citizens looked at the Soviet Union as a backward nation incapable of competing with the United States. Kennedy realized the importance of rallying the nation behind a cause, and he made that cause winning the race to the Moon.

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Kennedy had other reasons to worry about public morale. Three weeks earlier, on May 5, astronaut Alan Shepard (1923–1998) became the first American in space. He piloted a Mercury spacecraft 115 miles above Earth’s surface and 302 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Americans were ecstatic, but the celebration was short lived. Soon afterward came news that the Soviets had sent Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–1938) into space the previous month—once again beating the Americans in the space race. Moreover, Gagarin had made a nearly complete orbit of Earth, whereas Shepard had made only a brief flight. In addition, the U.S. government had recently failed in an attempt to overthrow Cuban Communist dictator Fidel Castro (1926–) in what became known as the Bay of Pigs invasion. The event was an international disaster. More than ever, Kennedy needed a cause the American people could believe in, one that would win the respect of the world.

President John F. Kennedy addressing a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961. Kennedy announced that the United States would be the first nation to put a man on the Moon. (NASA)

In his address, titled Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs, Kennedy boldly outlined America’s newest priority: “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the longrange exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.” This statement became a rallying cry for the American people. Never before had science and space exploration been made a top national priority. With one speech, Kennedy was able to achieve his goal of restoring America’s morale.

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Things to remember while reading an excerpt from President Kennedy’s Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs: • Kennedy states that the “urgent time schedule” and massive national resources needed to meet the goal of sending a man to the Moon would be a new experience for the United States. In fact, during World War II (1939–45), a tight time schedule and a massive amount of resources were necessary for the development of the atomic bomb. This top-secret program was known as the “Manhattan Project.” Kennedy was aware of how the project was accomplished. He wanted to instill the same sense of importance and immediacy publicly in the American people that had been done privately during World War II. • Many historians believe that Kennedy’s speech was so inspiring because he made it seem like the whole of the United States was going to the Moon: “It will not be one man going to the moon—if we make this judgment affirmatively,” he said, “it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.” • Kennedy asked Congress for a considerable amount of money for space exploration. Never before had an American leader asked that so many funds be dedicated to one program during a time of peace.

Excerpt from President Kennedy’s Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs

Tyranny: Oppressive power. 52

[I]f we are to win the battle that is now going on around the world between freedom and tyranny, the dramatic achievements in space which occurred in recent weeks should have made clear to us all, as did the Sputnik in 1957, the impact of this adventure on the minds of men everywhere, who are attempting to make a determination of which road they should take. Since early in my term, our efforts in Space Exploration: Primary Sources

space have been under review. With the advice of the Vice President, who is Chairman of the National Space Council, we have examined where we are strong and where we are not, where we may succeed and where we may not. Now it is time to take longer strides—time for a great new American enterprise—time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth. I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshalled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time so as to insure their fulfillment. Recognizing the head start obtained by the Soviets with their large rocket engines, which gives them many months of lead time, and recognizing the likelihood that they will exploit this lead for some time to come in still more impressive successes, we nevertheless are required to make new efforts on our own. For while we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last. We take an additional risk by making it in full view of the world, but as shown by the feat of astronaut [Alan] Shepard, this very risk enhances our stature when we are successful. But this is not merely a race. Space is open to us now; and our eagerness to share its meaning is not governed by the efforts of others. We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share. I therefore ask the Congress, above and beyond the increases I have earlier requested for space activities, to provide the funds which are needed to meet the following national goals: First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations— explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes John F. Kennedy

Enterprise: Project that is especially difficult, complicated, or risky. Marshalled: Brought together or united. 53

A U.S. astronaut on the surface of the Moon salutes the American flag. (NASA)

this daring flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon—if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.

Rover nuclear rocket: A rocket powered by a nuclear reactor. Project Rover, a U.S. program created during the mid-1960s, was an effort to build a nuclear reactor, a cheaper reliable alternative to chemical rocket engines, to power a rocket in space. 54

Secondly, an additional twenty-three million dollars, together with seven million dollars already available, will accelerate development of the Rover nuclear rocket. This gives promise of some day providing a means for even more exciting and ambitious exploration of space, perhaps beyond the moon, perhaps to the very end of the solar system itself. Third, an additional fifty million dollars will make the most of our present leadership, by accelerating the use of space satellites for worldwide communications. Fourth, an additional seventy-five million dollars—of which fiftythree million dollars is for the Weather Bureau—will help give us at Space Exploration: Primary Sources

the earliest possible time a satellite system for world-wide weather observation. Let it be clear—and this is a judgment which the Members of the Congress must finally make—let it be clear that I am asking the Congress and the country to accept a firm commitment to a new course of action, a course which will last for many years and carry very heavy costs: five hundred thirty-one million dollars in fiscal ’62—an estimated seven to nine billion dollars additional over the next five years. If we are to go only half way, or reduce our sights in the face of difficulty, in my judgment it would be better not to go at all. Now this is a choice which this country must make, and I am confident that under the leadership of the Space Committees of the Congress, and the Appropriating Committees, that you will consider the matter carefully. It is a most important decision that we make as a nation. But all of you have lived through the last four years and have seen the significance of space and the adventures in space, and no one can predict with certainty what the ultimate meaning will be of mastery of space. I believe we should go to the moon. But I think every citizen of this country as well as the Members of the Congress should consider the matter carefully in making their judgment, to which we have given attention over many weeks and months, because it is a heavy burden, and there is no sense in agreeing or desiring that the United States take an affirmative position in outer space, unless we are prepared to do the work and bear the burdens to make it successful. If we are not, we should decide today and this year. This decision demands a major national commitment of scientific and technical manpower, material and facilities, and the possibility of their diversion from other important activities where they are already thinly spread. It means a degree of dedication, organization and discipline which have not always characterized our research and development efforts. It means we cannot afford undue work stoppages, inflated costs of material or talent, wasteful interagency rivalries, or a high turnover of key personnel. New objectives and new money cannot solve these problems. They could in fact, aggravate them further—unless every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, contractor, and civil servant gives his personal pledge that this nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space. John F. Kennedy

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What happened next . . . Citizens responded immediately to Kennedy’s vision. Thousands of young people dreamed of becoming astronauts or rocket scientists, and college enrollments skyrocketed. Most of the students studied science, and as people entered scientific professions the United States became an increasingly technological society. On September 12, 1962, Kennedy gave another speech, at Rice University, concerning the journey to the Moon, once again voicing his dedication to the space program (see box on page 58). With the financial support of the government, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) embarked on an unprecedented period of research and development. Project Mercury, which had been begun in 1958, developed the basic technology necessary to send humans into space. These flights were short, however; soon after Kennedy’s address to Congress, NASA set a goal of making longer flights. On February 20, 1962, astronaut John Glenn orbited Earth in a Mercury space capsule, proving longer trips were possible (see John Glenn, with Nick Taylor entry). In 1964, NASA began Project Gemini. This program trained astronauts how to return to Earth from space, how to link different space vehicles, and, through the use of special chambers, provided “experience” in walking in weightless environments. Gemini was also responsible for launching several satellites that provided vital information about the Moon’s surface and environment, allowing scientists to decide where and how to land a spacecraft. Project Apollo began tragically in 1967, when the Apollo 1 spacecraft exploded on the launch pad, killing all three astronauts aboard. Manned Apollo flights were suspended for over a year. Then, on July 24, 1969, millions of people around the world watched on television as Apollo 11 (see Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin entry) successfully landed U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930–) and Buzz Aldrin (1930–) on the Moon and delivered them safely home. Unfortunately, President Kennedy, who had vowed that the nation would experience 56


Apollo mission’s Saturn 5 rocket lifts off at Cape Kennedy, Florida. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

this day, was not alive to witness the result of his vision. He was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

Did you know . . . • After the successful Moon landing of Apollo 17 in 1972, no other spacecraft has landed on the Moon. Project Apollo was discontinued after this flight, and NASA conJohn F. Kennedy

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Kennedy’s Speech at Rice University On September 12, 1962, President Kennedy visited Rice University in Houston, Texas, and addressed the student body. College enrollment had already begun to increase when Kennedy delivered his address, and his remarks reflect the importance the nation had begun to put on science. He outlined the advancements already made by NASA and once again emphasized that the United States would put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. He asked the students at Rice to play a part in this endeavor. The following is an excerpt from his speech. But if I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have

ever been experienced, fitted together with precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to Earth, reentering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun—almost as hot as it is here today—and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out— then we must be bold. . . . It may be done while some of you are still here at school at this college and university. It will be done during the term of office of some of the people who sit here on this platform. But it will be done. And it will be done before the end of this decade. . . . Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory [1886– 1924], who was to die on Mt. Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, ‘Because it is there.’ Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there.

centrated its efforts on space shuttle missions (see Space Shuttle entry). • The early space race between the United States and the Soviet Union was heated and competitive. Today, Russia (which became a separate country after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991) and the United States cooperate in space shuttle missions, most notably flights to the Mir (see Patrick Meyer entry) space station and the International Space Station. • In January 2004 President George W. Bush (1946–; served 2001–) made a speech in which he announced that the United States would resume missions to the Moon in the near future (see George W. Bush entry). 58


Consider the following . . . • President Kennedy committed the United States to sending a man to the Moon because of the nation’s intensely competitive “space race” with the former Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States and Russia began cooperating on a number of space missions. Do you think this was a positive development? Why or why not? • Do you think it was a mistake for the United States to discontinue missions to the Moon after Apollo 17? • In 2004 President George W. Bush announced that the United States would someday send humans to Mars. Some people have compared this goal to President Kennedy’s vow to put a man on the Moon. Do you agree? Do you believe that someday Americans will be walking on the surface of Mars?

For More Information Books Cole, Michael D. Apollo 11: First Moon Landing. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1995. Dallek, Robert. An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2003.

Web Sites Kennedy, John F. Moon Speech—Rice Stadium, September 12, 1962. Johnson Space Center, NASA. http://vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/ricetalk. htm (accessed on July 19, 2004). Kennedy, John F. Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs, May 25, 1961. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. http:// www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/j052561.htm (accessed on July 22, 2004). Shepler, John. “President Kennedy’s Moon Landing.” JohnShepler.com. http://www.johnshepler.com/articles/kennedy.html (accessed on July 19, 2004).

Other Sources “The Speeches of John F. Kennedy.” In The Speeches Collection Volume 1. New York: MPI Home Video, 2002 (DVD).

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6 Tom Wolfe Excerpts from The Right Stuff Published in 1979; reprinted in 1980

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n July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890– 1969; served 1953–61) signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, officially creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). By October 1 NASA had set up its offices and begun plans to achieve its goal of sending astronauts into outer space; this endeavor was called Project Mercury. After an exhaustive search, seven men became America’s first astronauts, known to the world as the Mercury 7. Beginning in January 1961 and ending in May 1963, Project Mercury resulted in six successful space missions that allowed NASA to begin work on sending a man to the Moon. On October 4, 1957, the former Soviet Union became the first nation to send a craft into space when it launched the satellite Sputnik 1 (see First Satellite entry). The United States responded in the summer of 1958 by replacing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) with NASA, an agency committed to achieving the goal of manned spaceflight. On December 17, 1958, exactly fifty-five years after Orville (1871–1948) and Wilbur (1867–1912) Wright became the first men to build and fly an airplane, Project Mercury was

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Project Mercury astronauts, whose selection was announced April 9, 1959: (front row, left to right) Walter Schirra Jr., Donald Slayton, John Glenn, and M. Scott Carpenter; (back row) Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and L. Gordon Cooper. (NASA)

announced to the public. An immediate search for astronauts began. NASA established strict guidelines for astronaut candidates. Applicants had to be under the age of forty, in excellent physical shape, and less than 5 feet 11 inches tall (1.5 meters 27.9 centimeters). They were also required to have logged over 1,500 flight hours as a test pilot. More than five hundred people applied. Through vigorous testing, NASA reduced the pool of applicants to thirty-two. After subjecting the men to a battery of difficult and exhausting tests, on April 9, 1959, NASA announced its selection of the Mercury 7: M. Scott Carpenter (1925–), L. Gordon Cooper Jr. (1927–), John Glenn Jr. (1921–), Tom Wolfe

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Virgil I.“Gus” Grissom (1926–1967); Walter Schirra Jr. (1923–), Alan Shepard Jr. (1923–1998), and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton (1924–1993). The men became instant heroes. For the engineers working on Project Mercury, their challenge was designing and building a craft that could protect a human being from the extreme hot and cold temperatures that would be experienced during space travel. They needed a craft that could both handle the pressures of vacuum (emptiness of space) and radiation and protect the astronaut from the temperature change upon reentry. It was an awesome task. The engineers responded by building a cone-shaped craft 6.8 feet (2.07 meters) long and 6.2 feet (1.89 meters) in diameter that had a 19.2-foot (5.85 meter) escape tower attached on top; the escape tower was equipped with a solid-propellant engine that would be engaged in case of an emergency. The entire craft was approximately 26 feet (7.92 meters) tall and weighed about 17,500 pounds (7,945 kilograms). Depending on the mission, the craft was launched using different rocket technology. For the suborbital flights (flights that did not involve the craft orbiting the entire globe), the capsule was launched using Redstone rockets. In the orbital flights, AtlasD launch vehicles were used. There were eighteen thrusters (engines that develop thrust, or driving force, by releasing a jet of fluid or stream of particles) on the craft, all of which were operated by the astronaut to control the ship’s attitude (the way the ship points). To exit the orbit, three retro-rockets (back up rocket engines used in slowing down) fired to send the craft back to Earth. Astronaut safety was the engineers’ primary concern. Their design ensured that, in the event of a mishap, the solidpropellant engine would fire the capsule away from the rocket and out of harm’s way. A parachute would then engage and the capsule would fall safely into the ocean. The craft contained extremely tight quarters, with only enough room for the pilot, who sat in a specially designed couch that faced a control panel with 55 switches, 120 controls, 30 fuses, and 35 mechanical levers. The capsule that contained the astronaut had a blunt (not pointed) end, allowing it to enter the atmosphere at the proper angle. It was covered with a special shield that would protect it from the over 3,000°F (1,648.9°C) heat that would be generated upon reentry. Once the capsule was back in Earth’s atmosphere, the shield would 62


detach and a balloon would inflate to help soften the landing. Parachutes would open at the proper altitude to assist in slowing the craft down. Before a human being was put in the capsule, seven suborbital and four orbital flights were conducted. In January 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham (1956–1983) was placed into a suborbital flight that reached nearly 157 miles (253 kilometers) in altitude. There were unexpected events during the flight; a leaky valve greatly reduced the cabin pressure, and when Ham splashed down in the ocean—130 miles (209 kilometers) off target—the capsule began to take on water. Ham was rescued and the mission was considered a success. NASA decided a human being could survive space flight. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard Jr. became the first American in space. He piloted the Friendship 7 to an altitude of 116 miles (186.6 kilometers) and a speed of 5,146 miles (8,280 kilometers) per hour as an American public glued to their television sets watched his launch and successful landing. The flight lasted only 15 minutes and 22 seconds but proved that a human being could survive in space with relative comfort. A similar flight piloted by Gus Grissom was launched in July 1961. Grissom’s Liberty Bell 7 flight mirrored Shepard’s until splashdown, when the emergency escape hatch blew off unexpectedly. Grissom was rescued by a helicopter, though not before his spacesuit was completely waterlogged. The capsule took on water and sunk to the bottom of the sea, where it remained until it was located and retrieved in 1999. Project Mercury’s greatest moment came on February 20, 1962, when John Glenn (see entry) piloted Friendship 7 into a successful orbit of Earth. Three times Glenn circumnavigated (went around) the globe, becoming the first astronaut to do so. Although there was fear that the capsule’s heat shield was faulty, Glenn returned safely to Earth, where he was praised as a national hero. The American people saw the importance of spaceflight and rallied around NASA’s efforts to continue their important work. Two more flights followed. In May Scott Carpenter flew the Aurora 7 without incident. In October Walter Schirra piloted Sigma 7 to a record six orbits in a mission lasting 9 hours and 13 minutes. Project Mercury was an unqualified success. Tom Wolfe

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The final flight took place in May 1963. It was the longest flight ever attempted by NASA. Lasting 34 hours and 19 minutes, pilot Gordon Cooper flew the Faith 7 around Earth twentytwo and one-half times. NASA was so pleased with the results from the Faith 7 mission that the final flight was canceled. Encouraged by the success of Project Mercury, President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63) announced the government’s plan to send a man to the Moon. Had it not been for Project Mercury, the Apollo and Gemini programs would never have been possible.

Things to remember while reading excerpts from The Right Stuff: • Author Tom Wolfe (1931–) has always been fascinated by astronauts. Tom Wolfe, author of The Right Stuff. (AP/Wide World Photos) It takes a great deal of skill, intelligence, courage, and fearlessness to go into space. For the men known as the Mercury 7, it took a great deal of trust on their part that humans were capable of building a craft they could pilot safely. Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff discusses the lives and accomplishments of the men who pioneered space travel. • In the beginning stages of Project Mercury, the astronauts had no manual control over flying the space capsule. All the candidates were trained test pilots, with thousands of miles of flight experience. Many of the men who were being approached by NASA, however, did not want to be part of the mission because their piloting skills were not required. • Although the following excerpts focus on the astronauts, it took the combined efforts of thousands of scientists, medical doctors, and military personnel to make Project Mercury successful. 64


Excerpts from The Right Stuff

Fraternity: A group of people, usually men, associated or formally organized for a common purpose, interest, or pleasure. Ineffable: Indescribable. Hurtling: Rapidly moving. Moxie: Courage, determination. Tom Wolfe

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Infinite: Never-ending. Babylonian: Referring to the ancient city of Babylon, now in ruins, on the Euphrates River, about 55 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq. Diligent: Hard-working, industrious. Motif: Repeated theme or idea. Consternation: Amazement or dismay that hinders or throws into confusion. Imperative: Command, order. 66


Redstone rocket containing the Mercury capsule. (NASA)

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Scott Crossfield: Test pilot A. Scott Crossfield (1921–). Pancho’s: A hangout for the test pilots, owned by female stunt pilot and civilian test pilot Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes (1901–1975). 68


Ham, a chimpanzee, was placed on a suborbital flight to test the safety of the capsule that would eventually contain a Mercury astronaut. (AP/Wide World Photos) Brethren: Group of unconventional test pilots, including Scott Crossfield. Bedlam: Extreme confusion or noisy uproar. Lunatic: Insane person. Dingaling: Scatterbrained or stupid person. Touting: Publicizing or promoting. Tom Wolfe

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Larry Lightbulb scheme: Offensive term used to refer to experiments thought up by scientists without regard to the effect on human test subjects. Funk: Atmosphere. Wire up the kazoo: A medical sensor inserted rectally. Spam in a can: Slang phrase meaning useless. (Spam was an unpopular canned meat product.)

What happened next . . . NASA began work in earnest to send a man to the Moon. In 1964 the agency initiated Project Gemini, which provided astronauts with experience in returning to Earth from space as well as practice in successfully linking space vehicles and “walking” in space. Gemini also involved the launching of a series of unmanned satellites, which would gain information about the Moon and its surface to determine whether humans could survive there. Gemini was the transition between Mercury’s short flights and Project Apollo, a program to train astronauts for landing and survival on the surface of the Moon. The program’s first mission, Apollo 1, ended tragically Tom Wolfe

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on January 27, 1967, when three astronauts died in a launch pad fire in their module. The Apollo 1 commander was Gus Grissom, one of the Mercury 7, and his crew members were Edward White (1930–1967) and Roger Chaffee (1935–1967). The cause of the fire was determined to be an electrical short circuit near Grissom’s seat. As a result of the accident the program was temporarily delayed while safety precautions were reviewed. The next five Apollo missions were unmanned flights that tested the safety of the equipment. The first manned flight, Apollo 7, was launched in October 1968. Ten months later, on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 successfully took astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930–), Buzz Aldrin (1930–), and Michael Collins (1930–) to the Moon. During the mission Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon, followed fifteen minutes later by Aldrin (see Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins entry). The last Apollo mission was Apollo 17, which visited the Moon in December 1972. After Apollo 17 the United States did not undertake any other moon flights. Interest in further moon exploration steadily decreased in the early 1970s, so NASA concentrated its efforts on the Large Space Telescope (LST) project. Initiated in 1969, the LST was an observatory (a structure housing a telescope, a device that observes celestial objects) that would continuously orbit Earth. An immediate result of the LST project was a plan for a space shuttle, a reusable vehicle that would launch the LST into orbit. The U.S. space shuttle program officially began in 1972 (see Space Shuttle entry).

Did you know . . . • Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff was made into a successful movie with the same title in 1983. • John Glenn returned to space thirty-six years later, aboard the space shuttle Discovery. • Gordon Cooper was the first astronaut to release a satellite into space. He released a six-inch sphere with a beacon attached to test his visual ability to track objects in space. • Donald K. “Deke” Slayton was the only member of the Mercury 7 who did not get to fly under Project Mercury. Scheduled to be on the last flight, his turn was canceled due to the success of Cooper’s mission. 72


• Women also wanted to be astronauts. A group of thirteen women went through various phases of astronaut training before being denied the right to train for Project Mercury. The women, who called themselves the “Mercury 13,” (see Martha Ackmann entry) fought for their right to go to space by appealing to both President Lyndon Johnson (1908–1973; served 1963–69) and the U.S. Congress. Their pleas fell on deaf ears, and none of them were allowed to fly.

Consider the following . . . • The Mercury 7 astronauts were space pioneers. Do you think that you would have been brave enough to go into space in 1962? How about now? Do you think it is safer to go to space now than it was in 1962? Why or why not? • NASA now has an ultimate goal of sending a manned mission to Mars. Do you think this is an important mission, or have we learned all we need to know from space exploration? Why or why not?

For More Information Books Carpenter, Scott, and Kris Stoever. For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut. New York: Penguin, 2004. Glenn, John H. Letters to John Glenn: With Comments by J. H. Glenn, Jr. New York: World Book Encyclopedia Science Service, 1964. Kranz, Gene. Failure Is Not an Option: Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Spangenburg, Ray, Diane Moser, and Kit Moser. Project Mercury. New York: Scholastic, 2000. Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979; Reprinted, New York: Bantam, 1980.

Web Sites “Mercury.” Kennedy Space Center, NASA. www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/ history/mercury/mercury.htm (accessed on August 4, 2004). “Space History: Project Mercury.” The Ultimate Space Place. www.thespaceplace.com/history/mercury2.html (accessed on August 4, 2004).

Other Sources The Right Stuff. Warner Home Video, 1983 (DVD). Tom Wolfe

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7 Martha Ackmann Excerpts from The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight Published in 2003

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n 1959 seven astronauts were introduced to the United States as the future of space travel. Known as the Mercury 7, the men became instant heroes, and they went on to make significant contributions to the U.S. space program. At the time Americans did not know that thirteen women had also qualified for spaceflights, undergoing the same rigorous testing and preparations as their male counterparts. Although none of these women—now called the Mercury 13—ever had the opportunity to travel into space, their pioneering spirit paved the way for future women astronauts. Had the Mercury 13 not proved to those in power that women could succeed in the field of aeronautics, Sally Ride (1951–), the first American woman to travel in space, may never have left the ground. In 1958 the United States established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which integrated U.S. space research agencies and started an astronaut training program. The formation of NASA was a direct response to Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite (a man-made device that orbits Earth) that the former Soviet Union had launched the previ-

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ous year (see First Satellite entry). This event sent shock waves through American society, because at the time the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a political standoff known as the Cold War (1945–91). Not only were the two superpowers involved in an arms race for military superiority but they were also competing for dominance in space. Sputnik 1 was a sign that the Soviet Union was winning the space race. Determined to move ahead of the Soviets, NASA developed a manned space flight program with the goal of sending the first person into Earth orbit. According to the plan, the program would progress in three stages: Project Mercury, Project Gemini, and Project Apollo. Project Mercury developed the basic technology for manned space flight and investigated a human’s ability to survive and perform in space. Project Gemini provided astronauts with experience in returning to Earth from space as well as in successfully linking space vehicles and “walking” in space. Integrating the information and experience gained from Mercury and Gemini, Project Apollo would land a person safely on the Moon. NASA aggressively promoted Project Mercury, seeking a pool of applicants from whom a few would be selected to train as the first U.S. astronauts. NASA administrator T. Keith Glennan (1905–1995) convinced President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; served 1953–61) that military jet test pilots would be the most qualified astronauts, so experience as a military pilot became the primary requirement. In April 1959, after applicants had been screened and tested, Glennan presented seven astronaut candidates—all males and all military test pilots—to the American public. Called the “Mercury 7,” they were M. Scott Carpenter (1925–), L. Gordon Cooper Jr. (1927–), John Glenn (1921–), Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom (1926–1967), Walter Schirra Jr. (1923–), Alan Shepard Jr. (1923–1998), and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton (1924–1993). At the time it was difficult for women to break out of the traditional roles assigned to them. Therefore, when the United States entered into the space race, women were largely overlooked as potential astronauts. Yet two American men, Dr. Robert Lovelace (1929–) and Air Force Brigadier General Donald Flickinger (1907–1997), thought the future of space travel might lie in the hands of women. Lovelace had deMartha Ackmann

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signed the intense medical tests required for astronaut candidates, and Flickinger was a central figure in the development of the American space program. Both wondered whether women, if given the opportunity, could handle the rigorous demands of space travel. But Lovelace and Flickinger were in the distinct minority. Knowing that NASA would never allow women to even be tested as potential astronauts, the doctor and the general decided to conduct the tests in secret. In The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight author Martha Ackmann tells the story of their testing program, which played an important role in the history of American space exploration. Lovelace and Flickinger chose one woman to undergo the same seventy-five tests that had been given to the male astronauts. The tests evaluated heart rate, lung capacity, loneliness level, pain level, noise tolerance, sensory deprivation, and spinning, tilting, and dropping into water tanks to measure resistance to vertigo (dizziness). In February 1960, Jerrie Cobb (1931–), the first female pilot of an Aero Commander plane, reported to the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to face the challenge. Regarded as an excellent pilot, Cobb had logged over ten thousand flight hours—twice as many as Mercury 7 astronaut John Glenn, who became the first American to orbit Earth. Cobb’s reputation was deserved: She did very well in the first series of tests, known as phase one, so well in fact that she was immediately sent to the Naval School of Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, to begin phase-two testing. NASA reluctantly agreed to allow Cobb to enter this stage of astronaut training. Excited about Cobb’s test results and progress, Lovelace contacted his friend Jackie Cochran (c. 1906–1980), a famous female pilot, who agreed to provide the funding necessary for additional women to take the tests. Initially, all applicants were required to be under the age of thirty-five, be in good physical condition, have a college degree, to hold pilot’s licenses (of commercial rating or better), and have over two thousand hours of flight time. Twenty-five women were selected, and twelve had passed the tests by the summer of 1961. They swore themselves to secrecy, since the American public was lukewarm, at best, regarding female astronauts. The women were: Rhea Allison Woltman (1928–), Jane “Janey” 76


Seven crew members of Mercury 13 (from left): Gene Nora Jessen, Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk, Jerrie Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Ratley, Myrtle “K” Cagle, and Bernice “B” Steadman. (NASA)

Briggs Hart (1920–), Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk (1938–), Jean Hixson (1921–1962), Myrtle “K” Cagle (1922–), Irene Leverton (1924–), Sarah Lee Gorelick Ratley (1931–), twin sisters Jan (1924–) and Marion Dietrich (1924–1974), Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen (1934–), Bernice “B” Steadman (1923–), and Jerry Sloan Truhill (1928–). All the women completed phase-one testing. Cobb, Funk, and Woltman passed phase two, and Cobb and Funk completed phase three, which means that they achieved equal status with their male counterparts, the Mercury 7. Without warning or official explanation, NASA suspended the testing program in July 1961, even though the Mercury 13 had achieved excellent results on the tests and had at times performed even better than their male counterparts. Lovelace Martha Ackmann

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had presented evidence that women were less likely to suffer heart attacks and suffered fewer effects from cold, heat, loneliness, noise, and pain. Furthermore, because most women weigh less than men, it was much less expensive to send them into space, because less rocket power was required to put the ship into orbit.

Things to remember while reading excerpts from The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight: • The Mercury 13 were unable to get any answers from NASA about the abrupt decision to cancel the testing program. Frustrated by the stonewalling, Janey Hart and Jerrie Cobb made an appointment to meet with Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) and ask him to intervene on their behalf. Johnson had been a major force in establishing the space agency, so his word would carry considerable weight. This was the first time Hart and Cobb had ever met. They had originally proposed that all the members of the Mercury 13 convene to discuss strategy and objectives, but that plan did not work out. Consequently, when Hart and Cobb prepared to talk with Johnson, they did so without any input from the other members. • The United States had received reliable intelligence that the Soviet Union was considering sending a female astronaut into space. The members of the Mercury 13 were hopeful that this fact could be used to their advantage and that the vice president would understand the importance of beating the Soviets to the punch. • In the early 1960s, women were still regarded as incapable of handling the same tasks and pressures as men. The unwillingness of NASA to consider scientific evidence reflects this attitude. Instead of refuting the womens’ points with scientific research, the opponents of the program relied upon unsound information and false myths. 78


Excerpts from The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight

John Philip Sousa march: Spirited piece of music written by American composer John Philip Sousa (1854–1932), famous for his marches. Dais: Raised platform. Martha Ackmann

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Payloads: Loads carried by an aircraft or spacecraft consisting of things (such as passengers or instruments) necessary to the purpose of the flight. Resilient: Able to recover or adjust quickly. Imminent: About to take place. Centrifuge: Machine used to simulate gravitational effects. 80


Jerrie Cobb was the first female to pass all three phases of the Mercury Astronaut Program but was not allowed to become an astronaut due to NASA regulations. (NASA)

Lobby: Petition; try to gain support. Martha Ackmann

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Auspices: Support or protection. Refuted: Proved wrong. Prohibitive: Too expensive; excessive. Monopoly: Exclusive control. 82


Women in the twenty-first century have a more active presence in the U.S. space program. This female astronaut installs thermal blankets on the International Space Station. (Johnson Space Center, NASA)

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Frescoes: Paintings done on a plaster wall. 84


Allegorical: Pertaining to an abstract idea represented symbolically in a work of art by a human figure. Martha Ackmann

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What happened next . . . Supporters of the Mercury 13 protested NASA’s decision and pressured the U.S. Congress to hold hearings on discrimination against women in the space program. In July 1962, a Congressional subcommittee met to discuss the reinstatement of the training program. The representatives of NASA claimed that the women were ineligible to become astronauts because they had not gone through the military jet-pilot training program at Edwards Air Force base in California. None of the women had completed this program because women were not eligible for jet-pilot training, a ban that remained in effect until 1973. The truth was that male military officers, both in the armed forces and at NASA, did not want women to fly in space: Such a development would reflect negatively on the traditional image of airmen as strong, brave risk-takers. With no one willing to help the women, Mercury 13 disbanded with86


An all-female crew of scientific experimenters at NASA. Their working conditions simulate, as nearly as possible, conditions that exist in space. (NASA)

out a single member being given the chance to serve as an astronaut. They returned to active private lives, remaining in the aviation field as commercial pilots, flight instructors, owners of aviation-related businesses, air-race competitors, and flying hobbyists.

Did you know . . . • In 1963, a year after the Mercury 13 disbanded, the Soviet Union sent female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937–) into space. The United States did not send a woman into space until twenty years later, when Sally Ride became the first female American to travel in space. Martha Ackmann

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• In 1995 ten of the Mercury 13 members, some meeting for the first time, gathered at Cape Canaveral, Florida. They were there to witness the launch of Eileen Collins (1956–), the first American woman pilot astronaut to travel in space. Before entering the space shuttle Discovery, Collins paid tribute to the Mercury 13 pioneers, saying, “They gave us [women astronauts] a history.” • Although most of the Mercury 13 were disappointed about NASA’s decision to cancel the testing program, they did not make any further efforts to pursue a career in spaceflight. Cobb and Funk were the exceptions: Hoping to fly in space one day, both stayed physically fit and were still flying airplanes as they approached the age of seventy. In 1998, when John Glenn took his second flight at age seventy-six, Cobb and her supporters started a movement to pressure NASA to give her a mission in space. Once again, NASA ignored her. In 2001 Funk signed a contract with a civilian space launch company, Interorbital Systems, to take a suborbital flight. Her trip had been delayed several times by 2004, but she remained optimistic about finally traveling in space.

Consider the following . . . • If Vice President Johnson had intervened on the behalf of the Mercury 13, do you think any of them would have been allowed to travel to space? Why or why not? • Glenn returned to space at the age of seventy-six. Do you think NASA should extend an invitation to Cobb, who is still an active pilot at the age of eighty-five?

For More Information Books Ackmann, Martha. The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight. New York: Random House, 2003. Cobb, Jerrie. Jerrie Cobb, Solo Pilot. Sun City, FL: Jerrie Cobb Foundation, 1997. 88


Nolen, Stephanie. Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003.

Periodicals “‘Mercury 13’ Project Helped Pave Way for Female Astronauts.” Government CustomWire (April 8, 2004). “Star Struck.” Weekly Reader—Senior (April 2, 2004): pp. 2–3. “Stars in Their Eyes.” People (July 7, 2003): pp. 111–14.

Web Sites Burbank, Sam. “Mercury 13’s Wally Funk Fights for Her Place in Space.” NationalGeographic.com. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/ 2003/07/0709_030709_tvspacewoman.html (accessed on July 19, 2004). DeFrange, Ann. “State-Born Aviatrix Yearns for Space. 2nd Astronaut Bid Supported.” The Sunday Oklahoman (May 17, 1998): pp. 1–2; http:// freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~swokla/family/jerricobb.html (accessed on July 19, 2004). Funk, Wally. The Mercury 13 Story. www.ninety-nines.org/mercury.html (accessed on July 19, 2004). “Mercury 13—The Women of the Mercury Era.” http://www.mercury13. com/ (accessed on July 19, 2004).

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8 John Glenn, with Nick Taylor Excerpts from John Glenn: A Memoir Published in 1999

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ohn Herschel Glenn Jr. (1921–) has accomplished more in one lifetime than many people could achieve in three. First a combat pilot in World War II (1939–45) and the Korean War (1950–53), Glenn was named one of the Mercury 7, the original group of men chosen to be American astronauts, in 1959. On February 20, 1962, Glenn became a national hero when he successfully orbited Earth three times in the space capsule Friendship 7 before returning safely. Thirty-six years later— after successful careers as a businessman and a U.S. senator— Glenn returned to space aboard the shuttle Discovery, at the age of seventy-seven, becoming the oldest astronaut to fly a mission. After completing training as a fighter-bomber pilot, Glenn married his high school sweetheart, Annie, and flew missions in World War II and the Korean War. Glenn then became a test pilot, and after two years of training and experience, was commissioned to oversee the development of new fighter planes. Under Project Bullet, Glenn flew the F8U Crusader across the United States, making the first transcontinental supersonic flight in three hours and twenty-three minutes. 90

In 1958 the government announced its plans to begin a space program with the aim of orbiting a human being around Earth. Glenn, captivated by the idea of being able to fly out of Earth’s atmosphere, began a rigorous training program to become one of the first men selected. In April 1959, Glenn became a member of the Mercury 7, the elite group of men chosen to be America’s first astronauts. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) flew two suborbital (within Earth orbit) missions, for which Glenn was a backup pilot, before announcing plans to launch Mercury-Atlas 6, the first manned spacecraft to fly an orbital mission. Glenn was chosen as the pilot. Glenn accomplished his mission on February 20, 1962, when he successfully orbited Earth. Unknown to the American public as they anxiously awaited Glenn’s safe return, a flight sensor had indicated a problem with John Glenn. (AP/Wide World Photos) the space capsule’s protective heat shield. There was no way for Glenn to fix the problem in flight, and if the heat shield slipped, the capsule would disintegrate upon attempting to reenter Earth’s atmosphere. NASA mission control informed Glenn of the problem, advising him to change the reentry plan. Glenn took command of the capsule himself and piloted safely back to Earth, where he was celebrated as a national hero. Glenn retired from the military in 1965 after being promoted to a full colonel. He then became a successful businessman until 1977, when he was elected a U.S. senator from Ohio. Glenn served in the Senate until 1997, when he retired to pursue other interests, such as returning to space. Glenn approached NASA and proposed that he conduct a test on the effects of weightlessness on older people. After convincing NASA of his own physical and mental fitness, Glenn joined the crew of the space shuttle Discovery. On October 29, 1998, John Glenn, with Nick Taylor

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First American in Space On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard (1923–1998) became the first American in space. He piloted the Mercury space capsule 115 miles (185 kilometers) above Earth’s surface and 302 miles (486 kilometers) across the Atlantic Ocean. Although the trip lasted for only about fifteen minutes, his journey was almost technically perfect, paving the way for many more flights by U.S. astronauts. In 1963 Shepard was diagnosed as having Méière’s syndrome, a disease of the inner ear. NASA removed him from active flight duty and reassigned him to the NASA center in Houston, Texas, where he became chief of the astronaut office. In 1968 Shepard underwent a successful operation in which a small drain tube was implanted in his inner ear. He then applied for readmission to active duty, and the following year NASA chose him to command the Apollo 14 flight to the Moon. On January 31, 1971, Apollo 14 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, nearly ten years after Shepard’s first space flight. Five days later Shepard and

fellow astronaut Edgar Mitchell (1930–) landed on the Moon’s surface. From their lunar module, the two astronauts stepped out into the Fra Mauro Highlands, as the world watched on television. (The Fra Mauro Highlands is a widespread hilly geological area covering large portions of the lunar surface, with an eighty-kilometer-diameter crater, the Fra Mauro crater, located within it. The Fra Mauro crater and surrounding formation take their names from a 15th century Italian monk and mapmaker.) The astronauts had brought a lunar cart with them, and during two trips outside the lunar module they conducted experiments and gathered rock specimens. On one excursion Shepard hit a golf ball across the Moon’s surface. In addition, the astronauts left behind a small scientific station that would continue to send messages to scientists on Earth. The story of the flight was immortalized in a book by author Tom Wolfe (see entry) and in a movie, both titled The Right Stuff.

Glenn became the oldest person, at the age of seventy-seven, to fly in space. The nine-day flight was a complete success, and the shuttle returned safely to Earth’s surface. Glenn retired fully from public life in 1999.

Things to remember while reading excerpts from John Glenn: A Memoir: • The excerpts are from Glenn’s autobiography, which he wrote after retiring in 1999. The first excerpt discusses 92


Glenn’s recollections of flying Friendship 7 in 1962. The second excerpt concerns his time aboard Discovery in 1998. • During his first flight, Glenn had only a small window on one side of the capsule, which severely limited his vision. For his second flight, Glenn was afforded a much grander view because of the large number of windows on the Discovery. There was also a great difference in size between the two crafts. Friendship 7 was large enough to hold only Glenn; Discovery was large enough to hold a team of scientists. • In the first excerpt Glenn writes, “That was Al Shepard on the capsule communicator’s microphone at mission control. . . .” He is referring to Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly in space (see box on page 92). • Glenn mentions Annie, his wife, and Dave and Lyn, his children, in the second passage.

Excerpts from John Glenn: A Memoir Liftoff was slow. The Atlas’s 367,000 pounds of thrust were barely enough to overcome its 125-ton weight. I wasn’t really off until the forty-two-inch umbilical cord that took electrical connections to the base of the rocket pulled loose. That was my last connection with Earth. It took the two boosters and the sustainer engine three seconds of fire and thunder to lift the thing that far. From where I sat the rise seemed ponderous and stately, as if the rocket were an elephant trying to become a ballerina. Then the mission elapsed-time clock on the cockpit panel ticked into life and I could report, “The clock is operating. We’re under way.” I could hardly believe it. Finally! The rocket rolled and headed slightly north of east. At thirteen seconds I felt a little shudder. “A little bumpy along about here,” I reported. The G forces started to build up. The engines burned fuel at an enormous rate, one ton a second, more in the first minute than a jet airliner flying coast to coast, as the fuel was consumed the rocket grew lighter and rose faster. At forty-eight seconds I began to feel the John Glenn, with Nick Taylor

Umbilical cord: A tethering or supply line (as for an astronaut outside a spacecraft or a diver underwater). Sustainer: System that keeps up or prolongs. Ponderous: Unwieldy or clumsy. G forces: Units of force on a body that is equal to thirtytwo feet per second. 93

John Glenn in a silver Mercury space suit during pre-training activities. (NASA)

Aerodynamic: Motion of air and gaseous fluids. 94

vibration associated with high Q, the worst seconds of aerodynamic stress, when the capsule was pushing through air resistance amounting to almost a thousand pounds per square foot. The shaking got worse, then smoothed out at 1:12, and I felt the relief of knowing I Space Exploration: Primary Sources

was through max Q, the part of the launch where the rocket was most likely to blow. At 2:09 the booster engines cut off and fell away. I was forty miles high and forty-five miles from the Cape. The rocket pitched forward for the few seconds it took for the escape tower’s jettison rocket to fire, taking the half-ton tower away from the capsule. The G forces fell to just over one. The Atlas pitched up again and, driven by the sustainer engine and the two smaller vernier engines, which made course corrections, resumed its acceleration toward a top speed of 17,545 miles per hour in the ever thinning air. Another instant of relief. Pilots gear their moments of greatest attention to the times when flight conditions change. When you get through them, you’re glad for a fraction of a second, and then you think about the next thing you have to do. The Gs built again, pushing me back into the couch. The sky looked dark outside the window. Following the flight plan, I repeated the fuel, oxygen, cabin pressure, and battery readings from the dials in front of me in the tiny cabin. The arc of the flight was taking me out over Bermuda. “Cape is go and I am a go. Capsule is in good shape,” I reported. “Roger, twenty seconds to SECO.” That was Al Shepard on the capsule communicator’s microphone at mission control, warning me that the next crucial moment—sustainer engine cutoff—was seconds away. Five minutes into the flight, if all went well, I would achieve orbital speed, hit zero G, and, if the angle of ascent was right, be inserted into orbit at a height of about a hundred miles. The sustainer and vernier engines would cut off, the capsule-to-rocket clamp would release, and the posigrade rockets would fire to separate Friendship 7 from the Atlas. It happened as programmed. The weight and fuel tolerances were so tight that the engines had less than three seconds’ worth of fuel remaining when I hit that keyhole in the sky. Suddenly I was no longer pushed back against the seat but had a momentary sensation of tumbling forward. “Zero G and I feel fine,” I said exultantly. “Capsule is turning around.” Through the window, I could see the curve of the Earth and its thin film of atmosphere. “Oh,” I exclaimed, “that view is tremendous!”. . . John Glenn, with Nick Taylor

Jettison: Voluntary release of cargo during flight to lighten a ship’s load. Vernier: Any of two or more small supplemental rocket engines or gas nozzles on a missile or a rocket vehicle for making the fine adjustments in the speed or course of controlling the position of the craft. Ascent: Rising or mounting upward. Posigrade rockets: Supplementary rockets that are fired in the direction of the spacecraft’s motion to separate the sections. 95

Glenn returns to space The space shuttle is the most complex machine ever made. It has two million parts, and a million of them move. Its wiring laid end to end would stretch 230 miles, and it has six hundred circuit breakers. The orbiter itself has three eighty-thousand-horsepower engines that each develop 393,800 pounds of thrust. They are fed by the huge rust-orange tank to which the orbiter and the boosters cling during launch, and the two-solid-fuel rocket boosters each develop 3.3 million pounds of thrust. The weight at liftoff is about 4.5 million pounds, and total thrust at liftoff is over 7 million pounds. It was up there ready to go, and the liquid oxygen that oxidizes the liquid hydrogen fuel venting out the top in wisps of vapor adds to the sense of drama. It’s a huge machine containing an almost unfathomable amount of power. That’s the point when it hits you. It’s for real—you’re going up. The elevator took us up. It was a beautiful day, and I paused to glance around at the Cape and the space complex that had changed so much since the time of Project Mercury. As I looked south to the Canaveral light house, the Atlas and Titan launch gantries that are the remaining occupants of Heavy Row were reminders of the early days. Pad 14, where Friendship 7 and the rest of the Project Mercury Atlas flights had launched, was still there, but its gantry had been dismantled long ago. The blockhouse is a museum. It was hard to imagine that virtually the entire history of space travel had occurred between my first ride and my second. Somebody had pointed out that more time had passed between Friendship 7 and this Discovery mission that had passed between Lindbergh’s solo transatlantic flight and Friendship 7. It didn’t seem that long to me, but that is the way lives pass when you look back on them: in a blink of an eye.

