Spacecraft History

In the late 1950s, technical advances in astronautical engineering and rocketry witnessed tremendous expansion; however, most of this growth remained hidden to most members of the public until Sputnik launched by Soviet Russia on October 4, 1957.

American efforts included the Gemini program and its Mercury Seven astronauts – including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin who would later make history by walking on the Moon – as well as Surveyor and Lunokhod programs, which sent robotic vehicles out to explore and return soil samples back for analysis on Mars.

Sputnik

After World War II, the United States and Soviet Union launched a space race to show who had superior technology. This rivalry saw breakthrough efforts made towards launching artificial satellites; probing Moon, Venus, Mars and other planets for evidence; as well as sending humans into space.

In 1957, Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, was launched from an R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile by Soviet Russia. This event served as a wakeup call to Americans who assumed space exploration was just another extension of America’s “wild west” tradition.

Explorer 1 became the first satellite ever launched from American soil into orbit and carried equipment that later revealed the Van Allen radiation belt. President Dwight Eisenhower established NASA, to oversee and administer America’s space program. That year Alan Shepard became the first American in space aboard Mercury-Redstone 3 (or Freedom 7); yet the decisive moment came years later when Neil Armstrong set foot onto the Moon and changed everything forever.

Apollo

The Apollo program saw American astronauts complete 11 spaceflights and land on the moon, while also creating technologies needed for exploration of distant worlds.

Mercury and Gemini rockets could provide human flight into low Earth orbit, while for lunar landing they required something bigger – the Saturn V rocket towered as tall as 36 stories with three stages atop of which sat the Apollo command module which carried astronauts on their mission from earth orbit to lunar surface and back again.

In 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin made history when they ventured onto the lunar surface from their lunar module’s hatch and deployed science experiments before planting an American flag, reading an inscription plaque and collecting samples for geologists to study during an unforgettable two-and-a-half hour moonwalk.

Space Shuttle

After Apollo, NASA identified the need for a manned spacecraft capable of fulfilling two essential roles. First was servicing an orbiting permanent station while transporting astronauts back and forth; and secondly was shuttle design studies by NASA as well as several aerospace companies that examined this idea.

NASA ultimately selected a three-stage shuttle design consisting of an orbiter connected to solid rocket boosters and an external fuel tank (ET). Martin Marietta won the contract to construct this ET.

Abort system components included two solid-fueled separation motors which would have been activated in an emergency to dislodge Orbiter from its SRBs, yet this system had never been used since the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986, which claimed all crewmembers.

As soon as a shuttle is ready to land, its commander pulls back its nose and deploys its landing gear, along with parachutes and speed brakes that may come into effect.

International Space Station

The International Space Station marks a crucial step on humanity’s journey into long-term space exploration, serving as a versatile science lab and testing ground for deep space technology – and serving as a symbol of international cooperation. NASA is studying how best to keep human crew members in space while conducting groundbreaking research that benefits us all.

People have dreamed of living in space since the dawn of history. Renowned astronomer Johannes Kepler was one of the first to recognize that planets were worlds and that there was space between them; he predicted that one day humans would travel through space inside a wheel-shaped space station that orbited Earth like a modern submarine.

Space Shuttle missions deliver components to the ISS, such as the American-made Unity connecting module; Russian Zvezda service module with docking compartments and docking rings; truss segments to support additional laboratory modules – pieces which were put together piecemeal over 10 years beginning with Zarya’s launch in 1998.