10th Anniversary of U.S. Manned Space Flight

8/7/2019 10th Anniversary of U.S. Manned Space Flight

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Phone: 202/962-42=

(Louise Dick)

S~JNDAY

lOTH ANNIVERSARY OF U . S . M A N N E D SPACE FLIGHT_ _ T _ _ _ , ---

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On F r i d a y morning, M a y ' s i 1 9 6 1 , more than 2 , 0 0 0 s a i l o r si.n t h e i r d r e s s w h i t e u n i f o r m s l i n e d t h e decks of' t h e a i r c r a f tc a r r i e r , USS Lake Champla in , s t a t i on ed I n t h e A t l a n t i c O c e a na b o u t 300 m i l e s o f f t h e F l o r i d a c o a s t . The weather was p e r f e c t ,c l e a r s k i e s a n d a calm s e a . Those on b o a r d r e p o r t e d t h e r ewas c o m p l e t e s i l e n c e a s a l l e y es were p e e r i n g i n t o t h e sky.,

Suddenly a b r i g h t o r a n g e o b j e c t a p p e a r e d 1 0 , 0 0 0 f e e toverhead and t h e thousands of v o i c e s s h ou t ed i n u n i s on a sthey watched! t h e f i r s t Uni ted S t a t e s manned spacecraf t para-chu te back t o Earth. J u s t 11 m i nu t es a f t e r i m pa c t, A s t r o na u tAlan B . Shepard, Jr., and h i s Freedom 7 Mercury spacecra f twere on t h e c a r r i e r d eck a f t e r a 15-minute f l i g h t from CapeCanavera l .

A t t h e l a u n c h s i t e 580 news correspondents had watchedt h e Redstone roc ke t laun ch Freedom 7 . An es t imated 45 m!.llionp e o p l e saw t h e e v e nt on t e l e v i s i o n and m i l l i o n s more h ea r d i tr e p o r t e d o v e r w o r l d w i d e r a d i o n e t w o r k s . The world had j u s tw i t n e s s e d t h e first of 2 4 Uni ted S ta tes - -manned spac e miss ion seonducted by t h e N a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s a n d S p a c e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,

S h ep a rd ' s s u b o r b i t a l f l i g h t d em on st ra te d t h e e n g i n e e ri n gconcep ts o f t h e P r o j e c t M ercur y s p a c e v e h i c l e s y s t e m . Itp r o t ec te d man du r in g th e s t r e s s e s of ro ck et powered lau nch andr e e n t r y t o E a r t h . Shepard a l s o r e p o r t e d no d i s o r i e n t a t i o nd u r i ng f i v e mi nu te s o f w e i g h t l e s s n e s s ,

T hr ee mont hs p r i o r t o t h e l o t h an n i ver sa ry. o f th e Freedom 7m i s s i o n , Shepard commanded t h e 2 4 t h American manned spacemiss ion , Apol lo 1 4 . T h i s t h i r d l u n a r l a n d i n g f l i g h t wasl a u n c h e d J a n , 31, 1971. H e s p e n t n i n e d ay s i n s pa c e , i n c l u d i n gm o r e t h a n n i n e h o u r s e x p l o r i n g t h e MoonPs su r f ac e .

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I n r e t r o s p e c t , P r o j e c t Mercury, the f i r s t Uni ted S t a t e smanned f l i g h t program, had been i n i t i a t e d O ct , 7, 1.958. T h i sv e n t u r e t o l a u n c h a man i n t o E a r t h o r b i t and r e t u r n h i m s a f e l ywas u nd er ta ke n t o c a r r y o u t o b j e c t i v e s s e t f o r t h i n t h eNat ional Aeronaut ics and Space Act of 1958. Three of t h e s e

o b j e c t i v e s a r e : t o c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e expansion of human know-le d g e of phenomena i n t h e atmosphere and space; developmentand opera t ion of v e h i c l e s c ap a b l e of c a r r y i n g i n s t r u m e n t s ,e qu ip me nt , s u p p l i e s , a nd l i v i n g o rga n is m s t h r o u g h s p a c e ; andp r e s e r v a t i o n o f t h e r o l e of t h e United S t a t e s as a leader i ns p a c e

The s u c c e s s of Freedom 7 g a v e P r o j e c t M e r c u r y o f f i c i a l sa s s u r a n c e t h a t a n o r b i t a l f l i g h t cou ld be under taken i n as h o r t t i m e . It a l s o i n s p i r e d t h e P r e s i d e n t , who r e q u e s t e dNASA t o recommend a p l a n f o r f u t u r e m a n n9 s pa ce f l i g h t s .