Thrust: Driving force. Oxidizes: Mixes with oxygen. Unfathomable: Impossible to comprehend. Gantries: Frame structures raised on side supports so as to span over or around something. Apprehensive: Anxious. Resonance: Vibration of large amplitude in a mechanical or electrical system. 96

I don’t think anyone was scared. Apprehensive? Yes. I felt the same constructive apprehension I’d felt as a forty-year-old, keyed up and ready to go. Everybody knows something could go wrong, but you just put that behind you and go do what you’ve been trained to do. . . . About six seconds from zero, the booster’s main engines lit. I felt the shuddering and the resonance as they built toward full thrust. The shuttle bent as if it was starting to bow, then straightened. The push of the orbiter’s engines is straight up, but the center of gravity of the whole launch assembly, including the solid rocket booster engines and the external tank, is a point a few feet into the Space Exploration: Primary Sources

John Glenn preparing for his second mission in space on the space shuttle Discovery. (Johnson Space Center, NASA)

tank, so the assembly, held down by eight massive bolts, flexes in that direction. As it came back to vertical, the solid walls lit. We were going someplace. The shaking and the shuddering and the roar told us that. In rapid sequence the solids built up power, the explosive hold-down bolts were fired, and over seven million pounds of thrust pushed us up at 1.6 Gs. I hit the timer on my knees and the one on my wristwatch. The wristwatch gave the mission elapsed time starting from our launch, and would also count the days. The timeline for all our activities, including research experiments, required us to know the day as well as the hour and minute from launch. The vehicle was moving at a hundred miles an hour by the time it cleared the launch tower. It was accelerating far more rapidly than the Atlas, and its shaking and vibration were much more pronounced. John Glenn, with Nick Taylor

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Max Q, and the worst shaking and shuddering, came about sixty seconds after launch. The main engines throttled back automatically to keep the vehicle within its structural limits. Then came the voice from the ground, “Go at throttle up,” which meant we were through the area of maximum aerodynamic pressure and the main engines had returned to full throttle. The solid-fuel boosters run for two minutes and six seconds. Everyone looks forward to the moment they burn out and detach. They’re the one thing in the launch vehicle you have absolutely no control over. You can’t throttle them back, you can’t shut them off, and you can’t detach them. There are no emergency procedures if anything goes wrong. You just hope everything keeps working right. I had told Annie and Dave and Lyn, who still worried, that when the solids were gone we were home free. They burned out. I felt a sudden loss of thrust, then heard a bang like a rifle shot as the explosive bolts holding them to the external tank fired and detached them. They would cartwheel down until their parachutes deployed to bring them down for retrieval and reuse. With the solids gone, the ride eased out. The orbiter’s main engines run smoothly, and you ride into orbit accelerating as the fuel in the external tank is burned, making the vehicle lighter. You hit three Gs just before you reach orbit. Then another bang, more muffled than the first, signaled that the spent external tank was jetissoned. It would burn up reentering the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. After that, we were operating on the fuel that was stored within the orbiter itself for the final sprint to orbital velocity. . . . The importance of the cameras that waited at the ready on the Velcro patches beside most of the shuttle’s windows came to the fore with Hurricane Mitch. It had made landfall in Honduras on the day before our launch, and hung over Honduras and Nicaragua for several days, dumping twenty-five inches of rain, causing mudslides that swept away entire villages, and killing over seven thousand people. A few days into our flight, mission control called for photographs of the devastated areas. Throttled: Varied the thrust; decreased the flow of fuel to an engine. Velocity: Quickness of motion; speed. 98

One of the laptops on the flight deck was set up to track Discovery on its orbits around the world. By following the track on the screen, you could anticipate when you were approaching an area that needed to be photographed. You couldn’t wait until you recognized Honduras, for instance, because at 17,500 miles an hour—five miles Space Exploration: Primary Sources

per second—the photo angles you wanted would have slid by already. We got the shots we wanted. In some cases, the higher orbit of Discovery meant more spectacular views than I had seen in Friendship 7. Coming over the Florida Keys at one point in the mission, for example, I looked out toward the north and was startled that I could see Lake Erie. In fact, I could look beyond straight into Canada. The entire East Coast was visible— the hook of Cape Cod, Long Island, Cape Hatteras, down to the clear coral sands of the Bahamas and the Caribbean, south to Cuba, and beyond. A night of thunderstorms over South Africa produced a view of a field of lightning flashes that must have stretched over eight hundred or a thousand miles, the flashes looking like bubbles of light breaking by the hundreds on the surface of a boiling pot. All the while, our views of Earth were stolen from the time we gave the eighty-three experiments on board. Each crew member kept on his or her timeline, and as we neared the end of the mission all of the experiments were working and successful. This remained our primary mission, and we were confident that we were making real contributions to science.

What happened next . . . Upon returning to Earth, Glenn underwent a series of tests to determine the effects of weightlessness on the elderly. Over five years after his flight, Glenn maintained that he experienced no adverse effects from space travel. Glenn had no plans to return to space.

Did you know . . . • Although he attended a number of universities, Glenn did not earn his bachelor’s degree until 1962. After he returned from space, he completed a degree in mathematics from Muskingum College. • In 1962, after returning from space, Glenn addressed a joint session of Congress, an honor usually reserved for the president and world leaders. His speech is regarded as John Glenn, with Nick Taylor

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one of the most important ever delivered on behalf of the space program. • Glenn lost his first two bids for the U.S. Senate before winning a seat in 1974. • In the 1984 presidential election, Glenn ran for the Democratic Party nomination. Although he was warmly greeted by crowds and was a popular candidate, he dropped out of the race after it became clear that former Vice President Walter F. Mondale (1928–) was going to win the nomination. • Glenn’s second flight was the inspiration for Space Cowboys (2000), a high-tech space adventure film about aging former astronauts who try to prevent a satellite from slamming into Earth. Space Cowboys was made in cooperation with NASA.

Consider the following . . . • Glenn returned to space at the age of seventy-seven. Do you think there should be an age limit for astronauts? Why or why not? • When NASA announced its national search for astronauts, one of the requirements was that the candidate hold a bachelor’s degree. Glenn had completed over two years of course work, but still needed more credits to earn his diploma. However, Glenn’s experience as a pilot earned him a spot as an astronaut in the Mercury Project. Do you think it is important to have a degree in order to be an astronaut, or should experience be more important? Why or why not?

For More Information Books Glenn, John H. Letters to John Glenn: With Comments by J. H. Glenn, Jr. New York: World Book Encyclopedia Science Service, 1964. Glenn, John, with Nick Taylor. John Glenn: A Memoir. New York: Bantam, 1999. Montgomery, Scott, and Timothy R. Gaffney. Back in Orbit. Atlanta, GA: Longstreet, 1998. 100


Pierce, Philip N., and Karl Schuon. John H. Glenn: Astronaut. New York: Franklin Watts, 1962. Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1979; Reprinted, New York: Bantam, 1980.

Periodicals Newcott, William R. “John Glenn: Man with a Mission.” National Geographic (June 1999): pp. 60–81. “Space Cowboys.” Astronomy (September 2000): p. 107. “Victory Lap.” Time (November 9, 1998): p. 64.

Web Sites “Astronaut Bio: John H. Glenn.” Johnson Space Center, NASA. http://www. grc.nasa.gov/WWW/PAO/html/glennbio.htm (accessed on August 9, 2004). Bowman, Lee. “Aging in Space.” Simply Family. http://www.simplyfamily. com/display.cfm?articleID=000207_John_Glenn.cfm (accessed on August 9, 2004). The John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at Ohio State University. www.glenninstitute.org (accessed on August 9, 2004).

John Glenn, with Nick Taylor

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9 Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. Excerpts from “The Eagle Has Landed,” in Apollo Expeditions to the Moon Published in 1975; available at NASA (Web site)

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n July 16, 1969, the spacecraft Apollo 11 took off from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral) in Florida, sending three American astronauts into space. Three days later, two of the astronauts, Neil Armstrong (1930–) and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. (1930–), became the first men to walk on the surface of the moon. Project Apollo—which had been born out of the Mercury Project that successfully sent manned capsules into orbit—proved to be one of the most successful endeavors in the history of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1958, shortly after the Soviet Union sent the satellite Sputnik 1 into orbit, President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; served 1953–61) signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which established NASA. The ultimate goal of the new agency was to send a manned spacecraft to the Moon; however, NASA first had to prove it could send a human into space and return the person safely. Project Mercury was begun in 1958. Perhaps its greatest success came on February 20, 1962, when astronaut John Glenn Jr. (1921–) successfully orbited Earth three times in the space capsule Friendship 7. In

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1964, bolstered by positive results from Project Mercury, NASA began Project Gemini and Project Apollo. Project Gemini provided astronauts with experience in returning to Earth from space as well as practice in successfully linking space vehicles and “walking” in space. Working in tandem with Gemini, Project Apollo (named for the Greek god of the Sun) focused on the design, development, and testing of spacecraft and related technology that would place a human on the Moon. Project Apollo was a massive undertaking. Under the auspices of NASA, German-born rocket scientist Werhner von Braun (1912–1977) and his colleagues developed the threestage Saturn V rocket to launch the spacecraft. (Von Braun and his team had developed the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany during World War II and had immigrated to the United States in 1945, at the end of the war.) The Saturn operated in stages, a concept that was originated by Russian engineer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935; pronounced KAHN-stan-tyeen tsee-ohl-KAHV-skee) and tested by American physicist Robert H. Goddard (see entry). Russian rocket engineer Sergei Korolev (1907–1966) is credited with developing the staged rocket, which ignites at specified stages in order to propel an object long distances into space (see First Satellite entry). The rocket’s first two stages propelled the spacecraft out of Earth’s gravity into space and then dropped off. The third stage put the spacecraft into Earth orbit. The rocket then refired to send the spacecraft at a speed of 25,000 miles (40,225 kilometers) per hour toward the Moon, with the third stage dropping off along the way. The Apollo spacecraft itself consisted of the command module, where the astronauts were stationed; the service module, which contained electrical power and fuel; and the lunar module, which, after entering the Moon’s orbit, could separate from the rest of the spacecraft and carry the astronauts to the surface of the Moon. The lunar module, which stood 23 feet (7 meters) high and weighed 15 tons (13.6 metric tons), rested first on spiderlike legs used for landing and then on a launch platform for departure from the Moon’s surface. The lunar module lacked heat shields and operated only in the vacuum of space. After launching itself from the Moon’s surface, the lunar module would go into lunar orbit and dock with the command module, which would then readjust its course to head back to Earth. The service module powered the Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

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spacecraft on the return trip, falling away to reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Men who wanted to be astronauts were put through a difficult eighteen-month training regimen, requiring them to participate in strenuous physical exercises, to attend classes, and to practice in-flight exercises. Although there were a number of qualified candidates, three men were chosen to pilot Apollo/Saturn 204: Virgil “Gus” Grissom (1926–1967), Edward White (1930–1967), and Roger Chaffee (1935–1967) trained for a mission to pilot the rocket around Earth. On January 27, 1967, the Apollo/Saturn 204 rocket caught fire on its launchpad and the crew were trapped inside. The hatch handle would not open, and all three men perished. Project Apollo was off to a terrible start and, as a result of the astronauts’ deaths, the program was temporarily delayed. Safety precautions resulted from a lengthy investigation. The next five Apollo missions were unmanned flights to test the safety of the new equipment. The Apollo program rebounded with the successful flights of Apollo 7 through Apollo 10. It was decided that Apollo 11 would attempt a Moon landing. Three astronauts were chosen: Aldrin, Armstrong, and Michael Collins (1930–). Aldrin was the only one of the three who was not a test pilot, but he had earned a doctorate in orbital mechanics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He had been the pilot of Gemini 12, during which time he set a new record for walking in space, proving that astronauts could work outside an orbiting vehicle to make repairs. Armstrong became the first civilian (nonmilitary) astronaut in NASA. He had an impressive history of testing rocket planes, such as the X-15, for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the forerunner of NASA. Armstrong’s background made him a perfect fit for Project Apollo. He had been the command pilot for Gemini 8, launched on March 16, 1966, before being named to the Apollo 11 crew. Collins was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and had joined NASA as an astronaut in 1963. In 1966 he was the pilot of Gemini 10, becoming the third American to walk in space. The Apollo 11 crew therefore had a great deal of experience between them, and they seemed the perfect choices to perform a seemingly impossible mission. On July 16, 1969, Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins boarded Apollo 11 and blasted off from Cape Kennedy (now Cape 104


Apollo 11 astronauts (from left): Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin. (© Reuters/Corbis)

Canaveral) in Florida. The Apollo 11 spacecraft consisted of three stages, or separate components—the Saturn 5 booster rocket, attached to the Columbia command module and the Eagle lunar landing module. The Saturn 5 booster rocket propelled the craft into space. All three astronauts rode in the Columbia command module on the trip to and from the Moon. The Eagle lunar landing module would land Armstrong and Aldrin on the Moon. On July 19, Saturn 5 propelled the craft into lunar orbit and circled the Moon twice. The next day Aldrin and Armstrong transferred to the Eagle. After about five hours of tests, the Eagle and the Columbia separated successfully and the Eagle entered its own orbit. Within two hours Aldrin and Armstrong Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

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Apollo 11 blasts off from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral) in Florida. (NASA)

began the 300-mile descent toward the Moon. At that point a yellow caution light came on in the Eagle, signaling that the computer system had became overloaded. Under continuous instructions from the mission control center in Houston, Texas, the Eagle made a gradual touchdown. 106


Seven hours after touchdown, at 10:56 P.M. Eastern Standard Time (EST), Armstrong climbed down a nine-step ladder and became the first human to set foot on the Moon. Aldrin joined him fifteen minutes later. Aldrin and Armstrong quickly adjusted to the lighter gravity, finding they could walk easily on the lunar surface. They spent nearly twenty-one hours on the Moon. During their stay Armstrong and Aldrin installed a television camera, conducted scientific experiments, took photographs, and collected rock and soil samples. They left an American flag, a mission patch, and medals commemorating American and Russian space explorers who had died in the line of duty. They also set up a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. We came in peace for all mankind.” The astronauts’ moon walk was televised live on Earth, and President Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994; served 1969–74) made a telephone call to the astronauts from the White House. After returning to the Eagle, they rested for eight hours. Then they launched off the surface of the Moon and, two hours later, docked with the Columbia. After unloading their equipment onto Columbia they abandoned the Eagle. The Columbia set out for Earth on its thirty-first orbit of the Moon. Sixty hours later, at 12:50 P.M. EST on July 24, the spacecraft splashed down in the sea some 950 miles (1,529 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii, only 2.7 miles (4.34 kilometers) from its destination point. The three astronauts were hailed as national heroes.

Things to remember while reading excerpts from “The Eagle Has Landed,” in Apollo Expeditions to the Moon: • In the excerpted passages, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins recall their memories of the historic landing. • The astronauts’ journey was being watched on television by most Americans and by people in nations all around the world. No matter where one was from, the idea that human beings could walk on the Moon and return to talk about it was an incredible achievement. • The lunar module seated only two people. Collins was an expert at navigation, and he remained behind in the Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

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“Tranquility” craft to help communicate with Aldrin and Armstrong and guide the lunar module to a safe landing.

Excerpts from “The Eagle Has Landed,” in Apollo Expeditions to the Moon THE MOST AWESOME SPHERE COLLINS: Day 4 has a decidedly different feel to it. Instead of nine hours’ sleep, I get seven—and fitful ones at that. Despite our concentrated effort to conserve our energy on the way to the Moon, the pressure is overtaking us (or me at least), and I feel that all of us are aware that the honeymoon is over and we are about to lay our little pink bodies on the line. Our first shock comes as we stop our spinning motion and swing ourselves around so as to bring the Moon into view. We have not been able to see the Moon for nearly a day now, and the change is electrifying. The Moon I have known all my life, that two-dimensional small yellow disk in the sky, has gone away somewhere, to be replaced by the most awesome sphere I have ever seen. To begin with it is huge, completely filling our window. Second, it is three-dimensional. The belly of it bulges out toward us in such a pronounced fashion that I almost feel I can reach out and touch it. To add to the dramatic effect, we can see the stars again. We are in the shadow of the Moon now, and the elusive stars have reappeared.

Paltry: Meager or measly.

As we ease around on the left side of the Moon, I marvel again at the precision of our path. We have missed hitting the Moon by a paltry 300 nautical miles, at a distance of nearly a quarter of a million miles from Earth, and don’t forget that the Moon is a moving target and that we are racing through the sky just ahead of its leading edge. When we launched the other day the Moon was nowhere near where it is now; it was some 40 degrees of, or nearly 200,000 miles, behind where it is now, and yet those big computers in the basement in Houston didn’t even whimper but belched out superaccurate predictions.

Nautical mile: Length of distance used for sea and air navigation.

As we pass behind the Moon, we have just over eight minutes to go before the burn. We are super-careful now, checking and rechecking each step several times. When the moment finally arrives,

Two-dimensional: Having two dimensions; lacking depth. Three-dimensional: Giving the illusion of depth or varying distances. Elusive: Hard to pin down. Precision: Exactness.

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Apollo 11 module floating over the Moon. (NASA)

the big engine instantly springs into action and reassuringly plasters us back in our seats. The acceleration is only a fraction of one G but it feels good nonetheless. For six minutes we sit there peering intent as hawks at our instrument panel, scanning the important dials and gauges, making sure that the proper thing is being done to us. When the engine shuts down, we discuss the matter with our computer and I read out the results: “Minus one, plus one, plus one.” The accuracy of the overall system is phenomenal: out of a total of nearly three thousand feet per second, we have velocity errors in our body axis coordinate system of only a tenth of one foot per second in each of the three directions. That is one accurate burn, and even Neil acknowledges the fact. Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

Velocity: Quickness of motion; speed. Axis: Straight line about which a body or geometric figure rotates. Coordinate: Set of numbers used in specifying the location of a point on a line, on a surface, or in space. 109

ALDRIN: The second burn to place us in closer circular orbit of the Moon, the orbit from which Neil and I would separate from the Columbia and continue on to the Moon, was critically important. It had to be made in exactly the right place and for exactly the correct length of time. If we overburned for as little as two seconds we’d be on an impact course for the other side of the Moon. Through a complicated and detailed system of checks and balances, both in Houston and in lunar orbit, plus star checks and detailed platform alignments, two hours after our first lunar orbit we made our second burn, in an atmosphere of nervous and intense concentration. It, too, worked perfectly. . . . A YELLOW CAUTION LIGHT At six thousand feet above the lunar surface a yellow caution light came on and we encountered one of the few potentially serious problems in the entire flight, a problem which might have caused us to abort, had it not been for a man on the ground who really knew his job. . . . ALDRIN: Back in Houston, not to mention on board the Eagle, hearts shot up into throats while we waited to learn what would happen. We received two of the caution lights when Steve Bales [c.1942–] the flight controller responsible for the LM [lunar module] computer activity, told us to proceed, through Charlie Duke [1935–] the capsule communicator. We received three or four more warnings but kept on going. When Mike, Neil, and I were presented with Medals of Freedom by President Nixon, Steve also received one. He certainly deserved it, because without him we might not have landed. Alignments: Positions or arrangements. Abort: Terminate prematurely. Crater: A bowl-shaped depression around a volcano or on the Moon. Degraded: Reduced to standards far below the normal level.

ARMSTRONG: In the final phases of the descent after a number of program alarms, we looked at the landing area and found a very large crater. This is the area we decided we would not go into; we extended the downward range. The exhaust dust was kicked up by the engine and this caused some concern in that it degraded our ability to determine not only our altitude in the final phases but also our translational velocities over the ground. It’s quite important not to stub your toe during the final phases of touchdown. Eagle: 540 feet, down at 30 (feet per second) . . . 4 forward . . . 4 forward . . . drifting to the right a little . . . O.K. . . .

Translational: Transformation of coordinates in which the new axes are parallel to the old ones. 110

Houston: 30 seconds (fuel remaining). Eagle: Contact Light! O.K., engine stop . . . descent engine command override off . . . Houston: We copy you down, Eagle. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Eagle: Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed. Houston: Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You’ve got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot. . . . ARMSTRONG: Once [we] settled on the surface, the dust settled immediately and we had an excellent view of the area surrounding the LM. We saw a crater surface, pockmarked with craters up to 10, 20, 30 feet, and many smaller craters down to a diameter of 1 foot tall and, of course, the surface was very fine-grained. There were a surprising number of rocks of all sizes. A number of experts had, prior to the flight, predicted that a good bit of difficulty might be encountered by people due to the variety of strange atmospheric and gravitational characteristics. This didn’t prove to be the case and after landing we felt very comfortable in the lunar gravity. It was, in fact, in our view preferable to both weightlessness and to the Earth’s gravity. When we actually descended the ladder it was found to be very much like the lunar-gravity simulations we had performed here on Earth. No difficulty was encountered in descending the ladder. The last step was about 3½ feet from the surface, and we were somewhat concerned that we might have difficulty reentering the LM at the end of our activity period. So we practiced that before bringing the camera down. ALDRIN: We opened the hatch and Neil, with me as his navigator, began backing out of the tiny opening. It seemed like a small eternity before I heard Neil say, “That’s one small step for man . . . one giant leap for mankind.” In less than fifteen minutes I was backing awkwardly out of the hatch and onto the surface to join Neil, who, in the tradition of all tourists, had his camera ready to photograph my arrival. I felt buoyant and full of goose pimples when I stepped down on the surface. I immediately looked down at my feet and became intrigued with the peculiar properties of the lunar dust. If one kicks sand on a beach, it scatters in numerous directions with some grains traveling father than others. On the Moon the dust travels exactly and precisely as it goes in various directions, and every grain of it lands nearly the same distance away. . . . COAXING THE FLAG TO STAND [ALDRIN:] During a pause in experiments, Neil suggested that we proceed with the flag. It took both of us to set it up and it was Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

Pockmarked: Marked with depressions or pits. Buoyant: Cheerful. Goose pimples: Tiny bumps that develop around body hair as a reaction to excitement or fear. Intrigued: Interested, curious. 111

Telescoping: Sliding or causing to slide inward or outward in overlapping sections, as the tube sections of a small hand telescope. Perpendicular: At right angles; in this instance, at a right angle to the horizon. Unique: One of a kind. Dismay: Sudden perplexity.

nearly a disaster. Public relations obviously needs practice just as everything else does. A small telescoping arm was attached to the flagpole to keep the flag extended and perpendicular. As hard as we tried, the telescope wouldn’t fully extend. Thus the flag which should have been flat, had its own unique permanent wave. Then to our dismay the staff of the pole wouldn’t go far enough into the lunar surface to support itself in an upright position. After much struggling we finally coaxed it to remain upright, but in a most precarious position. I dreaded the possibility of the American flag collapsing into the lunar dust in front of the television camera.

Precarious: Dangerous, unsafe.

What happened next . . . Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins returned safely to Earth and were heralded around the world as heroes. The Apollo program continued, although it never accomplishing anything to rival the first Moon landing. However, NASA’s finest hour occurred when Apollo 13, launched in 1970, experienced major difficulties in flight. The oxygen supply was greatly reduced, carbon dioxide was seeping into the command module, and one side of the craft was virtually destroyed. The three astronauts aboard the spacecraft—James A. Lovell (1928–), John L. Swigert Jr. (1931–1982), and Fred W. Haise Jr. (1933–)—were guided home by the ingenious work of NASA scientists on the ground. The last Apollo mission was Apollo 17, which visited the Moon in December 1972. After Apollo 17 the United States did not undertake any other moon flights. Interest in further moon exploration steadily waned in the early 1970s, so NASA concentrated its efforts on the Large Space Telescope (LST) project. Initiated in 1969, the LST was an observatory (a structure housing a telescope, a device that observes celestial objects) that would continuously orbit Earth. An immediate result of the LST project was a plan for a space shuttle, a reusable vehicle that would launch the LST into orbit. The U.S. space shuttle program officially began in 1972, and over the next three decades five shuttles were built and operated by NASA. In 2004 President George W. Bush (1946–; served 2001–; see entry) made a 112


Apollo 11 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii after completing its lunar landing mission. Astronauts Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong await pickup by a helicopter from a nearby U.S. recovery ship. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

speech in which he announced a major revitalization of NASA, which included a return to the Moon.

Did you know . . . • As the astronauts flew away from the Moon in the Eagle, Aldrin looked over and saw the American flag fall down. As there is no wind on the Moon, the flag most likely remains on the surface. • Armstrong’s statement, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” is one of the most famous quotes in American history. Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

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• Armstrong left the lunar module first, taking the crew’s only camera with him. Armstrong kept the camera most of the time, so a majority of the pictures taken on the Moon feature Aldrin. Aldrin is quoted as saying he regrets this fact, but he and Armstrong had never rehearsed who would take pictures when.

Consider the following. . . • Armstrong was the first human being ever to set foot on the Moon. While he and Aldrin were on the surface, they played like children, seeing how far they could jump and collecting the most unusual rocks they could find. If you were the first person on the Moon what would you most likely do? • When Apollo 11 broadcast from the Moon, millions of people watched at home on their television sets. Yet, only a year later, when the Apollo 13 mission was broadcast from outer space, no major television network carried the event live. Network executives argued that by this time the American public regarded a flight to the Moon to be “routine.” Do you think that after the first Moon landing NASA should have given traveling to the Moon higher public priority? Why or why not? Should NASA still be making regular trips there? • If you had a chance to go to the Moon, would you go? If you could do one thing on the Moon—such as hit a baseball, throw a Frisbee, or conduct an experiment—what would you do? Explain your ideas.

For More Information Books Armstrong, Neil, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin. The First Lunar Landing: 20th Anniversary. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989. Chaikin, Andrew. A Man on the Moon. New York: Time-Life, 1969. Collins, Michael and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. “The Eagle Has Landed.” In Apollo Expeditions to the Moon. Edited by Edgar M. Cortright. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1975; http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-350/cover.html (accessed on August 9, 2004). 114


Kranz, Gene. Failure Is Not an Option: Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.

Periodicals Folger, Tim, Sarah Richardson, and Carl Zimmer. “Remembering Apollo.” Discover (July 1994), p. 38.

Web Sites “Apollo 11: 30th Anniversary.” NASA. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/ pao/History/ap11ann/introduction.htm (accessed on August 9, 2004). “Apollo 13.” Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ planetary/lunar/apollo13info.html (accessed on August 9, 2004). “Buzz Aldrin.” Johnson Space Center, NASA. http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/ htmlbios/aldrin-b.html (accessed on August 9, 2004). Lloyd, Robin. “Apollo 11. Experiment Still Returning Results.” CNN. July 21, 1999. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/21/apollo.experiment/ (accessed on August 9, 2004). “Neil Armstrong.” Johnson Space Center, NASA. http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/ Bios/htmlbios/armstrong-na.html (accessed on August 9, 2004). Phillips, Tony. “What Neil & Buzz Left on the Moon.” Science@NASA. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/21jul_llr.htm (accessed on August 9, 2004).

Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

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10 Space Shuttle James C. Fletcher “NASA Document III-31: The Space Shuttle” Published in November 22, 1971; reprinted from Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program. Volume I: Organizing for Exploration, published in 1995

Remarks on the Space Shuttle Program Richard M. Nixon Presented on January 5, 1972

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he U.S. space program began in 1958 with the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This initiative was the direct result of a space race between the United States and the former Soviet Union at a time when the two superpowers were involved in a period of hostile relations known as the Cold War (1945–91). A year earlier the Soviets had sent Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit. Americans were shocked by the event, fearing that the United States was losing the Cold War. NASA responded by launching Project Mercury for the training of astronauts. The seven members of the first astronaut corps were called the Mercury 7 (see Tom Wolfe entry). In May 1961 Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard (1923–1998) became the first American in space. Yet the United States was still lagging behind the Soviet Union in the space race: A month before Shepard made his brief flight over the Atlantic Ocean, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968) became the first human to travel in space by making a nearly complete orbit of Earth. On May 25, 1961, less than three weeks after Shepard’s flight, President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963; served 1961–63) confronted the Soviet challenge in a speech before a joint ses-

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sion of Congress. He committed the United States to putting a man on the Moon within the next ten years (see John F. Kennedy entry). NASA immediately accelerated Project Apollo and its Moon mission program, and within eight years the agency had achieved Kennedy’s goal. In 1969 the spacecraft Apollo 11 successfully landed astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930–) and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (1930–) on the Moon (see Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin entry). The moon landing was a victory for the United States in the space race. The Soviet Union had never developed a moon exploration program because of political power struggles and lack of government funding. In the meantime, however, the Soviet Union had moved ahead in another important area. By the early 1960s the Soviets had already launched the Salyut space station and were operating Soyuz space shuttles. (A space station is an orbiting craft in which huJames C. Fletcher, NASA administrator during the mans can live for extended periods of development of the space shuttle program. (© Bettmann/Corbis) time. A space shuttle is a reusable craft that transports people and cargo between Earth and space.) When Apollo 11 landed on the Moon the United States had preliminary research on a space station and a space shuttle, but there were no official programs. The situation changed in the early 1970s, with the end of Project Apollo. In 1972 Apollo 17 made the final moon landing. The American public and the U.S. government had lost interest in moon exploration, so NASA had turned its attention to unmanned spaceflight projects such as the Large Space Telescope (LST). Initiated in 1969, the LST was an observatory (a structure housing a telescope, a device that observes celestial objects) that would continuously orbit Earth. NASA officials also realized that they could not abandon the manned spaceflight program. An immediate result of the LST Space Shuttle

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project was a plan for a space shuttle that would release the LST into orbit. (The LST eventually became the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in 1990.) On November 22, 1971, at the height of discussions about building a space shuttle, NASA administrator James C. Fletcher (1919–1991) presented a paper to the White House. The paper was titled “The Space Shuttle” but officially designated “NASA Document III–31.”

Things to remember while reading “NASA Document III-31: The Space Shuttle”: • Fletcher was told to offer a “best-case scenario” to make the shuttle program appealing to the United States government. Fletcher breaks his arguments down into four major areas, primarily emphasizing the importance of the United States staying ahead of the Soviet Union in the space race. • Like President Nixon, Fletcher believes that the shuttle will usher in an age of space travel in which complicated missions will become routine and frequent. • Fletcher notes that “Americans went on to set foot on the Moon, while the Russians have continued to expand their capabilities in near-Earth space.” Since the early 1960s the Russians had been developing the Soyuz, a reusable manned spacecraft. In 1971 a three-seat Soyuz vehicle delivered two crews to the Russian space station Salyut, the world’s first space station. This was an important event in the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

“NASA Document III-31: The Space Shuttle” This paper outlines NASA’s case for proceeding with the space shuttle. The principal points are as follows: 118


1. The U.S. cannot forego manned space flight. 2. The space shuttle is the only meaningful new manned space program that can be accomplished on a modest budget. 3. The space shuttle is a necessary next step for the practical use of space. It will help —space science, —civilian space applications, —military space applications, and —the U.S. position in international competition and cooperation in space. 4. The cost and complexity of today’s shuttle is one-half of what it was six months ago. 5. Starting the shuttle now will have significant positive effect on aerospace employment. Not starting would be a serious blow to both the morale and health of the Aerospace Industry.

The U.S. Cannot Forego Manned Space Flight Man has worked hard to achieve—and has indeed achieved— the freedom of mobility on land, the freedom of sailing on his oceans, and the freedom of flying in the atmosphere. And now, within the last dozen years, man has discovered that he can also have the freedom of space. Russians and Americans, at almost the same time, first took tentative small steps beyond the earth’s atmosphere, and soon learned to operate, to maneuver, and to rendezvous and dock in near-earth space. Americans went on to set foot on the moon, while the Russians have continued to expand their capabilities in near-earth space. Man has learned to fly in space, and man will continue to fly in space. And, given this fact, the United States cannot afford to forego its responsibility—to itself and to the free world—to have a part in manned space flight. Space is not all remote. Men in near-earth orbit can be less than 100 miles from any point on earth—no farther from the U.S. than Cuba. For the U.S. not to be in space, while others do have men in space, is unthinkable, and a position which Americans cannot accept.

Why the Space Shuttle? There are three reasons why the space shuttle is the right next step in manned space flight and the U.S. space program: First, the shuttle is the only meaningful space program which can be accomplished on a modest budget. Somewhat less expensive Space Shuttle

Aerospace: Science that deals with Earth’s atmosphere and the space beyond, including travel in, and creation and manufacture of vehicles used in aerospace. Tentative: Uncertain. Rendezvous: Meet up with. 119

“space acrobatics” can be imagined but would accomplish little and be dead-ended. Additional Apollo or Skylab flights would be very costly, especially as left-over Apollo components run out, and would give diminishing returns. Meaningful alternatives, such as a space laboratory or a revisit to the moon to establish semi-permanent bases are much more expensive, and a visit to Mars, although exciting and interesting, is completely beyond our means at the present time. Second, the space shuttle is needed to make space operations less complex and costly. Today we have to mount an enormous effort every time we launch a manned vehicle, or even a large unmanned mission. The reusable space shuttle gives us a way to avoid this. This airplane-like spacecraft will make a launch into orbit an almost routine event—at a cost 1⁄10th of today’s cost of space operations. How is this possible? Simply by not throwing everything away after we have used it just once—just as we don’t throw away an airplane after its first trip from Washington to Los Angeles. The shuttle even looks like an airplane, but it has rocket engines instead of jet engines. It is launched vertically, flies into orbit under its own power, stays there as long as it is needed, then glides back into the atmosphere and lands on a runway, ready for its next use. And it will do this so economically that, if necessary, it can provide transportation to and from space each week, at an annual operating cost that is equivalent to only 15 percent of today’s total NASA budget, or about the total cost of a single Apollo flight. Space operations would indeed become routine. Third, the space shuttle is needed to do useful things. The long term need is clear. In the 1980’s and beyond, the low cost to orbit the shuttle gives is essential for all the dramatic and practical future programs we can conceive. One example is a space station. Such a system would allow many men to spend long periods engaged in scientific, military, or even commercial activities in a more or less permanent station which could be visited cheaply and frequently and refurbished, by means of a shuttle. Another interesting example is revisits to the moon to establish bases there; the shuttle would take the systems needed to orbit for the assembly. But what will the shuttle do before then? Why are routine operations so important? There is no single answer to these questions as there are many areas—in science, in civilian application, and in military applications—where we can see now that the shuttle is needed; and there will be many more by the time routine shuttle service is available.

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A space shuttle is similar to an airplane, but it has rocket engines instead of jet engines and launches vertically into the sky rather than horizontally along the ground. (NASA) Space Shuttle

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Take, for example, space science. Today it takes two to five years to get a new experiment ready for space flight, simply because operations in space are so costly that extreme care is taken to make everything just right. And because it takes so long, many investigations that should be carried out—to get fundamental knowledge about the sun, the stars, the universe, and, therefore, about ourselves on earth—are just not undertaken. At the same time, we have already demonstrated, by taking scientists and their instruments up in a Convair 990 airplane, that space science can be done in a much more straight-forward way with a much smaller investment in time and money, and with an ability to react quickly to new discoveries, because airplane operations are routine. This is what the shuttle will do for space science. Or take civilian space applications. Today new experiments in space communications, or in earth resources, are difficult and expensive for the same reasons as discussed under science. But with routine space operations instruments could quickly be adjusted until the optimum combination is found for any given application—a process that today involves several satellites, several years of time, and great expense. One can also imagine new applications that would only be feasible with the routine operation of the space shuttle. For example, it may prove possible (with an economical space transportation system, such as the shuttle) to place into orbit huge fields of solar batteries— and then beam the collected energy down to earth. This would be a truly pollution-free power source that does not require the earth’s latent energy sources. Or perhaps one could develop a global environment monitoring system, international in scope, that could help control the mess man has made of our environment. These are just two examples of what might be done with routine space shuttle operations.

Optimum: Most favorable. Latent: Capable of becoming active though not now visible; hidden. Ad hoc: Unplanned, improvised. 122

What about military space applications? It is true that our military planning has not yet defined a specific need for man in space for military purposes. But will this always be the case? Have the Russians made the same decision? If not, the shuttle will be there to provide, quickly and routinely, for military operations in space, whatever they may be. It will give us a quick reaction time and the ability to fly ad hoc military missions whenever they are necessary. In any event, even without new military needs, the shuttle will provide the transportation for today’s rocket-launched military spacecraft at substantially reduced cost. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Finally, the shuttle helps our international position—both our competitive position with the Soviets and our prospects of cooperation with them and with other nations. Without the shuttle when our present manned space program ends in 1973 we will surrender center stage in space to the only other nation that has the determination and capability to occupy it. The United States and the whole free world would then face a decade or more in which Soviet supremacy in space would be unchallenged. With the shuttle, the United States will have a clear space superiority over the rest of the world because of the low cost to orbit and the inherent flexibility and quick reaction capability of a reusable system. The rest of the world—the free world at least—would depend on the United States for launch of most of their payloads. On the side of cooperation, the shuttle would encourage far greater international participation in space flight. Scientists—as well as astronauts—of many nations could be taken along, with their own experiments, because shuttle operations will be routine. We are already discussing compatible docking systems with the Soviets, so that their spacecraft and ours can join in space. Perhaps ultimately men of all nations will work together in space—in joint environmental monitoring, international disarmament inspections, or perhaps even in joint commercial enterprises—and through these activities help humanity work together better on its planet earth. Is there a more hopeful way?

The Cost of the Shuttle Has Been Cut in Half Six months ago NASA’s plan for the shuttle was one involving heavy investment—$10 billion before the first manned orbital flight— in order to achieve a very low subsequent cost per flight—less than $5 million. But since then the design has been refined, and a tradeoff has been made between investment cost and operational cost per flight. The result: a shuttle that can be developed for an investment of $4.5–$5 billion over a period of six years that will still only cost around $10 million or less per flight. (This means 30 flights per year at an annual cost for space transportation of 10 percent of today’s NASA total budget, or one flight per week for 15 percent.) This reduction in investment cost was partly the result of a tradeoff just mentioned, and partly due to a series of technical changes. The orbiter has been drastically reduced in size—from a length of 206 feet down to 110 feet. But the payload carrying capacity has not been reduced: it is still 40,000 pounds in polar orbit, or 65,000 Space Shuttle

Inherent: Part of the basic nature of a person or thing; essential. Disarmament: Laying aside arms or weapons. Joint commercial enterprises: A business project or undertaking done by two parties for the purpose of making a profit. 123

Compensate: Make up, be equal to.

pounds in an easterly orbit, in a payload compartment that measures 15 x 60 feet. The reduction in investment cost is highly significant. It means that the peak funding requirements, in any one year, can be kept down to a level that, even in a highly constrained NASA budget, will still allow for major advances in space science and applications, as well as in aeronautics.

The Shuttle and the Aerospace Industry The shuttle is a technological challenge requiring the kind of capability that exists today in the aerospace industry. An accelerated start on the shuttle would lead to a direct employment of 8,800 by the end of 1972, and 24,000 by the end of 1973. This cannot compensate for the 270,000 laid off by NASA cutbacks since the peak of the Apollo program but would take up the slack of further layoffs from Skylab and the remainder of the Apollo programs. Conclusions Given the fact that manned space flight is part of our lives, and that the U.S. must take part in it, it is essential to reduce drastically the complexity and cost of manned space operations. Only the space shuttle will do this. It will provide both routine and quick reaction space operations for space science and for civilian and military applications. The shuttle will do this at an investment cost that fits well within the highly constrained NASA budget. It will have low operating costs, and allow 30 to 50 space flights per year at a transportation cost equivalent to 10–15 percent of today’s total NASA budget.

The shuttle program is launched The U.S. space shuttle program officially began in 1972, when President Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994; served 1969–74) announced NASA’s plans to develop a multiuse spacecraft. It would perform a wider variety and greater number of missions than the traditional one-use space rocket, and at a lower cost to the taxpayer. On January 5, 1972, in a speech in San Clemente, California, President Nixon informed the American people that the United States was going to enter into the next phase of space exploration. Having already put a man on the 124


President Richard Nixon (right) and James Fletcher, NASA administrator (left), discuss the proposed space shuttle vehicle in San Clemente, California, January 5, 1972. (NASA)

Moon, NASA wanted to build a fleet of ships that would make traveling to space a routine experience.

Things to remember while reading President Nixon’s Remarks on the Space Shuttle Program: • Presidents have a long tradition of being associated with major events in space travel. President Dwight D. EisenSpace Shuttle

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hower (1890–1969; served 1953–61) signed the act that brought NASA into existence; President Kennedy made an important speech announcing the United States’ intention to send a man to the Moon. President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004; served 1981–89) addressed the nation after the Challenger (see entry) disaster, and President George W. Bush (1946–; served 2001–; see entry) commemorated the crew of the Columbia explosion. • Notice that President Nixon emphasizes that the space shuttle program will cost less than the Apollo missions and that shuttle flights will happen with greater regularity. These two factors were big selling points to the U.S. government and the American people. There was a sense that space travel could become “routine.” • President Nixon imagined that the United States would be able to establish a number of space stations, leading the world in space exploration and settlement. It soon became clear that such projects, while achievable, were decades away.

President Nixon’s Remarks on the Space Shuttle Program I have decided today that the United States should proceed at once with the development of an entirely new type of space transportation system designed to help transform the space frontier of the 1970’s into familiar territory, easily accessible for human endeavor in the 1980’s and 90’s.

Endeavor: Effort. Routinizing: Making routine or everyday. 126

This system will center on a space vehicle that can shuttle repeatedly from Earth to orbit and back. It will revolutionize transportation into near space, by routinizing it. It will take the astronomical costs out of astronautics. In short, it will go a long way toward delivering the rich benefits of practical space utilization and the valuable spinoffs from space efforts into the daily lives of Americans and all people. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

The new year 1972 is a year of conclusion for America’s current series of manned flights to the Moon. Much is expected from the two remaining Apollo missions—in fact, their scientific results should exceed the return from all the earlier flights together. Thus they will place a fitting capstone on this vastly successful undertaking. But they also bring us to an important decision point—a point of assessing what our space horizons are as Apollo ends, and of determining where we go from here. In the scientific arena, the past decade of experience has taught us that spacecraft are an irreplaceable tool for learning about our near-Earth space environment, the Moon, and the planets, besides being an important aid to our studies of the Sun and stars. In utilizing space to meet needs on Earth, we have seen the tremendous potential of satellites for international communications and world-wide weather forecasting. We are gaining the capability to use satellites as tools in global monitoring and management of nature resources, in agricultural applications, and in pollution control. We can foresee their use in guiding airliners across the oceans and in bringing TV education to wide areas of the world. However, all these possibilities, and countless others with direct and dramatic bearing on human betterment, can never be more than fractionally realized so long as every single trip from Earth to orbit remains a matter of special effort and staggering expense. This is why commitment to the Space Shuttle program is the right step for America to take, in moving out from our present beach-head in the sky to achieve a real working presence in space—because the Space Shuttle will give us routine access to space by sharply reducing costs in dollars and preparation time. The new system will differ radically from all existing booster systems, in that most of this new system will be recovered and used again and again—up to one hundred times. The resulting economies may bring operating costs down as low as one-tenth of those present launch vehicles. The resulting changes in modes of flight and re-entry will make the ride safer, and less demanding for the passengers, so that men and women with work to do in space can “commute” aloft, without having to spend years in training for the skills and rigors of oldstyle space flight. As scientists and technicians are actually able to accompany their instruments into space, limiting boundaries between our manned and unmanned space programmes will disappear. Development of new space applications will be able to proceed Space Shuttle

Capstone: High point. Assessing: Determining the rate or amount of. 127

much faster. Repair or servicing of satellites in space will become possible, as will delivery of valuable payloads from orbit back to Earth. The general reliability and versatility which the Shuttle system offers seems likely to establish it quickly as the workhorse of our whole space effort, taking the place of all present launch vehicles except the very smallest and very largest. NASA and many aerospace companies have carried out extensive design studies for the Shuttle. Congress has reviewed and approved this effort. Preparation is now sufficient for us to commence the actual work of construction with full confidence of success. In order to minimize technical and economic risks, the space agency will continue to take a cautious evolutionary approach in the development of this new system. Even so, by moving ahead at this time, we can have the Shuttle in manned flight by 1978, and operational a short time later.

Payloads: Load carried by an aircraft or spacecraft consisting of things (such as passengers or instruments) necessary to the purpose of the flight. Enterprise: Project that is especially difficult, complicated, or risky. Preeminence: Superiority. Imperatives: Orders or commands. Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894): American physician, poet, and essayist.

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It is also significant that this major new national enterprise will engage the best efforts of thousands of highly skilled workers and hundreds of contractor firms over the next several years. The amazing ‘technology explosion’ that has swept this country in the years since we ventured into space should remind us that robust activity in the aerospace industry is healthy for everyone—not just in jobs and income, but in the extension of our capabilities in every direction. The continued preeminence of America and American industry in the aerospace field will be an important part of the Shuttle’s ‘payload.’ Views of the Earth from space have shown us how small and fragile our home planet truly is. We are learning the imperatives of universal brotherhood and global ecology, learning to think and act as guardians of one tiny blue and green island in the trackless oceans of the Universe. This new program will give more people more access to the liberating perspectives of space, even as it extends our ability to cope with physical challenges of Earth and broadens our opportunities for international cooperation in low-cost, multi-purpose space missions. ‘We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it’, said Oliver Wendell Holmes, ‘but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.’ So with man’s epic voyage into space—a voyage the United States of America has led and still shall lead.


