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Episodes Tagged with "Sputnik"

Posted on May 2, 2013

On October 4th 1957, the Soviet Union demonstrated that it had to be taken seriously. Only a few years prior they had lagged the US badly in both bombers and Nuclear weapons. Now, there was deep concern that the Soviet’s could launch a nuclear attack...

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Posted on February 12, 2015

In January 1960, President Eisenhower directed NASA Administrator Glennan to accelerate the Super Booster Program that had recently been assigned to NASA. This order ensured the transfer of the von Braun group from the Army Ballistic Missile Agency t...

Using a model at upper left, William Rector of General Dynamics Corp. describes the design his company proposed for the Apollo lunar mission

Spacecraft modules in this drawing were identified in the Space Task Group’s request for proposals from contractors for developing and producing the command module

Saturn 1 test

Saturn 1 test 2

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At lower left, E. E. Clark and Carlos de Moraes of the Martin Company display three of a dozen command module configurations considered before the choice of the one to the right

ASA’s second Administrator, James E. Webb (at center above), and George M. Low (right above) of NASA Headquarters receive a model of General Electric’s proposed vehicle

Posted on February 19, 2015

In May 1961, NASA was not really prepared to direct an enormous Apollo program designed to fly its spacecraft to the moon. New and special facilities would be needed and the aerospace industry would have to be marshaled to develop vehicles not easily...

David G. Hoag, technical design director at the laboratory, examines the inertial measuring unit that would measure changes in Apollo spacecraft velocity when propulsion systems were fired

MIT Instrumentation Laboratory Director C. Stark Draper inspects a mockup of the Apollo guidance and control system in the September 1963

astronaut positions

Posted on February 26, 2015

Max Faget thought the first stage of the moon rocket should use four solid-fueled engines, 6.6 meters in diameter.  He reasoned these could certainly accomplish whatever mission was required of either the Saturn or Nova, and it would be more cost eff...

John_Houbolt_and_LOR2

Earth Orbit Rendezvous

Apollo_Direct_Ascent

Posted on March 5, 2015

Many historians agree, the U.S. took its first step toward the moon in the spring of 1957, four years before President Kennedy declared the national goal of landing a man on the Moon, and returning him safely to the Earth. While still preparing for t...

12-Second stage (S-IV)

11-Booster stage (S-I)

10-Proposed C-2

9-C-1 and earlier vehicles

8-Model of blockhouse at Launch Complex 34

7-Vehicles using Titan and Atlas stages

6-Saturn C

5-Saturn B

4-Preliminary concept of Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral

3-Early H-1 Engine

2-Thor-Jupiter engine

1-Proposed configuration of a clustered booster

Posted on May 9, 2013

Sputnik 2 was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit and was the first to launch a living creature. The satellite was a 4 meter high cone-shaped capsule with a base diameter of 2 meters. It contained several compartments for radio transmitte...

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sputnik-2

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Laika

Laika Stamp

Posted on May 16, 2013

“It seemed as if the gates of hell had opened up.  Brilliant stiletto flames shot out from the side of the rocket near the engine. The vehicle agonizingly hesitated for a moment, quivered again, and in front of our unbelieving eyes, began to topple. ...

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Posted on May 30, 2013

In late March, 1958, President Eisenhower publicly announced the United States’ intention to launch a spacecraft to the Moon.  He assured the nation that  this was not science fiction.  It was an achievable goal presented by leading scientists.  The ...

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Vanguard_rocket

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Pioneer_1

Pioneer Satellite Replica

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Posted on December 23, 2015

“It seemed that the nearby and mysterious planet was resorting to tricks to hide the secrets kept beneath its cover of clouds. As the probe drew nearer, Venus’ gravitational field increased its speed. The Doppler effect altered the wavelength of the ...

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2-Venera-4 bus

1-Venera_4 hub

Posted on June 6, 2013

The launch vehicle for the Luna E-1 series was a modified R7 named Vostok.  The Vostok had three stages.  The first and second stage were the standard R-7 which we covered in Episode 9.  A 5.1 meter long by 2.4 meter diameter third stage was added to...

Vostok – 8K72K

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Luna_1_1

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Posted on June 27, 2013

While the Mercury 7 were fulfilling their roles as symbols of space exploration, Korolev once again was offering the real thing. He now prepared to undertake the most demanding mission yet. The mission that would accomplish the next step in Korolev’s...