On May 25, 25 da ys a f t e r P r e s i d e n t J o h n F , Kennedy hadp r e s e n t e d t h e NASA Dis t ing u ish ed Ser v ice Medal t o Shepa rd a tt h e White House, he add re s sed a j o i n t s e s s io n of t h e Uni ted S t a t eCongress and s a i d ; ''1 b e l i e v e - t h i s n a t i o n s ho ul d commit i t s e l ft o a c h i e v i n g t h e g o a l , b e f o r e t h i s decade i s o u t , o f l a n d i n g aman on t h e Moon and returning h i m s a f e l y t o E a r t h . No s i n g l es pa ce p r o j e c t i n t h i s p e r i o d w i l l be more i mp res si ve t o mankind,OF m o r e i m p o r t a n t l f o r t h e long- range ex p l ora t i on o f space ; andnone w i l l be s o d i f f i c u l t or e x p e n s i v e t o accompl i sh . "

t o marshal t h e governm ent - indus t ry -un ive rs i ty pe rsonne l and

f a o i l i t i e s t o accompl i sh t h e t a s k .

J u l y 2 1 , 1961, copfirmed S h e p a r d ' s s u c c e s s . Th e 'Project Mercuryo b j e c t i v e w a s a c h i e v e d F e b . 2 0 , 1 9 6 2 , when John H. Glenn, J r . ,completed a t h r e e - o r b i t m i s s i o n .

Congress endorsed t h i s g o a l , a n d t h a t summer NASA began

A s e c o n d s u b o r b i t a l f l i g h t b y V i r g i l I . trGust' Gris som on

The succee d ing Mercury miss ion s l a t e r t h a t ye a r an d t h ef i n a l f l i g h t i n 1 96 3 d e m o ns t r a te d t h a . t man could su rv iv e i nw e i g h t l e s s n e s s a n d o p e r a t e e f f i c i e n t l y as a p i l o t - e n g i n e e r -e x p e r i m e n t e r f o r as l o n g as 34 h o u r s .

I n 1 961 and 1962 more th an a mil l ion man-hours o f e n g i n e e r i n gs t u d i e s were u n d e r t a k e n , b e f o r e ' f i n a l d e c i s i o n s were made onp r e c i s e l y how t h e Moon l a n d i n g would be c a r r i e d o u t , P r o je c tApol lo -- a th ree -module spacecra f t t o c a r r y t h r e e a s t r o n a u t saPound the Moon -- had been p resen ted t o i n d u s t r y i n 3.960. Thel aunch ve h i c l e would employ c l us te re d ro cke t eng ines w i t h h i g h -energy u p p e r s t a g e s .

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and docking of sp ace c r a f t and Sa tu rn l aunch ve h i c l e s would b eemployed i n a 1UEaFland ing miss ion of about 1 0 d a y s .

e x p l o r e s p a c e f o r up t o two weeks and t o p e r f e c t o p e r a t i o n a lt e c h ni q u e s r e q u i r e d f w t h e Apol lo l una r l and ing . The Geminis p a c e c r a f t w o u l d c a r r y a two-man crew,

I n December, 1961, t h e Gemini program was announced t o

Two unmanned t e s t f l i g h t g preceded 1 0 manned missionsd u r i n g 1 9 6 5 a nd 1 96 6. F l i g h t s o f f o u r , e i g h t and 1 4 d a y sconfirmed, from a medica l _ _fewpoint , t h a t man cou ld f l y al u n a r m i s si o n . A 8 t r Q n a k b - demnbn trl%$e&-irz m a c e - t h a n 1 2 horns..o f e x t r a- v e h ic u l a r a c t i v i t y (EVA7 t h a t work could b e performedo u t s i d e o f a s p a c e c r a f t . I n a d d i t i o n , 52 d i f f e r e n t s c i e n t i f i cand te c h n ic a l exper iments were conducted i n f l i g h t .

Gemini proved t h a t man c o ul d o p er a at e e f f e c t i v e l y i n space ,respond t o t h e unexpec t ed and execu t e a l t e r n a t e and con t in gencypla ns when nec es sa ry , Also, t h e NASA f l i g h t o p e r a t i o n s teams,su ppo r t ed by t h e Department of De fense r ecove ry fo r c e s andt h e U . S . Weather Bureau, developed t h e a b i l i t y t o meet unexpecteds i t u a t i o n s q u ic k ly ,

While Mercury and Gemini were being completed, t h e Apolloi n d u s t r i a l teams were __e l e c t e d-- t o deve lop t h e s p a c e c r a f t a n dS a t u r n l a u n c h v e h i c l e s . The f a c i l i t i e s t o t e s t and launch t h eApollo sys tem were co ns t ru c te d . A t t h e peak , 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 p e r s o n n e land 20 ,000 b u s i n e s s f i r m s p a r t i c i p a t e d .