What happened next . . . In cooperation with the U.S. Air Force, which had been working on a multiuse space plane program known as Dynasoar, NASA began work on the space shuttle program. Originally, it was thought that the space shuttles would be used as transport vehicles to service a massive space station and a permanently manned lunar colony. It was also hoped that the space shuttles would be used for a manned mission to Mars. The Air Force and NASA worked together—sometimes less than pleasantly—to develop a craft that would serve both as a vehicle for work in space and for defensive purposes, such as launching spy satellites. A number of designs were debated and considered before it was finally decided that the space craft would consist of four major parts: the orbit ship—the shuttle—which could be used over and over again; a large external fuel tank; and two reusable solid-fuel booster rockets. The external fuel tank contains liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen that power the three main engines of the orbit ship. The tank is discarded eight and one-half minutes after takeoff and breaks up in the atmosphere upon reentry. The pieces fall into the ocean. The two solid-fuel rocket boosters contain a propellant made of ammonium perchlorate (an oxidizer) and aluminum. The boosters fall off two minutes after liftoff and also land in the ocean. However, the booster rockets are equipped with parachutes to slow their descent and allow them to land safely in the ocean, where they are recovered and prepared for use on the next mission. At launch time the ship is set upright. It explodes from the launchpad and is sent into orbit. The shuttle’s stack height (its height in launch position) is 184.2 feet (56 meters), although the orbit ship alone is 122.17 feet (37.24 meters) long. The wing span is 78.06 feet (23.7 meters) and the cabin can hold up to ten astronauts, although crews of five to seven are more common. The shuttle reaches speeds of 17,321 miles (27,869 kilometers) per hour.

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NASA has built seven different shuttle types. The Pathfinder and Enterprise ships were test vehicles, never intended for space missions. The five operating shuttles were Challenger, Columbia, Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour. The first shuttle mission was performed by Columbia, which launched on April 12, 1981, commanded by a crew of two. Challenger was completed in July 1982, Discovery in November 1983, and Atlantis in 1985. The various shuttles have flown over 130 missions combined. The space shuttle program paved the way for modern space exploration. Originally designed to be transport ships, the various shuttles have performed a number of important missions—such as making service flights to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and transporting crews to the Russian Mir space station and the International Space Station (ISS)—and greatly increased our knowledge of the universe. The program suffered two tragedies in its thirty-year history: the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986; and the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003. In both cases, the entire crew was killed (see Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster entries). In 2004, as a result of the Columbia accident, NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe (1956–) announced that future shuttle flights would be canceled until safety problems had been resolved. Many critics consider the space shuttle program to be a failure. Originally, the shuttles were supposed to reduce the cost of space missions greatly and to increase the frequency of manned space flight. NASA soon discovered, especially after the explosion of Challenger that too many missions in a short period of time can result in disaster. The low cost estimate was based on an increased number of missions, so the shuttle eventually was not cost effective because a fewer number of flights were successfully completed. However, many supporters of the space shuttle program point out that the shuttle did mark a major advance in space travel by producing a space craft capable of making numerous journeys into space and, a great percentage of the time, returning safely to Earth.

Did you know . . . • A space shuttle weighs 4.5 million pounds (2.04 kilograms) at takeoff. When the orbiter lands, it weighs 230,000 pounds (104,420 kilograms). 130


• The first orbiter that was completed was originally called Constitution. However, after a massive write-in campaign by fans of the television show Star Trek, the ship was renamed Enterprise in honor of the famous ship from the show. • In January 2004 President George W. Bush announced that the space shuttle will be retired from service in 2010. NASA plans to replace it with the Crew Exploration Vehicle, which is expected to conduct its first manned mission by 2014.

Consider the following . . . • Some people think that investing in NASA is a waste of taxpayer money and that the money is better used trying to improve education, health care, and other domestic issues. Do you think space exploration should be a national priority? Why or why not? • Although the space shuttles have flown many more successful missions than those that ended in disaster, space flight is still very dangerous. Do you think that NASA and President Nixon were too optimistic about how the space shuttle program would succeed? Some people argue that there was too much pressure, either from NASA or from popular opinion, to make it seem that flying in the space shuttle was as easy as driving a car, and because of that pressure, two terrible accidents resulted. Do you think we will ever get to a point where space travel is routine? Should we even have that as a goal, given how dangerous space flight is? • If you were to become an astronaut, where would you want to fly? Why? Can you think of any experiments you might be able to conduct that might help our understanding of the universe?

For More Information Books Fletcher, James C. “NASA Document III-31: The Space Shuttle.” In Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume I: Organizing for Exploration. Edited by John M. Logsdon. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1995. Space Shuttle

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Taylor, Robert. The Space Shuttle. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2002. Torres, George. Space Shuttle, A Quantum Leap. Navato, CA: Presidio Press, 1986.

Web Sites January 28: 1986: The Challenger Disaster. http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/special/challenger (accessed on August 10, 2004). Nixon, Richard M. Remarks on the Space Shuttle Program. NASA. http:// www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/stsnixon.htm (accessed on August 10, 2004). “Space Shuttle Columbia and Her Crew.” NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/ columbia (accessed on August 10, 2004). “Space Shuttle Program.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space _shuttle (accessed on August 10, 2004).

Other Sources The Dream Is Alive. National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2001 (DVD).

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11 Challenger George H. W. Bush Remarks Announcing the Winner of the Teacher in Space Project Presented on July 19, 1985

Ronald Reagan Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger Presented on January 28, 1986

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he midair explosion of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986, marked the first major in-flight disaster in the history of the U.S. space program. Seven passengers—the entire crew—lost their lives. Mourned by the nation, the loss of the crew and the shuttle resulted in an official investigation that called for far-ranging reforms in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The seven-member crew of the space shuttle Challenger— Francis R. Scobee (1939–1986), Michael J. Smith (1945–1986), Ellison S. Onizuka (1946–1986), Ronald McNair (1946–1986), Judith A. Resnick (1949–1986), Gregory Jarvis (1944–1986), and Christa McAuliffe (1948–1986)—were used to national attention prior to the horrific tragedy of January 28. Christa McAuliffe was not a trained pilot or a scientist. She was a social studies teacher in Concord, New Hampshire, who had been selected from among eleven thousand applicants to be the first private citizen sent into space. After an exhaustive search, McAuliffe was informed by Vice President George H. W. Bush (1924–) that she would be the first “Teacher in Space.” The vice president spoke to the 133

ten project finalists at 1:18 P.M. in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. He was introduced by James M. Beggs (1926–), Administrator of NASA. The winner and backup teacher were presented with small statues on behalf of NASA and the Council of Chief State School Officers. President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004), who was in Bethesda Naval Hospital recovering from surgery, was unable to attend the event.

Things to remember while reading Vice President Bush’s Remarks Announcing the Winner of the Teacher in Space Project:

Christa McAuliffe, selected by NASA to be the first “Teacher in Space.” (NASA)

• McAuliffe was selected from over eleven thousand applicants and was not trained as an astronaut. Her selection was viewed by many as a sign that space travel was possible for the average person.

• Vice President Bush says that NASA searched the nation to find a teacher with “the right stuff” to make the Challenger flight. He is referring to The Right Stuff, a book by Tom Wolfe (1931–; see entry) about the Mercury 7, the first seven American men chosen to travel into space. These astronauts were national heroes.

Vice President Bush’s Remarks Announcing the Winner of the Teacher in Space Project The Vice President. We’re here today to announce the first private citizen passenger in the history of space flight. The President [Ronald 134


Reagan] said last August that this passenger would be one of America’s finest—a teacher. Well, since then, as we’ve heard, NASA, with the help of the heads of our State school systems, has searched the Nation for a teacher with “the right stuff.” Really, there are thousands, thousands of teachers with the right stuff. And they’re committed to quality in education; to teaching their students the basics—reading, writing, mathematics, science, literature, history— to teaching the foundations of our cultural heritage; to teaching the values that guide us as Americans; and to teaching that important, but difficult to obtain, quality—clarity of thought. We’re honoring all those teachers of merit today, and we’re doing something else because the finalists here with me and the more than a hundred semifinalists will all in the months ahead serve, as Jim has said, as a link between NASA and the Nation’s school system. These teachers have all received special NASA training to pass on to other teachers and to their students. And together they and NASA will be a part of an exciting partnership for quality in education. So, let me tell you now who our teacher in space will be. And let me say I thought I was a world traveler, but this tops anything I’ve tried. And first, the backup teacher, who will make the flight if the winner can’t: Barbara Morgan of the McCall-Donnelly Elementary School in McCall, Idaho. Barbara has been a teacher for eleven years. She first taught on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. She currently teaches second grade. Congratulations. And we have a little thing for you [a small statue]. And the winner, the teacher who will be going into space: Christa McAuliffe. Where is—is that you? [Laughter] Christa teaches in Concord High School in Concord, New Hampshire. She teaches high school social studies. She’s been teaching for twelve years. She plans to keep a journal of her experiences in space. She said that—and here’s the quote—“Just as the pioneer travelers of the Conestoga wagon days kept personal journies [journals], I as a space traveler would do the same.” Well, I’m personally looking forward to reading that journal some day. And by the way, Christa, while you’re in the program, Concord High obviously will need substitute teachers to fill in. And it’s only right that we provide one of these substitutes. So, the first class you miss, your substitute will be my dear friend and the President’s, Bill Bennett (1943–), the Secretary of Education. So, congratulations to all of you. Good luck, Christa, and God bless all of you. Thank you very much for coming. And you, too, get one of these [small statues]. Challenger

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Vice President George H.W. Bush congratulates Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire teacher, for being selected to fly aboard NASA’s space shuttle Challenger. (© Bettmann/Corbis)

Ms. McAuliffe: It’s not often that a teacher is at a loss for words. I know my students wouldn’t think so. I’ve made nine wonderful friends over the last two weeks. And when that shuttle goes, there might be one body, but there’s going to be ten souls that I’m taking with me. Thank you.

The Challenger explosion McAuliffe’s joining the Challenger crew was not the only headline-grabbing detail. NASA had announced in early Jan136


uary 1986 that it planned to conduct fifteen missions in twelve months, using all four of its shuttles—Columbia, Challenger, Atlantis, and Discovery. Immediately there were problems. The first mission was postponed seven times before the first shuttle was launched on January 12. Because of severe weather, the spacecraft was forced to return to Earth late, setting NASA further behind in its ambitious schedule. Feverish work began on preparing the Challenger for its mission. The spacecraft had just returned from its ninth flight only two months earlier but was scheduled to return to space on January 22. The mission was considered a high priority because of the massive press attention McAuliffe had been receiving. Schoolchildren around the world were expecting live reports from space to be given by McAuliffe. As part of the mission, NASA was launching a tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS) and the high-priority Spartan-Halley comet research observatory into space. The flight was scheduled to last six days, during which time the Spartan observatory would be recovered from orbit. Because of tight schedule requirements, the Spartan could be orbited no later than January 31. The January 22 launch date arrived but the mission was delayed. Two more delays—on January 24 and January 25— followed. Bad weather prevented a launch on January 26, pushing the mission back to the next day, Monday, January 27. After a problem with the hatch bolt was detected, the mission was once again postponed. During the night of January 27, the temperature at Cape Canaveral dropped as low as 19°F (-7.2°C). This prompted a late-night meeting of NASA managers and engineers with managers from Morton Thiokol, the government contractor that manufactured the O-rings on the booster rockets. (A booster rocket is fired to propel the spacecraft into space. The booster rocket is built in sections and then strapped onto the shuttle. The rubber O-rings are required to seal the sections together.) The Thiokol engineers were concerned that the O-rings would stiffen in the cold and cause the seal to fail. Since the O-rings had never been tested at low temperatures, the Thiokol managers overruled the engineers. They signed a statement claiming that the boosters were safe for launch at a temperature lower than 53°F (11.7°C). Other problems arose on the morning of January 28 because a thin layer of ice had formed on the shuttle and the Challenger

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The space shuttle Challenger exploded just minutes after takeoff, vanishing into a trail of smoke as spectators on the ground and television viewers around the world watched in dismay. (NASA)

launch pad. Liftoff was delayed twice because officials at the site were concerned about icicles potentially breaking off during launch and damaging insulation tiles that protected the shuttle from intense heat as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere. Inspection teams examined the Challenger and reported no abnormalities. Countdown proceeded, and at 11:38 A.M. the Challenger lifted off into the blue sky. After two explosions— the first at fifty-four seconds into the launch and the second at seventy-three seconds—the space shuttle disintegrated, vanishing in a trail of smoke as a crowd on the ground and millions of television viewers throughout the world watched in disbelief. Among the spectators on the ground were McAuliffe’s husband and two children and a group of her students. President Reagan’s State of the Union Address (an annual speech delivered by a U.S. president) had been scheduled for the evening of January 28. Reagan abandoned his original text, choosing instead to pay tribute to the Challenger crew. 138


Things to remember while reading President Reagan’s Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger: • With the exception of Apollo 1, in which three astronauts were killed in 1967 in a ground accident, no American astronaut had lost his or her life during an in-flight mission prior to the Challenger explosion. • For those who witnessed the live television broadcast of the Challenger explosion, the event was dramatic and shocking. Today, most people remember exactly where they were when the tragedy occurred.

President Reagan’s Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger Ladies and gentlemen, I’d planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy [First Lady Nancy Reagan; 1923–] and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss. Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we’ve never lost an astronaut in flight; we’ve never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnick, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together. For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, “Give me a challenge, and I’ll meet it with joy.” They had a hunger to explore the Challenger

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universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us. We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers. And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them. I’ve always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don’t hide our space program. We don’t keep secrets and cover things up. We do it President Ronald Reagan addresses the public all up front and in public. That’s the way regarding the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for and the loss of its crew. (© Corbis) a minute. We’ll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: “Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it.” There’s a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great [British] explorer Sir Francis Drake [c. 1540–1596] died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and an historian later said, “He lived by the sea, died on it, 140


and was buried in it.” Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake’s, complete.

Surly: Arrogant, domineering.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”[Quoted from American pilot John Gillespie Magee Jr.’s poem, “High Flight.”]

What happened next . . . A few days after the disaster, President Reagan eulogized (praised in a formal statement) the Challenger crew during a television memorial ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. On February 3, 1986, he established a presidential commission to investigate the accident, appointing former Secretary of State William P. Rogers (1913–2001) as head. Six weeks after the tragedy the shuttle’s crew module was recovered from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. The crew members were subsequently buried with full honors. There was considerable speculation about whether they had survived the initial explosion. Evidence gathered later by NASA indicated that they had survived the breakup and separation of the boosters from the shuttle. They had also begun to take emergency action inside the crew cabin. Whether all seven remained conscious through the two-minute, forty-five second fall into the ocean remains unknown. NASA investigators determined that at least two were breathing from emergency air packs they had activated. On June 6, 1986, the Rogers Commission released a 256page report stating that the explosion was caused by destruction of the O-rings. After checking into the history and performance of the sealing system, the commission discovered that the O-rings had failed regularly, though only partially, on previous shuttle flights. Both NASA and Thiokol were concerned about weaknesses in the seals, but they had chosen not to undertake a time-consuming redesign of the system. They regarded O-ring erosion as an “acceptable risk” Challenger

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because the seal had never failed completely. But when the Challenger flew in the dead of winter, frigid temperatures made the O-rings so brittle that they never sealed the joint. Even before the shuttle had cleared the launch tower, hot gas was already seeping through the rings. Investigators blamed NASA and Thiokol management procedures for not allowing critical information to reach the right people. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology then conducted hearings on the matter. The committee determined that NASA and Thiokol had sufficient time to correct the Oring problem, but the space agency and the manufacturer had sacrificed safety to meet flight schedules and cut costs. The charges had a grave impact on NASA. Public confidence was shaken, and the astronaut corps was highly concerned. Astronauts had never been consulted or informed about the dangers posed by the O-ring sealing system. The Rogers Commission made nine recommendations to NASA, among them allowing astronauts and engineers a greater role in approving launches. The other recommendations included a complete redesign of the rocket booster joints, a review of astronaut escape systems, regulation of scheduling shuttle flights to assure safety, and sweeping reform of the shuttle program and management structure. Following these decisions, several top officials left NASA. A number of experienced astronauts also resigned as a result of disillusionment with NASA and frustration over the long redesign process that delayed their chances to fly in space. An American shuttle was not launched again until September 29, 1988. NASA eventually built the Endeavour to replace the Challenger, and it flew for the first time in 1992.

Did you know . . . • The Apollo rockets were replaced by the space shuttle designs. The last rocket, Apollo 17, flew in December 1972. • The “Teacher in Space” program was discontinued after the Challenger explosion. • The space shuttle Columbia (see Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster entry) broke apart over the western United States on February 1, 2003, killing all seven crew members. It was the first major space disaster since the Challenger explosion. 142


Consider the following . . . • Private citizens have approached NASA and offered millions of dollars to accompany a trained crew on a shuttle mission. So far NASA has declined these offers. Do you think private citizens should be allowed to fly on shuttle missions? Why or why not? • Some people want to start private companies that will fly people into space. On June 23, 2004, American test pilot Mike Melvill (1941–) successfully flew the rocket plane SpaceShipOne 62.5 miles (100 kilometers) over the Mojave Desert in California. Many members of NASA are opposed to this, saying that space travel is still highly complicated and should be left to the professionals. Do you think space travel should be limited to NASA—a government agency—or do you think private citizens, if properly trained and equipped, should be allowed to travel into space without NASA’s involvement? Why or why not?

For More Information Books Lewis, Richard S. Challenger: The Final Voyage. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. McConnell, Malcolm. Challenger: A Major Malfunction. New York: Doubleday, 1987.

Periodicals “Looking for What Went Wrong.” Time (February 10, 1986): pp. 36–38. “NASA Faces Wide Probe.” U.S. News and World Report (February 17, 1986): pp. 18–19. “Out of Challenger’s Ashes—Full Speed Ahead,” U.S. News and World Report (February 10, 1986): pp. 16–19. “Seven Who Flew for All of Us.” Time (February 10, 1986): pp. 32–35. “What Happened?” Newsweek (February 17, 1986): pp. 32–33.

Web Sites Bush, George H. W. Remarks Announcing the Winner of the Teacher in Space Project, July 19, 1985. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, University of Texas. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/resource/speeches/ 1985/71985a.htm (accessed on July 19, 2004). Challenger

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“Columbia.” NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/home/index.html (accessed on July 19, 2004). “Information on the STS–51L/Challenger Accident.” NASA. http://www. hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sts51l.html (accessed on July 19, 2004). January 28, 1986: The Challenger Disaster. http://www.chron.com/ content/interactive/special/challenger (accessed on July 19, 2004). Reagan, Ronald. Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, January 28, 1986. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, University of Texas. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/resources/ speeches/1986/1288b.htm (accessed on May 15, 2004).

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12 Patrick Meyer “Living on Mir: An Interview with Dr. Shannon Lucid” Conducted in March 1998; available at Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA (Web site)

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y the turn of the twenty-first century, space exploration was being conducted aboard space stations. A space station has often been described as a hotel in space. Once a station is launched, it remains in orbit and is visited by crews of astronauts who travel from and to Earth aboard a space shuttle. Astronauts stay for long periods of time on a space station, which provides living accommodations and research laboratories where the astronauts conduct scientific studies and experiments. A space station is built, inhabited, and maintained through collaboration of space agencies in several countries. The most ambitious endeavor has been the International Space Station (ISS), which involved the efforts of seventeen nations when in-orbit construction began in 1998. The longest-operating space station, however, was the Mir, which stayed in space for nearly fifteen years, from 1986 until 2001. The concept of a space station can be traced to the story “The Brick Moon” by the nineteenth-century American writer Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909). Originally published in The Atlantic Monthly magazine (1869–70), “The Brick Moon” describes how a group of former college friends 145

build an artificial Moon made of brick. The first known mention of the term “space station” was made by the German rocket engineer Hermann Oberth (1894–1989) in 1923. He envisioned a wheel-like vehicle that would orbit Earth and provide a launching place for trips to the Moon and Mars. Three decades later the German-born American rocket engineer Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) proposed a more detailed concept of a space station in a series of articles in Collier’s magazine. He described a giant vehicle, 250 feet in diameter, which would spin to create its own gravity as it orbited 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) above Earth. The former Soviet Union launched the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, in 1971. Six other Salyuts were sent into orbit before 1982, when the program was ended. The United States put American astronaut Shannon Lucid. (© Ellis Richard/Corbis a space station, the Skylab, into orbit Sygma) in 1973, but it remained in space for only one year and was visited by three crews of astronauts. Soviet cosmonauts regularly traveled to the Salyuts, but they did not stay for long periods of time because the space stations did not have adequate accommodations. Improving upon the Salyut design, the Soviets built the Mir, the first permanent residence in space, which was launched in 1986. Nine years later Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov (1942–) set the record for the longest mission aboard the Mir, having stayed 438 days. The same year American astronaut Shannon Lucid (1943–) set the record for a nonRussian on a mission that lasted 188 days, 4 hours, and 14 seconds. Lucid underwent extensive preparation for the Mir mission. After three months of intensive study of the Russian language, she began training at Star City, the cosmonaut instruction center outside Moscow, in January 1995. Every morning she woke at five o’clock to begin studying. She spent 146


Russian space station Mir flies above Earth as U.S. space shuttle Atlantis, carrying astronaut Shannon Lucid, approaches to dock. Lucid remained behind with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Onufrienko and Yuri Usachev for a five-month stay on Mir. (AP/Wide World Photos)

most of the day in classrooms listening to lectures on the Mir and Soyuz space shuttle systems—all in Russian. (The Soyuz is the longest-serving spacecraft in the world.) In the evenings Lucid continued to study the language and struggled with Patrick Meyer

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workbooks written in technical Russian. In February 1996, after passing the required medical and technical exams, she was certified as a Mir crew member by the Russian spaceflight commission. Lucid then traveled to Baikonur, Kazakhstan, to watch the launch of the Soyuz that carried her crewmates, both named Yuri—Commander Yuri Onufrienko (1961–), a Russian air force officer, and Yuri Usachev (1957–), a Russian civilian—to the Mir space station. She then went back to the United States for three weeks of training with the crew of the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis, which would take her to Mir. On March 22, 1996, Atlantis lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Three days later the shuttle docked with Mir. Lucid and her fellow crew members stayed busy while living aboard Mir. The day began when the alarm rang at 8:00 A.M. The first activity for the crew was to put on their headphones and talk with mission control. Next they had breakfast, first adding water to their food and then eating it while floating around a table. In the afternoon they had a long lunch—again floating around the table—which usually consisted of Russian potatoes and meat casseroles. Although the crew had many responsibilities, they still had time for conversations about their own lives and experiences. They also kept in constant touch with ground control in Russia and had regular contact with Soyuz crews who delivered food and supplies. In 1998 NASA interviewer Patrick Meyer had a conversation with Lucid about her experience living aboard Mir.

Things to remember while reading “Living on Mir: An Interview with Dr. Shannon Lucid”: • Lucid mentions doing daily exercise routines. Exercise is essential while in space to counteract the effects of weightlessness. She spent two hours every day running on a treadmill, attaching herself to the machine with a bungee cord. This prevented the significant weight and muscle loss normally encountered by astronauts. When Lucid returned to Earth aboard the Atlantis, after staying so long in space, she was in such good physical shape that she was able to walk off the space shuttle without assistance. 148


• Lucid also mentions conducting experiments. The crew performed thirty-five life science and physical science experiments, such as determining how protein crystals grow in space and how quail embryos develop in zero gravity.

“Living on Mir: An Interview with Dr. Shannon Lucid” Part 1: Practical Life on MIR [Meyer] Q: I read in one of your previous interviews that on MIR you didn’t have a shower and you had disposal clothing, so how did [you] bathe while you were on MIR? [Lucid] A: Well you didn’t like take a bath, you just had a wet rag and you wiped yourself off. Q: Was there some special way of washing your hair? A: It was just using the liquid shampoo—the Russians have one very similar to the stuff we use on the Shuttle—you just wet your hair with it and then wipe it out. Q: Did you have some special way of rinsing after you had to brush your teeth or did you have some special way of brushing your teeth that is different from how we would do it on earth? A: No, well just like on the Shuttle you just put a little bit of toothpaste on your toothbrush, get it wet, brush your teeth, and just spit into the Kleenex and throw the Kleenex away; and then just take a Kleenex and wipe off your toothbrush. Q: I know that you had Russian cosmonauts on MIR with you— Yuri and some others that you spoke about in previous interviews. Did they shave or did they trim their beards and hair? A: They shaved. I feel they shaved daily because they didn’t grow a beard, and they always looked shaven, you know. They had the base block so they got cleaned up in the mornings just after they woke up, and I got cleaned up in the Spektr so I actually never saw them shave but I assume they shaved with an electric razor. I know they had an electric razor. Patrick Meyer

Spektr: Module on Mir, primarily to house experiments. 149

Q: How would you do something like cutting your fingernails? A: Well actually what I did, I just cut them and cut them close to an air vent, then the loose fingernails would just pull into the filter and then I just picked them up and put them in the trash. Q: How do you think the hygiene systems on the International Space Station are going to compare to what you had on MIR? A: From what I have been able to ascertain and I haven’t really looked into it in great detail, they will be roughly the same. Q: When you are sleeping, and I know sleeping is a lot different in zero g than sleeping here on Earth, did you wear any special clothing when you were sleeping? A: No, when I was asleep, I had the same clothes on that I had on during the day and on MIR we each had a sleeping bag, and so I kept mine rolled up during the day to keep it out of the way so at night I unrolled it—I actually tied it to a handrail so that I would end up in the same place the next day that I started out. Q: So you are saying that while you were in the sleeping bag, it was tethered. A: Right. Q: When you were on MIR, did you sleep differently, in other words, did you sleep more deeply or did you have trouble sleeping? A: No, I never had any trouble sleeping. I slept 8 hours every night that we went to bed. I always turned the lights out at midnight and I always got up with an 8 A.M. alarm—we ran on Moscow time— and so I slept 8 hours every single night. Q: I was curious—in one of your previous interviews, you had said that you had a couple of dreams about being in space but when you were in space did you have dreams that you would consider different from dreams you would have on earth? A: Not really. Sometimes, when I was having a dream[—]if I was dreaming in an earth situation of some sort[—]many times I was floating, so I would be in a[n] earth situation and I would be floating like I was in zero g. Hygiene: Personal cleanliness.

Q: I know on some of the Shuttle missions, they had pillows that they strapped to their heads just so they had the comfort of home. Did you do the same thing on MIR?

Ascertain: Determine.

A: No, I can’t [imagine] why any body would want that.

Tethered: Tied down. 150


Q: I know food in space is a lot different than it is on the ground. What do you think the differences between the types of food, I know you had Russian food when you were on MIR, would be like on Space Station? Do you think they will have similar food? A: I think it is the same. I mean at least for the early operations the American food, the Shuttle food and the Russian food that they will be flying up is the food they will be using on MIR. I know that in the future that they will have frozen food, etc., but I think that is a long way in the future. Q: Over the years, we work with a lot of astronauts here in the Operations Lab, and we know that they said some things about what the effects of zero g has on the body. Some of them have said things like they had a stuffy head, a puffy face, and they had changes in their sense of smell and taste. Did you experience any of these things and did they change over the duration? A: No, I never had any change in taste or smell. I never have on any flight, and I’ve never on any of the flights and not on the MIR flight, I never had a stuffy feeling in my head. That varies from person to person but I’ve just been fortunate I’ve never had a stuffy head. Everybody gets a puffy face at first because of the fluid as it redistributes. Gradually, over the period of time that you are on a long duration flight, you’ll lose that and your face just looks different. If you look at a picture of someone that’s been up 5 months and compare it to when they were up there just the 3 weeks they look different—just the way that their face is filled out. Q: The air environment is artificial on MIR, was there a difference in the air quality or was there a taste and a smell that was different on MIR than on the ground? A: No, I never noticed any bad smell at all. There was never ever an odor problem on MIR. Air quality was really good. You know, granted once sometimes there were particles that were in the air but the filtering system took them out. So yeah I was just really really pleased with the air quality the entire time I was up there. Q: I know in general exercise is an important thing but especially so when you are in zero gravity. Was exercise for you just a necessary chore, or was it some sort of outlet, or entertainment? A: No, it was absolutely not entertainment, [Chuckle] absolutely not an outlet. It was something that I knew I had to do every day and every day the best thing about exercise was when I finished because I was done with it for the day. Patrick Meyer

Operations Lab: A NASA division. 151

Shannon Lucid exercises on a treadmill while aboard Mir. Exercise prevents significant weight and muscle loss that is often experienced by astronauts living in space for long periods of time. (NASA)

Part 2: Results Q: I would like to transition now from these practical living aspects into the mission’s purpose and some of your personal opinion[s] and feelings about it. First of all I would like to ask you where you are today in relation to your MIR mission? That is, when you were on MIR, did you have any personal research that you were involved in and that you are still working on now and do you think it’s important that astronauts have their own research? A: I didn’t have any personal research—I mean all the research I was doing was the NASA experiments—but what I think is that it is very very important that the science we do on Station, that a lot of the science that the astronauts are being involved in, that the crew people be involved in, has to be interactive. By that I mean, you have to have science that you can become intellectually engaged in. I was very fortunate. I had a few experiments like that on MIR. You can152


not have just black box after black box that all you do is just flip switches on. You have to have experiments where you are really doing something like you do in a laboratory on the Earth. Q: When you are doing research on MIR, we know that the environment on a long-duration flight is a lot different [than] say a Spacelab would be, what do you think the trade-offs are between doing a detailed planning operation like we’ve been doing for Spacelab and maybe setting your own schedule based on your desire for the day since you are doing something like over a long duration? A: Well I think I had two or three, you know, really main, main, main lessons learned that I’ve been trying to get across, you know, to NASA, to the community and that is one of them. This was shown in Skylab and every single crew member that’s come back from MIR has said: Hey, we have to remember that a long space flight is not a short space flight. You cannot run a long space flight like you do a Spacelab mission because—well, there are obviously many reasons but—for a Spacelab mission, they are 14 days/16 days, and every minute is planned, OK. That is what you have to do for that type of mission, but on a Space Station mission you cannot do that. The crew has to be [in] charge of their day, and I don’t mean, by that I mean, when a person works in a laboratory here on Earth, you know what you need to get done and you plan to get it done. And actually that’s the way that I worked on MIR. Now the ground would use a Russian form 24 which is like a timeline, but it is nothing like you think of a timeline when you think of a Spacelab mission, but, I mean it is not detailed like that. But the way I used it I said okay the ground thinks I will be working on experiments A, B, and C and then because I was on board and I knew the conditions and I knew, you know, how to work around with all the constraints the ground didn’t know about, I was in charge of my schedule and how I did it. Do you understand what I’m saying? Q: Yes, I do. [T]hat’s very interesting. We, as planners, we really want to consider the differences because there are major differences. A: Major, major differences and you know you can even stick this info in somewhere, this came out in Skylab. This isn’t like something new that we learned at MIR. This is exactly what the Skylab astronauts said when they came back and you can refer the people, there is a book, I think the name of it is House in the Sky. Unfortunately it is out of print and I think the author’s name was Cooper. It was just a little book that he published that he wrote on the Skylab mission, and it is for the general public. It is discussed at length in the Patrick Meyer

Ground: The ground control crew at Kaliningrad, Russia. House in the Sky: The correct title is A House in Space. The full name of the author is Henry S. F. Cooper. 153

book about what Skylab taught them. That happened to Skylab, that happened on MIR, and that has to be the way that the Space Station is run. It’s a different way of doing business. It’s a whole new ball-game that we are in and you know I keep telling people that a Space Station flight is not a Shuttle flight and it sounds, well, like a stupid statement, but it has very profound repercussions that people really need to think about. Q: We’ll make sure the planners hear your statement. I was interested also in if you knew of any specific changes that had changed in the Station program based on your visit to MIR. A: Well I do know the one that we were talking [about], you know the Astronaut Office gets together and they issue recommendations, and the recommendations they have that [have] come out of the Astronaut Office is that Space Station daily schedule should be more or less under control of the crew and not the ground[,] like on a Shuttle mission. It probably didn’t state it quite as strongly as I did but the recommendations that have come out and also I think (and this just isn’t me but) all the different crew members that have been coming back have been saying: Hey, we’ve got to change the way we do training. We cannot have change procedures like we do, you know for the Shuttle, which is a very necessary thing to do on Spacelab missions, and I’ll just stick this in and you can stick it in, I mean like I was on SLS-2, which was a Spacelab mission, and I was very very fortunate to be able to work with the people at Marshall and they just did an outstanding job. I thought that the way that mission ran was just absolutely outstanding. You know with all the people and the support. But, and so, we’ve really learned how to do that kind of a mission, but Space Station is very different so we have to now get ready to gear up and do things differently. We cannot work on Space Station like we do on a Spacelab.

Repercussions: Consequences. Astronaut Office: Astronaut training facility at Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Florida. Marshall: George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. 154

Part 3: Looking Forward Q: Okay, I would like to talk about [a] question from a previous interview in which you discuss pioneering spirit. You [reminisce] about your childhood dream of being a pioneer like in the American West and had worried that you were born at the wrong time but then you concluded that you could grow up and explore space. I was wondering how well your real life experiences have matched those expectations of your childhood? A: I’ve always been happy with events and how they came out. They generally matched my expectations. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Q: You know pioneers have explored about everything on the planet and for many reasons: money, resources, and freedoms. But of course much of the space exploration we’ve done has been just for exploration sake and I know that is changing. Do you think exploration for exploration sake is a good thing? A: I personally think that is the primary purpose, but even with a purpose, exploration is hard to sell. Q: You also indicated in your previous interview that you were really interested in a mission to Mars. What do you think the primary goals and values and reasons and expectations for the Mars mission would be? A: Well, then we get back to your other statement—I just think it would be neat to do it. I mean to go to see what’s there. Q: We go to schools a lot to talk to school children about the space program and today, unlike 15 years ago, we find that less children raise their hands when they are asked if they want to be an astronaut and go into space. Do you think that this pioneering spirit is still alive? A: Oh I think so, very much. Q: Do you think that humans will ever find (now this is your personal opinion of course) an insurmountable obstacle for living and working in space? A: No, I don’t think so. Q: Given the difficulty and expense of it, do you think it’s actually worth it? or do you think it’s actually necessary that humans go into space? A: Yes. Q: In the distant future, what do you think people will think about, I mean in the far distant future, what do you think people will think about our space program? A: Well that would be really hard to say. It depends on—I mean you can look at it from [that] perspective right now. What do the children think about just the very recent past? Like when we (in my lifetime when we went to the moon). We don’t go any more. You know it’s sort of like they don’t understand that. I mean why did we quit. It is sort of like we are backtracking. Q: That is hard to explain to children.

Insurmountable: Impossible to overcome.

A: Yes. Patrick Meyer

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Q: Do you, given the political and economic climate we live in, do you think we will have future large scale projects like the Space Station? A: Well there again, all you do is speculate, and I have no idea. Q: Where do you think the agency should go? What would you like to see? A: Oh, I would like to see us go to Mars. That’s my own personal opinion. Q: When you are 90, sitting in a comfortable chair and contemplating your life, what will you be most proud of or feel is your most important contribution? A: When I am 90, or should we say if I am ever 90, what I will take the most pleasure in while rocking on my front porch will be the relationships that I have had in life—with my husband, children, and friends, etc.

What happened next . . . Mir remained in orbit for more than fifteen years, until 2001, although it was officially vacated in 1999. During that time astronauts conducted nearly 16,500 experiments, primarily on how humans adapt to long-term space flight. From 1986 until 1999 the space station was almost continually occupied by a total of one hundred cosmonauts and astronauts. Among them were seven NASA astronauts, a Japanese journalist, a British candy maker, and visitors from other countries that did not have their own space programs. When Russia took Mir out of service in 2001, most of the spacecraft burned up over the Pacific Ocean. The remaining remnants of the space station crashed into the Pacific in 2004. Mir became an international effort, eventually providing a model for the ISS. The ISS was nearly completed by the end of 2002, but the crash of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia in February 2003 forced the grounding of all U.S. shuttles (see Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster entry). Other nations could not continue the full-scale project without the involvement of U.S. shuttles. The future of the ISS therefore remained un156


certain. In January 2004 President George W. Bush (1946–) made a speech in which he announced a major revitalization of NASA (see George W. Bush entry). One of NASA’s goals was completion of the ISS by the end of the decade. In July 2004, NASA astronaut Edward Michael Fincke (1967–) and Russian cosmonaut Gennady I. Padalka (1958–) successfully conducted a spacewalk to make repairs on the ISS. Future missions were being planned in an effort to keep the ISS in orbit. In his speech, President Bush also vowed that the United States would return to the Moon and eventually send humans to Mars.

Did you know . . . • While Lucid was living aboard Mir she sent letters back to Earth. In a letter dated May 19, 1996, she wrote about the arrival of the Soyuz supply shuttle Progress, which delivered tomatoes and onions. Lucid commented that she and her fellow crew members were so happy to have fresh vegetables that for the next few days they ate tomatoes at every meal. • Many of the crew’s experiments provided useful data for the engineers designing the ISS. The results from investigations in fluid physics, for example, helped the space station’s planners build better ventilation and life-support systems. Research on combustion in microgravity (virtual absence of gravity) may also lead to improved procedures for fighting fires on the station. • Lucid’s Mir record was broken in 1999 by French astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré (1948–), who stayed on the space station for nearly 189 complete days. Haigneré was also a member of the last crew to visit Mir. Before returning to Earth, the crew left the space station in a standby mode, with no occupants onboard.

Consider the following . . . • Lucid described how she performed many activities while living in space, such as keeping physically fit, eating meals, and maintaining personal hygiene. If you had a chance to interview Lucid about life on a space station, what questions would you ask her? Patrick Meyer

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President Bill Clinton presents Shannon Lucid with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor at the White House in December 1996. Lucid was on Russian space station Mir for five months, the longest ever by an American. (AP/Wide World Photos)

• When Meyer asks Lucid if she thinks space exploration is worth the effort and the expense, she answers “Yes.” What do you think? With all the other issues now confronting the United States and the rest of the world, do you feel that missions in space are necessary? Why or why not? Explain your position. • Read “The Brick Moon,” Edward Everett Hale’s futuristic story about a space station, at http://www.voyager.edu/ iss/café/articles/brickmoonrising.asp. Then do some research on the Mir and the ISS. Do you see any similarities 158


between Hale’s imaginary spacecraft and the actual Mir and ISS? Describe your findings.

For More Information Books Atkins, Jeannine. The Story of Women in Space. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. Cooper, Henry S. F. A House in Space. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1976.

Periodicals Danes, Mary K. “Space Woman on Mir.” Hopscotch. October/November 2002): p. 2. Lucid, Shannon. “Six Months on Mir.” Scientific American (May 1998): pp. 46–55.

Web Sites “Astronaut Bio: Shannon Lucid.” Johnson Space Center, NASA. http://www. jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lucid.html (accessed on July 19, 2004). Meyer, Patrick. “Living on Mir: An Interview with Dr. Shannon Lucid” (March 1998). Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA. http://liftoff.msfc. nasa.gov/academy/astronauts/livinginspace/lucid/LucidInterview.ht ml (accessed on July 19, 2004). “Mir.” RussianSpaceWeb. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_chronology. html (accessed on July 19, 2004). “Pink Socks and Jello: Shannon Lucid Writes a Letter Home.” http:// www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4411/lucid.htm (accessed on July 19, 2004).

Patrick Meyer

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13 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Excerpts from The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life Originally published in 1997; reprinted from Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume V: Exploring the Cosmos, published in 2001; also available at NASA (Web site)

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n August 7, 1996, the U.S. space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, made an historic announcement: Scientists from the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and from Stanford University in California had found evidence of life on the planet Mars. They made this discovery after analyzing a meteorite (the solid part of a meteor that makes it through the atmosphere to strike Earth’s surface) that NASA scientists had found in Antarctica and taken to Houston in 1984. The meteorite had broken away from Mars fifteen million years ago after a comet or an asteroid struck the planet. Traveling through space for millions of years, the meteorite entered Earth’s atmosphere and landed at Antarctica about thirteen thousand years ago. At first scientists thought the meteorite had come from the Moon. In 1993, after analyzing its chemical composition, they determined that it had originated on Mars. Upon further examination, the NASA and Stanford scientists found that the meteorite contained microscopic evidence of living matter: carbonate globules (small spheres of a form of carbonic acid, a weak, unstable acid present in solutions of

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This 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite rock was discovered in Antarctica in 1984. The rock is believed to have once been a part of Mars and that it was dislodged by a huge impact millions of years ago and fell to Earth about thirteen thousand years ago. (NASA)

carbon dioxide in water), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; a group of more than one hundred chemicals formed during the incomplete burning of organic [derived from living things] substances), magnetite globules (small, naturally magnetic spheres of the mineral iron oxide), and microscopic fossil-like structures. Carbonates are found in both living and non-living forms on Earth. But living matter is produced when a carbonate is combined with bacteria. Since the PAHs, magnetite, and fossil-like structures in the meteorite appear to have been created by ancient bacteria, scientists concluded that life may have existed on Mars. Similar evidence had been found in the 1970s, when NASA had sent Viking landers to Mars. (A lander is a spacecraft designed to land on a celestial body.) The landers carried experiments that tested the planet’s soil for organic matter, but the results were inconclusive. One experiment detected no organic matter, while another found National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

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positive evidence. Scientists had been debating the issue of life on Mars ever since the Viking excursions. Yet the debate continued, even after the discovery of organic materials in the meteorite. In conjunction with the NASA announcement in 1996, President Bill Clinton (1946–; served 1993–2000) called for continued exploration of Mars. As reported in an online MarsNews.com article, the president said, “I am determined that the American space program will put its full intellectual power and technological prowess behind the search for further evidence of life on Mars.” The Office of Space Science (OSS), which designs and administers NASA’s scientific missions, had begun working on a long-range plan, called “The Origins Initiative,” earlier that year. The Origins Initiative included new space science missions as well as the continuation of existing programs. In preparing the plan, scientists, engineers, educators, and communications specialists developed “Roadmaps” for the four areas within the OSS—Structure and Evolution of the Universe, Astronomical Search for Origins, Solar System Exploration, and Sun-Earth Connection. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) had also compiled reports on these topics. The Roadmaps and the NAS reports were used in an NAS workshop and a symposium chaired by Vice President Al Gore (1948–). President Clinton then made a request to Congress for funding of the Origins Initiative, which would lead to the launch of about three times more space science missions from 2000 through 2004 than had been launched from 1990 through 1994. The Origins Initiative plan, officially titled The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life, was published in November 1997.

Things to remember while reading excerpts from The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life: • A goal statement for the Origins Initiative appears in the opening section of The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: “[The Origins Initiative is] aimed at following the 15-billion year chain of events from the birth of the Uni162


verse at the Big Bang; through the formation of the chemical elements, galaxies, stars, and planets; through the mixing of chemicals and energy that cradled life of Earth; to the earliest self-replicating [producing a copy of oneself] organisms and the profusion of life.” • The excerpts from The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan focus on scientific and educational objectives. The document also includes details about goals, procedures, schedules, and funding, which are not reprinted here. • The plan includes missions for 2000 through 2004, or three to seven years in the future. At the time it was unusual for NASA to look ahead more than five years. The OSS director, Wesley Huntress (1942–), told a Physics Today magazine reporter that NASA was taking a new approach “so we can see where our near-term missions are leading us.”