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Luna2Attached to Rocket

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Luna_2_Soviet_moon_probe

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Posted on July 18, 2013

For the Soviet Union, 1960 was a mixed bag of success and failure as it struggled for new achievements in space exploration.  The main driving force was to be the first nation to launch a man into space.  An achievement their adversary, the United St...

strelwpups

KS1

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Vostok_spacecraft_diagram

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vostok on test stand at factory

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sacard

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Ejection container used by Belka and Strelka

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Posted on October 3, 2013

As part of the pre-Apollo preparations, NASA created the Ranger series of missions to take high-quality pictures of the Moon and transmit them back to Earth in real time…

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Ranger4JPL

Ranger-4-Atlas-Agena-B

Posted on November 21, 2013

In June of 1963, the Soviet Union performed an encore of the Vostok 3 and 4 missions with two manned spaceships orbiting the Earth simultaneously. However, Vostok 5 and 6 was more than a simple repetition.  Vostok 5’s objective was to beat the flight...

Valeri_bykovsky

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Posted on December 12, 2013

The Space Age had barely begun when Soviet engineers started planning ways to destroy enemy satellites. Some Western analysts have speculated that a design for an anti-satellite weapon system was started at Korolev’s OKB-1 bureau as early as 1956…

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Posted on January 2, 2014

Premiere Khrushchev was not willing to wait until Soyuz for another space first.  Khrushchev believed, There could be no final victories in the race for space propaganda.  He knew the US was working on project Gemini which would carry two astronauts ...

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Boris Y

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By Dave

Posted on April 3, 2014

The precise scope of the Gemini 3 mission remained uncertain until very nearly the eve of flight. In April of 1963, the GT-3 mission directive was “to demonstrate and evaluate the capabilities of the spacecraft and launch vehicle system, and the proc...

gemin3 panel

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Gemini3

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Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee is shown at console in the Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas during the Gemini-Titan 3 flight.

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Posted on April 10, 2014

Grissom – What is it? Young: Corned beef sandwich. Grissom: Where did it come from? Young: I brought it with me. Let’s see how it tastes. Smells, doesn’t it. Grissom: Yes, its breaking up. I’m going to stick it in my pocket. Young: Is it? It was...

Gemini3 Carrier

Gemini 3 View

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Unsinkable

Launching of the first manned Gemini flight.

Posted on May 22, 2014

Posted on July 3, 2014

The Zond program was one of two lunar exploration programs conducted by the Soviet Union to investigate the Moon and its vicinity. The program began in 1964 and ended in 1979. The early Zond’s 1-3 were originally designed for planetary exploration, w...

space rocket history pic82

Diament

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venera_3

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zond_3

Posted on August 14, 2014

In the 1960s, during the cold war, the US and Soviet Union turned their attention to the moon. The question was, who could place a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth first? Obtaining the necessary data on the moon to risk sending a pe...

First_View_of_Earth_from_Moon

lunar_orbiter1

Surveyor_1_shadow_lunarsurface

Surveyor_1_Foot_Pad on the moon

Surveyor_1_launch with Atlas Centar

surveyor 1 mockup_beach

luna10

Posted on April 25, 2013

“We had absolute confidence in Comrade Korolev.  We believed him when he told us that his rocket would not only fly, but that is would travel 7000 kilometers.  When he expounded or defended his ideas, you could see passion burning in his eyes, and hi...

GPN-2002-000184

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Posted on January 29, 2015

President Kennedy proposed the manned lunar landing as the focus of the US space program but, at the time of his address, only one American, Alan B. Shepard, Jr. had been into space, on a suborbital lob shot lasting 15 minutes. No rocket launch vehic...

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GilruthThompsonGlennan

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Posted on February 5, 2015

The goal of the nation’s space program should be the scientific exploration of the moon and the planets but also to recognize that nontechnical factors are vital to public acceptance of a space program. Human exploration of the moon and planets would...

glenn-kennedy_300_241_s_c1

ST-69-4-63

Posted on June 30, 2016

The Space Age had barely begun when Soviet engineers started planning ways to destroy enemy satellites. Some Western analysts have speculated that a design for an anti-satellite weapon system was started at Korolev’s OKB-1 bureau as early as 1956…

Posted on November 26, 2015

Premiere Khrushchev was not willing to wait until Soyuz for another space first.  Khrushchev believed, There could be no final victories in the race for space propaganda.  He knew the US was working on project Gemini which would carry two astronauts ...