Excerpts from The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life A. Introduction: We humans are players in the greatest drama of all, the story of cosmic Origins, Evolution, and Destiny. Now, for the first time, we truly have the opportunity to seek scientific answers to questions as old as humanity itself: • How did the Universe begin? How did life on Earth arise? • What fate awaits our planet and our species? We have begun to assemble answers to these grand questions using remarkable new tools on Earth and in space. But, more importantly, our understanding is growing through the intellect and imagination of men and women who look up and wonder, who devise new means of gathering information that lead to the formulation and testing of theories to explain what it all means. This is a Golden Age of discovery as exciting and significant as the time when humans turned their first telescopes to the heavens. In the past few years, we have seen faint folds in the fabric of the Universe, the most ancient ancestors of all the galaxies, stars, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

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From the Big Bang to Biology Some 15 billion years ago, matter itself came into being in the aftermath of the Big Bang, the event when space and time began. Mysterious forces sculpted the formless sea of particles, leading first to structure in the Universe and then giving birth to galaxies and stars. Some massive stars lived short lives of violent intensity and died in colossal supernova explosions. Their death throes scattered heavy elements produced in their interiors into interstellar space. Our home planet condensed from a cloud enriched with iron and silicon. Our lifeblood and the tools of our civilization are made of elements forged in supernovas long ago. The early years of Earth were scenes of incredible violence as comets, asteroids, and eruptions tilled the cooling surface and built and blew away oceans and atmosphere. But

Death throes: Final moments of death. Interstellar space: Space among the stars. Silicon: A nonmetallic element that is the most abundant in nature after oxygen. Asteroids: Small celestial bodies found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Tilled: Plowed. Super-nova: The explosion of a very large star. Biosphere: The part of the world in which life can exist. 164

within just a few hundred million years the first living organisms emerged: Life, it seems, is remarkably hardy and its origin on Earth seems to have occurred surprisingly quickly. In the nearly 4 billion years since, life on our planet has made its home in astonishingly extreme environments and diverse places, habitable so long as there is even a trace of water and usable energy. And, so we humans, made of star-stuff, descendants of one common ancestor, cousins to all life on Earth, children of ages of evolution and adaptation—now equipped with tools of glass and metal and plastic and silicon to extend our sense beyond our ordinary grasp—are able to look out at the Universe around us and know our solar neighborhood, our intimate relationship to galaxies and stars, and our deep connection to the cosmos.

and planets that surround us. We have used telescopes on the ground and in space to discover disks of gas and dust surrounding young stars—nurseries of potential worlds—and to discern evidence for giant planets orbiting nearby stars. We have found living creatures in extreme environments previously not thought capable of sustaining life—the dark depths of Earth’s oceans and the dry valleys of the Antarctic. We have studied meteorites from Mars, one of which shows evidence of the presence of ancient water and the chemical building blocks of life, and—possibly—tiny, fossilized microbes. Our spacecraft have returned images of what may be ice floes above a liquid water ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa, and made us wonder if life may begin on moons as well as planets. We have seen a comet collide with Jupiter and studied a super-nova from its initial explosion to an expanding gas cloud. We have learned that Earth’s climate, biosphere, and the workings of our entire technological civilization are profoundly Space Exploration: Primary Sources

The Big Bang theory, as conceptualized by NASA. (AP/Wide World Photos)

influenced by the behavior of our varying Sun, a star we can study close-up. We have detected giant black holes that may be as massive as a billion suns at the center of our galaxy and in other galaxies, turning centuries of theory into fact. We have seen bursts of gamma rays from distant reaches of space and time, momentarily more powerful than a million galaxies. Our understanding of the Universe has been altered forever. We have learned much, but many questions remain to be answered. How could an ordered Universe emerge from a formless beginning? Is life in our solar system unique to Earth, or might there be evidence of past or present life on other moons and planets? Can we National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Black holes: Hypothetical celestial objects with a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape from it; black holes are believed to be created in the collapse of a very massive star. Gamma rays: Photons emitted by a radioactive substance. 165

forecast space weather by better understanding the forces that drive our Sun? In so doing, can we better protect our astronauts and the orbiting satellites on which our global communications depend? Can we develop the scientific base of information necessary to save Earth from an incoming asteroid like the one we believe ended the epoch of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? Will a “Big Crunch” follow the Big Bang, billions of years from now, or will our Universe expand endlessly? In the decade ahead we have the opportunity to address many of these exciting and engaging issues, developing missions to gain new answers and enrich the story. There will be twists and turns along the way, unexpected discoveries that will show us the Universe is not quite the way we thought. And there will almost certainly be difficulties. Developing new tools to extend the frontiers of the known is always challenging. But a coherent, practical, and affordable strategy is feasible. . . . NASA’s Space Science Enterprise can provide more precise answers to fundamental questions about the formation and evolution of the Universe and how the Sun influences Earth, the history of planets and satellites in our solar system, and the occurrence of life either in our tiny region of space or in the larger neighborhood of our Galaxy. . . .

B. Fundamental Questions . . . Science Objectives: Detailed Space Science planning begins with a set of Fundamental Questions. These questions—challenging and exciting to scientists and non-scientists alike and amenable to scientific progress—form the basis for our scientific program over the next several decades. To address these Fundamental Questions, the Space Science Enterprise—guided by the National Academy of Sciences, and in conjunction with the space science community—has laid out . . . detailed Science Objectives— scientific investigations that can be accomplished within the next 5–6 years through one or more space missions and ground-based programs. . . . Amenable: Agreeable to, open to. Cosmic phenomena: What happens in the cosmos, or universe; also used to refer to the comets, solar eclipses, and meteor showers observable in our solar system. 166

Fundamental Questions 1. How did the Universe begin and what is its ultimate fate? 2. How do galaxies, stars, and planetary systems form and evolve? 3. What physical processes take place in extreme environments such as black holes? 4. How and where did life begin? 5. How is the evolution of life linked to planetary evolution and to cosmic phenomena? Space Exploration: Primary Sources

An electron microscope image of tube-like structures interpreted to be microscopic fossils of primitive, bacteria-like organisms that may have lived on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago. Possible microscopic fossils such as these were found inside of an ancient Martian rock that fell to the Earth as a meteorite. (NASA)

How and why does the Sun vary: How and why does the Sun’s brightness and energy output change.

6. How and why does the Sun vary and how do the Earth and other planets respond? 7. How might humans inhabit other worlds?. . .

Intergalactic medium: The foglike dust and gas between galaxies.

Science Objectives 1. Observe the earliest structure in the Universe. 2. Observe the emergence of stars and galaxies in the very early Universe. 3. Observe the evolution of galaxies and the intergalactic medium. 4. Measure the amount and distribution of dark and luminous matter in the ancient and modern Universe.

Dark and luminous matter: Dark matter is unknown matter that may constitute as much as 99 percent of the matter in the universe. Luminous matter is the matter in the universe that can be directly observed, such as stars, gas, and dust.

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Theory of General Relativity: Theory stating that measurable properties will differ depending on the relative motion of the observer. Cosmic rays: Streams of atomic nuclei that enter Earth’s atmosphere from outer space at speeds approaching that of light. Compact objects: Compact objects form when a star dies and leaves behind an extremely compressed interior. Disks: Seemingly flat figures of a celestial body. Jets: Streams of material coming from or appearing to come from a celestial object. Interstellar medium: Dust and gas between the stars in a galaxy. Plasma: An electrically neutral, usually hot, gas containing positively charged particles and some neutral particles. In situ: Latin for “in place”; meaning’ in its orginal location. Protoplanetary disks: Disks of matter, including dust and gas, near a star from which plants may eventually form. Solar wind: A continuous stream of charged atomic particles that radiates from the Sun. Europa: A large moon of Jupiter. 168

5. Test the Theory of General Relativity. 6. Identify the origin of gamma-ray bursts and high-energy cosmic rays. 7. Study compact objects and investigate how disks and jets are formed around them. 8. Study the formation and evolution of the chemical elements and how stars evolve and interact with the interstellar medium. 9. Measure space plasma processes both remotely and in situ. 10. Observe and characterize the formation of stars, protoplanetary disks, and planetary systems, and detect Neptune-size planets around other stars. 11. Measure solar variability and learn to predict its effect on Earth more accurately. 12. Study the interactions of planets with the solar wind. 13. Characterize the history, current environment, and resources of Mars, especially the accessibility of water. 14. Determine the pre-biological history and biological potential of Mars and other bodies in the solar system. 15. Determine whether a liquid water ocean exists today on Europa, and seek evidence of organic or biological processes. 16. Investigate the composition, evolution, and resources of the Moon, small bodies, and Pluto-like objects across the solar system. 17. Complete the inventory and characterize a sample of nearEarth objects down to l-km diameter. 18. Reconstruct the conditions on the early Earth that were required for the origin of life and determine the processes that govern its evolution. 19. Investigate the processes that underlie the diversity of solar system objects. . . . The NASA Strategic Plan mandates that we “involve the education community in our endeavors to inspire America’s Students, create learning opportunities, enlighten inquisitive minds,” and “communicate widely the content, relevancy, and excitement of NASA’s missions and discoveries to inspire and to increase the understanding and the broad application of science and technology. . . .” To realize this potential more fully, we have developed a comprehensive, organized approach to making education at all levels and the enhanced public understanding of science integral parts of Space Science missions and research programs. We will work closely with the space science and education communities to develop a variety of Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Middle school students speaking through audio and visual means to NASA scientists in Washington, D.C., about numerous research and educational projects, including the Martian meteorite that NASA researchers claim contains fossilized proof that life existed on Mars. (NASA)

long-term partnerships between educators and space scientists and to ensure that the information, ideas, and materials emerging from the Space Science program are developed in a variety of formats useful to educators and understandable by the public. . . .

Education and Public Outreach Objectives 1. Have a substantial education and outreach program associated with every Space Science flight mission and research program. 2. Increase the fraction of the space community directly involved in education at the pre-college level and in contributing to the broad public understanding of science. 3. Develop a presence in every state in the U.S. to serve as a focal point for encouraging and assisting scientists and educaNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

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tors to develop partnerships and, in so doing, contribute in a meaningful way to Space Science education and outreach. 4. Organize a comprehensive, national approach for providing information on and access to the results from the Space Science education and outreach programs. 5. Continue, and refine or enhance where appropriate, programs dedicated to the development and support of future scientists and engineers. 6. Provide new opportunities for minority universities in particular and for underserved/underutilized groups in general to compete for and participate in Space Science missions and research programs.

What happened next . . . In The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan, NASA gave top priority to missions that had already been approved and funded. Among them were the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility, the CassiniHuygens mission to Saturn, and the Mars Surveyor Program (now called the Mars Exploration Program; a series of NASA missions devoted to exploration of Mars). Launched in 1990, the HST has become one of NASA’s greatest accomplishments. The HST orbits Earth in outer space, taking pictures of stars, galaxies, planets, and vast regions previously unknown to humans. Since the space observatory is positioned beyond Earth’s atmosphere, it receives images that are brighter and more detailed than those captured by telescopes based on land. Maintenance of the HST, however, is performed by astronaut crews who travel aboard space shuttles for service missions. In 2004, a year after the Columbia space shuttle disaster (see entry), NASA grounded its shuttle fleet. The final service mission to the HST was therefore canceled, leaving in doubt the future of the telescope, which was expected to continue operating until 2015. Supporters of the HST immediately began seeking ways to prolong the life of the largest, most successful astronomy project in history. 170


The Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility was sent into space in 1999. It was later renamed Chandra in honor of Indian American Noble Prize winner Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995). Positioned in Earth orbit, Chandra is a satellite observatory that detects X rays. Scientists hope to gain a better understanding of black holes, supernovas, dark matter, and the origins of life through analysis of X rays found by Chandra. The Cassini-Huygens mission was launched in 1997. It is being conducted by the Huygens probe supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA), which is onboard the NASA spacecraft Cassini. The probe carries a robotic laboratory that it will use to observe the clouds, atmosphere, and surface of Saturn and its moon, Titan. After traveling billions of miles for seven years, Cassini reached Saturn in July 2004 and the Huygens probe began sending back images of the planet and its colorful rings. The Mars Exploration Program has become one of NASA’s most popular endeavors. Initiated in 1964 to explore Mars, the mission began with flybys by Mariner spacecraft to take pictures of the Red Planet. In the early 1970s NASA put spacecraft in orbit around Mars to conduct longer-term studies, and by the mid-1970s landers had been placed on the surface of Mars. In 1997 the Mars rover Pathfinder was the first vehicle to move around on the planet. Six years later NASA deployed two technologically advanced rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, which were capable of traveling longer distances. In 2004 the rovers sent back pictures of craters, hills, and empty landscape, and they collected soil samples that may enable scientists to determine the existence of life on Mars. NASA offers a variety of education programs for students and teachers around the country. In conjunction with its educational mission, the agency produces books, films, videos, DVDs, television and radio shows, and audio recordings on space science. NASA maintains numerous space science Web sites on the Internet, many of them featuring live images from outer space. The sites also provide information and activity links for students.

Did you know . . . • In June 2000, the Mars Global Surveyor, an orbiter spacecraft, found evidence of water on Mars. Scientists regard National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

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this discovery as a significant step toward solving the mystery of whether life existed on the planet. • The Chandra X-ray Observatory was instrumental in uncovering evidence that a gamma-ray burst occurred in Earth’s Milky Way galaxy a few thousand years ago. A gamma-ray burst is one of the most dramatic events in the natural world. • President George W. Bush (1946–; served 2001–; see entry) announced a major revitalization of NASA in a speech in January 2004. One of his goals was to send humans to Mars in the future. • Since the grounding of the space shuttle fleet, scientists have been experimenting with robots that could replace humans on HST service missions. • In 2004 NASA was operating more than thirty-five space science missions. Twenty more missions were in development, and twenty-five others were under study.

Consider the following . . . • NASA operates many space science missions that are not widely publicized but yet make significant contributions to knowledge about the universe. Visit the NASA Space Science Missions Web site at http://spacescience.nasa.gov/ missions/index.htm (accessed on August, 10, 2004). Browse the “Operating Missions” links and find a littleknown mission that you think should receive more publicity. In a brief paper explain the reasons for your choice. • Do you think it is important to determine whether life exists on Mars? Prepare a short speech in which you present your position on this subject to your science class. • Space exploration has resulted in technology that we now take for granted, such as satellite communication, global positioning devices, the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine (device that use nuclear protons to take pictures of the interior of the body and the CAT (Computed Axial Tomography) scanner (medical device consisting of X-ray and computer equipment that produce threedimensional images). Can you think of other examples? Make a list of items and identify the space science project or mission that created each of them. 172


For More Information Books Burrows, William E. Mission to Deep Space: Voyager’s Journey of Discovery. New York: Scientific American Books for Young Readers, 1993. Davis, Lucile. The Mars Rovers. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Fischer, Daniel. Mission Jupiter: The Spectacular Journey of the Galileo Spacecraft. Translated by Don Reneau. New York: Copernicus, 2001. Goodwin, Simon. Hubble’s Universe: A Portrait of Our Cosmos. New York: Viking Penguin, 1997. Harland, David M. Mission to Saturn: Cassini and the Huygens Probe. New York: Springer-Praxis, 2002. Mishkin, Andrew. Sojourner: An Insider’s View of the Mars Pathfinder Mission. New York: Berkeley Books, 2003. The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life. In Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program.Volume V: Exploring the Cosmos. Edited by John M. Logsdon. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2001; also available at NASA. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codez/stratplans/1996/science.html (accessed on August 9, 2004).

Periodicals Feder, Toni. “NASA Sets Ambitious Strategic Plan for Space Science.” Physics Today (September 1997): pp. 59–60. “HST, Keck Find a Galaxy from the ‘Dark Ages.’” Astronomy (May 2004): p. 30.

Web Sites “Cassini-Huygens: Mission to Saturn and Titan.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm (accessed on August 10, 2004). “Chandra X-Ray Observatory News.” NASA. http://chandra.nasa.gov/ (accessed on August 10, 2004). HubbleSite. http://hubblesite.org (accessed on August 10, 2004). “Life on Mars?” MarsNews.com. http://www.marsnews.com/focus/life/ (accessed on August 10, 2004). “Mars Exploration Rover Mission.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA. http:// marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/ (accessed on August 10, 2004). “NASA’s Mars Exploration Program.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/ (accessed on August 10, 2004). National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

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“Space Science Missions.” NASA. http://spacescience.nasa.gov/missions/ index.htm (accessed on August 10, 2004).

Other Sources The Big Bang. World Almanac Video, 1999. Exploding Stars and Black Holes. PBS Home Video, 1997.

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14 Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster Excerpts from Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, Volume 1 Published in 2003; available at Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) and NASA (Web sites)

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n February 1, 2003, the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) was dealt a severe blow. The space shuttle Columbia, carrying a crew of seven, broke up while attempting to reenter Earth’s atmosphere after a sixteen-day mission. It was the first major accident since 1986, when the space shuttle Challenger exploded less than two minutes after takeoff, with most of the nation watching on television. The space shuttle program, which had been regarded by many Americans as engaging in “routine” missions, came under intense examination. A thorough investigation was initiated the day following the explosion. The final report, issued on August 26, 2003, faulted NASA for the explosion because the agency had overlooked problems that had been plaguing the aging Columbia for years. Since its founding in 1958, NASA has been successful in accomplishing its missions. Sending human beings into outer space is never a routine exercise, and the space agency has generally been credited with maintaining a good record. In fact, by the turn of the twenty-first century, NASA had made space travel seem to be an everyday occurrence. Nevertheless, 175

for many years critics have charged that NASA officials and engineers have frequently been guilty of arrogance or indifference, which have cost astronauts their lives. Some accidents, such as the fire in the cockpit of the Apollo 1 spacecraft that killed three astronauts in 1967, were not due to negligence on the part of NASA scientists. Other fatal accidents, such as the Challenger disaster in 1986 and the Columbia explosion in 2003, were preventable. NASA officials claim that a lack of funding prevented them from performing some necessary repairs, but Congressional reports have found differently. The Columbia mission began amidst problems on launch day, January 16, 2003. When the shuttle lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a piece of hardened foam insulation dislodged from its external fuel tank and struck the underside of its left wing. The next day, while the Columbia was in orbit, NASA engineers discussed whether the foam could have damaged heat-resistant tiles that were necessary to prevent a fire upon reentry. On January 21 and 22, NASA engineer Alan Rodney Rocha begged NASA officials to request spy satellite photos of Columbia to evaluate the extent of the damage. His requests were denied. On January 29, senior NASA official William Readdy (1952–) inquired about taking photos, but he did not make a formal request. Consequently, no photos were ever taken by NASA while the Columbia was in orbit. On February 1, Columbia attempted reentry into the atmosphere. At 5:53 A.M. PST (Pacific Standard Time; 8:53 A.M. Eastern Standard Time [EST]), sensors on the shuttle indicated that there was trouble. An astronomer in San Francisco, California, shot five photos of the craft as it was breaking up in the atmosphere. One of the photos showed a mysterious “purple streak” trailing the craft. It was later determined to be part of Columbia’s on-board camera. One minute later, at 5:54 A.M. PST, a news photographer in California observed pieces of the Columbia flying overhead. He also saw a red flare coming from the shuttle. Meanwhile, in Houston, Texas, site of NASA Mission Control, officials had lost radio contact with Columbia at 9:00 A.M. EST (6:00 A.M. PST). At the time transmission was lost, NASA engineers were attempting to explain to the crew the nature of the warning signals. The craft was scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral at 9:16 A.M EST (6:16 A.M. PST). At 9:05 A.M. EST (6:05 A.M. PST) residents in north-central Texas 176


Space shuttle Columbia lifts off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. (NASA)

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President Mourns Columbia Crew The American public responded to the Columbia explosion with shock and disbelief. For many, the Challenger explosion was still a vivid memory that haunted them every time NASA launched a shuttle. President George W. Bush (1946–; served 2001–) addressed the grieving nation approximately five hours after the Columbia broke apart over the southwestern United States. He expressed remorse for the loss of the seven astronauts: Commander Rick D. Husband (1957–2003), a U.S. Air Force colonel and mechanical engineer, had piloted the first shuttle mission to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). Pilot William C. McCool (1961–2003) was a U.S. Navy commander. Payload commander Michael P. Anderson

(1959–2003), a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and physicist, was in charge of the onboard science mission. Payload specialist Ilan Ramon (1954–2003) was a colonel in the Israeli Air Force and the first Israeli astronaut. Kalpana Chawla (1961–2003), an Indian-born aerospace engineer, was flying her second mission. Mission specialist David M. Brown (1956–2003) was a U.S. Navy captain and a flight surgeon. Mission specialist Laurel Clark (1961–2003), a U.S. Navy commander and flight surgeon, worked on biological experiments. President Bush reminded the American people that space flight is never “routine” and that “it is easy to overlook . . . the difficulties of navigating the fierce outer atmosphere of Earth.”

reported hearing a faint boom and then seeing trails of smoke and debris in the sky. After receiving these reports, the NASA flight director declared a contingency (emergency) and contacted search and rescue teams in the area. None of the astronauts were found. (Later, over 2,000 pieces of debris, including human remains, were found.) On February 2, NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe (1956–) appointed retired U.S. Navy Admiral Harold Gehman Jr. (1942–) to head the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). On February 3, the American public was informed that foam shed from Columbia’s external tank was likely the “root cause” of the tragedy. Two days later, however, NASA reversed this statement and stated that the debris likely was not the cause of the accident. On February 7, in the face of public protest, NASA was forced to allow individuals outside of NASA to participate in the investigation. On February 8, NASA announced that it was examining a picture of Columbia taken two days after launch, which showed an object 178


The seven Columbia astronauts killed in the explosion: (clockwise from far left) Kalpana Chawla, David M. Brown, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Laurel B. Clark, and Rick D. Husband. (AP/Wide World Photos)

coming off the craft. On February 10, NASA admitted that dozens of scientists had voiced concern about problems with the Columbia, particularly in regard to the foam from the external tank. On February 11, Congress began its official investigation, headed by the CAIB. Throughout the following Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster

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months, NASA was forced to admit it had not heeded the advice of its own engineers. For instance, satellite photos might have provided crucial information for the rescue of Columbia’s crew, though a rescue attempt most likely would have failed. NASA continued to undergo intense examination, and on August 26, 2003, the CAIB released its official findings. The CAIB found that a joint, known as a T-seal, was shifted after foam debris from the external tank hit the left wing. Although the gap was small—.24 x 21.7 inches (0.6 x 55 centimeters)—it was large enough to rip open upon reentry. The report was highly critical of NASA’s actions during the Columbia flight. The board called into question NASA’s organizational techniques used to promote safety. The report called for sweeping changes in NASA’s organization and the way it conducts its flights. The space shuttles remain grounded until safety changes are made.

Things to remember while reading excerpts from the Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report: • It took seven months from the time of the accident until the issue of the report. However, the government’s report was highly critical of how NASA handled the shuttle flight. For instance, ground controllers did not effectively communicate information to the Columbia crew. Although nothing will bring back the seven crew members who died, the U.S. government is serious about preventing another such accident. • The investigators found that, although NASA frequently complains that the American public finds space flight to be “routine,” NASA itself failed to perform the basic preparations necessary for a safe flight. Objections and warnings raised by knowledgeable scientists were largely ignored. The report cited that this was largely due to an overall arrogance on part of NASA officials. • Although the Columbia tragedy affected the American public, there is still support for NASA. According to an Associated Press poll, a majority of Americans are still in favor of space missions. 180


Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, Volume 1 Report Synopsis Designated STS-l07, this was the Space Shuttle Program’s 113th flight and Columbia’s 28th. The flight was close to trouble-free. Unfortunately, there were no indications to either the crew onboard Columbia or to engineers in Mission Control that the mission was in trouble as a result of a foam strike during ascent. Mission management failed to detect weak signals that the Orbiter was in trouble and take corrective action. Columbia was the first space-rated Orbiter. It made the Space Shuttle Program’s first four orbital test flights. Because it was the first of its kind, Columbia differed slightly from Orbiters Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. Built to an earlier engineering standard, Columbia was slightly heavier, and, although it could reach the high-inclination orbit of the International Space Station, its payload was insufficient to make Columbia cost-effective for Space Station missions. Therefore, Columbia was not equipped with a Space Station docking system, which freed up space in the payload bay for longer cargos, such as the science modules Spacelab and Spacehab. Consequently, Columbia generally flew science missions and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope. STS-107 was an intense science mission that required the sevenmember crew to form two teams, enabling round-the-clock shifts. Because the extensive science cargo and its extra power sources required additional checkout time, the launch sequence and countdown were about 24 hours longer than normal. Nevertheless, the countdown proceeded as planned, and Columbia was launched from Launch Complex 39-A on January 16, 2003, at 10:39 A.M. Eastern Standard Time (EST). At 81.7 seconds after launch, when the Shuttle was at about 65,820 feet and traveling at Mach 2.46 (1,650 miles per hour), a large piece of hand-crafted insulating foam came off an area where the Orbiter attaches to the External Tank. At 81.9 seconds, it struck the leading edge of Columbia’s left wing. This event was not detected by the crew on board or seen by ground support teams until the next day, during detailed reviews of all launch camera photography and videos. This foam strike had no apparent effect on the daily conduct of the 16-day mission, which met all its objectives. Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster

Ascent: Rising or mounting upward. Inclination orbit: Angle at which a celestial body crosses Earth’s equator, and its altitude above Earth. A highinclination orbit means that the path between Earth and the ISS is at such a steep angle that a space shuttle must maintain a high level of thrust, or speed, which can be slowed down by heavy cargo. Payload: Load carried by an aircraft or spacecraft consisting of things (such as passengers or instruments) necessary to the purpose of the flight. Docking: Joining of two spacecraft in space. Modules: Independently operable units that are part of the total structure of a space vehicle. 181

Smoke streaks across the sky as the space shuttle Columbia burns up while heading back to Earth. (© Robert McCullough/Dallas Morning News/Corbis)

Arbitrarily: Randomly, without a discernible pattern or reason. Appendices: Supplemental material usually attached at the end of a piece of writing. 182

The de-orbit burn to slow Columbia down for re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere was normal, and the flight profile throughout re-entry was standard. Time during re-entry is measured in seconds from “Entry Interface,” an arbitrarily determined altitude of 400,000 feet where the Orbiter begins to experience the effects of Earth’s atmosphere. Entry Interface for STS-107 occurred at 8:44:09 a.m. on February 1. Unknown to the crew or ground personnel, because the data is recorded and stored in the Orbiter instead of being transmitted to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center, the first abnormal indication occurred 270 seconds after Entry Interface. Chapter 2 [of the Board’s report] reconstructs in detail the events leading to the loss of Columbia and her crew, and refers to more details in the appendices. In Chapter 3, the Board analyzes all the information available to conclude that the direct, physical action that initiated the chain of events leading to the loss of Columbia and her crew was the foam strike during asSpace Exploration: Primary Sources

cent. This chapter reviews five analytical paths—aerodynamic, thermodynamic, sensor data timeline, debris reconstruction, and imaging evidence—to show that all five independently arrive at the same conclusion. The subsequent impact testing conducted by the Board is also discussed. That conclusion is that Columbia re-entered Earth’s atmosphere with a pre-existing breach in the leading edge of its left wing in the vicinity of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) panel 8. This breach, caused by the foam strike on ascent, was of sufficient size to allow superheated air (probably exceeding 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit) to penetrate the cavity behind the RCC panel. The breach widened, destroying the insulation protecting the wing’s leading edge support structure, and the superheated air eventually melted the thin aluminum wing spar. Once in the interior, the superheated air began to destroy the left wing. This destructive process was carefully reconstructed from the recordings of hundreds of sensors inside the wing, and from analyses of the reactions of the flight control systems to the changes in aerodynamic forces. By the time Columbia passed over the coast of California in the pre-dawn hours of February 1, at Entry Interface plus 555 seconds, amateur videos show that pieces of the Orbiter were shedding. The Orbiter was captured on videotape during most of its quick transit over the Western United States. The Board correlated the events seen in these videos to sensor readings recorded during re-entry. Analysis indicates that the Orbiter continued to fly its pre-planned flight profile, although, still unknown to anyone on the ground or aboard Columbia, her control systems were working furiously to maintain that flight profile. Finally, over Texas, just southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth, the increasing aerodynamic forces the Orbiter experienced in the denser levels of the atmosphere overcame the catastrophically damaged left wing, causing the Orbiter to fall out of control at speeds in excess of 10,000 mph. . . . Chapter 7: The Accident’s Organizational Causes In the Board’s view, NASA’s organizational culture and structure had as much to do with this accident as the External Tank foam. Organizational culture refers to the values, norms, beliefs, and practices that govern how an institution functions. At the most basic level, organizational culture defines the assumptions that employees make as they carry out their work. It is a powerful force that can persist through reorganizations and the reassignment of key personnel. Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster

Analytical paths: Ways of thinking; division of a topic or problem into logical parts and the evaluation of each part individually. Aerodynamic: The motions of and forces associated with air and other gases, especially as they interact with objects moving through them. Thermodynamic: Of or operating by mechanical power derived from heat. Sensor data timeline: A record of how sensing devices recorded events, in the order in which they occurred. Imaging evidence: Evidence captured by imaging techniques such as film and photography. Breach: Broken, ruptured, or torn condition or area. Vicinity: Nearby area. Spar: Part of the wing that supports the ribs. Denser: Thicker, having more mass per unit volume. Catastrophically: Disastrously or tragically. 183

Debris collected from the space shuttle Columbia about two months after the explosion. NASA investigators examined the debris in an attempt to reconstruct the shuttle orbiter and determine the cause of the accident. (© NASA/Corbis)

Bureaucratic: Firmly obedient to official forms, rules, and procedures that complicate and slow effective action. Deferred: Put off or delayed. Cumbersome: Burdensome, troublesome. Vestiges: Remnants, what is left. Robust: Strongly formed or constructed. Espoused: Supported. 184

Given that today’s risks in human space flight are as high and the safety margins as razor thin as they have ever been, there is little room for overconfidence. Yet the attitudes and decision-making of Shuttle Program managers and engineers during the events leading up to this accident were clearly overconfident and often bureaucratic in nature. They deferred to layered and cumbersome regulations rather than the fundamentals of safety. The Shuttle Program’s safety culture is straining to hold together the vestiges of a once robust systems safety program. As the Board investigated the Columbia accident it expected to find a vigorous safety organization, process, and culture at NASA, bearing little resemblance to what the Rogers Commission identified as the ineffective “silent safety” system in which budget cuts resulted in a lack of resources, personnel, independence, and authority. NASA’s initial briefings to the Board on its safety programs espoused a riskSpace Exploration: Primary Sources

averse philosophy that empowered any employee to stop an operation at the mere glimmer of a problem. Unfortunately, NASA’s views of its safety culture in those briefings did not reflect reality. Shuttle Program safety personnel failed to adequately assess anomalies and frequently accepted critical risks without qualitative or quantitative support, even when the tools to provide more comprehensive assessments were available.

Assess anomalies: Evaluate differences from what is common. Qualitative: Concerning quality. Quantitative: Concerning quantity.

Similarly, the Board expected to find NASA’s Safety and Mission Assurance organization deeply engaged at every level of Shuttle management: the Flight Readiness Review, the Mission Management Team, the Debris Assessment Team, the Mission Evaluation Room, and so forth. This was not the case. In briefing after briefing, interview after interview, NASA remained in denial: in the agency’s eyes, “there were no safety-of-flight issues,” and no safety compromises in the long history of debris strikes on the Thermal Protection System. The silence of Program-level safety processes undermined oversight; when they did not speak up, safety personnel could not fulfill their stated mission to provide “checks and balances.” A pattern of acceptance prevailed throughout the organization that tolerated foam problems without sufficient engineering justification for doing so.

What happened next . . . As a result of the CAIB report, NASA administrator O’Keefe grounded all future shuttle missions. In January 2004 President Bush announced that the space shuttle fleet will be retired from service in 2010. NASA plans to replace the shuttle with the Crew Exploration Vehicle, which is expected to conduct its first manned mission by 2014 (see George W. Bush entry).

Did you know . . . • After the explosion, many Americans feared that terrorists had somehow been involved. Terrorism was quickly ruled out as a possible cause of the accident. • On March 26, 2003, the United States House of Representatives’s Science Committee approved funds for the Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster

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construction of a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery for the Columbia crew. A similar memorial was built for the Challenger crew. • On January 6, 2004, NASA announced that the landing site for the Mars Rover Spirit would be called Columbia Memorial Station. NASA also announced that a series of hills on Mars are being named for individual Columbia crew members.

Consider the following . . . • Although NASA has come under considerable fire for the Challenger and Columbia tragedies, the space agency has been extremely successful. Do you think flights should resume? Why or why not? Should NASA continue to use the existing shuttles, many of which are nearly thirty years old, or is it a good idea to build new crafts for a new age of exploration? • Many people are still very angry that NASA officials might have been able to prevent the 1986 and 2003 shuttle accidents. Do you think that there should be a nongovernment agency that investigates NASA’s work so as to help prevent another accident? Why or why not? • Ask your parents or teacher where they were when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. Ask them how they felt and if they think space flight should continue. Do you remember the Columbia disaster? How did it make you feel?

For More Information Books Cabbage, Michael, and William Harwood. Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia. New York: Free Press, 2004. Cole, Michael D. Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster: From First Liftoff to Tragic Final Flight. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2003.

Periodicals Cowen, R. “Columbia Disaster.” Science News (February 8, 2003): pp. 83–84. “A Fall to Earth.” U.S. News & World Report (2003 Special Commemorative Issue): pp. 24–25. 186


Web Sites Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, Volume 1. NASA: Washington, DC, 2003. Available at CAIB. http://www.caib.us/news/ report/default.html (accessed on August 10, 2004); also available at NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/home/CAIB_Vol1.html (accessed on August 10, 2004). “NASA Honors the STS–107 Crew and Their Dedication to the Spirit of Exploration and Discovery.” NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/ home/index.html (accessed on August 10, 2004). “Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Columbia_disaster (accessed on August 10, 2004).

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15 George W. Bush Remarks on a New Vision for Space Exploration Program Presented on January 14, 2004

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he U.S. space program began in 1958 with the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). At that time the United States and the former Soviet Union had been engaged in a period of hostile relations known as the Cold War (1945–91) for more than a decade, since the end of World War II (1939–45). Not only were the two superpowers involved in an arms race for military superiority, they were also competing for dominance in space. In 1957 the Soviet Union had launched the Sputnik 1 satellite to study the atmosphere of Earth, sending shock waves through American society. Sputnik was a sign that the Soviet Union was moving ahead in the Cold War. The United States responded by creating NASA, which integrated U.S. space research agencies and established a manned space program. The first stage of the program was Project Mercury, which developed the basic technology for manned space flight and investigated a human’s ability to survive and perform in space. On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard (1923–1998) flew a Mercury capsule for fifteen minutes in Earth orbit over the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the first American in space. Shepard

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was not the first human to perform this achievement, however: Less than a month earlier, on April 12, Soviet cosmonaut (astronaut) Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968) had made a nearly complete orbit of Earth. Americans saw Gagarin’s flight as a potentially fatal blow to the prestige of the United States. Immediately confronting the Soviet challenge, in May 1961 U.S. president John F. Kennedy (1917–63; served 1961– 63; see entry) made a speech before a joint session of Congress. He announced that the United States would put a man on the Moon within the next ten years. In 1962 astronaut John Glenn (1921–) made three orbits of Earth aboard the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7. Two years later NASA initiated Project Gemini, which provided astronauts with experience in returning to Earth from space as well as practice in successfully linking space vehicles and “walking” in space. Gemini also involved the launching of a series of unmanned satellites, with the goal of gaining information about the Moon and its surface to determine whether humans could survive there. Gemini was the transition between Mercury’s short flights and Project Apollo, which would safely land a human on the Moon. The first Apollo mission ended tragically in January 1967, when three astronauts died in a launchpad fire in their module. The next Apollo missions were unmanned flights that tested the safety of the equipment. The first manned flight was Apollo 7 in 1968, and the last was Apollo 17 in 1972. The most famous was Apollo 11, which successfully landed astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930–) and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (1930–) on the Moon in 1969 (see Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. entry). After Apollo 17 the United States did not undertake any other moon flights. Interest in further moon exploration steadily waned in the early 1970s, so NASA concentrated its efforts on the Large Space Telescope (LST) project. Initiated in 1969, the LST was an observatory (a structure housing a telescope, a device that observes celestial objects) that would continuously orbit Earth. An immediate result of the LST project was the introduction of the space shuttle, a reusable vehicle that would launch the LST into orbit. Technical issues and lack of funding caused a series of delays before the LST was finally approved by Congress in 1977. Collaborating with the European Space George W. Bush

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Agency, NASA began building the telescope, which was first renamed the Space Telescope and then the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HST was assembled and ready for launch in 1985, but the midair explosion of the Challenger forced the temporary grounding of all space shuttles. The HST was finally lifted into space in 1990. Over the next several years the observatory’s powerful camera took spectacular pictures of the universe, enabling scientists to make many astronomical advances and discoveries. At the turn of the twenty-first century NASA was still operating the HST, but it had been designed to have a life span of only fifteen years. Astronauts made periodic visits to the orbiting telescope to do maintenance work and install new equipment. Three service missions had been completed by 2003, and the fourth and final mission was scheduled for 2006. It was canceled after the accident of the space shuttle Columbia, which broke apart over the western United States on February 1, 2003 (see Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster entry). All seven crew members were killed. The day after the accident NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe (1956–) organized the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). In August 2003 the CAIB issued a final report, stating that the most immediate cause of the crash was a piece of insulating foam that had separated from the shuttle’s left wing during takeoff. The missing foam left a hole through which leaking gas was ignited by intense heat from the rocket that propelled the Columbia. The board concluded that shuttle flights were becoming increasingly dangerous and that a minimum number of shuttles should be flown only when necessary. The report further cited deficiencies within NASA and a lack of government oversight of the space agency. Although the HST has been considered a great success, NASA’s primary project is the International Space Station (ISS). The largest international scientific collaboration in history, the ISS represented the future of space exploration when construction began in 1998. Often described as an orbiting “house” or “hotel,” a space station is a craft in which people can live for extended periods of time while conducting research and scientific experiments. Astronauts travel to and from the station on space shuttles. The ISS involves the efforts of seventeen countries: the United States, the eleven member nations of the European Space Agency, Canada, 190


Japan, Russia, and Brazil. The ISS was scheduled to be completed in 2006, when astronauts will have assembled a total of one hundred separate parts during forty-five missions— while the station is orbiting 240 miles (384 kilometers) above Earth. By 2004 eight crews had stayed on the ISS for months at a time. The previous year, however, the space station met the same fate as the HST, when further ISS construction was halted after the crash of Columbia. By 2004 the U.S. manned space program had reached a turning point: NASA had not conducted exploration of the Moon for nearly thirty-two years, space shuttles were grounded, and the future was uncertain for both the HST and the ISS. Scientists, politicians, and the American public began to question the future of NASA itself. On January 14, 2004, in a speech at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., President George W. Bush (1946–; served 2001–) announced plans for a major revitalization of the U.S. space program.

Things to remember while reading President Bush’s Remarks on a New Vision for Space Exploration Program: • The president commits the nation to exploration of the solar system, both by humans and robots (electronic devices programmed to perform human activities), beginning with a return to the Moon. The program will eventually be expanded to include trips to Mars and to other destinations in space. • Bush outlines new objectives for NASA, stressing a commitment to affordable, sustainable, and safe manned space flight. He also announces that construction of the ISS will be completed and that the space shuttle will be replaced by a new Crew Exploration Vehicle. • The president mentions “Commander Mike Foale’s introduction.” British-born NASA astronaut Michael Foale (1957–) was the commander of the Expedition-8 crew who was living aboard the ISS at the time of Bush’s speech. (“Expedition-8” was the eighth crew to live on the ISS for an extended period of time.) Foale introduced the president to the NASA audience via a video link from the ISS. After a six-month stay on the space station—from OctoGeorge W. Bush

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ber 2003 until April 2004—Foale set a new U.S. record for the length of time spent in space: 374 days, 11 hours, and 19 minutes.

President Bush’s Remarks on a New Vision for Space Exploration Program Thanks for the warm welcome. I’m honored to be with the men and women of NASA. I thank those of you who have come in person. I welcome those who are listening by video. This agency, and the dedicated professionals who serve it, have always reflected the finest values of our country—daring, discipline, ingenuity, and unity in the pursuit of great goals. America is proud of our space program. The risk takers and visionaries of this agency have expanded human knowledge, have revolutionized our understanding of the universe, and produced technological advances that have benefited all of humanity. Inspired by all that has come before, and guided by clear objectives, today we set a new course for America’s space program. We will give NASA a new focus and vision for future exploration. We will build new ships to carry man forward into the universe, to gain a new foothold on the moon, and to prepare for new journeys to worlds beyond our own. Ingenuity: Inventiveness, cleverness. Visionaries: People who have imaginative ideas of what could be. Commander Mike Foale’s introduction: British-born NASA astronaut Michael Foale (1957–), commander of the Expedition-8 crew who was living aboard the ISS at the time of Bush’s speech, introduced the president. 192

I am comfortable in delegating these new goals to NASA, under the leadership of [NASA administrator] Sean O’Keefe. He’s doing an excellent job. I appreciate Commander Mike Foale’s introduction— I’m sorry I couldn’t shake his hand. Perhaps, Commissioner, you’ll bring him by—Administrator, you’ll bring him by the Oval Office when he returns, so I can thank him in person. I also know he is in space with his colleague, Alexander Kaleri [1956–], who happens to be a Russian cosmonaut. I appreciate the joint efforts of the Russians with our country to explore. I want to thank the astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial entrepreneurs who set such a wonderful example for the young of our country. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

President George W. Bush announces his proposal for the U.S. space program during a speech at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. (© Kevin LaMarque/Reuters/Corbis)

And we’ve got some veterans with us today. I appreciate the astronauts of yesterday who are with us, as well, who inspired the astronauts of today to serve our country. I appreciate so very much the members of Congress being here. [Texas Congressman] Tom DeLay [1947–] is here, leading a House delegation. Senator [Bill] Nelson [1942–] [of Florida] is here from the Senate. I am honored that you all have come. I appreciate you’re interested in the subject—it is a subject that’s important to this administration, it’s a subject that’s mighty important to the country and to the world. Two centuries ago, Meriwether Lewis [1774–1809] and William Clark [1770–1838] left St. Louis to explore the new lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. They made that journey in the spirit of discovery, to learn the potential of vast new territory, and to chart a way for others to follow. America has ventured forth into space for the same reasons. We have undertaken space travel because the desire to explore and understand is part of our character. And that quest has brought tangible benefits that improve our lives in countless ways. The George W. Bush

Louisiana Purchase: Land purchased by the United States from France in 1803; extended west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. Tangible: Real, substantial. 193

Space shuttle astronauts listen as President George W. Bush announces his vision for future space exploration. One goal in Bush’s plan calls for replacing aging space shuttles with a new generation spacecraft. (© Kevin LaMarque/Reuters/Corbis) Global Positioning System (GPS): A system used to determine a position on Earth’s surface by comparing radio signals from several satellites. CAT (Computed Axial Tomography) scanners: Medical devices consisting of X-ray and computer equipment that produce three-dimensional images. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machines: Devices that use nuclear protons to take pictures of the interior of the body. 194

exploration of space has led to advances in weather forecasting, in communications, in computing, search and rescue technology, robotics, and electronics. Our investment in space exploration helped to create our satellite telecommunications network and the Global Positioning System. Medical technologies that help prolong life— such as the imaging processing used in CAT scanners and MRI machines—trace their origins to technology engineered for the use in space. Our current programs and vehicles for exploring space have brought us far and they have served us well. The Space Shuttle has flown more than a hundred missions. It has been used to conduct important research and to increase the sum of human knowledge. Shuttle crews, and the scientists and engineers who support them, have helped to build the International Space Station. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Telescopes—including those in space—have revealed more than one hundred planets in the last decade alone. Probes have shown us stunning images of the rings of Saturn and the outer planets of our solar system. Robotic explorers have found evidence of water—a key ingredient for life—on Mars and on the moons of Jupiter. At this very hour, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is searching for evidence of life beyond the Earth. Yet for all these successes, much remains for us to explore and to learn. In the past thirty years, no human being has set foot on another world, or ventured farther upward into space than 386 miles—roughly the distance from Washington, D.C., to Boston, Massachusetts. America has not developed a new vehicle to advance human exploration in space in nearly a quarter century. It is time for America to take the next steps. Today I announce a new plan to explore space and extend a human presence across our solar system. We will begin the effort quickly, using existing programs and personnel. We’ll make steady progress— one mission, one voyage, one landing at a time. Our first goal is to complete the International Space Station by 2010. We will finish what we have started, we will meet our obligations to our fifteen international partners on this project. We will focus our future research aboard the station on the long-term effects of space travel on human biology. The environment of space is hostile to human beings. Radiation and weightlessness pose dangers to human health, and we have much to learn about their long-term effects before human crews can venture through the vast voids of space for months at a time. Research on board the station and here on Earth will help us better understand and overcome the obstacles that limit exploration. Through these efforts we will develop the skills and techniques necessary to sustain further space exploration. To meet this goal, we will return the Space Shuttle to flight as soon as possible, consistent with safety concerns and the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. The Shuttle’s chief purpose over the next several years will be to help finish assembly of the International Space Station. In 2010, the Space Shuttle—after nearly 30 years of duty—will be retired from service. Our second goal is to develop and test a new spacecraft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle, by 2008, and to conduct the first manned mission no later than 2014. The Crew Exploration Vehicle will be capable of ferrying astronauts and scientists to the Space Station after the shuttle is retired. But the main purpose of this spacecraft will be George W. Bush

Probes: Devices that send information from outer space to Earth. Mars Exploration Rover Spirit: A remote-controlled, six-wheeled robot that was placed on Mars in January 2004 and programmed to explore the surface of the planet. 195

to carry astronauts beyond our orbit to other worlds. This will be the first spacecraft of its kind since the Apollo Command Module. Our third goal is to return to the moon by 2020, as the launching point for missions beyond. Beginning no later than 2008, we will send a series of robotic missions to the lunar surface to research and prepare for future human exploration. Using the Crew Exploration Vehicle, we will undertake extended human missions to the moon as early as 2015, with the goal of living and working there for increasingly extended periods. Eugene Cernan, who is with us today— the last man to set foot on the lunar surface—said this as he left “We leave as we came, and God willing as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.” America will make those words come true. Returning to the moon is an important step for our space program. Establishing an extended human presence on the moon could vastly reduce the costs of further space exploration, making possible ever more ambitious missions. Lifting heavy spacecraft and fuel out of the Earth’s gravity is expensive. Spacecraft assembled and provisioned on the moon could escape its far lower gravity using far less energy, and thus, far less cost. Also, the moon is home to abundant resources. Its soil contains raw materials that might be harvested and processed into rocket fuel or breathable air. We can use our time on the moon to develop and test new approaches and technologies and systems that will allow us to function in other, more challenging environments. The moon is a logical step toward further progress and achievement.

Eugene Cernan (1934–): Commander of Apollo 17, the last U.S. manned mission to the Moon (December 6–19, 1972). Landers: Space vehicles designed to land on celestial bodies. Propulsion: Forward motion; driving force. 196

With the experience and knowledge gained on the moon, we will then be ready to take the next steps of space exploration; human missions to Mars and to worlds beyond. Robotic missions will serve as trailblazers—the advanced guard to the unknown. Probes, landers and other vehicles of this kind continue to prove their worth, sending spectacular images and vast amounts of data back to Earth. Yet the human thirst for knowledge ultimately cannot be satisfied by even the most vivid pictures, or the most detailed measurements. We need to see and examine and touch for ourselves. And only human beings are capable of adapting to the inevitable uncertainties posed by space travel. As our knowledge improves, we’ll develop new power generation, propulsion, life support, and other systems that can support more distant travels. We do not know where this journey will end, yet we know this: human beings are headed into the cosmos. Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Robotic explorers, such as the Remote Manipulator System, have captured vivid images, such as this one of Earth with a solar sunburst behind it; yet “we need to see and examine and touch for ourselves,” President George W. Bush proposed. (NASA)

And along this journey we’ll make many technological breakthroughs. We don’t know yet what those breakthroughs will be, but we can be certain they’ll come, and that our efforts will be repaid many times over. We may discover resources on the moon or Mars that will boggle the imagination, that will test our limits to dream. George W. Bush

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NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe discusses how NASA plans to spend its long-term budget during a House Science Committee hearing to review President George W. Bush’s proposed space exploration initiative. (© Jason Reed/Reuters/Corbis)

And the fascination generated by further exploration will inspire our young people to study math, and science, and engineering and create a new generation of innovators and pioneers. This will be a great and unifying mission for NASA, and we know that you’ll achieve it. I have directed Administrator O’Keefe to review all of NASA’s current space flight and exploration activities and direct them toward the goals I have outlined. I will also form a commission of private and public sector experts to advise on implementing the vision that I’ve outlined today. This commission will report to me within four months of its first meeting. I’m today naming former Secretary of the Air Force, Pete Aldridge [1938–], to be the Chair of the Commission. Thank you for being here today, Pete. He has tremendous experience in the Department of Defense and 198


the aerospace industry. He is going to begin this important work right away. We’ll invite other nations to share the challenges and opportunities of this new era of discovery. The vision I outline today is a journey, not a race, and I call on other nations to join us on this journey, in a spirit of cooperation and friendship.

One astronaut from an allied nation: Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon (1954– 2003), one of seven crew members who died in the Columbia crash.

Achieving these goals requires a long-term commitment. NASA’s current five-year budget is $86 billion. Most of the funding we need for the new endeavors will come from reallocating $11 billion within that budget. We need some new resources, however. I will call upon Congress to increase NASA’s budget by roughly a billion dollars, spread out over the next five years. This increase, along with refocusing of our space agency, is a solid beginning to meet the challenges and the goals we set today. It’s only a beginning. Future funding decisions will be guided by the progress we make in achieving our goals. We begin this venture knowing that space travel brings great risks. The loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia was less than one year ago. Since the beginning of our space program, America has lost twenty-three astronauts, and one astronaut from an allied nation— men and women who believed in their mission and accepted the dangers. As one family member said, “The legacy of Columbia must carry on—for the benefit of our children and yours.” The Columbia’s crew did not turn away from the challenge, and neither will we. Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea. We choose to explore space because doing so improves our lives, and lifts our national spirit. So let us continue the journey. May God bless.

What happened next . . . Although service missions to the HST had been canceled, the telescope continued to send spectacular images back to Earth. Its life span was originally expected to end in 2005, but it was extended until 2010. Without servicing and repair, however, the components of the observatory will eventually wear George W. Bush

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out. Since the HST was built to dock with a space shuttle, a spacecraft other than the shuttle could not be used for a service mission. The HST had become so popular with scientists and the American public that by early 2004 there was an outpouring of concern about the fate of the observatory. In response, NASA administrator O’Keefe asked the National Academy of Science (NAS) to study possible ways to prolong its life. NAS then appointed a committee of former astronauts, professors, scientists, and engineers to explore alternatives to the space shuttle. In April 2004, NASA astronaut Edward Michael Fincke (1967–) and Russian cosmonaut Gennady I. Padalka (1958–) arrived at the ISS for a six-month repair mission, the first such visit since the grounding of U.S. space shuttles. Flying to the space station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft (Russian space shuttle), the two men made up a smaller crew than the usual minimum number of three. Occupancy of the ISS was limited to two people until NASA shuttles began flying again and delivering spare parts and supplies. (As an international effort, the ISS requires specific tasks and duties of each participating nation. These tasks and duties cannot easily be assumed by another nation.) The absence of a third crew member meant that Fincke and Padalka would have to leave the space station vacant when they worked outside. Usually the third crew member stays onboard to tend the station and to be available in the event of an emergency. On June 24 Fincke and Padalka attempted to conduct a spacewalk to repair an electrical circuit board that provides power to one of four gyroscopes (spinning wheels that orient and stabilize the station). The spacewalk was aborted (stopped before completion) because of oxygen-supply problems on Fincke’s spacesuit. On July 1, with both wearing Russian spacesuits, Fincke and Padalka successfully completed the spacewalk. They encountered little difficulty as they made the necessary repairs to the circuit board while remaining in constant contact with ground controllers. They even had extra time to install handrails on the exterior of the ISS, for use on future spacewalks. On June 24, the same day Fincke and Padalka aborted their spacewalk, O’Keefe announced a major reorganization of the U.S. space agency. Acting on recommendations from the com200


A First Private Manned Space Flight On June 23, 2004, American test pilot Mike Melvill successfully flew the rocket plane SpaceShipOne 62.5 miles (100 kilometers) over the Mojave Desert in California. This was an important event in the history of space exploration because Melvill was a private citizen and SpaceShipOne was built by Scaled Composites, a private company. Prior to this time, space explorers had been employed by national space agencies and spacecraft had been designed and constructed with government funds. SpaceShipOne was carried to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) by a jet called White Knight, then the rocket plane glided for a few seconds until Melvill ignited its engines.

SpaceShipOne rose to Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound. Once the craft had reached weightlessness, Melvill released some M&M candy pieces into the cockpit and watched them float for three minutes. Although his flight was successful, Melvill later reported that he had to cut it short. As SpaceShipOne ascended into space, it twice rolled 90 degrees and went twenty miles off course within only a few seconds. Melvill was forced to switch to a backup system in order to keep the rocket plane under control. His achievement with SpaceShipOne was hailed as a significant milestone toward more extensive privately funded space exploration.

mission appointed by President Bush, O’Keefe proposed the merging of the existing seven NASA centers into four directorates: Exploration Systems (human and robotic space research), Space Operations (human spaceflight, rocket launching, and space communications), Aeronautics Operations (aviation technology), and the Science Directorate (space science and earth science). Under its new structure NASA would also encourage involvement of private companies in space exploration. The first step in this direction had already been made the previous day, on June 23, when test pilot Mike Melvill (1941–) successfully flew the privately built SpaceShipOne 62.5 miles (100 kilometers) over the Mojave Desert in California (see box on this page).

Did you know . . . • Scientists have been experimenting with robots that could replace humans on repair missions to the HST. George W. Bush

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• The ISS is being assembled in three phases, which involve shuttle missions with specific goals, such as delivering and assembling parts, transporting crews, delivering cargo and supplies, and maintaining and servicing the station. When the shuttle fleet was grounded in 2004, twenty-eight missions had been completed and construction was in the third phase. • President Bush’s plans for the space program, as well as for certain aspects of the NASA reorganization, must be approved by the U.S. Congress. By mid-2004 the approval process was being stalled by such issues as funding problems related to a federal government budget deficit, financing of the war in Iraq, and increased expenditures for a new Medicare health insurance program. Scientists were also questioning whether the NASA Science Directorate would receive adequate attention from both the government and NASA.

Consider the following . . . • Politicians and scientists are debating the future of the HST. One side argues that NASA should not attempt to extend the life span of the orbiting telescope because it drains funds from more vital NASA projects such as the ISS and future Moon and Mars missions. The other side argues that the HST is NASA’s most reliable and successful endeavor, so every effort should be made to keep it in space. What do you think? Support your position with research on each side of the issue. • Politicians and scientists are also debating the value of the ISS. One side says the space station is a waste of scarce U.S. taxpayer funds, which could be more effectively used for the new NASA goals envisioned by President Bush. The other side, stressing the need for global cooperation, believes that the ISS provides an opportunity for the United States to continue working with other nations. What is your position on this issue? Support your view with evidence from each side. • Mike Melvill’s privately sponsored flight on SpaceShipOne has been hailed as the future of space exploration. What is your opinion of private space endeavors? Explore the question through further reading, then take a stand. 202


For More Information Books Bond, Peter. The Continuing Story of the International Space Station. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2002. Goodwin, Simon. Hubble’s Universe: A Portrait of Our Cosmos. New York: Viking Penguin, 1997.

Periodicals “Hubble’s Gifts.” Kids Discover (May 2004): pp. 10–11. Reichhardt, Tony. “NASA Seeks Robotic Rescuers to Give Hubble Extra Lease on Life.” Nature (March 25, 2004): p. 353. Sietzen, Frank Jr. “A New Vision for Space.” Astronomy (May 2004): pp. 48+.

Web Sites Coren, Michael. “Private Craft Soars in Space, History.” CNN.com. http:// www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/06/21/suborbital.test/ (accessed on August 9, 2004). “The Hubble Project.” NASA. http://hubble.nasa.gov (accessed on August 9, 2004). “ISS Spacewalk a Success.” Spacetoday.net. http://www.spacetoday. net/Summary/2442 (accessed on August 9, 2004). “President Bush Announces New Vision for Space Exploration Program.” The White House. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/ 01/20040114-3.html (accessed on August 9, 2004). “Where Is the International Space Station?” NASA. http://science.nasa. gov/temp/StationLoc.html (accessed on August 9, 2004).

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Where to Learn More

Books Aaseng, Nathan. The Space Race. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2001. Andronik, Catherine M. Copernicus: Founder of Modern Astronomy. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2002. Asimov, Isaac. Astronomy in Ancient Times. Revised ed. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 1997. Aveni, Anthony. Stairways to the Stars: Skywatching in Three Great Ancient Cultures. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1997. Baker, David. Spaceflight and Rocketry: A Chronology. New York: Facts on File, 1996. Benson, Michael. Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes. New York: Abrams, 2003. Bille, Matt, and Erika Lishock. The First Space Race: Launching the World’s First Satellites. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2004. Bilstein, Roger E. Orders of Magnitude: A History of the NACA and NASA, 1915–1990. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989. Boerst, William J. Galileo Galilei and the Science of Motion. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 2003. xlvii

Bredeson, Carmen. NASA Planetary Spacecraft: Galileo, Magellan, Pathfinder, and Voyager. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2000. Caprara, Giovanni. Living in Space: From Science Fiction to the International Space Station. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2000. Catchpole, John. Project Mercury: NASA’s First Manned Space Programme. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Chaikin, Andrew L. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. New York: Penguin, 1998. Christianson, Gale E. Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebulae. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Clary, David A. Rocket Man: Robert H. Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age. New York: Hyperion Press, 2003. Cole, Michael D. The Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster: From First Liftoff to Tragic Final Flight. Revised ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2003. Collins, Michael. Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2001. Davies, John K. Astronomy from Space: The Design and Operation of Orbiting Observatories. Second ed. New York: Wiley, 1997. Dickinson, Terence. Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 1987. Dickson, Paul. Sputnik: The Shock of the Century. New York: Walker, 2001. Ezell, Edward Clinton, and Linda Neuman Ezell. The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1978. Florence, Ronald. The Perfect Machine: Building the Palomar Telescope. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Fox, Mary Virginia. Rockets. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark Books, 1996. Gleick, James. Isaac Newton. New York: Pantheon Books, 2003. Hall, Rex, and David J. Shayler. The Rocket Men: Vostok and Voskhod, the First Soviet Manned Spaceflights. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001. Hall, Rex D., and David J. Shayler. Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft. New York: Springer Verlag, 2003. Hamilton, John. The Viking Missions to Mars. Edina, MN: Abdo and Daughters Publishing, 1998. Harland, David M. The MIR Space Station: A Precursor to Space Colonization. New York: Wiley, 1997. Harland, David M., and John E. Catchpole. Creating the International Space Station. New York: Springer Verlag, 2002. xlviii



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Web Sites “Ancient Astronomy.” Pomona College Astronomy Department. http:// www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Ancients Could Have Used Stonehenge to Predict Lunar Eclipses.” Space.com. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/ stonehenge_eclipse_000119.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo Program.” NASA History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ office/pao/History/apollo.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo Soyuz Test Project.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http:// www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/astp/astp.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/astp/ index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.” U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/ASTP/SP24. htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Biographical Sketch of Dr. Wernher Von Braun.” Marshall Space Flight Center. http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). l



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“Kennedy Space Center: Gemini Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/gemini/gemini.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Kennedy Space Center: Mercury Program.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/mercury/mercury.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “The Life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky.” Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics. http://www. informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Living and Working in Space.” NASA Spacelink. http://spacelink. nasa.gov/NASA.Projects/Human.Exploration.and.Development.of. Space/Living.and.Working.In.Space/.index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Mars Exploration Rover Mission.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). Mir. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). Mount Wilson Observatory. http://www.mtwilson.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “NASA: Robotic Explorers.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/roboticexplorers/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). NASA’s History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/index. html (accessed on September 17, 2004). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.nasa.gov/ home/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). National Radio Astronomy Observatory. http://www.nrao.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Newton’s Laws of Motion.” NASA Glenn Learning Technologies Project. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/newton.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Newton’s Third Law of Motion.” Physics Classroom Tutorial, Glenbrook South High School. http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/ newtlaws/u2l4a.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “One Giant Leap.” CNN Interactive. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/ apollo/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Paranal Observatory.” European Southern Observatory. http://www.eso. org/paranal/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Project Apollo-Soyuz Drawings and Technical Diagrams.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office. http://www.hq.nasa. gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/astp/apol_soyuz.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). lii


“The Race for Space: The Soviet Space Program.” University of Minnesota. http://www1.umn.edu/scitech/assign/space/vostok_intro1.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Remembering Columbia STS-107.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://history.nasa.gov/columbia/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Rocketry Through the Ages: A Timeline of Rocket History.” Marshall Space Flight Center. http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/rocketry/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Rockets: History and Theory.” White Sands Missile Range. http://www. wsmr.army.mil/pao/FactSheets/rkhist.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). Russian Aviation and Space Agency. http://www.rosaviakosmos.ru/english/ eindex.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). Russian/USSR spacecrafts. http://space.kursknet.ru/cosmos/english/machines/ m_rus.sht (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Skylab.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/ kscpao/history/skylab/skylab.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). Soyuz Spacecraft. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Space Race.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. http://www. nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal114/gal114.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Space Shuttle.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ shuttle/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Space Shuttle Mission Chronology.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center. http:// www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/chrontoc.htm (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Spitzer Space Telescope.” California Institute of Technology. http://www. spitzer.caltech.edu/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Sputnik: The Fortieth Anniversary.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Policy and Plans. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ office/pao/History/sputnik/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Tsiolkovsky.” Russian Space Web. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/ tsiolkovsky.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. http://www.oosa.unvienna. org/index.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Vanguard.” Naval Center for Space Technology and U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. http://ncst-www.nrl.navy.mil/NCSTOrigin/Vanguard.html (accessed on September 17, 2004). “Voyager: The Interstellar Mission.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/ (accessed on September 17, 2004). Where to Learn More

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Space Exploration Reference Library Cumulative Index

Space Exploration Reference Library Cumulative Index

Cumulates Indexes for: Space Exploration: Almanac Space Exploration: Biographies Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Sarah Hermsen, Index Coordinator

Space Exploration: Cumulative Index


Composition Evi Seoud

Manufacturing Rita Wimberley

taping, Web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher.

Cover photographs reproduced by permission of NASA.

For permission to use material from this product, submit your request via Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions, or you may download our Permissions Request form and submit your request by fax or mail to:




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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Space exploration reference library. Cumulative index / Sarah Hermsen, index coordinator. p. cm. A cumulation of the indexes from Space exploration. Almanac; Space exploration. Biographies; and Space exploration. Primary sources; grade level 5–12. ISBN 0-7876-9214-X (pbk.) 1. Space exploration reference library—Indexes. 2. Astronautics—Juvenile literature— Indexes. 3. Astronautics—History—Encyclopedias, Juvenile—Indexes. 4. Outer space— Exploration—History—Encyclopedias, Juvenile—Indexes. I. Hermsen, Sarah. Z5061.S63 2004 [TL788] 016.6294—dc22 2004015882


Space Exploration Reference Library Cumulative Index A1 = Space Exploration: Almanac, volume 1 A2 = Space Exploration: Almanac, volume 2 B = Space Exploration: Biographies PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

A AADSF. See Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) Aberration, chromatic A: 2: 282–84 ABMA. See Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) Accelerated expansion, of universe A: 2: 314 Achromatic lens A: 2: 283 Achromatic telescope A: 2: 283 Ackmann, Martha, PS: 74–89 excerpts from The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight (Ackmann), PS: 79–86 Action-reaction, Newton’s law of A: 1: 42–43, 53, 66–67 Adaptive optics A: 2: 287

Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle (Reagan) PS: 139–41 Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) B: 139 Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) A: 2: 328 Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory (Houston, Texas) B: 57 Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility A: 2: 321–22 PS: 171, 172 Aeolipile (Hero’s engine) A: 1: 47 Aerodynamics PS: 41 Aeronautics PS: 40 Aeronautics, Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, and B: 193

Bold italic type indicates set titles. Bold type indicates main Biographies or Primary Sources entries, and their page numbers. Illustrations are marked by (ill.).

1

Aerospace industry, and space shuttle PS: 124 AFIT. See Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) A-4 rockets A: 1: 79 African American astronauts Bluford, Guy, B: 34–41 Cowings, Patricia, B: 119 Jemison, Mae, B: 37, 114–20 Lawrence, Robert Henry Jr., B: 37 McNair, Ronald, B: 42, 43 (ill.) AFTE. See Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE) Agena spacecraft A: 1: 154 B: 26 “Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes” A: 2: 196–97, 203, 205 Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) B: 36 Air pressure, in Apollo-Soyuz test project A: 2: 199–200 “Air Pressure on Surfaces Introduced into an Artificial Air Flow” (Tsiolkovsky) B: 191 PS: 41 Aircraft. See also Experimental aircraft and spacecraft; specific aircraft Tsiolkovsky’s theories of, B: 190–91 Aircraft carriers, and jet planes PS: 21 Aircraft, Tsiolkovsky’s theories of A: 1: 64 PS: 40–41 Aksenov, Vladimir A: 2: 215 (ill.) Alamogordo, New Mexico A: 1: 96 (ill.), 97 Albertus Magnus, and gunpowder recipe A: 1: 50 2

Aerospace industry

Aldridge, Peter PS: 198 Aldrin, Edwin E. “Buzz,” Jr., A: 1: 157, 178; 2: 189; B: 1–10, 2 (ill.), 7 (ill.), 9 (ill.), 28–30; PS: 46, 56, 72, 102, 104–8, 105 (ill.), 107, 113 (ill.) walks on Moon, A: 1: 178; B: 4–6, 28–30 writes science fiction, B: 8–9 Aldrin, Edwin E. “Buzz,” Jr., and Michael Collins, PS: 102–15 excerpts from “The Eagle Has Landed,” in Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, PS: 108–12 Alexander the Great A: 1: 21–23 Alexandria, Egypt A: 1: 23–24 Allen, Paul A: 1: 151 Allies (Grand Alliance), in World War II A: 1: 88, 93–94 ALMA. See Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Almagest (The Greatest; al-Majisti; He mathematike syntaxis; The Mathematical Compilation) (Ptolemy) A: 1: 27, 30 Almaz military space station A: 2: 214–16 Alpha Centauri, star nearest to Sun A: 1: 6 Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer B: 57 Alpha space station B: 108 Alrai (star) A: 1: 10 Altair (French-Russian mission to Mir) B: 89 Altair (star) A: 1: 9, 11 Amazing Stories PS: 1 American astronauts

Aldrin, Buzz, B: 1–10 Apollo, A: 1: 171–98 Apollo 1 crew, A: 1: 172 (ill.); B: 11–21 Armstrong, Neil, B: 22–33 Bluford, Guy, B: 34–41 Challenger crew, A: 1: 175, 255–57, 256 (ill.); B: 42–50 Chang-Díaz, Franklin, B: 51–60 Collins, Eileen, B: 154 Columbia crew, A: 2: 266 Cooper, Gordon, B: 148 (ill.) Cowings, Patricia, B: 119 Glenn, John, B: 69–78 Grissom, Gus, B: 148 (ill.) Jarvis, Gregory, B: 43, 43 (ill.) Jemison, Mae, B: 114–20 Lucid, Shannon, B: 136–45 McNair, Ronald, B: 42, 43 (ill.) Mercury, A: 1: 140, 141 Mercury 7, B: 146–49, 148 (ill.) Mercury 13, B: 146–55 on Mir, A: 2: 225 Ochoa, Ellen, B: 164–71 Onizuka, Ellison S., B: 42, 43 (ill.), 45 Resnick, Judith, B: 42, 43 (ill.) Ride, Sally, B: 172–79 Schirra, Walter M., Jr., B: 148 (ill.) Scobee, Francis, B: 42, 43 (ill.) Shepard, Alan, B: 74, 74 (ill.), 148 (ill.) Slayton, Donald “Deke,” B: 148 (ill.) Smith, Michael, B: 42, 43 (ill.) American Civil War A: 1: 56–57 PS: 3 American flag, on Moon PS: 111–12, 113 American flight director, Kraft, Christopher B: 128–35 American rocket pioneers Goddard, Robert H., B: 79–86 von Braun, Wernher, B: 195–204 Ames Aeronautical Laboratory A: 1: 125 AMU. See Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU)

A1 / A2 = Space Exploration: Almanac (vols. 1 / 2) B = Space Exploration: Biographies

Ancient Egyptians. See Egyptians (ancient) Ancient Greeks. See Greeks (ancient) Ancient Greeks, and constellations A: 1: 8 Ancient observatories A: 1: 16–19; 2: 276–77 Anders, William A: 1: 176 (ill.), 176–77 B: 133–34 Anderson, Michael P. A: 1: 175; 2: 266 PS: 178, 179 (ill.) André-Deshays, Claudie. See Haigneré, Claudie Androgynous Peripheral Docking System (APDS) A: 2: 198–99 Andromeda galaxy A: 1: 6; 2: 285, 295 Andromede (Russian Soyuz mission) B: 91, 111 Animal in space, first A: 1: 117 B: 64, 64 (ill.) PS: 46 “Announcement of the First Satellite” (originally published in Pravda) PS: 43–45 Ansari X Prize A: 1: 151 Antarctic Treaty of 1961 A: 1: 114 Antarctica A: 1: 112 (ill.), 112–14 Antarès (French-Russian mission to Mir) B: 89 Antimatter, A: 2: 319 defined, A: 2: 304 A-1 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) A: 1: 114–15 APDS. See Androgynous Peripheral Docking System (APDS) Apogee, defined A: 1: 130; 2: 274, 335 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Apollo 1 crew, B: 11–21; PS: 56, 204. See also Chaffee, Roger; Grissom, Gus; White, Edward Apollo 11 Moon missions, A: 1: 178–79; B: 1, 4–6, 26–30, 29 (ill.), 133; PS: 54 (ill.), 56, 57 (ill.), 72, 102, 104–14, 106 (ill.), 109 (ill.), 113 (ill.), 117, 189 Aldrin, Buzz, B: 1, 4–6 Armstrong, Neil, B: 26–30 Kraft, Christopher, B: 133–34 Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment, B: 31 Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (Collins and Aldrin), excerpts from “The Eagle Has Landed” B: 4, 5 PS: 108–12 Apollo program, A: 1: 167–71, 168 (ill.), 171–98, 172 (ill.) Apollo 1, B: 20 (ill.) Apollo 7, A: 1: 174; B: 20, 133 Apollo 8, A: 1: 176–77; 2: 189; B: 4, 133–34, 202 Apollo 9, A: 1: 177 Apollo 10, A: 1: 177–78 Apollo 12, A: 1: 179–80 Apollo 13, A: 1: 180–81; PS: 112 Apollo 14, A: 1: 181; B: 74 Apollo 15, A: 1: 181–82 Apollo 16, A: 1: 182 Apollo 17, A: 1: 182–84, 183 (ill.); B: 133; PS: 57–58, 72, 112, 189 Apollo 18, A: 2: 198 food onboard spacecraft, A: 1: 180 spacecraft, A: 1: 167–71, 168 (ill.), 180 Apollo/Saturn 204. See Apollo program Apollo spacecraft, PS: 54 (ill.), 57 (ill.) compared with Verne’s cannon, PS: 4 components of, B: 13–14 Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) A: 2: 218

Apollo-Soyuz test project, A: 2: 187–206, 188 (ill.) experiments onboard, A: 2: 201 first cooperative venture in space, A: 2: 196–200 historic mission, A: 2: 200–2 midair spacecraft docking, A: 2: 204 (ill.) Soviet détente, A: 2: 194–96 U.S. splashdown crisis, A: 2: 202–5 Aquila (constellation) A: 1: 9, 11 Arabs, and astronomy A: 1: 8–9 Arabsat satellite (Arab League) B: 139 Aragatz (French-Soviet mission to Mir) B: 89 Archaeoastronomers A: 1: 14, 19 Archytas A: 1: 47 Arctic A: 1: 112–13 Arecibo Observatory A: 2: 290–91, 291 (ill.) Argo Navis (constellation) A: 1: 8 Aristarchus of Samos A: 1: 26–27 Aristotle A: 1: 23 Arlington National Cemetery PS: 186 Arm of the Starfish (L’Engle) B: 115 Arms race PS: 46 Armstrong, Neil, A: 2: 189; B: 22–33, 23 (ill.), 27 (ill.), 29 (ill.); PS: 46, 56, 70, 72, 102, 104–8, 105 (ill.), 107, 113 (ill.) Boy Scout Ken Drayton and, B: 25 famous quote, A: 1: 178; PS: 111, 113 reflects on Moon mission, B: 32–33 sets records as test pilot, B: 24–26 Armstrong, Neil

3

walks on Moon, B: 4–6, 28–30; PS: 107 Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) B: 161–62 Around the Moon (Verne) A: 1: 62, 74 Around the World in Eighty Days (Verne) PS: 10 Artificial Earth, concept of. See also Satellites B: 192 Artificial satellite, defined A: 1: 108, 130, 163; 2: 190, 210, 304, 335 Artificial solar eclipse A: 2: 201 Artillery experts Congreve, William, A: 1: 55 Siemienowicz, Kazimierz, A: 1: 53–54 Artis magnae artileria (Great Art of Artillery) (Siemienowicz) A: 1: 53 Artwork, in Collier’s series on space travel PS: 26 Artyukhin, Yuri A: 2: 214 ASCA. See Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) Asian American astronaut, Onizuka, Ellison S. B: 37 Asterism, A: 1: 7 defined, A: 1: 4 Asteroids A: 2: 360–63 ASTP. See Apollo-Soyuz test project Astrology, defined A: 1: 24 Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU) A: 2: 221 Astronaut Science Colloquium Program B: 59 Astronaut Science Support Group B: 59 4

Astronaut Training Base (Beijing, China) B: 216 Astronaut training program (NASA), B: 3–4, 26–28. See also Project Mercury Mercury 7, B: 146–49; PS: 104 Mercury 13, B: 146–55, 147 (ill.) opens to women and minorities, B: 34–35, 36–39 Astronautics, A: 1: 64, 128; PS: 41. See also Space travel defined, A: 1: 130 Astronauts. See also American astronauts effects of acceleration on, A: 1: 69 hero status of, A: 1: 133 safety of, in Project Mercury, PS: 62–63 on space shuttle, A: 2: 238 and space stations, PS: 145 women, PS: 83 (ill.) Astronomer(s), A: 1: 1–20 Aristarchus of Samos, A: 1: 26–27 Brahe, Tycho, A: 1: 35–37 Copernicus, Nicolaus, A: 1: 33–35, 34 (ill.) Eratosthenes, A: 1: 27 Eudoxus of Cnidus, A: 1: 25 Galileo (Galileo Galilei), A: 1: 38–41, 40 (ill.) Hipparchus, A: 1: 27–30 Kepler, Johannes, A: 1: 37 (ill.), 37–38 Astronomy, A: 1: 1–19, 21–43; 2: 301; B: 94, 96–97. See also Astronomer(s); Groundbased observatories; Hubble Space Telescope (HST); Space-based observatories; Telescopes ancient Greeks and, A: 1: 8–9, 25–31 Arabs and, A: 1: 8–9 defined, A: 2: 274, 304 infrared, A: 2: 292–93 as most ancient science, A: 1: 8–9 radio, A: 2: 287–92, 291 (ill.) Sumerians and, A: 1: 8

Army Ballistic Missile Agency

Astounding Science Fiction PS: 1 Astrophysicist, Spitzer, Lyman, Jr. A: 2: 308–9, 309 (ill.) Asuka satellite observatory A: 2: 328 AT&T Telstar satellite (United States) B: 139 Atacama Desert A: 2: 299 Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) A: 2: 291–92 ATDA. See Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA) Atkov, Oleg A: 2: 217 Atlantis missions, A: 2: 252, 264, 354 Chang-Díaz, Franklin, B: 54–55 Lucid, Shannon, B: 139–40, 141–42, 143–44; PS: 148 Ochoa, Ellen, B: 168, 169 Atlantis space shuttle PS: 130 Atlas-D launch vehicles A: 1: 132 PS: 62, 66, 93 ATM. See Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) “Atoms for Peace” (traveling science exhibition) B: 52–53 Atmosphere. See Earth’s atmosphere Atmospheric drag A: 2: 247 Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS) B: 168 Atmospheric phenomenon, study of on space shuttle B: 39 Atomic bomb, A: 1: 96 (ill.); PS: 1, 52 defined, A: 1: 88 first test, A: 1: 96–97 Manhattan Project, A: 1: 97–98 Auburn, Massachusetts A: 1: 72


Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA) A: 1: 154–55 Aurora, A: 1: 113, 114 defined, A: 1: 108 Aurora 7 A: 1: 144–46 PS: 63 Authors Aldrin, Buzz, B: 1–10, 9 (ill.) Oberth, Hermann, B: 159–61 Ride, Sally, B: 177–78 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, B: 193–94 Wells, H. G., B: 205–13 Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE) B: 118, 119

B Baade, Walter A: 2: 297 Babylonians (ancient), astronomy of A: 1: 28 Backsight A: 2: 277 Bacon, Roger, and gunpowder recipe A: 1: 50 Baikonur Cosmodrome A: 1: 114–15 B: 126, 126 (ill.), 183 PS: 148 Baikonur Space Center A: 2: 200 Bales, Steve PS: 110 Ballistic missile, A: 1: 110. See also V-2 rocket defined, A: 1: 108, 130 Jupiter, A: 1: 81 long-range, A: 1: 130–31 Korolev, Sergei, and, PS: 42, 46 Balloons, Tsiolkovsky and B: 190–91 Bamboo tubes with gunpowder, as weapons A: 1: 48 Barnes, John B: 8 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Basic rocket equation A: 1: 66 B: 192 PS: 41 Bassett, Charles A., II A: 1: 154 Battle of Bladensburg A: 1: 55–56 Battle of Fort McHenry (Baltimore, Maryland) A: 1: 45–47, 46 (ill.), 56 Battle of Leipzig (Battle of the Nations) A: 1: 55 Bay of Pigs invasion (Cuba) PS: 51 Bazooka A: 1: 71 B: 83 PS: 13 Beagle 2 Mars lander A: 2: 351 Bean, Alan L. A: 1: 179; 2: 220 Beggs, James M. PS: 134 Bellifortis (War Fortifications) (von Eichstadt) A: 1: 51 Belyayev, Pavel A: 1: 149 Bends, A: 2: 200 defined, A: 2: 190 Beregovoi, Georgi T. A: 1: 175 Berkner, Lloyd A: 1: 113 Berlin Airlift A: 1: 101 Beyond the Planet Earth (Tsiolkovsky) A: 1: 69; 2: 209 B: 193, 194 Big bang theory, A: 2: 313–14; B: 97; PS: 162–63, 164, 165 (ill.) defined, A: 2: 274, 304 and radio astronomy, A: 2: 290, 303 Big Dipper A: 1: 7 Big Three, A: 1: 94–95 defined, A: 1: 88

Binary star, defined A: 2: 304 Biochemist, Lucid, Shannon B: 136–45 BioSentient Corporation B: 118 Biringuccio, Vannoccio A: 1: 52–53 Black holes, A: 2: 317; B: 100; PS: 165 defined, A: 2: 304 Black powder. See also Gunpowder A: 1: 48; B: 216 “Black Suits Comin’, Nod Ya Head” (music video) B: 40 Blaha, John A: 2: 225 Blazars, gamma ray A: 2: 321 Bluford, Guy, B: 34–41, 35 (ill.), 38 (ill.) prejudice and, B: 36–39 Bolden, Charles F., Jr. B: 99 Bolshevik Revolution A: 1: 69, 87–90 Bolshevik(s). See also Communist Party defined, A: 1: 88 Bomb. See Atomic bomb; Hydrogen bomb “Bombs bursting in air” A: 1: 45–47, 46 (ill.) Bonestell, Chesley PS: 26 Booster rockets, of space shuttle A: 2: 243 (ill.), 243–44, 260–61; PS: 96–97, 129, 137 Borman, Frank A: 1: 153, 176 (ill.), 176–77 B: 133–34 Borrelly comet A: 2: 361 Boy Scout meets astronaut B: 25 Brahe, Tycho A: 1: 35–37 Braille (asteroid) A: 2: 361 Brand, Vance A: 2: 198–205, 199 (ill.) Brandt, Willy A: 2: 196

Brandt, Willy

5

Brezhnev, Leonid A: 2: 201 B: 185 “The Brick Moon: From the Papers of Captain Frederic Ingham” (Hale) A: 2: 209 B: 106 PS: 145–46 Briggs, Jane. See Hart, Janey Brown, David M. A: 1: 175; 2: 266 PS: 178, 179 (ill.) Brown dwarf, defined A: 2: 304 Burnell, Jocelyn Bell A: 2: 290 Bursts, gamma ray A: 2: 320 Bush, George H. W., PS: 133–36, 136 (ill.) Remarks Announcing the Winner of the Teacher in Space Project, PS: 134–36 Bush, George W., B: 135; PS: 58, 112–13, 185, 188–203, 193 (ill.) mourns Columbia crew, PS: 126, 178, 199 Remarks on a New Vision for Space Exploration Program, A: 2: 269, 318–19; PS: 131, 157, 172, 192–99 Businesspeople Armstrong, Neil, B: 31–32 Bluford, Guy, B: 40 Glenn, John, B: 13, 69–78 Jemison, Mae, B: 117–18 Buzz Lightyear B: 9 Bykovsky, Valery A: 1: 138 B: 183, 184, 185 (ill.)

C Cagle, Myrtle “K” B: 147 (ill.), 150 PS: 77, 77 (ill.) Calculus B: 158 Calendars 6

Brezhnev, Leonid

ancient Native American, A: 2: 277 and Hipparchus, A: 1: 29 Stonehenge as, A: 1: 16 (ill.), 17 Callisto (moon) A: 2: 356 Cameras on Hubble Space Telescope, B: 95–96, 100 television, on Apollo flights, B: 134 Cameron, Kenneth D. B: 99 Canada A: 2: 232 Canadian Space Agency A: 2: 327 Canary Islands A: 2: 286 Cannon into space, in From the Earth to the Moon (Verne) PS: 3, 5–9, 8 (ill.) Canon law A: 1: 32 Cape Canaveral, Florida A: 1: 167; 2: 201, 244 Capitalism defined, A: 1: 88 Marx, Karl, on, A: 1: 89–90 Capsule approach, to manned spaceflight PS: 66–67 Capsule communicator (“capcom”) B: 174 Carbonate globules, in Mars meteorite PS: 160–61 Carbon-carbon tiles A: 2: 241 Cargo, before shuttles A: 2: 236 Cargo bay, of space shuttle A: 2: 241, 243 (ill.) Carina (constellation) A: 1: 8, 14 Carpenter, M. Scott A: 1: 141, 144–46 B: 148 (ill.), 149 PS: 61, 61 (ill.), 63, 75 Carr, Gerald P. A: 2: 221

Cassini, Gian Domenico A: 2: 357 Cassini spacecraft PS: 171 Cassini-Huygens mission PS: 171 Cassini-Huygens spacecraft A: 2: 357 Cassiopeé mission B: 90–91 Cassiopeia (constellation) A: 1: 14, 36 Castro, Fidel PS: 51 Celestial bodies, movement of A: 1: 25 (ill.), 25–26, 38, 40, 42–43 Celestial (Newtonian) mechanics A: 1: 24, 43 Celestial sphere, A: 1: 6 defined, A: 1: 4, 24 location of stars on, A: 1: 14 Centaurus (constellation) A: 1: 14 Cepheid variable stars A: 2: 274, 295, 297 Cepheus (constellation) A: 1: 10, 14 Ceremonial items, for ApolloSoyuz test project A: 2: 202–3 Cernan, Eugene A: 1: 154, 155, 182 PS: 196 Chaffee, Roger. See also Apollo 1 crew A: 1: 171–73, 175 B: 11, 12 (ill.), 17–19, 18 (ill.), 133 PS: 72, 104 Chagas’s disease B: 58 Chaika (Seagull) B: 183 Challenger, A: 2: 252; PS: 130, 136–44. See also Space shuttles Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle (Reagan), PS: 139–41 Bluford, Guy and, B: 39


crew, A: 1: 175; 2: 255–57, 256 (ill.); B: 42–50, 43 (ill.) explosion, A: 1: 175; 2: 239, 254–62, 315; B: 21, 47–48, 48 (ill.), 175; PS: 130, 136–39, 138 (ill.), 190 missions, A: 2: 252, 253–54, 255–57, 260 Remarks Announcing the Winner of the Teacher in Space Project (Bush), PS: 133–36 Ride, Sally and, B: 174–75 solid-fuel rocket boosters, A: 2: 257–58, 260–61 Chandra (Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility) PS: 171, 172 Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) A: 2: 321 Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan A: 2: 322, 322 (ill.) PS: 171 Chang-Díaz, Franklin B: 51–60, 52 (ill.), 56 (ill.) Charles, John B: 76 Chawla, Kalpana A: 1: 175; 2: 266 PS: 178, 179 (ill.) Chelomei, Vladimir Nikolayev B: 126 Chemical explosives, in early weapons A: 1: 48 Chichén Itzá, Mexico A: 1: 17–19; 2: 277 Chile, northern A: 2: 286, 292, 299 Chilton, Kevin A: 2: 227 (ill.) Chimpanzee in space (Ham) A: 1: 143 PS: 63, 68, 69 (ill.) China. See also People’s Republic of China and gunpowder, A: 1: 48–49 Lucid’s childhood in, B: 136–37 Moon plans, B: 21, 219 Yang Liwei, A: 1: 156 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Chinese astronaut, Yang Liwei B: 214–19 Chinese official, exploding A: 1: 50 Christianity, and astronomy A: 1: 32–35, 38–41 Chromatic aberration, A: 2: 282–84 defined, A: 2: 274 “The Chronic Argonauts” (Wells) B: 208 Churchill, Winston A: 1: 86 (ill.), 89, 94 (ill.), 94–95 Circumpolar constellations A: 1: 13–14 Civil rights movement, experienced by Mae Jemison B: 115–16 Civil War (American) PS: 3 Civilian applications, of space shuttle PS: 122 Civilian in space B: 43, 43 (ill.), 46, 47 PS: 47, 156 Clark, Laurel A: 1: 175; 2: 266 PS: 178, 179 (ill.) Clark University A: 1: 70–71 B: 82 Clear sky, for ground-based observatory A: 2: 287 Clementine space probe A: 2: 340 Clinton, Bill A: 1: 125 PS: 158 (ill.), 162 CM. See Command module (Apollo spacecraft) CNES. See National Center for Space Studies (CNES) Cobb, Geraldyn “Jerrie,” B: 147 (ill.), 149–50, 152–53, 154; PS: 76–78, 80, 81 (ill.), 88 meets with President Johnson, PS: 83–86 COBE. See Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)

Cochran, Jackie A: 1: 140 PS: 76, 85 Cockrell, Kenneth D. B: 100 Cold War, A: 1: 85–105; 2: 187–89, 333; B: 1, 13, 22, 61, 106, 121, 147, 180, 201; PS: 46, 50–51, 75, 188 beginning of weapons race, A: 1: 99–101 Bolshevik revolution, A: 1: 87–90 defined, A: 1: 88–89, 108, 130, 163; 2: 190, 335 détente, A: 2: 194–96 early Soviet and U.S. relations, A: 1: 90–93 Manhattan Project, A: 1: 97–98 McCarthyism, A: 1: 102–4 origin of term, A: 1: 87 Potsdam Conference, A: 1: 96–97 rocket technology in, A: 1: 104–5 “space race,” A: 1: 131–39, 150 Sputnik and, A: 1: 104–5 U.S. fears spread of communism, A: 1: 101–2 World War II, A: 1: 93–95 Yalta Conference, A: 1: 94–95 Cold weather, and Challenger launch A: 2: 257 B: 47–48 PS: 137–38 Collier’s magazine, A: 1: 110; 2: 211; PS: 24 spaceflight series, A: 1: 111 Collins, Eileen B: 154 PS: 88 Collins, Michael A: 1: 155, 178 B: 4, 5, 5 (ill.), 6, 28, 30 PS: 72, 104–8, 105 (ill.), 113 (ill.) Collins, Michael, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr., PS: 102–15 excerpts from “The Eagle Has Landed” in Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, PS: 108–12

Collins, Michael, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

7

Columbia, A: 2: 237 (ill.), 248 crew, A: 2: 266 disaster, A: 1: 175; 2: 235, 239, 265–70, 318–19 missions, A: 2: 252, 255, 260, 263–64, 323 Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), A: 2: 267–70; B: 44, 102, 111, 176; PS: 178–80, 184 (ill.), 190 recommendations for NASA, A: 2: 268–69 Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, PS: 181–85 Columbia command module (Apollo 11). See also Saturn 5 rocket A: 1: 178 B: 4, 28, 30 PS: 103, 105, 109 (ill.), 113 (ill.) Columbia Memorial Station (Mars) PS: 186 Columbia missions, PS: 177 (ill.), 179 (ill.) Chang-Díaz, Franklin, B: 54–55 Lucid, Shannon, B: 140–41 Columbia space shuttle disaster, B: 21, 44, 44 (ill.), 102, 111–12, 176; PS: 130, 175–87, 182 (ill.), 184 (ill.), 190 causes delay of International Space Station (ISS), PS: 190 excerpts from CAIB Report, Volume 1 (NASA), PS: 181–85 President Bush mourns crew, PS: 178, 199 service missions to Hubble Space Telescope canceled, PS: 170, 190 Columbiad (fictional spacecraft) PS: 3 Comet research, Spartan-Halley comet research observatory B: 47 Comets, A: 2: 360–62 Borrelly, A: 2: 361 8

Columbia

discovery of, A: 2: 326 Halley’s, A: 2: 361 Hyakutake, A: 2: 312 Shoemaker-Levy 9, A: 2: 317, 341 67/PChurymov-Gerasimenko, A: 2: 362 Wild 2, A: 2: 361 Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon (Histoire comique des états et empires de la lune) (Cyrano de Bergerac) A: 1: 61 Command module (Apollo spacecraft) A: 1: 167, 170–71, 172 (ill.) B: 14 PS: 103, 109 (ill.), 113 (ill.) Command module (ApolloSoyuz) A: 2: 188 (ill.) Commander, of space shuttle A: 2: 238 Commemorative items, for Apollo-Soyuz test project A: 2: 202–3 Commercial space travel, A: 1: 151; 2: 229; B: 9 Aldrin, Buzz, B: 6–8 Commission of the Status of Women PS: 84 Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (CPUO) A: 2: 194 Common docking unit, of Apollo-Soyuz test project A: 2: 198–99 Communications satellites A: 1: 132 Communism, A: 1: 87–90, 101–2 defined, A: 1: 88–89 Lenin, Vladimir I., A: 1: 89–90, 90 (ill.) Marx, Karl, on, A: 1: 89–90 spread of, A: 1: 101–2; 2: 195 Communist Party A: 1: 90–92 Complete Compendium of Military Classics (Wu-ching Tsungyao) A: 1: 49

Compton, Arthur Holly A: 2: 319, 320 (ill.) Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CXO), A: 2: 264, 318 (ill.), 319–21 purpose of, A: 2: 323 reentry of, A: 2: 321 Concave lens, A: 2: 278–79, 283 (ill.) defined, A: 2: 274 Confederacy, and Hale rockets A: 1: 56–57 Congress. See United States Congress Congreve rocket A: 1: 55–56 Congreve, William A: 1: 55 Conrad, Charles “Pete,” Jr. A: 1: 152–53, 155–56, 179; 2: 219 (ill.), 220 Constantine, emperor of Rome A: 1: 32 Constellations, A: 1: 2 (ill.), 6–9, 12–13, 14–16; 2: 276 changes in patterns over time, A: 1: 9; 2: 276 circumpolar, A: 1: 13–14 defined, A: 1: 4; 2: 274 groupings of stars in, A: 1: 7 names of, A: 1: 8–9, 14–16 oldest known drawings of, A: 1: 8 Constellation-X A: 2: 329 Constitution A: 2: 251 PS: 131 Convex lens, A: 2: 278–79, 283 (ill.) defined, A: 2: 274 Cooper, Gordon A: 1: 141, 146, 152–53 B: 148 (ill.), 149 PS: 61, 61 (ill.), 64, 72, 75 Cooper, Henry S. F. PS: 153 Cooperation, in space exploration. See also Apollo-Soyuz test project; International Space Station (ISS); Mir space station A: 2: 196–205


Copernican model of planetary motion. See also Heliocentric (Sun-centered) model of planetary motion Galileo and, A: 1: 40 Copernicus, Nicolaus A: 1: 33–35, 34 (ill.) B: 96–97 Copernicus satellite A: 2: 309–10 Core module, of Mir A: 2: 223–24 Corona, defined A: 2: 190, 304 CORONA spy satellites A: 1: 124–25 Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) A: 2: 317 Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) A: 2: 313–14 Cosmic microwave background radiation A: 2: 290, 303, 313–14, 329 Cosmic order, in ancient cultures A: 1: 15–19 Cosmic radiation, A: 2: 334 defined, A: 2: 335 “Cosmic rocket trains” A: 1: 68–69 B: 192–93 Cosmology in ancient cultures, A: 1: 15–19 Pythagoras, A: 1: 25 Cosmonaut training program, B: 63 Tereshkova, Valentina, in, B: 183 Cosmonauts, A: 1: 128. See also American Astronauts Gagarin, Yuri, B: 61–68 Tereshkova, Valentina, B: 180–87 Costa Rican astronaut, ChangDíaz, Franklin B: 51–60 COSTAR. See Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Countdown terminology A: 2: 244 Cowings, Patricia B: 117, 119 CPUO. See Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (CPUO) Crab Nebula A: 2: 290 Craftsmen, and lensmaking A: 2: 278–80 Crawler, for space shuttle A: 2: 244 Crew Exploration Vehicle A: 2: 269 PS: 131, 185, 195–96 Crew quarters of Mir, A: 2: 224 of space shuttle orbiter, A: 2: 240–41 Crippen, Robert L. A: 2: 252 Crossfield, Scott PS: 68, 70 “Crossing the Last Frontiers” (von Braun) PS: 25 Crux (constellation) A: 1: 14 CSM. See Command module (Apollo spacecraft) Cuban cosmonaut, TamayoMéndez, Arnaldo B: 39 Cultures, and names of constellations A: 1: 14–16 Cunningham, R. Walter A: 1: 174 CXO. See Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CXO) “Cycler” B: 8 Cygnus (constellation) A: 1: 9, 11

D Dark matter, defined A: 2: 274, 304 Dark skies, for ground-based observatory A: 2: 287

Das Marsproject (von Braun) PS: 38 Das Mondauto (The Moon Car) (Oberth) B: 161 Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums: Der Raketenmotor (The Problem of Space Travel: The Rocket Motor) (Potocnik) A: 2: 211 Day, A: 1: 10 sidereal, A: 1: 4, 10 solar, A: 1: 4, 10, 11 The Day the Earth Stood Still (film) A: 1: 108 De caelo (On the Heavens) (Aristotle) A: 1: 25 de Gaulle, Charles A: 2: 196 De la pirotechnia (On Working with Fire) (Biringuccio) A: 1: 52–53 De mirabilibus mundi (On the Wonders of the World) (Albertus Magnus) A: 1: 50 De nova stella (Concerning a New Star) (Brahe) A: 1: 36 De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres) (Copernicus) A: 1: 34 Decent module (Apollo-Soyuz) A: 2: 188 (ill.) Declaration on Liberated Europe A: 1: 95 Deep Space 1 space probe A: 2: 361 Defense-related rocket research B: 83, 85 DeLay, Tom PS: 193 Delta-winged orbiter, of space shuttle A: 2: 239–41, 240 (ill.), 243 (ill.), 244–48 DeLucas, Lawrence J. B: 58 DeLucas, Lawrence J.

9

Democracy, A: 1: 90 defined, A: 1: 88–89 Deneb (star) A: 1: 9, 11 Depression, and Aldrin, Buzz B: 8 Descartes Highlands A: 1: 182 Destiny control module, of International Space Station A: 2: 233 Destiny laboratory (U.S. ISS module) B: 111 Détente A: 2: 190, 194–96 Dialogo Galilei linceo . . . sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo (Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World) (Galileo) A: 1: 40 Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World (Dialogo Galilei linceo . . . sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo) (Galileo) A: 1: 40 Die Rakete zu den Planeträumen (The Rocket into Planetary Space) (Oberth) A: 1: 75; 2: 210 B: 159–60 Dietrich, Jan B: 150 PS: 77 Dietrich, Marion B: 150–51 PS: 77 Dirigible B: 191 Discoverer 14 A: 1: 125 Discovery missions, A: 2: 252, 262, 264, 317; B: 55 (ill.); PS: 129 Bluford, Guy, B: 39 Chang-Díaz, Franklin, B: 54–55, 57 Glenn, John, B: 76, 77; PS: 91–92, 96–99 Hubble Space Telescope, B: 99 10

Democracy

Lucid, Shannon, B: 139 Ochoa, Ellen, B: 168–69 and Spacelab-J, B: 116–17 Discrimination, against women in space program PS: 86–87 Disney, Walt A: 1: 110; 2: 211 DM. See Docking Module (Apollo-Soyuz) Dobrovolsky, Georgy A: 1: 175; 2: 192, 213 Docking module (Apollo-Soyuz) A: 2: 188 (ill.), 198–200 Docking system, defined A: 2: 190 “Dog days of summer” A: 1: 11–13 Dog in space B: 64, 64 (ill.) PS: 46 Dog Star (Sirius) A: 1: 6, 11–13 Dollard, John A: 2: 283 Dominance in space. See also Cold War B: 13 Dornberger, Walter B: 199 PS: 26 Draco (constellation) A: 1: 10, 14 Drake, Francis PS: 140–41 Drayton, Ken B: 25 “Dreams of the Earth and Sky and the Effects of Universal Gravitation” (Tsiolkovsky) A: 1: 65–66 B: 192 Dryden, Hugh L. A: 1: 126 (ill.) Duke, Charles M., Jr. A: 1: 182 PS: 110 Dwarf galaxies A: 2: 293 Dynasoar (experimental spacecraft) B: 26

E EAC. See European Astronaut Corps (EAC) EADS Phoenix space shuttle A: 2: 267 “The Eagle Has Landed” (Collins and Aldrin) PS: 102–15 Eagle lunar landing module, A: 1: 178; B: 2, 28, 29 (ill.), 30; PS: 54 (ill.), 103, 105–7 for Apollo 11, B: 4 Earth. See also the Origins Initiative; Precession ancient Greeks and, A: 1: 25–31 artificial, concept of, B: 192 axis of, A: 1: 9–10, 28 circumference of, A: 1: 27 distance from Moon, A: 1: 29 distance from Sun, A: 1: 5–6 in early astronomy, B: 96–97 magnetic field, A: 1: 120 movement through space, A: 1: 9–14 orbit around Sun, A: 1: 11 origins of life on, PS: 164 returning to, in Project Mercury, PS: 62–63 shape of, A: 1: 9 shuttle orbit of, A: 2: 247 from space, A: 1: 177; 2: 233; PS: 95, 99, 197 (ill.) Earth from space Armstrong, Neil, on, B: 32 Gagarin, Yuri, on, B: 65 Ochoa, Ellen, B: 168 returning to, B: 13, 183–84 Yang Liwei, B: 217 Earth-centered model of planetary motion. See Geocentric (Earth-centered) model of planetary motion EarthKAM B: 177 “Earthrise” (photograph) A: 1: 177 Earth’s atmosphere filters cosmic radiation, A: 2: 276 limits telescopes, A: 2: 276, 286, 287; B: 97–98 ozone layer, A: 2: 306


East Germany A: 1: 101 Eastern Europe A: 1: 95 Eating in space on Mir, PS: 151 von Braun, Wernher, envisions, PS: 34–35 Eclipse defined, A: 1: 24 lunar, A: 1: 19, 25, 26 solar, A: 1: 19 Ecliptic A: 2: 335, 364 Education in math and science Jemison, Mae, B: 118–20 Ride, Sally, B: 176–78 Education in science and moon race, PS: 56 and NASA, PS: 163, 169 (ill.), 171 Edwards Air Force Base A: 2: 247, 251 PS: 66, 71 Egyptians (ancient) calendar, A: 1: 22 (ill.) and “dog days of summer,” A: 1: 11–13 EHF range. See Extremely High Frequency (EHF) range Eichstadt, Konrad Kyser von A: 1: 51 Einstein Cross quasar A: 2: 316 Einstein Observatory A: 2: 321 Eisele, Donn F. A: 1: 174 Eisenhower, Dwight D., A: 1: 118; 2: 195; B: 148, 201–2; PS: 38, 43, 47, 60, 69, 75, 102, 125–26 and space race, A: 1: 132 and spy satellites, A: 1: 124 El Caracol A: 1: 17–19, 18 (ill.) Elderly, Glenn tests effects of space travel on PS: 91 (ill.), 91–92, 99 Electrical engineer, Ochoa, Ellen B: 164–71 Electrical interference, and radio astronomy A: 2: 288 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Electromagnetic radiation, A: 2: 273–76, 301–7 defined, A: 1: 4, 108; 2: 274, 304 forms of, A: 2: 273, 276 wavelength and frequency, A: 2: 273 Electromagnetic spectrum, A: 2: 273, 303, 306 (ill.) defined, A: 2: 304 Electronic tags, for International Space Station equipment B: 109 Elliptical orbit, of Compton X-ray Observatory A: 2: 323 Elliptical orbit theory, Kepler, Johannes, and A: 1: 38, 43 Encounter with Tiber (Aldrin and Barnes) B: 9, 9 (ill.) Endeavor missions, A: 2: 252, 260, 262–63, 263 (ill.), 265, 316; B: 50; PS: 130 Chang-Díaz, Franklin, B: 57 Jemison, Mae, B: 114, 117 repair mission to Hubble Space Telescope, B: 99–100 Unity node (U.S. ISS component), B: 109–10 Enewetak, Marshall Islands A: 1: 99 Engineers Aldrin, Buzz, B: 1–10 Bluford, Guy, B: 34–41 Korolev, Sergei, B: 121–27 Ochoa, Ellen, B: 164–71 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, B: 188–94; PS: 40–41 von Braun, Wernher, B: 195–204 Engines, of space shuttle A: 2: 240 (ill.), 242, 243 (ill.) England Congreve rockets, A: 1: 55–56 Hale rockets, A: 1: 56–57 War of 1812, A: 1: 55–56 Enterprise space shuttle A: 2: 251 B: 98–99 PS: 130

Epicycles A: 1: 24, 31 Eratosthenes A: 1: 27 Eros (asteroid) A: 2: 363 ESA. See European Space Agency (ESA) Escape velocity defined, A: 1: 48, 163; 2: 335 Goddard, Robert, and, A: 1: 71 Eudoxus of Cnidus A: 1: 25 Euromir 94 space station mission B: 90 Europa (moon) A: 2: 356 Europe, gunpowder in A: 1: 50–55 European Astronaut Corps (EAC) B: 91 European Retrievable Carrier satellite B: 55 European Southern Observatory A: 2: 299 European Space Agency (ESA), A: 2: 230; B: 87, 214; PS: 190 countries of, A: 2: 324 EADS Phoenix space shuttle, A: 2: 267 European Astronaut Corps (EAC), B: 91 and Hubble Space Telescope, B: 99 and space observatories, A: 2: 310–12, 315, 324–26 and space probes, A: 2: 341, 346–47, 351, 357–58, 362, 363 EUVE. See Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) EVA. See Extravehicular activities (EVAs) (spacewalks) Evans, Ronald E. A: 1: 182 “Evening star.” See Venus Evolution B: 207 Exercise, on Mir B: 143–44 PS: 148 Exercise, on Mir

11

Exercise, on Skylab A: 2: 218, 221 Exhaust velocity, defined A: 1: 48 Expedition-8 (ISS) PS: 191 Experimental aircraft and spacecraft Armstrong, Neil, B: 24–26 Goddard, Robert H., A: 1: 73; B: 85 Oberth, Hermann, B: 161–62 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, B: 190–93; PS: 40–41 Experimental method, modern, Galileo (Galileo Galilei) A: 1: 39 Experiments. See also individual astronauts and shuttle missions exploring origins of life and space, PS: 163–65 on Friendship 7, B: 72 Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment, B: 31 on Mir, B: 143; PS: 149, 152–53, 157 on Moon, A: 1: 182 and Project Gemini, A: 1: 153 and Project Mercury, PS: 70–71 on reaching extreme altitudes (Goddard), PS: 14–19 on Skylab, A: 2: 220–21 on space shuttle, A: 2: 264, 265; PS: 122 on space stations, A: 2: 209, 233–35 on Spacelab, A: 2: 253 (ill.), 254 Exploration ages of, A: 1: 59–61 literature and, A: 1: 61–63 “Exploration of the Universe with Reaction Machines” (Tsiolkovsky) A: 1: 66 Explorer 1 satellite A: 1: 81, 114, 122–24, 123 (ill.), 132 B: 201 PS: 37 12

Exercise, on Skylab

Exploring Our Solar System (Ride) B: 178 Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume 1: Organizing for Exploration PS: 116, 160 Explosive weapons A: 1: 48 External fuel tank, of space shuttle A: 2: 242–43, 243 (ill.), 244, 246 Extravehicular activities (EVAs) (spacewalks), A: 1: 148, 152, 156, 157–58, 182. See also Spacewalks Cernan, Eugene, A: 1: 155 and International Space Station, B: 109 untethered, A: 2: 254 White, Edward, B: 17 Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) A: 2: 312 Extremely High Frequency (EHF) range A: 2: 289 Eye, in stargazing A: 2: 277 Eyeglasses A: 2: 278 Eyepiece, of telescope A: 2: 282

F Fabian, John M. B: 174 FAI. See International Aeronautical Foundation (FAI) Faint-object camera, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95, 96 Faint-object spectrograph, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95, 96 Faith 7 A: 1: 146 PS: 64

Far Infrared and Submillimeter Telescope (Herschel Telescope) A: 2: 329 Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) A: 2: 312–13 Farming societies, and regular observation of sky A: 1: 15–16 Fast solar wind A: 2: 364 “Father of astronautics.” See Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin F8U Crusader B: 71 PS: 90 Female astronauts. See Women astronauts Feoktistov, Konstantin A: 1: 149 Fighter pilots Aldrin, Buzz, B: 3 Armstrong, Neil, B: 24 Bluford, Guy, B: 36 Glenn, John, B: 71 Filipchenko, Anatoli V. A: 1: 179 Fincke, Edward Michael PS: 157, 200 Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life (Jemison) B: 118 Fire arrows, as first rockets A: 1: 49 (ill.), 49–50 Fire, in cockpit of Apollo/Saturn 204 B: 19–20 Fire pots, as weapons A: 1: 48 Firecrackers A: 1: 48 “Fireflies” A: 1: 145–46 Fireworks, A: 1: 48 components of, A: 1: 49 First satellite, PS: 40–49, 41 (ill.), 45 (ill.), 74 “Announcement of the First Satellite” (originally published in Pravda), PS: 43–45


Firsts African American in space, A: 2: 253–54; B: 39 American artificial satellite, A: 1: 81, 114 American in space, B: 12, 74, 106; PS: 63, 92 American rocketeers, A: 1: 56 American to orbit earth, B: 69, 72–75 American woman in space, A: 2: 253; B: 37, 172 animal in space, B: 64, 64 (ill.) attempt to land a human on the moon, B: 26–30 human in space, A: 1: 135; B: 12–13, 106; PS: 46, 51, 92, 116, 189 human to meet another spacecraft in orbit, A: 1: 155 human to set foot on the moon, B: 28–29, 32–33 human-made object to land on the Moon, A: 2: 336–38 joint U.S.-Russian space shuttle mission, B: 55–56 liquid-propellant rocket launch, A: 1: 72; B: 79, 83 manned Moon flight, B: 133–34 metal-body rocket, A: 1: 54–55 minority and women, B: 37 orbital docking, A: 1: 154 satellite, A: 1: 114–18 satellite launch, B: 13 space shuttle, A: 2: 260 space stations, A: 2: 207–17; B: 104–6; PS: 146 spacewalk, A: 1: 148, 148 (ill.), 149, 163; 2: 198; B: 17 woman in space, B: 106, 136, 153, 180–87 Fisher, Anna Lee B: 139 Fission, nuclear A: 1: 97 Five Weeks in a Balloon (Verne) A: 1: 61 Flag, American, on Moon PS: 111–12, 113 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Flags, ceremonial, for ApolloSoyuz test project A: 2: 202 Flammable weapons A: 1: 48 Flash powder, in Goddard’s experiments A: 1: 72 PS: 14 Fletcher, James, B: 175; PS: 116–25, 117 (ill.), 125 (ill.) “NASA Document III-31: The Space Shuttle,” PS: 118–24 Flickinger, Donald B: 149 PS: 68, 75–76, 79–82 Flight director, duties of B: 130 Flight: My Life in Mission Control (Kraft) B: 134 Flight path (trajectory), of spacecraft PS: 41 Flight, theories of B: 190–91 “Flopnik” A: 1: 120 Flyby, A: 2: 333 defined, A: 2: 335 Foale, C. Michael A: 2: 225 B: 100 PS: 191–92 Foam insulation A: 2: 268 B: 44, 111–12 PS: 178–80, 181, 183, 190 Focal length A: 2: 282 Focus, defined A: 2: 274 Focus, of telescope A: 2: 282 Food in space aboard Apollo flights, A: 1: 180 on Mir, PS: 148, 151 von Braun, Wernher, envisions, PS: 34–35 Force, A: 1: 53 defined, A: 1: 48 Ford, Gerald R. A: 2: 201

Foresight A: 2: 277 Fort McHenry (Baltimore, Maryland), battle of A: 1: 45–47, 46 (ill.), 56 Fossils, microscopic, from Mars meteorite PS: 167 (ill.) Founding fathers of modern rocketry. See Goddard, Robert H.; Oberth, Hermann; Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin; von Braun, Wernher Fra Mauro Highlands B: 74 PS: 92 France early military rockets, A: 1: 51 Napoleonic Wars, A: 1: 55 Frau im Mond (Woman on the Moon) (film) A: 1: 76 B: 160 Frederick II, king of Denmark A: 1: 36 Freedom 7 A: 1: 143, 162 Freedom space station. See also International Space Station (ISS) A: 2: 230 B: 108, 140 Freeman, Fred PS: 26 French astronauts Haigneré, Claudie, B: 87–93 Haigneré, Jean-Pierre, B: 90, 90 (ill.) Frequency(ies) in electromagnetic radiation, A: 2: 273, 301–3 radio, A: 2: 288–89 Friendship 7, A: 1: 142 (ill.); B: 13, 72–75, 73 (ill.); PS: 63, 93, 96, 102, 189 experiments on, B: 72 heat shield incident, A: 1: 144; B: 72–74, 132 Froissart, Jean A: 1: 51 Froissart, Jean

13

From the Earth to the Moon: Passage Direct in Ninetyseven Hours and Twenty Minutes (Verne) A: 1: 62, 74, 107 (ill.) B: 159 PS: 5–9, 6 (ill.), 8 (ill.) Fronsperger, Leonhart A: 1: 51 Fuel for moon ship, von Braun, Wernher, envisions PS: 32 Fuel, rocket PS: 14 Fuel tank (external), of space shuttle A: 2: 242–43, 243 (ill.), 244, 246 PS: 98, 129 Fullerton, C. Gordon A: 2: 251 Funk, Wally B: 147 (ill.), 151, 152, 154 PS: 77, 77 (ill.), 88 FUSE. See Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) Fusion, nuclear, A: 1: 99 defined, A: 1: 4

G Gagarin, Yuri, A: 1: 135–37, 136 (ill.); B: 61–68, 62 (ill.) awards, B: 66–67 dies in training crash, A: 1: 175–76; B: 67 early life, B: 61–63 hailed as hero, B: 65–66 pioneers human space flight, A: 1: 135–36, 162; 2: 189; B: 12–13, 63–65, 121, 131, 153, 180; PS: 46, 51, 92, 116, 189 prepares for aviation career, B: 63 Galaxies, A: 1: 1–8; 2: 293; B: 97 Andromeda, A: 1: 6; 2: 285, 295 defined, A: 1: 4; 2: 274 Hubble Deep Field, A: 2: 317 Hubble’s study of, A: 2: 295, 313 14

Milky Way, A: 1: 1–2 redshift of, A: 2: 295–96 Galilean moons A: 1: 39–40 Galileo (Galileo Galilei) A: 1: 38–41, 40 (ill.), 182; 2: 279–83, 281 (ill.) B: 97 Galileo spacecraft A: 2: 264, 334, 353 B: 54, 139 Gamma Cephi (star) A: 1: 10 Gamma ray blazers A: 2: 321 Gamma ray bursts A: 2: 320 Gamma Ray Large Area Telescope (GLAST) A: 2: 329 Gamma rays, A: 2: 273, 306 (ill.), 307; B: 100; PS: 165 defined, A: 1: 108; 2: 274, 304 Ganymede (moon) A: 2: 356 Garn, Jake A: 2: 254 Garriot, Owen K. A: 2: 220 GAS payloads (Small SelfContained Payloads, or Getaway Specials) B: 139 Gases, kinetic theory of A: 1: 64 Gauss, Carl Friedrich A: 1: 111 Gehman, Harold W., Jr. A: 2: 267–70 Gellius, Aulus A: 1: 47 Gemini (Molly Brown) B: 16 Gemini North Telescope A: 2: 297 Gemini Project. See Project Gemini Gemini spacecraft program, A: 1: 150–58 dimensions of, A: 1: 150 Gemini 3, A: 1: 151 Gemini 4, A: 1: 152; B: 6–17 Gemini 5, A: 1: 152–53

From the Earth to the Moon

Gemini 6, A: 1: 153 Gemini 7, A: 1: 153–54 Gemini 8, A: 1: 154; B: 7 (ill.); PS: 104 Gemini 9, A: 1: 154–55 Gemini 10, A: 1: 155; PS: 104 Gemini 11, A: 1: 155–56 Gemini 12, A: 1: 157–58; B: 3; PS: 104 Geocentric (Earth-centered) model of planetary motion Aristotle, A: 1: 25 (ill.), 25–26 Brahe, Tycho, A: 1: 36–37 defined, A: 1: 24 Ptolemy, A: 1: 29–33 Geophysics A: 1: 113 George C. Marshall Space Flight Center A: 1: 82 B: 202 PS: 37 Geosynchronous orbit, A: 2: 310 defined, A: 2: 304 German Army Ordnance Office rocket program B: 198 German Rocket Society (Verein für Raumschiffahrt) B: 160, 197 German scientists, A: 1: 130 Oberth, Hermann, A: 1: 74–79, 75 (ill.); B: 156–63, 197 von Braun, Wernher, B: 79, 161, 195–204; PS: 24–26, 38 Germany and development of V-2 rocket, A: 1: 130; B: 124 divided after World War II, A: 1: 101 early military rockets, A: 1: 51, 73 World War II, A: 1: 73, 93, 95; B: 160–61, 197–99 Gernsback, Hugo PS: 10 Getaway Specials (Small SelfContained Payloads, or GAS payloads) B: 139 Gibson, Edward G. A: 2: 221


Gibson, Robert “Hoot” B: 141 Gidzenko, Yuri A: 2: 234 B: 110 Giotto space probe A: 2: 361 GIRD. See Group for Investigation of Reactive Motion (GIRD) GIRD-9 and GIRD-10 B: 123, 124 Glassmaking, and lenses A: 2: 278 GLAST. See Gamma Ray Large Area Telescope (GLAST) Glenn, John, A: 1: 141, 144; B: 13, 69–78, 70 (ill.), 73 (ill.), 148 (ill.), 149; PS: 56, 61, 61 (ill.), 63, 75, 91 (ill.), 94 (ill.), 97 (ill.), 102, 189 orbits Earth, B: 71–73, 132 tests space travel for older people, B: 76–77; PS: 91–92, 97 (ill.), 99 Glenn, John, with Nick Taylor, PS: 90–101 excerpts from John Glenn: A Memoir, PS: 93–99 Glennan, T. Keith A: 1: 125–27, 126 (ill.) B: 148 PS: 75, 79 Glider, space shuttle as A: 2: 251 Gliders, Korolev, Sergei and B: 123 PS: 41 Glushko, Valentin Petrovich B: 123, 126 PS: 42 “Go-Cycler” B: 8 Goddard, Robert H., A: 1: 69–74, 70 (ill.); B: 79–86, 80 (ill.), 84 (ill.); PS: 12–23, 13 (ill.), 18 (ill.), 41–42 excerpt from A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes (Goddard), PS: 14–19 invents two-stage rocket, B: 82–83, 124 Goddard Space Flight Center A: 1: 74, 126 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Gods, of sky A: 1: 15 Godwin, Linda A: 2: 227 (ill.) Golf, on the Moon A: 1: 181 Gorbatko, Viktor V. A: 1: 179 Gordon, Richard F., Jr. A: 1: 155–56, 179 Gore, Al PS: 162 Gorelick, Sarah Lee. See Ratley, Sarah Grand Alliance (Allies), in World War II A: 1: 93–94 “The Graphical Depiction of Sensations” (Tsiolkovsky) B: 190 Gravitation, universal, Newton’s law of A: 1: 42 Gravity. See also Precession acceleration and, B: 191 defined, A: 1: 24 forces exerted on Earth by Sun and Moon, A: 1: 28, 29 (ill.) on Moon, B: 6 and Newton, Isaac, A: 1: 41–43 reduced, effect on humans, A: 2: 233 Gravity assist A: 2: 346 Great Art of Artillery (Artis magnae artileria) (Siemienowicz) A: 1: 53 Great Britain, and World War II A: 1: 93–94 Great Dark Spot (Neptune) A: 2: 360 Great Depression A: 1: 92 Great Observatories (NASA) A: 2: 264, 302 (ill.), 315 Great Square of Pegasus (constellation) A: 1: 11 Great Wall of China B: 218–19 Great Work (Opus Majus) (Bacon) A: 1: 50

The Greatest (Almagest; al-Majisti; He mathematike syntaxis; The Mathematical Compilation) (Ptolemy) A: 1: 30 Grechko, Georgi A: 2: 214–16 Greeks (ancient) and constellations, A: 1: 8–9 and “dog days of summer,” A: 1: 11–13 form foundation of modern astronomy, A: 1: 21–31 and Renaissance, A: 1: 33 Grissom, Gus, A: 1: 141, 143–44, 173; B: 11, 12 (ill.), 15 (ill.), 15–16, 72, 133, 148 (ill.), 149; PS: 61 (ill.), 62, 63, 72, 75, 104. See also Apollo 1 crew dies in Apollo/Saturn 204 spacecraft fire, A: 1: 171–73, 175 Gemini 3 flight, A: 1: 151, 163 Liberty Bell 7 flight, PS: 63 Ground-based observatories, A: 1: 15–19; 2: 271–300 ancient, A: 2: 276–77 best sites for, A: 2: 286–87 cost of, A: 2: 276 early telescopes as, A: 2: 278–85 giant, A: 2: 297–99 Hubble, Edwin, and, A: 2: 294–97 infrared astronomy at, A: 2: 292–93 modern telescopes in, A: 2: 285–87 optical astronomy at, A: 2: 293–99 radio astronomy at, A: 2: 287–92 Group for Investigation of Reactive Motion (GIRD) B: 123, 124 PS: 41 Grover’s Mills, New Jersey A: 1: 100 Gubarev, Aleksei A: 2: 214–16 Guggenheim, Daniel B: 84 Guggenheim, Daniel

15

Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics A: 1: 72 Guidance system (rocket), development of B: 84–85 Gunpowder Chinese and, A: 1: 48–50 defined, A: 1: 48 Europeans and, A: 1: 50–55 Guth, Alan A: 2: 314 Gyroscopes A: 1: 73; 2: 315–16

H Haas, Conrad, multistage rocket A: 1: 52 Haigneré, Claudie B: 87–93, 88 (ill.), 92 (ill.) Haigneré, Jean-Pierre, B: 89, 90, 90 (ill.), 92 (ill.) and Mir, B: 90, 90 (ill.), 107–8; PS: 157 Haise, Fred W., Jr. A: 1: 180–81; 2: 251 PS: 112 HALCA. See Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communications and Astronomy (HALCA) Hale, Edward Everett A: 2: 209 B: 106 PS: 145–46 Hale, George A: 2: 294 Hale rockets A: 1: 56–57 Hale Telescope (Palomar) A: 2: 272 (ill.) Hale, William A: 1: 56–57 Hall, Chester Moor A: 2: 283 Halley, Edmond A: 1: 42; 2: 361 Halley’s comet A: 2: 361 16

Guggenheim Fund

Halley’s comet, and SpartanHalley comet research observatory B: 47 Ham (chimpanzee in space) A: 1: 143 PS: 63, 69 (ill.) Handgun, first A: 1: 51 “Handshake in space.” See Apollo-Soyuz test project Hard landing, defined A: 2: 335 Harriot, Thomas A: 2: 279 Hart, Janey, A: 1: 140; B: 151, 152–53; PS: 77, 78 meets with President Johnson, PS: 83–86 Haruka satellite observatory A: 2: 328 Hawley, Steven A. B: 99 H-bomb. See Hydrogen bomb He mathematike syntaxis (The Mathematical Compilation; al-Majisti; Almagest; The Greatest) (Ptolemy) A: 1: 30 HEAO. See High Energy Astrophysical Observatories (HEAO) Heat shield incident, Friendship 7 B: 72–74, 132 PS: 91 Heavy Row PS: 96 Heel Stone (Stonehenge) A: 1: 17 Heliocentric (Sun-centered) model of planetary motion, A: 1: 26–27 Brahe, Tycho, A: 1: 36–37 Copernicus, Nicholas, A: 1: 33–35 defined, A: 1: 24 Galileo, A: 1: 40–41 Heliosphere, A: 2: 364 defined, A: 2: 335 Hellenism (Greek culture) defined, A: 1: 24 science and, A: 1: 24–25 spread of, A: 1: 23

Heresy, of Galileo A: 1: 40–41 Hero (Heron) of Alexandria A: 1: 47 Hero status, of astronauts A: 1: 133 Hero’s engine (aeolipile) A: 1: 47 Herrington, John Bennett B: 37 Herschel Telescope A: 2: 329 Herschel, William A: 2: 284, 358 Hewish, Antony A: 2: 290 High altitudes, for ground-based observatory A: 2: 287 High Energy Astrophysical Observatories (HEAO) A: 2: 319, 321 Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communications and Astronomy (HALCA) A: 2: 328 High-resolution spectrograph, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95, 96 High-speed photometer, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95 Himmler, Heinrich B: 199 PS: 26 Hipparchus A: 1: 27–30 Hiroshima, Japan A: 1: 97 Hispanic American astronaut, Ochoa, Ellen B: 164–71 Histoire comique des états et empires de la lune (Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon) (Cyrano de Bergerac) A: 1: 61 The History of Mr. Polly (Wells) B: 210 Hitler, Adolf A: 1: 79, 93 B: 197 PS: 26


Hixon, Jean B: 151 PS: 77 Ho Chi Minh A: 2: 195 Hobby-Eberly Telescope A: 2: 298 Hooker, John D. A: 2: 294 Hooker telescope A: 2: 294 Horizon marks, in ancient observatories A: 2: 277 Hornet (aircraft carrier) B: 6, 30 A House in the Sky (Cooper) PS: 153 House Un-American Activities Committee A: 1: 102 Houston, Texas A: 1: 152 HST. See Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Hsue-Shen, Tsien B: 216 Hubble, Edwin P. A: 2: 294–97, 313 B: 94, 97, 98 Hubble Space Telescope (HST), A: 2: 264, 302 (ill.), 315–19; B: 94–103, 95 (ill.); PS: 170, 190 Columbia and, PS: 181 future of, PS: 170, 199–200 history of, B: 97–99 repair missions to, A: 2: 316–18; B: 99–100 workings of, B: 95–96 Hubble Ultra Deep Field A: 2: 316 Hubble’s law A: 2: 295–96 Hundred Years War A: 1: 51, 52 (ill.) Huntress, Wesley PS: 163 Huntsville, Alabama A: 1: 78, 126; 2: 211 B: 161–62, 201 PS: 37 Hurricane Mitch PS: 98 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Husband, Rick D. A: 1: 175; 2: 266 PS: 178, 179 (ill.) Huxley, Aldous PS: 10 Huxley, Thomas B: 207 Huygens, Christiaan A: 2: 356 Hyakutake comet A: 2: 312 Hyder Ali (Haider Ali), first metal-body rocket A: 1: 54–55 Hydra (constellation) A: 1: 8 Hydrocarbon defined, A: 1: 48 liquid, A: 1: 67 Hydrogen bomb, A: 1: 99–100 defined, A: 1: 88–89 United States, A: 1: 99 Hydrogen, liquid A: 1: 67; 2: 242 Hyperbaric chamber, A: 2: 199–200 defined, A: 2: 190 Hypersonic flight A: 1: 166

I IAU. See International Astronomical Union (IAU) ICBM. See Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Ice, search for on Moon A: 2: 340–41 ICSU. See International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) IGY. See International Geophysical Year (IGY) Imaginary Lines B: 177 Inca A: 2: 277 India, Haider Ali (Hyder Ali) A: 1: 54–55 Inflationary theory (cosmology) A: 2: 304, 314 Infrared astronomy A: 2: 292–93, 326

Infrared radiation, A: 2: 273–76, 306, 306 (ill.), 324 defined, A: 2: 274, 304 far, A: 2: 312–13, 329 Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) A: 2: 326 Infrared telescopes A: 2: 292–93 Inquisition A: 1: 40–41 Instruments, in scientific observation A: 2: 278 Insulating foam B: 44, 111–12 Insulating thermal tiles, of space shuttle A: 2: 241–42, 250–51 Insulation (foam), on Columbia A: 2: 268 PS: 178–80, 181, 183, 190 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), A: 1: 98, 98 (ill.); B: 125 Atlas, A: 1: 132 Soviet, A: 1: 114–15 Interferometers, A: 2: 292, 298 defined, A: 2: 274 International Aeronautical Foundation (FAI) A: 1: 137; 2: 203 International Astronomical Union (IAU) A: 1: 8 International communications satellites B: 139, 174 International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) A: 1: 113 International Geophysical Year (IGY) A: 1: 111–14; 2: 187 International Geophysical Year, and Sputnik PS: 44–45 International participation, in spaceflight PS: 123 International Polar Year (IPY) A: 1: 112–13 International Science Camp, Jemison, Mae B: 118 International Science Camp

17

International Space Station (ISS), A: 2: 229–35, 230 (ill.), 232 (ill.); B: 44, 54, 104–13, 105 (ill.), 110 (ill.), 134, 169; PS: 83 (ill.), 145, 190–91 assembly phases, B: 108–11; PS: 202 Columbia tragedy causes delay, PS: 156–57 components of, A: 2: 232–33 Destiny laboratory module, A: 2: 229–35 dimensions, A: 2: 231 experiments on, A: 2: 233–35 largest international partnership in history, B: 104 main components, B: 109 space shuttle and, A: 2: 265 U.S. goals for, PS: 195 working on, PS: 200 Zarya control module, A: 2: 233 Zvezda service module, A: 2: 233 International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) A: 2: 310–12 Interorbital Systems B: 154 PS: 88 Interplanetary, defined A: 2: 335 Interplanetary medium, defined A: 2: 239 Interplanetary spacecraft. See Space probes Interstellar, defined A: 1: 108; 2: 304 Interstellar medium, A: 2: 310 defined, A: 2: 304 Inventors, Hale, William A: 1: 56–57 “Investigations of Outer Space by Reaction Devices” (Tsiolkovsky) B: 193 The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance (Wells) B: 206, 210 Io (moon) A: 2: 355 (ill.) Ionosphere, A: 1: 114 defined, A: 1: 108 18

IPY. See International Polar Year (IPY) Irwin, James B. A: 1: 181 The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Possibility (Wells) B: 206, 208–9 ISO. See Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) Israel, Ramon, Ilan A: 2: 266 ISS. See International Space Station (ISS) Italy, early military rockets A: 1: 51 Italy, Leonardo module (ISS component) B: 111 IUE. See International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE)

J James Webb Space Telescope A: 2: 316, 328 Jansky, Karl A: 2: 289–90 Japan Halley’s comet probe, A: 2: 361 Mars probe, A: 2: 350 small space-based observatories, A: 2: 328 and Spacelab-J, B: 116–17 and World War II, A: 1: 93, 97–98 Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) A: 2: 350 Jarvis, Gregory A: 1: 175; 2: 255, 256 (ill.) B: 43, 43 (ill.), 46 PS: 139 JAXA. See Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) The Jemison Group B: 117–18 The Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries B: 118 Jemison, Mae, B: 37, 114–20, 115 (ill.), 117 (ill.)


promotes science education, B: 118–20 starts her own companies, B: 117–18 Jessen, Gene Nora B: 147 (ill.), 151 PS: 77, 77 (ill.) Jesus of Nazareth A: 1: 32 Jet planes, and aircraft carriers PS: 21 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Lucid, Shannon B: 144 Jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) device A: 1: 73 Jettison, defined A: 1: 163 Jiuquan Launch Center (China) B: 216 Joan of Arc A: 1: 51, 52 (ill.) “Joe-1” A: 1: 99 John Glenn: A Memoir (Glenn, with Taylor) PS: 90–101 John Paul II, Pope A: 1: 41 Johnson, Lyndon B., meets with Cobb and Hart B: 152–53 PS: 78, 83–86 Johnson Space Center A: 1: 152 Jornada del muerto (Journey of the Dead) A: 1: 96 (ill.), 97 Journey to the Center of the Earth (Verne) A: 1: 61–62 PS: 2 Junk, in space A: 2: 236, 360 Juno 1 launch vehicle A: 1: 81, 122 Jupiter, A: 2: 264, 290, 353–56 moons of, A: 1: 39–40; 2: 281, 355–56 and Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet, A: 2: 317, 341 Jupiter C rocket A: 1: 81, 82 (ill.) B: 201


K Kaleri, Alexander PS: 192 Kaluga, Russia A: 1: 63 B: 190, 194 “Kaputnik” A: 1: 120 Kazakhstan A: 1: 99, 114 Keck Telescopes A: 2: 297–98, 298 (ill.) Kennedy, John F., A: 1: 137, 145 (ill.), 164 (ill.); 2: 195; B: 131 (ill.), 131–32; PS: 50–59, 51 (ill.), 64, 117, 126, 189 excerpt from Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs, PS: 52–55 and John Glenn, B: 75 speech at Rice University, PS: 58 vows to put man on the moon, A: 1: 160, 162; 2: 211; B: 11–12, 22, 107; PS: 58 Kennedy Space Center A: 1: 167; 2: 201, 244, 247 Kepler, Johannes A: 1: 37 (ill.), 37–38, 43; 2: 282 Kerwin, Joseph P. A: 2: 220 Key, Francis Scott A: 1: 45–47, 46 (ill.), 56 Khrunov, Yevgeny A: 1: 177 Khrushchev, Nikita A: 1: 119, 119 (ill.), 120, 135, 147 B: 66, 126, 183, 185 (ill.), 202 Kincheloe, Iven PS: 70 Kipps (Wells) B: 210 Kissinger, Henry A. A: 2: 196 Kizim, Leonid A: 2: 217 Klep, Rolf PS: 26 Klimuk, Pyotr A: 2: 215 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Komarov, Vladimir A: 1: 149, 174, 175 B: 67 Kondakova, Yelena Vladimirovna B: 144 Kopernik, Nicolause. See Copernicus, Nicolaus Korda, Alexander B: 212 Korean War Aldrin, Buzz, B: 3 Armstrong, Neil, B: 24 Glenn, John, B: 71; PS: 90 Korolev, Sergei, A: 1: 116, 119, 165; B: 65, 121–27, 122 (ill.); PS: 41–42 development of rocket technology, PS: 41–42, 103 develops R-7 rocket, B: 124–25 sent to prison, B: 123–24; PS: 47 Kosygin, Alexei A: 2: 196–97 Kraft, Christopher, B: 128–35, 129 (ill.) directs Mercury flights, B: 130–32 helps land men on Moon, B: 133–34 recalls Glenn flight, B: 132–33 Krikalev, Sergei A: 2: 234 B: 110 Kristall module A: 2: 224–25 Kubasov, Valeri A: 1: 179; 2: 198, 199 (ill.) Kummersdorf, Germany A: 1: 79 Kvant 1 module, of Mir A: 2: 224 Kvant 2 module, of Mir A: 2: 224

L Lacaille, Nicolas Louis de A: 1: 8 Laika (first animal in space) A: 1: 117 B: 64, 64 (ill.) PS: 46

Landing, hard, defined A: 2: 335 Landing, soft, defined A: 2: 335 Lang, Fritz A: 1: 76 B: 160 Langley Aeronautical Laboratory A: 1: 125 Languages, in Apollo-Soyuz test project A: 2: 198 Large Space Telescope (LST) project A: 2: 315 B: 98–99 PS: 72, 112, 117–18, 189–90 Latina American astronaut, Ochoa, Ellen B: 37 Latino astronauts Chang-Díaz, Franklin, B: 51–60 Neri Vela, Rodolfo, B: 37, 166 Law(s) of motion Newton, Isaac, A: 1: 42–43, 53 third, A: 1: 66–67 Lawrence, Robert Henry Jr. B: 37, 39 Laws of planetary motion, Kepler, Johannes A: 1: 37–38 Leadership and America’s Future in Space (Ride) B: 175–76 Lead-gold alloy, for ApolloSoyuz test project A: 2: 203 Lebedev, Vladimir B: 67 Lenin, Vladimir I. A: 1: 89–90, 90 (ill.), 130 Lens(es), A: 2: 278–79 achromatic, A: 2: 283 concave, A: 2: 274 convex, A: 2: 274 Leo (constellation) A: 1: 11 Leonardo module (Italian ISS component) B: 111 Leonov, Aleksei A: 1: 148, 148 (ill.), 149, 163; 2: 198–205, 199 (ill.) Leonov, Aleksei

19

Letter from Mir (excerpt)(Lucid) B: 143 Letters to John Glenn (Glenn) B: 75 Leverton, Irene B: 151 PS: 77 Leviathan of Parsonstown A: 2: 284 Lewis, C. S. PS: 10 Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory A: 1: 125 Liberty Bell 7 (Mercury spacecraft) A: 1: 143 B: 16 PS: 63 Library of Alexandria, Egypt, A: 1: 23–24 Eratosthenes, A: 1: 27 Life on earth, origins of PS: 164 Light, A: 2: 301 extreme ultraviolet, A: 2: 312 speed of, A: 1: 4–5; 2: 299 and time, A: 1: 5–6 visible, A: 2: 273, 278, 301 Light rays, distortion of A: 2: 287 Light-year, defined A: 1: 4; 2: 274–75, 304 Lindbergh, Charles A: 1: 72 PS: 21 Linenger, Jerry A: 2: 225 Lipmann, Walter A: 1: 87 Lippershey, Hans A: 1: 39; 2: 279 (ill.), 279–80 Liquid hydrocarbon A: 1: 67 Liquid hydrogen A: 1: 67; 2: 242 Liquid oxygen A: 1: 67; 2: 242 Liquid-fuel rocket, defined A: 1: 48 “Liquid-propellant Rocket Development” (Goddard) A: 1: 73 B: 85 20

Letter from Mir

Liquid-propellant rockets, A: 1: 67–69, 68 (ill.); B: 79, 83, 159; PS: 13–14, 42 in engines of space shuttle, A: 2: 240 (ill.), 242, 243 (ill.) first launch of, A: 1: 72 Oberth’s work on, A: 1: 74, 76, 77; B: 159–62 vs. solid-propellant rockets, A: 1: 68 (ill.); B: 192 (ill.) “Living on Mir: An Interview with Dr. Shannon Lucid” (Meyer) PS: 149–56 Liwei, Yang B: 214–19 Llactapata A: 2: 277 LM. See Lunar module Eagle Logsdon, John B: 176 L-1 spacecraft A: 1: 165–67; 2: 192 Long-range ballistic missiles A: 1: 130 Lousma, Jack R. A: 2: 220 Lovelace, W. Randolph, II A: 1: 140 B: 149 PS: 75–76, 79 Lovell, James Jr. A: 1: 153, 157, 176 (ill.), 176–77, 180–81 B: 3, 133–34 PS: 112 Low, George A: 2: 196 LRV. See Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) LST project. See Large Space Telescope (LST) project L-3 program A: 1: 165–67; 2: 192 Lubbock, Sir John William A: 1: 111 Lucid, Shannon, A: 2: 225, 226, 227 (ill.); B: 136–45, 137 (ill.), 140 (ill.), 142 (ill.); PS: 146 (ill.), 146–56, 152 (ill.), 157, 158 (ill.) learns Russian for Mir mission, B: 141

letter from Mir (excerpt), B: 143 spends six months in space, A: 2: 225; B: 107, 142–44 Luna 3 satellite B: 125 Luna 9 Moon landing B: 125 Luna space probe series (Soviet), A: 2: 336–38 Luna 1, A: 1: 162; 2: 189, 333, 336 Luna 2, A: 2: 189, 336–38 Luna 3, A: 1: 69; 2: 189, 337 Luna 9, A: 2: 337 Luna 13, A: 2: 337 Luna 15, A: 2: 337 Luna 16, A: 2: 337 Luna 17, A: 2: 337 Luna 21, A: 2: 337 Luna 24, A: 2: 337 Lunakhod Moon rovers A: 2: 337 Lunar eclipses A: 1: 19, 25, 26 Lunar landing, A: 1: 178–84; 2: 189; B: 4–6, 26–30, 29 (ill.), 133–34; PS: 54 (ill.), 107. See also Project Apollo Armstrong, Neil, PS: 110–11 Lunar landing research vehicle B: 27–28 Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment B: 31 Lunar module Eagle A: 1: 167–68, 170–71 B: 14, 29 (ill.) PS: 54 (ill.), 103, 105, 110–11 Lunar Orbiter space probe series (U.S.), A: 2: 339–40 Lunar Orbiter 3 space probe, A: 2: 339 Lunar Prospector A: 2: 340–41 Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) A: 1: 181 Luther, Martin A: 1: 34–35 Lyra (constellation) A: 1: 11


M Macedon A: 1: 21–23 Machu Picchu A: 2: 277 Magee, John Gillespie, Jr. PS: 141 Magellan spacecraft A: 2: 264, 346 Magnetic field, A: 1: 120 defined, A: 2: 335 Magnetism, defined A: 1: 108 Magnetite globules, in Mars meteorite PS: 161 Magnetosphere, defined A: 2: 335 Magnifying glasses A: 2: 278 al-Majisti (Almagest; The Greatest; The Mathematical Compilation; He mathematike syntaxis) (Ptolemy) A: 1: 30 “Making Science Make Sense” (Jemison) B: 118 Malina, Frank J. B: 85 Mallory, George PS: 58 Malyshev, Yuri A: 2: 215 (ill.) “Man on the Moon: The Journey” (von Braun) PS: 27–37 “Man and the Moon” (TV show) A: 1: 110 “Man in Space” (TV show) A: 1: 110 Man into Space (Menschen im Weltraum) (Oberth) B: 161 Manhattan Project A: 1: 97–98 PS: 52 Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) A: 2: 254 Manned spaceflight, A: 1: 128–59; 2: 189. See also PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Project Apollo; Project Gemini; Project Mercury basic technology for, B: 13, 72, 159 Fletcher, James, on, PS: 116–25 founders of, B: 79, 156, 188 physiological effects of, B: 118, 119, 197 private enterprise and, PS: 201 Soviet program for, A: 1: 117, 133–37; B: 63–67; PS: 43, 46 U.S. program for, A: 1: 127, 139–46; 2: 189, 248–49, 318–19; PS: 60–64, 91, 123 Mao Zedong A: 1: 101 Mariner space probes, A: 2: 342–43, 343 (ill.) Mariner 2, A: 2: 344 Mariner 3, A: 2: 347 Mariner 4, A: 2: 347–48 Mariner 6 and 7, A: 2: 348 Mariner 9, A: 2: 348–49 Mariner 10, A: 2: 342, 343 (ill.) Mars, A: 2: 347–53 inspires Robert H. Goddard, B: 81 Kepler, Johannes, and, A: 1: 38 as seen by Hubble Space Telescope, B: 100, 101 (ill.) “Mars and Beyond” (TV show) A: 1: 110 Mars Climate Orbiter space probe A: 2: 350–51 Mars exploration Mars Exploration Program, A: 2: 349, 351–53; PS: 171 Mars Global Surveyor, A: 2: 349, 352 (ill.); PS: 171–72 Rover Mission, A: 2: 351–53 Spirit rover, PS: 195 visions of, B: 8, 58–60, 134–35 von Braun on future of, PS: 25, 38 Mars Express space probe A: 2: 351

Mars Global Surveyor space probe A: 2: 349, 352 (ill.) PS: 171–72 Mars meteorite PS: 160–62, 161 (ill.), 164, 167 (ill.) Mars Odyssey space probe A: 2: 351 Mars 1–5 space probes A: 2: 347 Mars Pathfinder space probe A: 2: 349–50 Mars Polar Lander space probe A: 2: 350–51 The Mars Project (von Braun) B: 201 PS: 25 Mars rovers A: 2: 349–50, 352–53 PS: 171 Marshall Islands A: 1: 99 Marshall Space Flight Center A: 1: 126 Marsnik probes A: 1: 119 Martians A: 1: 100 Marx, Karl A: 1: 89–90 Mass, A: 1: 53 defined, A: 1: 48, 163 Materials Science A: 2: 233 Math and science education Jemison, Mae, and, B: 118–20 Ride, Sally, and, B: 176–78 The Mathematical Compilation (He mathematike syntaxis; alMajisti; Almagest; The Greatest) (Ptolemy) A: 1: 30 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica) (Newton) A: 1: 42 Mathematicians Aristarchus of Samos, A: 1: 26–27 Galileo (Galileo Galilei), A: 1: 38–41, 40 (ill.) Kepler, Johannes, A: 1: 37 (ill.), 37–38 Mathematicians

21

Newton, Isaac, A: 1: 41 (ill.), 41–43, 53, 60 (ill.), 66 Pythagoras, A: 1: 25 Mattingly, Thomas K., II A: 1: 182 Mauna Kea, Hawaii A: 2: 286, 297 Maxwell, James Clerk A: 1: 64 Mayan people, and El Caracol A: 1: 17–19 Mayans A: 2: 277 McAuliffe, Christa A: 1: 175; 2: 256, 256 (ill.) B: 43, 43 (ill.), 46, 47 PS: 133–36, 134 (ill.), 136 (ill.), 137, 138, 139 McCandless II, Bruce B: 99 McCarthy, Joseph R. A: 1: 102–4, 103 (ill.) McCarthyism A: 1: 102–4 McClellan, George B. A: 1: 57 McConnell, Malcolm B: 8–9 McCool, William C. A: 1: 175; 2: 266 PS: 178, 179 (ill.) McDivitt, James A A: 1: 152, 177 B: 16 McDonald Observatory A: 2: 298 McNair, Ronald A: 1: 175; 2: 255, 256 (ill.) B: 39, 42, 43 (ill.), 45 PS: 139 Mechanics, celestial, defined A: 1: 24 Medallions, commemorative, for Apollo-Soyuz test project A: 2: 202–3 Medical testing, in Project Mercury PS: 80–88 Melvill, Mike A: 1: 151 PS: 143, 201 Men from Earth (Aldrin and McConnell) B: 8–9 22

Mattingly, Thomas K., II

Men into Space (Oberth) B: 162 Ménière’s disease B: 74 PS: 92 Menschen im Weltraum (Man into Space) (Oberth) B: 161 Mercury A: 2: 342–43 Mercury 7, A: 1: 141; B: 146–49, 148 (ill.); PS: 74, 75, 91 public introduction of, PS: 79 Mercury 13, A: 1: 140; B: 146–55, 147 (ill.); PS: 73, 74–89 Cobb leads the way, B: 149–50 list of participants, B: 150–51 women’s program canceled, B: 152–54; PS: 77–78 The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight (Ackmann) B: 152 PS: 79–86 Mercury spacecraft program, A: 1: 141; PS: 67 (ill.). See also Project Mercury Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) probe A: 2: 342–43 Mercury Theater A: 1: 100 B: 210 PS: 4 Mercury-Atlas rocket A: 1: 142 Mercury-Atlas 6 spacecraft. See Friendship 7 Mercury-Redstone rocket A: 1: 142 MESSENGER probe. See Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) probe “Meteor bumper,” von Braun, Wernher, envisions PS: 33

Meteor Crater (Arizona) A: 2: 341 Meteorite, believed to be from Mars PS: 160–62, 161 (ill.), 164, 167 (ill.) Meteorite, defined A: 1: 108–9 Meteoroid shield, of Skylab A: 2: 218–20 A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes (Goddard) A: 1: 71 B: 83 PS: 14–19 Metz, France A: 2: 201 Mexico, El Caracol A: 1: 17–19 Mexico, Morelos satellite B: 139 Meyer, Patrick, PS: 145–59 “Living on Mir: An Interview with Dr. Shannon Lucid,” PS: 149–56 Microgravity, A: 2: 222 defined, A: 2: 210, 239 effect of on humans, A: 2: 233 Microgravity Payload (U.S.) B: 56 Micrometeorite, A: 1: 120 defined, A: 1: 108–9 Microsatellite A: 2: 327 Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST) A: 2: 327 Microwave radiation A: 2: 303 Microwaves, A: 2: 303, 306 (ill.) defined, A: 2: 304–5 Middle Ages A: 1: 32 Military applications of rocket research, A: 1: 79–80, 98; B: 83, 85, 195, 197–200; PS: 12 of space shuttle, PS: 122 Military jet test pilots, NASA preference for B: 148–49 PS: 69, 75, 86


Military rockets American use, A: 1: 45–47, 46 (ill.), 55–57 European use, A: 1: 50–55 Milky Way galaxy A: 1: 1–2; 2: 295 B: 97 Mind at the End of its Tether (Wells) B: 212 Minorities and women astronaut firsts, B: 37 astronaut training for, B: 34–35, 36–39, 152–53; PS: 85 Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) A: 1: 98 Mir space station, A: 2: 222–29, 223 (ill.); B: 57, 107–8; PS: 47, 147 (ill.) astrophysics research laboratory, A: 2: 224 civilian visitors to, PS: 156 components of, A: 2: 223–26 continued problems on, A: 2: 226–29 cost of, A: 2: 226 dimensions of, A: 2: 226 Haigneré, Jean-Pierre, and, B: 90, 90 (ill.) Kristall module, A: 2: 224–25 Kvant 1 module, A: 2: 224 Kvant 2 module, A: 2: 224 letter from Mir (excerpt), B: 143 Lucid, Shannon, and, B: 141–44, 142 (ill.); PS: 146 (ill.), 146–57, 152 (ill.) mishaps, A: 2: 226–28 Priroda module, A: 2: 225 Spektr module, A: 2: 225 U.S. astronauts on, A: 2: 225 Mir 2 B: 108 Mirrors of Hubble Space Telescope, A: 2: 315; B: 95–96, 99, 100 in reflecting telescopes, A: 2: 286 MISS project PS: 68 Missile, ballistic defined, A: 1: 108, 130 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Korolev, Sergei, and, PS: 42, 46 Mission specialist first, B: 114, 116 of space shuttle, A: 2: 238 Mitchell, Edgar A: 1: 181 B: 74 PS: 92 Mittelwerk B: 198, 199 PS: 26 MMU. See Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Modules, of spacecraft. See specific modules Mohler, Stanley PS: 81 Molly Brown spacecraft B: 14 Mongols, and fire arrows A: 1: 50 Moon, A: 1: 3; 2: 331, 334–42 ancient Greeks and, A: 1: 25–31 El Caracol and, A: 1: 18 (ill.), 19 distance from Earth, A: 1: 29 far side, A: 2: 337 first orbit of, A: 1: 176–77 Galileo and, A: 1: 39 search for ice on, A: 2: 340–41 space race to, A: 1: 163, 179 Stonehenge and, A: 1: 16 (ill.), 17 The Moon Car (Das Mondauto) (Oberth) B: 161 Moon exploration future of, B: 21 Kennedy on, PS: 50–58 Kraft, Christopher, on future of, B: 134–35 Oberth, Hermann, contributions to, B: 162 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, vision of, B: 192 U.S. plans for, PS: 196 von Braun on future of, PS: 24–37 Moon flight, first manned B: 133–34 PS: 109

Moon landing, A: 1: 178–84; 2: 189; B: 4–6, 26–30, 29 (ill.), 133–34; PS: 54 (ill.), 107 Aldrin, Buzz, PS: 110–12 Armstrong, Neil, PS: 110–11 Bush, George W., on future of, A: 2: 269 von Braun, Wernher, envisions, PS: 27–29, 36–37 Moon, Michael Collins’s view of PS: 108–9 Moon missions. See also Project Apollo Soviet, A: 2: 191–92; B: 125 U.S., A: 1: 177–80; PS: 58 Moon rock A: 1: 182; 2: 339 “Moon rocket,” Goddard, Robert H. A: 1: 72 B: 83 Moon walks A: 1: 178–79, 182 B: 4–6, 28–30 Moonlet, defined A: 2: 335 Morelos satellite (Mexico) B: 139 Morgan, Barbara PS: 135 “Morning star.” See Venus Morton Thiokol A: 2: 257, 260–61 B: 47, 49 PS: 137, 141–42 MOST. See Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST) Motion, Newton’s three laws of A: 1: 42, 53 Motion sickness. See also Space adaptation syndrome; Space motion sickness B: 117 Mount Wilson Observatory, A: 2: 293–94; B: 97 Hubble, Edwin, at, A: 2: 294–95 Multiseat spacecraft A: 1: 147 Multistage rocket A: 1: 68–69 Multistage rocket

23

Mysterium cosmographicum (Mystery of the Universe) (Kepler) A: 1: 37–38 The Mystery of Mars (Ride) B: 178

N N-1 rocket A: 1: 165–66; 2: 189 NACA. See National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Nagasaki, Japan A: 1: 97 Naked eye, in stargazing A: 2: 277 Napoleonic Wars A: 1: 55 NAS. See National Academy of Science (NAS) NASA. See National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) NASA administrators, Armstrong, Neil B: 30–31 “NASA Document III-31: The Space Shuttle” (Fletcher) PS: 118–24 National Academy of Science (NAS) B: 102 National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) A: 1: 125 B: 24 PS: 47, 60, 68 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), A: 1: 124–27; PS: 160–74. See also International Space Station (ISS); Project Apollo; Project Gemini; Project Mercury after Project Apollo, A: 2: 191 ambitious schedule precedes disaster, A: 2: 254–55; PS: 137–38 astronaut training program, B: 3–4, 26–28, 34–35, 36–39, 146–55 24

Mysterium cosmographicum

budget for, A: 2: 217, 249; PS: 199 cancels women’s Mercury program, B: 152–53; PS: 77–78 Challenger launch, A: 2: 255–59, 258 (ill.); B: 46–47, 49–50; PS: 136–38 Columbia space shuttle disaster, PS: 175–87 creation of, A: 1: 82–83, 124–27; B: 13, 22, 71–72, 106, 128, 146, 202; PS: 37, 43, 60, 68, 74–75, 102, 188 educational outreach and, PS: 163, 168–70, 171 excerpts from The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life, PS: 160–74 and Hubble Space Telescope, B: 102 International Space Station (ISS), A: 2: 229–30 investigation into Apollo 1 fire, A: 1: 173; B: 19–20 investigation into Challenger launch, A: 2: 259–62; B: 42, 49–50 investigation into Columbia disaster, A: 2: 239, 267–70; B: 111–12; PS: 141–42, 178–85 and Kraft, Christopher, B: 128–35 manned space flight program, B: 147–49; PS: 56 and Mars meteorite, PS: 160–62, 161 (ill.), 167 (ill.) “NASA Document III-31: The Space Shuttle” (Fletcher), PS: 118–24 Office of Exploration, B: 175 Origins Initiative, PS: 162–72 race to the moon, A: 1: 163–64 revitalization of, A: 2: 269–70; PS: 192–99, 200–1 and Ride, Sally, B: 172, 176 Rogers Commission, A: 2: 259–62 safety precautions, B: 19–20, 50, 112; PS: 180

safety record, PS: 175–76 setbacks after disasters, B: 49–50, 102 space probes program, A: 2: 339–41, 342–43, 345, 346, 347, 349–53 space shuttle program, A: 2: 238–39, 248–51, 268–70; PS: 116–31 Space Shuttle Upgrade Program, A: 2: 265 space station program, A: 1: 124–27; 2: 211–13 space-based observatories, A: 2: 307, 309–10, 314, 315, 319, 321, 324, 328–29 Teacher in Space program, A: 2: 256–57 and U.S. Air Force, PS: 129 and Vietnam War, A: 2: 217 von Braun, Wernher, A: 1: 81–83; B: 202 National Center for Space Studies (CNES) B: 89 National Defense Education Act A: 1: 132 National Socialist German Workers’ Party. See Nazi Party Native American astronaut, Herrington, John Bennett B: 37 Native Americans names for constellations, A: 1: 14 wall calendars, A: 2: 277 Natural science, defined A: 1: 108–9 Nauchnoye Obozreniye (Science Review) (Russian journal) A: 1: 66 Nazi Party, A: 1: 93; B: 197–99 and von Braun, Wernher, A: 1: 79–81; B: 199 NEAR. See Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) A: 2: 332 (ill.) NEAR Shoemaker space probe A: 2: 362–63 Nebulae A: 2: 284–85


Nedelin, Mitrofan A: 1: 119 Nelson, Bill A: 2: 254 Nelson, Tom PS: 193 Neptune A: 2: 359–60 Neri Vela, Rodolfo B: 37, 166 Netherlands A: 2: 280 Neumayer, Georg von A: 1: 112 Neutron star, defined A: 2: 275, 305 “A New Airplane” (Tsiolkovsky) B: 193 The New Explorers: Endeavor (documentary) B: 119 New York Stock Market Crash (1929) A: 1: 79 New York Times A: 1: 72 Newton, Isaac, A: 1: 41 (ill.), 41–43, 60 (ill.); 2: 283–84; PS: 12 laws of motion, A: 1: 42–43, 66–67 reflector telescope, A: 2: 283–84 rocketry theory, A: 1: 53 Newtonian (celestial) mechanics A: 1: 43 Next Generation Space Telescope. See James Webb Space Telescope Nicholas II, czar of Russia A: 1: 88 Nichols, Ruth PS: 82 Night A: 1: 10 Night launch, of Apollo 17 A: 1: 182, 183 (ill.) Night sky, A: 1: 13–14; 2: 276 circumpolar constellations in, A: 1: 13–14 Galileo and, A: 2: 280 Nikolayev, Andrian A: 1: 138 B: 185 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Nikolayeva, Yelena Adrianova B: 185–86 Nixon, Richard M., A: 1: 178; 2: 195–96, 250; B: 6, 29; PS: 107, 124–28, 125 (ill.) Remarks on the Space Shuttle Program, PS: 126–28 Normal School of Science (South Kensington, England) B: 207 North Star (Polaris; Pole Star) A: 1: 10 North Vietnam A: 2: 195 Northern Hemisphere, A: 1: 11 constellations always in, A: 1: 13–14 Nozomi space probe A: 2: 350 Nuclear fission A: 1: 97 Nuclear fusion, A: 1: 99 defined, A: 1: 4 Nuclear physics A: 1: 97

O OAOs. See Orbital Astronomical Observatories (OAOs) Oberth, Hermann, A: 1: 74–79, 75 (ill.), 130; 2: 210; B: 156–63, 157 (ill.), 161 (ill.) describes space ships, B: 160–62 envisions space station, PS: 146 publishes rocket theories, B: 158–60 Objective lens, of telescope A: 2: 282 Observatories, defined A: 2: 275, 305 Observatories, ground-based, A: 1: 15–19; 2: 271–300 El Caracol, A: 1: 17–19 Stonehenge, A: 1: 16 (ill.), 16–17 Observatories, space-based, A: 2: 301–30 advantages and disadvantages of, A: 2: 307–8 Observatory, Chandra PS: 170–71, 172

Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope as B: 95–96 PS: 170 Ocean of Storms A: 1: 179 Oceanus Procellarum (Stormy Ocean) PS: 28–29 Ochoa, Ellen, B: 37, 100, 164–71, 165 (ill.), 167 (ill.) helps assemble space station, B: 110, 168–69 Odyssey Academy (Galveston, Texas) B: 59 Office of Exploration (task force) B: 175 Office of Space Science (OSS) PS: 162 O’Keefe, Sean B: 44, 102, 111, 176 PS: 130, 178, 185, 190, 192, 198 (ill.), 200–1 Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation B: 138 Oldest American in space B: 69, 76 PS: 91 (ill.), 91–92, 99 Oldest human-made object in space A: 1: 120 Olsen, Gregory A: 2: 234 On the Heavens (De caelo) (Aristotle) A: 1: 25 On the Moon (Tsiolkovsky) B: 193 “On the Problem of Flying by Means of Wings” (Tsiolkovsky) B: 191 “On the Theoretical Mechanics of Living” (Tsiolkovsky) B: 190 On the Wonders of the World (De mirabilibus mundi) (Albertus Magnus) A: 1: 50 On Working with Fire (De la pirotechnia) (Biringuccio) A: 1: 52–53 On Working with Fire

25

Onizuka, Ellison S. A: 1: 175; 2: 255, 256 (ill.) B: 37, 42, 43 (ill.) PS: 139 Onufrienko, Yuri A: 2: 227 (ill.) B: 141, 142 (ill.) PS: 148 Oort, Jan A: 2: 290 Opportunity Mars rover A: 2: 352–53 Optical radiation A: 2: 273, 301, 306, 306 (ill.) Optical telescopes, A: 2: 278, 293–99 largest, A: 2: 297 refracting, largest, A: 2: 289 Optics, adaptive A: 2: 287 Opus Majus (Great Work) (Bacon) A: 1: 50 Orbit elliptical, A: 2: 323 first U.S., B: 72–75 geosynchronous, A: 2: 304, 310 Orbital Astronomical Observatories (OAOs) B: 98 Orbital flights, Mercury project PS: 62, 91 Orbital module (Apollo-Soyuz) A: 2: 188 (ill.) Orbital module, of Shenzhou 5 B: 217 Orbital rendezvous, Gemini project Orbital Workshop (OWS), of Skylab, A: 2: 217–18, 221–22 Orbiter, delta-winged, of space shuttle A: 2: 239–41, 240 (ill.), 243 (ill.), 244–48, 248 (ill.) Orbiter 1 A: 2: 338 (ill.) Orbiting Astronomical Observatories (OAO) A: 2: 309 Orbits, Newton’s laws and A: 1: 43 Orbits, of space shuttle PS: 98–99 26

Onizuka, Ellison S.

Origins Initiative, PS: 162–70 goal statement, PS: 162–63 O-rings, on shuttle booster rockets A: 2: 257, 260–61 B: 47, 49, 175 PS: 137, 141–42 Orion (constellation) A: 1: 11 Orléans, France A: 1: 51, 52 (ill.) Osheroff, Douglas B: 176 Osiander, Andreas A: 1: 34–35 OSS (Office of Space Science) PS: 162 Oswald, Stephen S. B: 99 Outline of History (Wells) B: 211 OV-101 (first space shuttle orbiter) A: 2: 251 Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (OWL) A: 2: 299 OWL. See Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (OWL) OWS. See Orbital Workshop (OWS) Oxidizing agents, in rockets A: 1: 48, 67 Oxygen, in Apollo 1 fire B: 19 Oxygen, liquid A: 1: 67; 2: 242 Ozone layer, A: 2: 306 defined, A: 2: 305

P Padalka, Gennady I. PS: 157, 200 PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) PS: 161 Pal, George A: 1: 100 Palomar Observatory A: 2: 272 (ill.), 294

Parachutes, and reentry of Mercury capsule PS: 62–63 Parachutes, for rocket landings A: 1: 73 Paranal Observatory A: 2: 299 Parsons, William A: 2: 284 Particles, in physics A: 2: 320 Patents, awarded to Goddard, Robert A: 1: 71, 74 Pathfinder Mars rover PS: 171 Pathfinder test shuttle PS: 130 Patsayev, Viktor, A: 1: 175; 2: 192, 213 Patterns in the sky. See Constellations Payload defined, A: 1: 130; 2: 239 of space shuttle, A: 2: 241, 243 (ill.), 264 Payload specialist, of space shuttle A: 2: 238 Peenemünde (Baltic coast) A: 1: 79 B: 161, 198 Pegasus (constellation) A: 1: 11 Penzias, Arno A: 2: 290 People’s Republic of China A: 1: 101; 2: 194, 195, 196 Perigee, defined A: 1: 130 Personal hygiene, on Mir PS: 149–50 Perspiration, and Skylab space station A: 2: 218 Philosophers, Aristotle A: 1: 25 (ill.), 25–26 Philosophy (ancient Greek), and science A: 1: 24–26 Phobos (moon) A: 2: 352 (ill.) Photometer, high-speed, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95


Physical science, defined A: 1: 108–9 Physicians, Jemison, Mae B: 114–20 Physicists Goddard, Robert H., B: 79–86 Newton, Isaac, A: 1: 41 (ill.), 41–43, 53, 60 (ill.), 66 Physico-Chemical Society (Russian) A: 1: 64 B: 190 “Physics and Medicine of the Upper Atmosphere” A: 1: 110 Perseus (French-Russian mission to Mir) B: 91 Philae lander A: 2: 362 Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) (Newton) A: 1: 42 Phobos 1 and 2 space probes A: 2: 347 Pilot, of space shuttle A: 2: 238 Pilots. See Fighter pilots; Test pilots (military) Pioneer space probe program A: 2: 345, 353 Pirs (Pier) (Russian ISS component) B: 111 Planck Observatory A: 2: 329 Planetary motion Aristarchus of Samos, A: 1: 26–27 Aristotle, A: 1: 25 (ill.), 25–26 Brahe, Tycho, A: 1: 35–37 Copernicus, Nicolaus, A: 1: 33–35 Eudoxus of Cnidus, A: 1: 25 Kepler, Johannes, A: 1: 37–38 Ptolemaic model (Ptolemaic universe), A: 1: 29–33 Ptolemy, A: 1: 29–33, 31 (ill.) Planetoid (Sedna) A: 2: 294 Planets, of solar system A: 1: 3 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Plasma rocket engines, research on B: 57–58 Plough (constellation) A: 1: 15 “Plugs-out” test, of Apollo 1 B: 19 Pluto A: 2: 334 Pogue, William R. A: 2: 221 Poland A: 1: 95 Polaris (North Star; Pole Star), A: 1: 10 and circumpolar constellations, A: 1: 13–14 Polyakov, Valery B: 107 PS: 146 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) PS: 161 Ponomaryova, Valentina Leonidovna B: 184 Pope A: 1: 32 Popov, Leonid A: 2: 216 Popovich, Pavel A: 1: 138; 2: 214 Potassium nitrate A: 1: 67 Potocnik, Herman A: 2: 211 Potsdam Conference A: 1: 96–97 Precession, A: 1: 9, 29 (ill.) defined, A: 1: 4, 24 and Hipparchus, A: 1: 28 Primary mirror, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95, 99, 100 Prime mover A: 1: 30 Princeton Experiments Package A: 2: 310 Priroda module A: 2: 225 Prism A: 2: 284 Probes. See also Space probes

defined, A: 1: 130–31, 163; 2: 239, 335 space, A: 2: 331–65 The Problem of Space Travel: The Rocket Motor (Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums: Der Raketen-motor) (Potocnik) A: 2: 211 Progress resupply vehicle (Mir) A: 2: 216 B: 143 PS: 157 Project Apollo, A: 1: 147, 160–85; 2: 189–90, 191; B: 11, 13–14, 20–21, 133–34, 148; PS: 56, 71–72, 75, 102, 103–8, 189. See also Apollo program Apollo 1 crew, A: 1: 171–73, 172 (ill.); B: 11–20, 133; PS: 71–72 Apollo 11, A: 1: 178–79; B: 1, 4–6, 26–30, 133–34; PS: 102–8, 189 Apollo 13, A: 1: 180–81 Apollo 14, A: 1: 181 Apollo 15, A: 1: 181–82 Apollo 16, A: 1: 182 Apollo 17, A: 1: 182–84, 183 (ill.) Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment, B: 31 missions after Apollo 1, B: 20–21, 133; PS: 72 spacecraft, A: 1: 161–71, 168 (ill.) Project Bullet B: 71 PS: 90 Project Gemini, A: 1: 147, 150–58, 163; B: 13, 148; PS: 56, 71–72, 75, 103, 189 Gemini 8, B: 26 Kraft, Christopher, served as flight director, B: 132 main objectives of, A: 1: 150 Molly Brown, B: 16 White, Ed, B: 16–17 Project Mercury, A: 1: 127, 139–46; B: 13, 71–75, 148 (ill.); PS: 56, 60–64, 61 (ill.), 68–71, 75, 102–3, 116, 188–89. See also Mercury spacecraft program Project Mercury

27

design challenges, PS: 62 Glenn, John, B: 71–75; PS: 90–93, 99–100, 102 Grissom, Gus, B: 16 guidelines for candidates, A: 1: 140–41; PS: 61, 69–70 Ham (chimpanzee), PS: 68, 69 (ill.) Kraft, Christopher, B: 130 manual vs. automatic control, PS: 64 Mercury 7, A: 1: 141; B: 147–49, 148 (ill.); PS: 60–64, 61 (ill.), 75 Mercury 13, A: 1: 140; B: 147 (ill.), 149–54; PS: 74–78, 80–88 objectives of, A: 1: 139–40 Shepard, Alan, PS: 92, 188 training for astronauts, PS: 61, 104 Project 921 spacecraft. See also Shenzhou 5 spacecraft B: 216 Project Orbiter A: 1: 120 Project Paperclip A: 1: 81 B: 200 PS: 25 Project Rover PS: 54 Project SCORE A: 1: 132 Project Vanguard A: 1: 118–20, 121 (ill.) PS: 44 Propellant, defined A: 1: 48; 2: 239 Propellants, rocket. See also Liquid-propellant rockets A: 1: 49, 67–69, 68 (ill.) Propulsion system, Variable Specific Impulse Magnetic Resonance (VASIMR) B: 57–58 Proton rocket A: 2: 214 Psychologist, Cowings, Patricia B: 119 Ptolemaic model (Ptolemaic universe) A: 1: 29–33 28

Project 921 spacecraft

Ptolemy A: 1: 8, 29–33, 31 (ill.) Pulsar, A: 2: 290 defined, A: 2: 275, 305 Puppis (constellation) A: 1: 8 Pythagoras A: 1: 25

Q Quasars, A: 2: 290, 316, 321; B: 100 defined, A: 2: 275, 305

R Radiation cosmic, A: 2: 335 defined, A: 1: 108–9; 2: 275, 305, 335 electromagnetic, A: 1: 4, 108; 2: 273, 274, 301–7 extreme ultraviolet, A: 2: 312 gamma, A: 2: 306 (ill.), 307 infrared, A: 2: 273–76, 304, 306, 306 (ill.), 324 optical, A: 2: 306, 306 (ill.) ultraviolet, A: 1: 108–9; 2: 274–75, 304–6, 306 (ill.) X-ray, A: 2: 306 (ill.), 306–7 Radio astronomy A: 2: 287–92, 291 (ill.) Radio interferometry A: 2: 292 Radio waves, A: 2: 276, 288, 303, 306 (ill.) defined, A: 1: 108–9; 2: 275, 305 Rainbow A: 2: 303, 306 (ill.) Ramon, Ilan A: 1: 175; 2: 266 Ranger 3 space probe A: 2: 339 Ranger 7, 8, and 9 space probes A: 2: 339 Ratley, Sarah B: 147 (ill.), 151 PS: 77, 77 (ill.) Rays, gamma, defined A: 1: 108; 2: 274, 304

Reaction devices, rockets as A: 1: 66 Reaction Propulsion Scientific Research Institute (RNII) B: 123 “Reactive Airplane” (Tsiolkovsky) B: 193 Readdy, William PS: 176 Reagan, Ronald, A: 2: 229–32, 256–57; B: 48–49, 108, 175; PS: 134, 138, 139–42, 140 (ill.) Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle (Reagan), PS: 126, 139–41 “Re-Cycler” B: 8 Red Army A: 1: 91 Red Scare, A: 1: 102 defined, A: 1: 88–89 Redshift, defined A: 2: 275, 305 Redstone Arsenal (Huntsville, Alabama) A: 1: 78, 81; 2: 211 Redstone Rocket A: 1: 81, 142 B: 201 PS: 37, 62, 66, 67 (ill.) Reduced gravity, effect of on humans A: 2: 233 Reentry, of Mercury capsule PS: 62–63 Reentry module, of Shenzhou 5 B: 217 Reentry, of space shuttle A: 2: 241–42 Reflecting telescope, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95–96 Reflector (reflecting) telescope, A: 2: 278, 283–84, 285 (ill.) defined, A: 2: 275, 305 Refractor (refracting) telescope, A: 2: 278, 282–83, 285 (ill.) defined, A: 2: 275 of Galileo, A: 2: 282 largest, A: 2: 286, 288 (ill.)


Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space A: 2: 194 Reinforced carbon-carbon tiles A: 2: 241 Religion, and astronomy A: 1: 31–35, 38–41 Remarks Announcing the Winner of the Teacher in Space Project (G. H. W. Bush) PS: 134–36 Remarks on a New Vision for Space Exploration Program (G. W. Bush) PS: 192–99, 193 (ill.), 194 (ill.) Remarks on the Space Shuttle Program (Nixon) PS: 126–28 Remek, Vladimir A: 2: 216 Remote Manipulator System (RMS) A: 2: 241 B: 139, 168 PS: 197 (ill.) Renaissance A: 1: 32–33, 61 Research, on plasma rocket engines B: 57–58 Resnick, Judith A: 1: 175; 2: 255, 256 (ill.) B: 42, 43 (ill.), 45–46, 139 PS: 139 Resolution A: 2: 292 Retrofire, defined A: 1: 130–31 Retrorocket, of Shenzhou 5 B: 217 The Return (Aldrin and Barnes) B: 9 Return to Earth (Aldrin) B: 8 Reusable spacecraft. See also Space shuttles A: 2: 238 Revolution of the Heavenly Sphere (De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium) (Copernicus) A: 1: 34 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Rice University, Kennedy, John F., speech at PS: 58 Ride, Sally, A: 2: 268; B: 37, 139, 172–79, 173 (ill.) makes historic flight, B: 174–76 promotes math and science education, B: 176–78 serves on disaster commissions, A: 2: 268; B: 176 The Right Stuff (Wolfe), B: 74; PS: 65–72, 134 “right stuff” described, PS: 65–66 rocket pilots’ reactions to call for astronauts, PS: 66–67 The Rights of Man (Wells) B: 212 RMS. See Remote Manipulator System (RMS) RNII. See Reaction Propulsion Scientific Research Institute (RNII) Road to the Stars (Gagarin) B: 63 Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy B: 203 Robot arm (space shuttle). See also Remote Manipulator System (RMS) A: 2: 241 B: 174–75 PS: 197 (ill.) Robotic arm, of International Space Station A: 2: 232 Rocha, Alan Rodney PS: 176 Rocket boosters, solid of space shuttle A: 2: 243 (ill.), 243–44, 245–46 Rocket equation, basic A: 1: 66 B: 192 PS: 41 The Rocket into Planetary Space (Die Rakete zu den Planeträumen) (Oberth) A: 1: 75 B: 159–60

Rocket plane SpaceShipOne, PS: 201 X-1B, B: 24–25 X-15, A: 1: 165 (ill.), 166; B: 25–26 Rocket propulsion, theory of PS: 13 Rocket scientists, A: 1: 130–31 Goddard, Robert H., A: 1: 69–74, 70 (ill.); B: 79–86; PS: 12–23 Malina, Frank J., B: 85 Oberth, Hermann, A: 1: 74–79, 75 (ill.); B: 156–62 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, A: 1: 63–69, 64 (ill.); B: 188–94; PS: 40–41 von Braun, Wernher, A: 1: 77 (ill.), 78–83; B: 195–204; PS: 24–25 “Rocket trains” A: 1: 68–69 Rocketry in exploration, A: 1: 59–84 Goddard, Robert H., A: 1: 69–74, 70 (ill.) in literature, A: 1: 61–63 Oberth, Hermann, A: 1: 74–79, 75 (ill.) Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, A: 1: 63–69, 64 (ill.) von Braun, Wernher, A: 1: 77 (ill.), 78–83 Rocketry in warfare, A: 1: 45–58 Americans and, A: 1: 46 (ill.), 46–47, 55–57 ancient Greeks and, A: 1: 47–48 Chinese and, A: 1: 48–50 Europeans and, A: 1: 50–55 Rocketry theory Biringuccio, Vannoccio, A: 1: 52–53 Haas, Conrad, A: 1: 52 Newton, Isaac, A: 1: 53 Schmidlap, Johann, A: 1: 52 Siemienowicz, Kazimierz, A: 1: 53–54 Rockets, PS: 20 (ill.) accuracy of, A: 1: 56 A-4, A: 1: 79 Agena, A: 1: 154 Rockets

29

Atlas-D, A: 1: 132; PS: 62, 66, 93–94 boosters, of space shuttle, A: 2: 243 (ill.), 243–44, 260–61; PS: 96–98, 129, 137 Chinese, B: 216 in Cold War, A: 1: 104–5 Congreve, A: 1: 55–56 “cosmic rocket trains,” B: 192–93 early multistage, A: 1: 52 fire arrows as, A: 1: 49 (ill.), 49–50 forward motion of, A: 1: 53 Goddard’s first, A: 1: 70, 72; PS: 20 Jupiter C, A: 1: 81, 82 (ill.), 122; B: 201 liquid-fuel, defined, A: 1: 48 liquid-propellant, A: 1: 67–69, 68 (ill.), 72, 74, 76, 77; B: 79, 123, 159, 192 (ill.); PS: 13–14, 18 (ill.), 42 military, A: 1: 98; B: 195; PS: 12 multistage, A: 1: 52, 68–69 N-1, A: 1: 165–66; 2: 189 plasma engine research, B: 57–58 Redstone, A: 1: 81, 142; B: 201; PS: 37, 62, 67 (ill.) R-7, B: 124–25; PS: 42–43 Saturn, B: 28, 202; PS: 38 Saturn 5, A: 1: 83, 168 (ill.), 168–70, 169 (ill.); 2: 189; PS: 31 (ill.), 38 (ill.), 57 (ill.), 103, 105 solid-fuel, defined, A: 1: 48 solid-propellant, A: 1: 49, 67, 68 (ill.); B: 85, 192 (ill.) of space shuttle, A: 2: 240 (ill.), 242, 243 (ill.) staged, A: 1: 98; PS: 103 Tsiolkovsky’s early designs, A: 1: 65 (ill.) two-stage liquid, B: 124 two-stage powder, B: 82 V-2, A: 1: 79–81, 80 (ill.); B: 124, 161, 197–98, 200 (ill.); PS: 26 WAC Corporal, B: 85 in warfare, A: 1: 45–58, 79–81, 104 word origin, A: 1: 51 30

Rockets to Planetary Space

Rockets to Planetary Space (Oberth) B: 196–97 “Rockets’ red glare” A: 1: 45–47, 46 (ill.) Rogers Commission, A: 2: 259–62; B: 49, 50, 175; PS: 141–42 Armstrong appointed to, B: 32 Rogers, William B. A: 2: 259 B: 49 PS: 141 Roman Catholic Church and astronomy, A: 1: 32–35, 40–41 and Galileo, A: 1: 40–41 Roman Empire A: 1: 31–32 Roman religion, and astronomy A: 1: 31–32 Romanian scientist, Oberth, Hermann B: 156–63 Romans, and constellations A: 1: 8–9 Roosa, Stuart A. A: 1: 181 Roosevelt, Franklin D. A: 1: 86 (ill.), 89, 92, 94 (ill.), 94–95 Rosetta space probe A: 2: 362 Ross, Jerry Lynn B: 57 Roswell, New Mexico A: 1: 72 B: 84 PS: 20 (ill.), 21 Rotary rockets A: 1: 56 Rover defined, A: 1: 163; 2: 335 Mars, A: 2: 349–50, 352–53 Rover nuclear rocket PS: 54 Rovers, for Mars exploration PS: 171, 186 RP-318 rocket PS: 42 R-7 rocket B: 124–25 PS: 42–43

Rubbish, in space A: 2: 236, 360 Rudolph II of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperor A: 1: 37 Russia. See also Soviet Union International Space Station, A: 2: 233; B: 108–11 Mir 2, A: 2: 226–29; B: 108 Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution, A: 1: 69, 88–90 space stations, A: 2: 213–17, 222–26, 230–35 Russian aerospace engineer, Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin B: 188–94 PS: 40–41, 45 Russian cosmonauts Gagarin, Yuri, B: 61–68 Tereshkova, Valentina, B: 180–87 Russian engineer, Korolev, Sergei B: 121–27 Russian language, in ApolloSoyuz test project A: 2: 198 Russian-made space station module Zarya B: 110 (ill.) Rutan, Burt A: 1: 151 Ryumin, Valeri A: 2: 216

S Saint-Simon, Henri PS: 2 Sakigake space probe A: 2: 361 Salisbury plain, England A: 1: 17 Sally Ride Club B: 177 Sally Ride Science Festival B: 177 SALT. See Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) Salyut space stations, A: 2: 213–17


Salyut 1, A: 2: 192, 212 (ill.), 213; B: 106, 107; PS: 117, 118, 146 Salyut 2, A: 2: 214–16 Salyut 3, A: 2: 214 Salyut 4, A: 2: 214–16 Salyut 5, A: 2: 214–16 Salyut 6, A: 2: 216 Salyut 7, A: 2: 216–17 SATCOM KU satellite B: 54 Satellite, First, PS: 37, 40–49, 41 (ill.), 45 (ill.), 74, 116, 188 “Announcement of the First Satellite” (originally published in Pravda), PS: 43–45 Satellites. See also Moon; Space probes; specific space-based observatories artificial, A: 1: 108, 130, 163; 2: 190, 210, 304, 335 artificial, effect on Cold War, A: 1: 85–86 communications, A: 1: 132 development of, PS: 40–41 European Retrievable Carrier, B: 55 Explorer 1, A: 1: 122–24, 123 (ill.); B: 201; PS: 37 Galileo, B: 54, 139 international communications, B: 139 Luna 3, B: 125 man-made, A: 1: 3 Moon as, A: 1: 3 natural, A: 1: 3 SATCOM KU, B: 54 as space junk, A: 2: 360 Sputnik 1, B: 13, 22, 51–52; PS: 37, 40–49, 41 (ill.), 43, 45 (ill.), 74, 116, 188 spy, B: 201–2 Tethered Satellite System, B: 55 Tracking and Data-Relay Satellite (TDRS), B: 43 Velas (military), A: 2: 319 Saturn A: 2: 356–58 Saturn IB rocket A: 1: 169, 174 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Saturn 5 rocket, A: 2: 189, 217; B: 28, 202; PS: 31 (ill.), 38 (ill.), 57 (ill.), 103, 105 for Apollo 11, A: 1: 168 (ill.), 168–70, 169 (ill.); B: 4 stages of, B: 14, 28 von Braun, Wernher, and, A: 1: 83; PS: 38 Saucepan (constellation) A: 1: 15 Savery, Thomas A: 1: 47 Savitskaya, Svetlana A: 1: 139 Scaled Composites PS: 201 Schirra, Walter M., Jr. A: 1: 141, 146, 153, 174; 2: 200 B: 148, 148 (ill.) PS: 61 (ill.), 62, 63, 75 Schmitt, Harrison H. A: 1: 182 Schutzstaffel (SS) B: 199 PS: 26 Schweickart, Russell L. A: 1: 177 Science and Engineering Research Council (UK) A: 2: 310 Science and math education B: 118, 176–78 Science education and moon race, PS: 56 and NASA, PS: 163, 169 (ill.), 171 Science fiction, A: 1: 106–9 Cyrano de Bergerac, Savinien de, A: 1: 61 enjoyed by Hermann Oberth, A: 1: 74; B: 157, 159 inspires Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, A: 1: 69 inspires Robert H. Goddard, A: 1: 70; B: 81 inspires space stations, A: 2: 209 read by Wernher von Braun, B: 196 Verne, Jules, A: 1: 61–62, 64, 70; PS: 1–11 War of the Worlds broadcast, A: 1: 100

Science fiction writers Aldrin, Buzz, B: 8–9 Hale, Edward Everett, A: 2: 209 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, A: 1: 69; 2: 209; B: 193–94 Wells, H. G., A: 1: 61–62, 64, 70; B: 205–6, 208–10, 212 Science, Hellenistic A: 1: 24–25 Science, natural, defined A: 1: 108–9 Science, physical, defined A: 1: 108–9 Science Satellite 1 (Sci-Sat) A: 2: 327–28 Science Satellite 1 (SciSat-1) A: 2: 327–28 Scientific experiments. See Experiments Scientific observation by ancient Greeks, A: 1: 26 by space probes, A: 2: 333 Scientific Research Institute NII-88 B: 124–25 Scientist-astronauts Chang-Díaz, Franklin, B: 57–59 Cowings, Patricia, B: 119 McNair, Ronald, B: 45 Ochoa, Ellen, B: 166–70 on Skylab space station, A: 2: 218 Scintillation, stellar, A: 1: 3–4 defined, A: 1: 4 SciSat-1 (Science Satellite 1) A: 2: 327–28 Scobee, Francis (Dick) A: 1: 175; 2: 255, 256 (ill.) B: 42, 43 (ill.), 43–44 PS: 139 Scooter (Neptune) A: 2: 360 Scott, David R. A: 1: 154, 177, 181, 182 B: 26, 27 (ill.) Sea of Serenity A: 1: 182; 2: 336 Sea of Tranquility A: 1: 178 B: 28 Seasons, A: 1: 10 and position of stars, A: 1: 11–14, 16 Seasons

31

Secondary mirror, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95 Seddon, Margaret Rhea B: 139 Sedna planetoid A: 2: 294 See, Elliot M. A: 1: 154 Senator, Glenn, John B: 69–78 Sensors, on space probes A: 2: 333 September 11, 2001 A: 2: 265–66 Service module (Apollo spacecraft) A: 1: 167 B: 14 PS: 103–4 Service module (Apollo-Soyuz) A: 2: 188 (ill.) Service Propulsion System (SPS) A: 1: 175 Sevastyanov, Vitali A: 2: 215 The Shape of Things to Come (film) B: 212 Shatalov, Vladimir A. A: 1: 177, 179 Shenzhou 5 spacecraft A: 1: 156 B: 214, 216–17, 218 (ill.) Shepard, Alan, A: 1: 141, 143, 145 (ill.), 162, 181; 2: 189; B: 72, 74, 74 (ill.), 148 (ill.), 149; PS: 51, 61 (ill.), 62, 63, 75, 92, 93, 95, 116, 188–89 first American in space, B: 12, 106, 130–31; PS: 51, 63 Kraft, Christopher, recalls flight of, B: 130 Shepherd, William M. “Bill” A: 2: 234 B: 110 Shoemaker, Eugene M. A: 2: 341, 362 Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet A: 2: 317, 341 Shonin, Georgi S. A: 1: 179 “Should You Be a Rocket Scientist” (von Braun) B: 53 32

Secondary mirror

Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument B: 54–55, 139–40 Shuttle-Mir missions A: 2: 226 Shuttles. See Space shuttle(s) Shuttleworth, Mark A: 2: 234 Sickle cell anemia B: 119 Sidereal day, A: 1: 10 defined, A: 1: 4 Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger) (Galileo) A: 1: 40; 2: 280–81 Siemienowicz, Kazimierz, rocketry theory A: 1: 53–54 Sight, in stargazing A: 2: 277 Sight lines, in ancient observatories A: 2: 277 Sigma 7 A: 1: 146 PS: 63 Sinus Roris (Dewy Bay) PS: 28–29 Sirius (Dog Star) A: 1: 6, 11–13 SIRTF. See Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) 67/PChurymov-Gerasimenko comet A: 2: 362 Sky. See also Astronomy best, for ground-based observatory, A: 2: 287 study of, A: 2: 271–76 Sky map, Hipparchus’s A: 1: 28 Sky powers, worshipped by ancient cultures A: 1: 15–19 Skylab space station, A: 2: 208 (ill.), 217–22, 219 (ill.); PS: 146, 153–54 exercise equipment, A: 2: 218, 221 experiments, A: 2: 220–21 livable area, A: 2: 217–18 meteoroid shield, A: 2: 218–20

perspiration, A: 2: 218 problems after liftoff, A: 2: 218–19 Slayton, Donald “Deke” A: 1: 141; 2: 198–205, 199 (ill.) B: 148 (ill.), 149 PS: 61 (ill.), 62, 72, 75 Sleep, on Mir PS: 150 Sloan, Jerri. See Truhill, Jerri Sloan Small Self-Contained Payloads (Getaway Specials, or GAS payloads) B: 139 Smallest space telescope A: 2: 327 SMART-1 A: 2: 341–42 Smith, Michael A: 1: 175; 2: 255, 256 (ill.), 258 B: 42, 43 (ill.), 44–45 PS: 139 Socialism of H. G. Wells, B: 205, 211–12 of Jules Verne, PS: 2 Society for Spaceship Travel A: 1: 76 B: 124 Soft landing, defined A: 2: 335 SOHO. See Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Sojourner Mars rover A: 2: 349–50 Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) A: 2: 325–26 Solar arrays, defined A: 2: 190 Solar arrays, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 96, 100 Solar day, A: 1: 10, 11 defined, A: 1: 4 Solar eclipses, A: 1: 19 artificial, A: 2: 201 Solar flare, A: 1: 138 defined, A: 1: 108–9, 130–31; 2: 210, 305


Solar mirror, von Braun, Wernher, envisions PS: 31 Solar panels, of International Space Station (ISS) A: 2: 231 Solar poles A: 2: 364 Solar prominence, A: 1: 113 defined, A: 1: 108–9 Solar radiation A: 2: 334 Solar system, B: 96–97 Galileo and, A: 1: 39–40 planets of, A: 1: 3 Ptolemaic model (Ptolemaic universe), A: 1: 29–33 Solar tables, Brahe, Tycho A: 1: 36 Solar wind, A: 1: 113, 114; 2: 334, 364 defined, A: 1: 108–9; 2: 239, 305, 335 Solid-fuel rocket booster(s) of Challenger, A: 2: 257–58, 260–61 of space shuttle, A: 2: 243 (ill.), 243–44, 245–46; PS: 129 Solid-fuel rockets A: 1: 48, 49, 68 (ill.) Solovyov, Vladimir A: 2: 217 Solstice, defined A: 2: 275 South Celestial Pole A: 1: 14 South Vietnam A: 2: 195 Southeast Asia A: 1: 102 Southern Hemisphere, A: 1: 10 constellations always in, A: 1: 14 Soviet Union. See also Russia atomic bomb, A: 1: 99 and Bolshevik Revolution, A: 1: 69, 87–90 Cold War, A: 1: 85–105; 2: 187–89 Cold War space race, A: 1: 131–32, 146–50, 160–67, 173–74, 179; 2: 331–33; B: PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

1, 13, 22, 61, 106, 121, 128, 147, 180, 201; PS: 40, 46, 50–51, 75, 116, 188 Cold War space race hoax, A: 2: 191 considers female astronauts, PS: 78 cooperative space mission with United States, A: 2: 196–205 détente with United States, A: 2: 194–96 Gagarin, Yuri, first human in space, A: 1: 134 (ill.), 135–37, 136 (ill.); B: 12–13, 61–68, 62 (ill.), 125; PS: 46, 51, 92, 116, 189 hydrogen bomb, A: 1: 99–100 joint missions involving Mir, A: 2: 226–29 launches first ICBM, A: 1: 114–15 launches Sputnik 1, B: 13, 61, 125; PS: 40, 43, 60 manned lunar program, A: 1: 164–67; 2: 192 Mir space station, A: 2: 222–26, 223 (ill.); B: 107–8 Salyut space stations, A: 2: 213–17; B: 106, 107 Soyuz program, A: 1: 173–74; 2: 192 space probes, A: 2: 336–39, 343–46, 347 “space race,” A: 1: 106–27 space stations, A: 2: 192, 213–17, 222–26, 230–35 Tereshkova, Valentina, B: 180–87, 181 (ill.), 185 (ill.) World War II, A: 1: 93–97 Soyuz program (Soviet), A: 1: 147, 165, 173, 179; B: 67, 90–91; PS: 117, 118 Soyuz 1 spacecraft disaster, A: 1: 173–74; B: 67, 141 Soyuz 2, A: 1: 174, 175 Soyuz 3, A: 1: 175; B: 67 Soyuz 4, A: 1: 177 Soyuz 5, A: 1: 177 Soyuz 6, 7, and 8, A: 1: 179 Soyuz 10, A: 2: 192, 213–14 Soyuz 11, A: 2: 192, 193 (ill.), 213–14

Soyuz 15, A: 2: 214 Soyuz 18, A: 2: 215–16 Soyuz 19, A: 2: 200–2 Soyuz 21, A: 2: 216 Soyuz 23, A: 2: 216 Soyuz 24, A: 2: 216 Soyuz 28, A: 2: 216 Soyuz 35, A: 2: 216 “taxi flights,” B: 91, 111 Soyuz-Apollo Test Project. See Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Space adaptation syndrome. See also Space motion sickness B: 118, 119 Space Adventures A: 2: 234 Space cargo, before shuttles A: 2: 236 Space Cowboys (film) B: 77 PS: 100 Space exploration, A: 1: 59–84. See also Apollo-Soyuz test project; Astronomy; “Space race” astronomical observation and, A: 2: 271–76 cooperative efforts in, A: 2: 194–202 early dreams of fantastic voyages, A: 1: 61–63 fatalities, A: 1: 175 Goddard, Robert, A: 1: 69–74, 70 (ill.) and new technology, PS: 172 Oberth, Hermann, A: 1: 74–79, 75 (ill.) Remarks on a New Vision for Space Exploration Program (G. W. Bush), A: 2: 269; PS: 192–99 space shuttle and, A: 2: 248–51 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, A: 1: 63–69, 64 (ill.) von Braun, Wernher, A: 1: 77 (ill.), 78–83; PS: 24–37 Space flight basic principles of, B: 159 founders of, B: 79, 156, 188 physiological effects of, B: 197 private manned, PS: 201 Space flight

33

Soviet manned, B: 61, 63–67; PS: 43, 46 U.S. manned, B: 13 Space flights, record number of B: 57 Space food A: 1: 180 Space Habitation Module-2 (Spacelab 2) B: 56 Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) A: 2: 324, 325 (ill.), 327 (ill.) Space junk A: 2: 236, 360 Space motion sickness, A: 1: 138, 154; 2: 220 defined, A: 1: 130–31; 2: 210 Space probes, A: 2: 331–65 collecting and transmitting information, A: 2: 333–34 Japanese, A: 2: 350 life span of, A: 2: 334 sensors on, A: 2: 333–34 Soviet, A: 1: 162 “Space race,” A: 1: 106–27, 131–39, 146–50, 160–67, 177, 179; 2: 189, 331–33, 362 (ill.); B: 1, 13, 22, 61, 106, 121, 128, 147, 180, 201; PS: 40, 43, 75, 116, 188 and Cold War, A: 1: 131–32 Fletcher, James, and, PS: 118 vs. today’s cooperative missions, PS: 58, 190–91 Space science, and space shuttles PS: 122 The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Origins, Evolution, and Destiny of the Cosmos and Life (NASA), PS: 163–70 education and public outreach, PS: 169–70 fundamental questions, PS: 166–67 objectives, PS: 166 strategic plan, PS: 168–69 Space shuttles, A: 2: 207–70, 237 (ill.), 263 (ill.); B: 34

Space flights

98–99; PS: 116–32, 121 (ill.). See also specific shuttles Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle (Reagan), PS: 139–41 assembly, countdown, and launch of, A: 2: 244–47, 245 (ill.) built to launch Large Space Telescope (LST), B: 98–99; PS: 72, 112, 117–18, 189–90 cargo bay, A: 2: 241, 243 (ill.) and Challenger explosion, A: 2: 238–39, 254–62, 315; B: 42–50, 43 (ill.), 48 (ill.) and Columbia accident, A: 2: 265–70, 318; B: 44 commercial use of, A: 2: 254–55 complexity of, A: 2: 239 components of, A: 2: 239–44 cost of, A: 2: 249–50; PS: 120, 123–24, 126 defined, A: 2: 190, 239 design for, PS: 129 dimensions of, PS: 129 Discovery, B: 55 (ill.); PS: 96–99 engines, A: 2: 240 (ill.), 242, 243 (ill.) external fuel tanks, A: 2: 242–43, 243 (ill.) “firsts,” A: 2: 260 future of, A: 2: 269 and International Space Station, A: 2: 230, 269 landing, A: 2: 247–48 makeup of crew, A: 2: 238 “NASA Document III-31: The Space Shuttle” (Fletcher), PS: 118–24 orbiter, A: 2: 239–41, 240 (ill.), 243 (ill.) original design, A: 2: 249 payloads of, A: 2: 241, 243 (ill.), 264 protection from heat, A: 2: 241–42 Remarks Announcing the Winner of the Teacher in Space Project (G. H. W. Bush), PS: 134–36

Remarks on the Space Shuttle Program (Nixon), PS: 126–28 reusability, A: 2: 238 robotic arm, A: 2: 241 safety modifications, A: 2: 262–64 solid rocket boosters, A: 2: 243 (ill.), 243–46, 260–61 Space Shuttle Upgrade Program, A: 2: 265 U.S. goals for, PS: 195 weight of, PS: 130 Space Station Freedom. See International Space Station (ISS) Space station module Zarya (Russian) B: 110 (ill.) Space stations, A: 2: 207–35. See also International Space Station (ISS); Mir space station Almaz military station, A: 2: 214–16 Alpha, B: 108 coining of term, A: 2: 210 defined, A: 2: 190, 210 early concepts of, A: 1: 69; B: 106; PS: 145–46 first Soviet, B: 106 Freedom, B: 108, 140 living and working on, A: 2: 217–18, 221 Nixon, Richard, and, PS: 126 Russian-made space station module Zarya, B: 110 (ill.) Salyut 1 space station, B: 106, 107; PS: 46 Skylab, A: 2: 217–21; PS: 146 Soviet/Russian, A: 2: 213–17, 222–26, 230–35 travel to, PS: 120 U.S., A: 2: 211–13, 217–21, 226, 229–35 von Braun, Wernher, envisions, PS: 29 working on, PS: 154, 200 Space Task Group (NASA) B: 130 Space Telescope Institute (Baltimore, Maryland) A: 2: 315 Space tourism B: 8


Space tourists A: 2: 234 Space Transportation System (STS) A: 2: 236 Space travel Aldrin, Buzz, and, B: 6–8 China and, B: 214 commercial, A: 1: 151 Cyrano de Bergerac, Savinien de, A: 1: 61 early ideas of, A: 1: 61–63; PS: 12 effects of on older people, B: 76 Goddard, Robert, and, PS: 12–14 in science fiction, A: 1: 106–9 and shuttle, PS: 119, 120 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, and, A: 1: 64–69 Verne, Jules, A: 1: 61–62; PS: 4 von Braun, Wernher, and, A: 1: 110; B: 198, 200–2; PS: 33–36 “Space travelers” A: 1: 128–30 Space vehicles, linking. See Project Gemini Space-based observatories, A: 2: 287, 301–30. See also specific observatories advantages and disadvantages of, A: 2: 307–8 Chandra X-ray Observatory, A: 2: 321–24 Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO), A: 2: 319–21 Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), A: 2: 313–14 cost of, A: 2: 308 early, A: 2: 308–10 future observatories, A: 2: 328–29 Hubble Space Telescope (HST), A: 2: 315–18 International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), A: 2: 310–12 non-U.S., A: 2: 324–28 smallest, A: 2: 327 Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), A: 2: 324 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Spacecraft. See also Friendship 7; Space shuttles Agena, B: 26 Apollo 11, B: 14, 28 flight path (trajectory) of, PS: 41 Gemini 4, B: 16–17 Liberty Bell 7, B: 16 Molly Brown, B: 14 Saturn 5 (Project Apollo), B: 14, 28 Shenzhou 5, B: 214, 216–17 Sputnik 1, B: 13, 22 Vostok 1, B: 13, 66 (ill.) Spacecraft, reusable. See Space shuttles Space-education programs, Chang-Díaz, Franklin B: 59–60 Spaceflight (manned), A: 1: 128–59; 2: 248–51 economics of, A: 2: 249 Spaceflight (unmanned) A: 1: 130–32 Spacehab A: 2: 265 Spacelab A: 2: 253 (ill.), 254 B: 54, 134 Spacelab 2 B: 56 Spacelab 3 B: 119 Spacelab mission PS: 154 Spacelab-J B: 116–17 SpaceShipOne rocket plane A: 1: 151 PS: 143, 201 Spacesuits Project Apollo, A: 1: 177 Project Gemini, A: 1: 153, 155 Spacesuits, for International Space Station B: 109 Spacesuits, von Braun, Wernher, envisions PS: 30 Spacewalks. See also Extravehicular activities (EVAs) (spacewalks); Project Gemini Aldrin, Buzz, B: 3

defined, A: 1: 130–31, 163; 2: 190, 210, 305 and International Space Station, B: 109 Leonov, Aleksei, A: 1: 148 (ill.), 149 untethered, A: 2: 254 von Braun, Wernher, envisions, PS: 30 White, Ed, A: 1: 129 (ill.), 152; B: 17 Spartan satellite B: 139, 168 Spartan-Halley comet research observatory A: 2: 255 B: 47 PS: 137 Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs (Kennedy) PS: 52–55 Spectrograph, defined A: 2: 305 Spectrographs, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95–96 Spectrum, electromagnetic, A: 2: 303, 304, 306 (ill.) defined, A: 2: 304 Spectrum, infrared A: 2: 324 Speculum metal A: 2: 284 Speed of light A: 1: 4–5 Speed of sound A: 1: 166 Spektr module A: 2: 225 Spheres, celestial, A: 1: 4, 24 movement of, A: 1: 25–26 Ptolemaic model, A: 1: 30–31 Spirit Mars rover A: 2: 352–53 PS: 171, 186, 195 Spitzer, Lyman, Jr. A: 2: 308–9, 309 (ill.), 324 B: 97–98 Spitzer Space Telescope (SST) A: 2: 324, 325 (ill.), 327 (ill.) Splashdown, defined A: 1: 48, 108–9, 130–31 Splashdown, defined

35

SPS. See Service Propulsion System (SPS) Sputnik 1, A: 1: 104–8, 114–18, 115 (ill.); B: 13, 22, 106, 121, 128, 146–47, 180, 188, 201; PS: 37, 40–49, 41 (ill.), 45 (ill.), 50, 74, 116, 188 dimensions, A: 1: 115–16 inspires Franklin Chang-Díaz, B: 51–52 inspires Yuri Gagarin, B: 63 and R-7 rocket, B: 125 series of satellites, A: 1: 117–18, 133 Sputnik 2 B: 64 PS: 45–46 Sputnik 3 A: 1: 117–18 Sputnik 4 to 10 A: 1: 117–18 Spy satellites A: 1: 124–25 B: 201–2 PS: 38, 43, 47 “Spyglasses” A: 2: 280 SS (Schutzstaffel) B: 199 PS: 26 SS6 rocket A: 1: 119 Stafford, Thomas P. A: 1: 153, 154; 2: 198–205, 199 (ill.) Staging, in rocketry A: 1: 68–69, 98 Stalin, Joseph A: 1: 86 (ill.), 89, 92–97, 94 (ill.), 116 B: 123 Standing stones (Stonehenge) A: 1: 16 (ill.), 17 Stapp, John PS: 82 Star (Zvedza) (Russian ISS component) B: 110 Star City A: 2: 234 Star Town (Zvezdniy Gorodok) B: 63 PS: 146 36

SPS

Star Trek (TV show) A: 2: 251 PS: 131 Star Trek: The Next Generation B: 120 “Star war events” A: 1: 19 Starcraft Booster, Inc. B: 8 Stardust space probe A: 2: 361 Stargazers (ancient), name constellations A: 1: 14–16 Starry Messenger (Sidereus Nunciusr) (Galileo) A: 1: 40; 2: 280–81 Stars, A: 1: 1–20. See also Constellations; specific stars binary, defined, A: 2: 304 composition of, A: 1: 1 defined, A: 1: 1, 4 exploding, A: 2: 311–12 formation of, A: 2: 293 generate light, A: 1: 3–4 groups of, A: 1: 7 Hipparchus’s catalog of, A: 1: 28 infrared observation of, A: 2: 326 neutron, defined, A: 2: 275, 305 scale of magnitude (Hipparchus), A: 1: 28 twinkling of, A: 1: 3–4 “Stars Are Calling” (Tereshkova) B: 181 “The Star-Spangled Banner” A: 1: 45–47, 46 (ill.), 56 Steadman, Bernice “B” B: 147 (ill.) PS: 77, 77 (ill.) Steam engine A: 1: 47 Stellar nurseries A: 2: 293 Stellar scintillation, A: 1: 3–4 defined, A: 1: 4 Stellar wind, defined A: 2: 305 Stickless rockets A: 1: 56

Stjerneborg Observatory (Castle of the Stars) A: 1: 36 Stock Market Crash (1929) A: 1: 79 Stonehenge A: 1: 16 (ill.), 16–17 Storytelling, and naming constellations A: 1: 14–15 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) A: 2: 196 STS. See Space Transportation System (STS) STS-1 shuttle flight A: 2: 252 STS-5 shuttle flight A: 2: 252–53 STS-26 shuttle flight A: 2: 262 STS-30 shuttle flight A: 2: 264 STS-31 shuttle flight A: 2: 264 STS-34 shuttle flight A: 2: 264 STS-37 shuttle flight A: 2: 264 STS-41 shuttle flight A: 2: 264 STS-50 shuttle flight A: 2: 263–64 STS-51L. See Challenger STS-57 shuttle flight A: 2: 265 STS-93 shuttle flight A: 2: 264 STS-107 shuttle flight. See also Columbia A: 2: 266 Stuart, J.E.B. A: 1: 57 Stumbough, Gene Nora. See Jessen, Gene Nora S-turn maneuvers, of shuttle orbiter A: 2: 247 Subaru Telescope A: 2: 297 Suborbital flights, Mercury project A: 1: 142–43


B: 72 PS: 62, 91 Sullivan, Kathryn D. B: 99, 139 Sumerians, and constellations A: 1: 8 Summer solstice, A: 1: 15; 2: 277 Eratosthenes and, A: 1: 27 Stonehenge and, A: 1: 16 (ill.), 17 Summer triangle A: 1: 11 Sun, A: 2: 363–64; B: 96–97 ancient Greeks and, A: 1: 25–31 Aristarchus of Samos, A: 1: 26–27 El Caracol and, A: 1: 18 (ill.), 19 distance from Earth, A: 1: 5–6 Earth’s orbit around, A: 1: 11 infrared observation of, A: 2: 326 in Mayan life, A: 1: 19 patterns observed by ancient cultures, A: 1: 15–16 star nearest to, A: 1: 6 Stonehenge and, A: 1: 16 (ill.), 17 and ultraviolet radiation, A: 2: 306 Ulysses probe to, A: 2: 264, 363–64 Sun-centered model of planetary motion. See Heliocentric (Sun-centered) model of planetary motion Sunrise (Zarya) (Russian ISS component) B: 108 Sunspot, A: 1: 113 defined, A: 1: 108–9; 2: 210, 275, 305 Supernova Brahe, Tycho, A: 1: 36 Chandrasekhar limit, A: 2: 322 defined, A: 1: 24; 2: 275, 305 first identification of, A: 2: 311–12 Supernova 1987A A: 2: 311–12 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Surveyor space probes Surveyor 1, A: 2: 340 Surveyor 3, A: 1: 179 Surveyor 4, A: 2: 340 Surveyor 3, 5, 6, and 7, A: 2: 340 Survival in Space (Gagarin and Lebedev) B: 67 Swigert, John L., Jr. A: 1: 180–81 PS: 112 S-Zero (SO) truss B: 169

T Taikonauts A: 1: 128, 156 Tamayo-Méndez, Arnaldo B: 39 Taurus-Littrow Valley A: 1: 182 “Taxi flight” B: 91, 111 TDRS. See Tracking and DataRelay Satellite (TDRS) Teacher in Space A: 1: 175; 2: 255, 256–57 B: 46, 47 PS: 133–36, 134 (ill.), 136 (ill.), 142 Technology advances in, through space exploration, PS: 194 H. G. Wells and, PS: 4 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, and, PS: 40–41 Technology, misuse of B: 205 Tehran, Iran A: 1: 94 Telescopes, A: 1: 60 (ill.); B: 94, 96–97; PS: 164. See also Large Space Telescope (LST); specific telescopes achromatic, A: 2: 283 defined, A: 2: 275 of Galileo, A: 1: 39; 2: 280–83 giant, A: 2: 297–99 Hale, A: 2: 272 (ill.) on Hubble Space Telescope, B: 95, 96

infrared, A: 2: 292–93 of Kepler, Johannes, A: 2: 282 lenses for, A: 2: 279–80 modern, A: 2: 285–87 of Newton, A: 2: 283–85 optical, A: 2: 293–99 radio astronomy, A: 2: 287–92, 291 (ill.) reflector, defined, A: 2: 275, 305 refracting, A: 2: 275, 278, 282–83, 286, 288 (ill.) refractor, defined, A: 2: 275, 305 space-based, A: 2: 308–9 ultraviolet (UV), A: 2: 309–10 Television, and Challenger explosion A: 2: 258 PS: 139 Television camera, on Luna 9 A: 2: 337 Television cameras, on Apollo flights B: 134 PS: 107, 114 Temperature, and infrared astronomy A: 2: 293 Tereshkova, Valentina, A: 1: 139, 139 (ill.), 140; B: 180–87, 181 (ill.), 185 (ill.); PS: 87 makes historic flight, B: 153, 183–84 trains as cosmonaut, B: 183 Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) A: 2: 329 Test pilots (military) Armstrong, Neil, B: 24–25 Grissom, Gus, B: 15–16 NASA preference for, B: 148–49; PS: 69–70, 75, 86 Tethered Satellite System B: 55 Thagare, Norman E. A: 2: 225 Theodosius I, emperor of Rome A: 1: 24, 32 “The Theory and Experiment of a Horizontally Elongated Balloon” (Tsiolkovsky) B: 190

“The Theory and Experiment of a Horizontally Elongated Balloon”

37

“The Theory of Gasses” (Tsiolkovsky) A: 1: 63 B: 190 Thermal tiles, of space shuttle A: 2: 241–42, 250–51 Thermonuclear race. See also Cold War A: 1: 101 The Thing (film) A: 1: 108 Thiokol. See Morton Thiokol The Third Planet: Exploring the Earth from Space (Ride) B: 177 Thomas, Andrew A: 2: 225, 228–29 Throttle up, of space shuttle engines A: 2: 242, 243 Thrust, A: 1: 53 defined, A: 1: 48, 130–31, 163; 2: 239 of space shuttle engines, A: 2: 242, 243 Thuban (star) A: 1: 10 Tiles, thermal of space shuttle, A: 2: 241–42, 250–51 Time and light, A: 2: 299 and position of stars, A: 1: 11 and space probe transmissions, A: 2: 334 The Time Machine: An Invention (Wells) B: 206, 208, 209 (ill.) Titan (moon) A: 2: 358 Titan II rocket A: 1: 151 Tito, Dennis A: 2: 229, 234 Titov, Gherman A: 1: 137–38 B: 65 To Space and Back (Ride) B: 177 Tono-Bungay (Wells) B: 210 Touch-hole, of handgun A: 1: 51 38

“The Theory of Gasses”

Toy Story B: 9 TPF. See Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) Tracking and Data-Relay Satellite (TDRS) A: 2: 255 B: 43, 47, 140 PS: 137 Trajectory (flight path), of spacecraft PS: 41 Tranquility Base B: 4–6, 28–30 Travel to the Moon (Verne) B: 157 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk A: 1: 90 Treaty of Versailles B: 197 Tree seeds, for Apollo-Soyuz test project A: 2: 203 Trigonometry, and Hipparchus A: 1: 28–29 “Trinity” atomic test A: 1: 96 (ill.), 97 Trotsky, Leon A: 1: 91 Truhill, Jerri Sloan B: 147 (ill.), 151 PS: 77 (ill.) Truly, Richard B: 38 (ill.) Truman, Harry S. A: 1: 95–96 Trusses, for International Space Station B: 109, 110, 169 Trypanosoma B: 58 T-seal, on Columbia PS: 180 Tsien Hsue-Shen B: 216 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, A: 1: 63–69, 64 (ill.), 130; 2: 209; B: 188–94, 189 (ill.) basic rocket formula, A: 1: 66, 67 develops theories of space travel, B: 191–93; PS: 40–41, 45

envisions colonization of space, B: 193–94 writes about his ideas, B: 190–91 TSKB-39 sharashaka PS: 42 Tupolev, Sergei B: 124 PS: 42 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Verne) A: 1: 62 PS: 2 Twin Keck Telescopes A: 2: 297–98, 298 (ill.) Twinkling, of stars A: 1: 3–4 Typical solar wind A: 2: 364

U Uhuru satellite A: 2: 321 UKIRT. See United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, A: 2: 273, 306, 306 (ill.) defined, A: 1: 108–9; 2: 274–75, 305 Ultraviolet (UV) telescopes A: 2: 309–10 Ulysses probe A: 2: 363–64 Umar, caliph of Baghdad A: 1: 24 Underwater astronaut training, B: 3 AT&T Telstar satellite, B: 139 Cold War space race, B: 1, 13, 22, 61, 106, 121, 128, 147, 180, 201 joint space shuttle missions with Russia, B: 55, 57 Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR). See also Soviet Union A: 1: 91 Union troops, and Hale rockets A: 1: 57 United Kingdom A: 2: 310


United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) A: 2: 293 United Nations (UN), A: 1: 95 Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, A: 2: 192–94 defined, A: 2: 190 Khrushchev’s speech at, A: 1: 119 Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), A: 2: 194 United States. See also Project Apollo; Project Mercury ballistic missile program, A: 1: 78, 81, 110 begins space program, A: 1: 118–24 and Bolshevik revolution, A: 1: 87–90 and China, A: 2: 194 Civil War, A: 1: 55–56 Cold War, A: 1: 85–105; 2: 187–89 cooperative space mission with Soviet Union, A: 2: 196–205 cost of space shuttle, A: 2: 249–50, 252 democracy in, A: 1: 90 détente with Soviet Union, A: 2: 194–96 fear of communism, A: 1: 102 funding for NASA, A: 2: 252 future space exploration, A: 2: 318–19; PS: 191, 194 (ill.) hydrogen bomb, A: 1: 99–100 International Space Station (ISS), A: 2: 229–31 joint missions involving Mir, A: 2: 226–29 manned lunar missions, A: 1: 162–64 manned space program, A: 1: 139–46 Mexican War, A: 1: 55 public morale during space race, PS: 50–51 Remarks on a New Vision for Space Exploration Program (G. W. Bush), PS: 192–99 southwestern, A: 2: 286 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

space probes program, A: 2: 339–41 “space race,” A: 1: 106–27, 131–32, 139–46, 160–67, 178–79; 2: 189, 207, 331–33; PS: 38, 46, 50–51, 75, 116, 188 space shuttle program, A: 2: 238–39, 248–51; PS: 118–30 space stations, A: 2: 211–13, 217–21, 226 spy satellites, A: 1: 124–25 Vietnam War, A: 2: 195 War of 1812, A: 1: 45–46, 55–56 World War II, A: 1: 93–98 United States Air Force, and NASA A: 2: 255 PS: 129 United States Army, and space program A: 1: 118 United States Congress Glenn, John, addresses, PS: 99–100 holds hearings on women as astronauts, PS: 86 Kennedy announces Moon goal to, A: 1: 137, 160; PS: 50–55, 117, 189 and NASA reorganization, A: 2: 261–62; PS: 202 United States Navy, and space program A: 1: 118–20 United States Senate, Glenn, John PS: 91 Unity node (U.S. ISS component) B: 109–10 Universal gravitation, Newton’s law of A: 1: 42 Universe ancient cultures’ view of, A: 1: 15–19 Brahe, Tycho, demonstrates changeability of, A: 1: 36 expanding, A: 2: 295, 313 origins of, PS: 163–67

Unmanned spacecraft, Agena. See also Sputnik B: 26 Unmanned spaceflight (space probes) to Jupiter, A: 2: 353–56 to Mars, A: 2: 347–53 to Mercury, A: 2: 342–43 to Moon, A: 2: 334–42 to Neptune, A: 2: 359–60 to Saturn, A: 2: 356–58 to Uranus, A: 2: 358–59 to Venus, A: 2: 343–47 UNOOSA. See United Nations (UN) Uranium Committee (U.S.) A: 1: 97 Uranus A: 2: 284, 358–59 Ursa Major (constellation) A: 1: 14 Ursa Minor (constellation) A: 1: 10, 14 Usachev, Yuri B: 141, 142 (ill.) U.S. Congress, Kennedy announces Moon goal to B: 131 U.S. Microgravity Payload B: 56 U.S. Senate, Glenn, John B: 76 USSR. See Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR) UV radiation. See Ultraviolet (UV) radiation

V Van Allen belts, A: 1: 114, 120; 2: 323 defined, A: 1: 108–9; 2: 305 Van Allen, James A: 1: 114, 122 Vanguard project, A: 1: 118–20, 121 (ill.) Vanguard 1, A: 1: 120; 2: 360 Vanguard 2, A: 1: 120 Vanguard 3, A: 1: 120 Variable, Cepheid A: 2: 274, 295, 297 Variable, Cepheid

39

Variable Specific Impulse Magnetic Resonance (VASIMR) propulsion system B: 57–58 Vega (star) A: 1: 11 Vega space probe program A: 2: 346, 361 Vela (constellation) A: 1: 8 Velas (military satellites) A: 2: 319 Velocity, escape, A: 1: 71 defined, A: 1: 48, 163; 2: 335 Velocity, exhaust, defined A: 1: 48 Venera space probes (Soviet), A: 2: 344–45 Venera 1 (mission to Venus), A: 1: 118 Venera 3 (mission to Venus), B: 125 Venera 4, A: 2: 344 Venera 7, A: 2: 344 Venera 8, A: 2: 344 Venera 9 and 10, A: 2: 344 Venera 15 and 16, A: 2: 344 Vengeance Weapon 2 rockets. See V-2 rocket Venus, A: 1: 3; 2: 264, 343–47 El Caracol and, A: 1: 18 (ill.), 19 in Mayan life, A: 1: 19 Soviet exploration program, A: 2: 344–46 Venus Express space probe A: 2: 346–47 Verein für Raumschiffahrt (German Rocket Society) A: 1: 76 B: 160 Verne, Jules, A: 1: 74, 78, 106, 107 (ill.); B: 159; PS: 1–11, 3 (ill.) envisions scientific marvels, A: 1: 62; PS: 2 excerpt from From the Earth to the Moon: Passage Direct in Ninety-seven Hours and Twenty Minutes (Verne), PS: 5–9 Very Large Telescope (VLT) A: 2: 299 40

(VASIMR)

Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) A: 2: 292 Vietnam War A: 2: 195–96, 249 B: 36 Viking space probes Viking 1 space probe, A: 2: 348 (ill.), 349 Viking 2 space probe, A: 2: 349 Visible light A: 2: 273, 301 Visible spectrum (rainbow) A: 2: 303, 306 (ill.) Vision, in stargazing A: 2: 277 VLBA. See Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) VLT. See Very Large Telescope (VLT) Volkov, Vladislav A: 1: 175, 179; 2: 192, 213 Volynov, Boris V. A: 1: 177; 2: 216 von Braun, Wernher, A: 1: 76, 77 (ill.), 78–83; 2: 211; B: 161 (ill.), 195–204, 196 (ill.); PS: 24–39, 25 (ill.), 28 (ill.), 38 (ill.) begins developing rockets, B: 195–97 develops Saturn 5 rocket, A: 1: 169; PS: 31 (ill.), 103 develops V-2 rocket, A: 1: 79–81; B: 124, 161, 197–98, 200 (ill.) envisions space station, PS: 146 as head of Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), A: 1: 81; B: 161–62 heads U.S. rocket program, A: 1: 81–82, 120, 122; B: 161–62, 198–200, 202–3 heads U.S. space center, A: 1: 82–83 “Man on the Moon: The Journey” (von Braun), PS: 27–37 Nazi connections, B: 199; PS: 26 promotes spaceflight, A: 1: 83, 109–11; B: 200–1

satellite delayed by politics, B: 201–2 von Eichstadt, Konrad Kyser A: 1: 51 Vonnegut, Kurt PS: 10 Voskhod spacecraft program (Soviet), A: 1: 147–50, 148 (ill.), 163 Voskhod 1, A: 1: 149, 163 Voskhod 2, A: 1: 148 (ill.), 149; 2: 198 Vostok manned spaceflight program (Soviet), A: 1: 133–37; B: 61, 66 (ill.); PS: 46 Vostok 1, A: 1: 134 (ill.), 162; 2: 189; B: 13, 121, 125, 131, 180 Vostok 2, A: 1: 137–38 Vostok 3 and 4, A: 1: 138 Vostok 5, A: 1: 138–39; B: 183, 184 Vostok 6, A: 1: 138–39; B: 183, 184 Vostok test rockets B: 63 Voyager: An Adventure to the Edge of the Solar System (Ride) B: 177 Voyager space probes Voyager 1 and 2 space probes, A: 2: 333, 353–54, 355 (ill.), 356–57, 357 (ill.), 360 Voyager 2 space probe A: 2: 358–60 V-2 rocket A: 1: 79–81, 80 (ill.), 130 B: 124, 161, 197–98, 200 (ill.) PS: 26

W WAC Corporal rocket B: 85 Wake Shield Facility B: 55–56 Walker, Joe PS: 70 Wall calendars A: 2: 277 Walt Disney studios A: 1: 110; 2: 211


Wan Hu A: 1: 50 War of 1812 A: 1: 45–47, 46 (ill.) War Fortifications (Bellifortis) (von Eichstadt) A: 1: 51 The War of the Worlds (film) A: 1: 100, 108 The War of the Worlds (Wells), A: 1: 70, 100; B: 206, 210; PS: 4 excerpt, B: 211 inspires Robert H. Goddard, B: 81 Warfare rockets, A: 1: 45–58 European use, A: 1: 50–55 fire arrows, A: 1: 49 (ill.), 49–50 gunpowder for, A: 1: 48–49 in World War II, A: 1: 79–80 Wartime rockets PS: 12 Water, on Mars A: 2: 353 Water vapor A: 2: 287, 292 Wavelength, in electromagnetic radiation A: 2: 273, 301–3 “Wavy particles, in physics” A: 2: 320 Ways to Spaceflight (Wege zur Raumschiffahrt) (Oberth) A: 1: 75 B: 160 Weapons (rockets as), A: 1: 45–58 in World War II, A: 1: 79–81 Weather Challenger launch, A: 2: 257; B: 47; PS: 137–38 satellites for observation, PS: 54–55 Webb, James E. A: 2: 328 PS: 86 Weightlessness A: 1: 157–58 B: 117 PS: 91, 99 Weitz, Paul J. A: 2: 220 PS = Space Exploration: Primary Sources

Welles, Orson A: 1: 100 B: 210 PS: 4 Wells, H. G., A: 1: 78, 100; B: 205–13, 206 (ill.); PS: 4 begins writing career, B: 208–10 inspires rocket scientists, A: 1: 70 promotes worldwide socialism, B: 210–12 West Germany A: 1: 101 Western civilization, exploration and A: 1: 59–61 Weyprecht, Karl A: 1: 111–12 When Worlds Collide (film) A: 1: 108 Whipple, Fred PS: 29 White dwarfs A: 2: 322 White, Edward, A: 1: 152; 2: 360; B: 11, 12 (ill.), 16–17, 17 (ill.), 133; PS: 72, 104. See also Apollo 1 crew dies in Apollo/Saturn 204 spacecraft fire, A: 1: 171–73, 175 White Knight (jet plane) A: 1: 151 PS: 201 White, Robert PS: 70 Wide-field planetary camera, on Hubble Space Telescope B: 95, 96, 100 Wild 2 comet A: 2: 361 Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) A: 2: 314 Williams, Jim B: 31 Wilson, Robert A: 2: 290 Wilson, Woodrow A: 1: 90, 92 (ill.) Wind tunnel, first Russian A: 1: 64

B: 191 PS: 41 Winter solstice A: 1: 16 WMAP. See Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Wolf, David A: 2: 225 Wolfe, Tom, PS: 60–73, 64 (ill.) excerpts from The Right Stuff, PS: 65–71 Woltman, Rhea Allison B: 151, 152 PS: 76–77 Women and minorities astronaut firsts, B: 37 astronaut training for, B: 34–35, 36–39, 152–53, 174; PS: 85 Women astronauts, PS: 75–78, 83 (ill.), 87 (ill.) advantages over men, PS: 79–80 Chinese, B: 219 Collins, Eileen, B: 154 Cowings, Patricia, B: 119 Lucid, Shannon, B: 136–45 Mercury 13 train as, B: 146–55, 147 (ill.); PS: 73, 75–78 Ochoa, Ellen, B: 164–71 Resnick, Judith, B: 42, 43 (ill.) Ride, Sally, B: 37, 172–79 Tereshkova, Valentina, B: 180–87 “Women in Space” (Tereshkova) B: 186 Woman on the Moon (Frau im Mond) (film) A: 1: 76 B: 160 Worchester Polytechnic Institute PS: 12–13 Worden, Alfred M. A: 1: 182 World Sickle Cell Foundation B: 119 World socialism, Wells’ view of B: 211–12 World War I Goddard, Robert H., A: 1: 71; B: 82–83; PS: 13 World War I

41

Oberth, Hermann, A: 1: 74; B: 158 Russia and, A: 1: 88–89 World War II development of atomic bomb, A: 1: 87, 97–98; PS: 52 Gagarin, Yuri, B: 62 Glenn, John, B: 70–71; PS: 90 Goddard, Robert, A: 1: 70 Korolev, Sergei, B: 124 Oberth, Hermann, A: 1: 77–78; B: 160–61 von Braun, Wernher, A: 1: 79–81; B: 197–99; PS: 24, 26 Wells, H. G., B: 212 Wright-Patterson Air Force Base PS: 80 A Wrinkle in Time (L’Engle) B: 115 Writers Aldrin, Buzz, B: 1–10, 9 (ill.) Oberth, Hermann, A: 1: 75; B: 159–61 Ride, Sally, B: 177–78 Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, B: 193–94 Verne, Jules, A: 1: 61–62, 64, 70 Wells, H. G., B: 205–13 Wu-ching Tsung-yao (Complete compendium of Military Classics), A: 1: 49

X X rays, A: 2: 273, 306 (ill.), 306–7, 329 Compton effect, A: 2: 320

42

World War II

defined, A: 1: 108–9; 2: 275, 305 X-15 rocket plane B: 24 PS: 67, 68 X-1B rocket plane A: 1: 165 (ill.) B: 25–26

Youngest American sent into orbit B: 172 Yuhangyuan A: 1: 128

Z Y Yalta Conference A: 1: 86 (ill.), 89, 94 (ill.), 94–95 Yang Liwei A: 1: 156 B: 214–19, 215 (ill.) Yangel, Mikhail A: 1: 119 Yeager, Chuck A: 1: 141 PS: 68 Years, A: 1: 10 star shift during, A: 1: 11 Yegorov, Boris A: 1: 149 Yeliseyev, Aleksei S. A: 1: 177, 179 Yerkes telescope A: 2: 286 Yohkoh satellite observatory A: 2: 328 Young, John W. A: 1: 151, 155, 163, 182; 2: 252 B: 16

Zarya (Sunrise) (Russian ISS component) B: 108, 110 (ill.) Zarya control module, of International Space Station A: 2: 233 Zero gravity, and space tourism B: 8 Zero gravity, effect of on humans A: 2: 233 Zero gravity, on Mir PS: 151 Zholobov, Vitali A: 2: 216 Zodiac signs, ancient Egyptian A: 1: 22 (ill.) Zond space probe series (Soviet) A: 2: 339 Zvedza (Star) (Russian ISS component) B: 110 Zvezda service module, of International Space Station A: 2: 233 Zvezdniy Gorodok (Star Town) B: 63 Zwicky, Fritz A: 2: 297


Space Exploration: Almanac (Space Exploration Reference Library)

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Space Exploration (Space Innovations)