The f i r s t manned Apollo E a r t h o r b i t a l m is si on was t o belaunched i n Februa ry L967, when a s p a c e c r a f t f i r e took t h el i v e s of a s t r o n a u t s V i r g i l r r G ~ ~ ' r rissom, Edward H e White, I1and Roger B. C h a ff e e , J a n . 27 dur ing a pre- launch t e s t . AnS n v e s t i g a t i o n of t h e acc ix en t an d r ev i ew o f t he p rog ram p r o -duced an improved spacecraf t , .and s a f e t y o p e r a t i o n a l p r o ce d ur e swere t i g h te n e d , Su cc es sf ul unmanne-d f l i g h t t e s t i n g whichq u a l i f i e d a l l segments of t h e s p a c e c r a f t a n d & t u r n _ V f o rmanned o pe ra t i on s contfnued l a t e i n 1967 and 1 9 6 8 .

The f i r s t E a r t h o r b i t 8 1 manned miss ion was i n O ct ob er 1 9 6 8 ,Two months l a t e r t h e A po ll o 8 l u n a r o r b i t m i s s i o n a t C h r i s t m a sdemonstra ted t h a t man had developed a s y s t e m t o escape E a r t ho r b i t , n a v i ga t e i n l u n a r o r b i t a nd r- et ur n s a f e l y.

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Two additional missions, Apollo 9 and 10 early in 1969,.completed preparations f o r landing on the Moon.

On July 16, 1969, Apollo ,ll was launched. At theKennedy Space Center ppess site and Apollo news center atHouston, 3,497 news correspondents reported the story to theworld. Four and a half days later the Eagle (the lunar module)landed and the world watched a s Nefl Armstrong descended tothe surface and said, lkThat gs ne small step for a man, onegiant leap fo r mankindlo s

and Apollo 14 early this year yielded vast amounts o f addi-tional scientffic data.

iThe succeeding missions, Apollo 12 in November, 1969,

Apollo 13 failed to execute its landing on the Moonbecause of an oxygen tank rupture in the spacecraft. Thesafe return of the crew,however, again demonstrated the Apollot eam*s ability to react immediately to the unexpected and todevise successfully procedures to meet a serious emergencyin flight

The 10 years of progress can be visualized by comparingSh ep ar dP s ercury and Apollo missions. The Mercury-Redstonerocke t produced 78,000 pounds thrust, while the Apollo Saturnthe wor ld? s most powerful rocket, produces 7.5 million poundsthrust in the firs t stage, 1.6 million pounds in the secondand 200,000 i n its third stage. The 100,000 pound Apollospacecraft __utweighed_ _ _ _ _ thk _ combined. PIercu-ry spacecraft _ _ - ndRedstone by 15 tons,

Accomplishments of the decade include 24 manned space

The spacecraftmissions of Mercury, Geminf and Apollo i n which 28 astronautshave accumulated 6,919 man-hours i n space,

havetr aveled approximately 32 mfllion miles, Approximately- r m a n - h o u r s have been spent on the lunar surface by sixastronauts who deployed 18 geophysical instruments on theMoon and returned 216 pounds of lunar rock and soil to Earth ,

The achfevements and failures have been carrfed out beforethe eyes of the world. About 200 teams of scientists fromuniversities, go ve rn me nm na -p ri va te organizations in 30 stateswithin the United States, the Virgin Islands and 18 othercountries are analyzing the lunar surface material and geo-physical data transmitted back to Earth.

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An agreement reac hed between t h e Nat ion al Ae rona ut ic sand Space Adm inis t ra t ion and the Acaaemy o f S c i e n c e s o f t h eUSSR on October 2 9 , 1 9 7 0 s e t s f o r t h procedures and a s c h e d u l ef o r j o i n t e f f o r t s t o des ig n compa t ible docking and rendezvous

a r r a ng e m e nt s . A no th er a gr ee me nt p r o vi d e s f o r i n i t i a t i n q anexchange o f lunar samples o b t a i n e d b y t h e two count r i es - ' ande s t a b l i s h e s _ p ro c ed u re s t o produce recommenda tions f o r j o i n tc o n s i d e r a t i o n of t h e o l j j e c t i v e s and r e s u l t s of s pa ce r e s e a r c h ,the improvement o f e x i s t i n g w e at h er d a t a e xc ha ng es , r e s e a r c hw i t h m e t e o r o l o g i c a l r o c k e t s , t e c h ni q u e s f o r s t u d y i n g t h enatural environment and the expanded exchange o f da ta on spacebiology and medicine .

Some o f t h e f i n d i n g s t h u s f a r a r e :

-- No e vi de nc e o f w a te r o r l i f e .

-- Ages o f r o c ks and s o i l r e t u r n e d r a ng e f rom 3 . 3 t o 4 .6b i l l i o n y e a r s . The age o f t h e E a r t h i s g e n e r a l l y a c c e p t e d as4 . 6 b i l l i o n y e a r s . None of E a r t h ' s r o c k s h av e b ee n f ou nd t obe o l d e r t h a n 3. 5 b i l l i o n y e a r s , and f e w have been found moret h a n 5 0 m i l l i o n yea r s o l d b e c a u s e of d e s t r u c t i o n and c o v e ri n gb y e r o s i o n and o t h e r p r o c e s s e s .

-- Lunar roc ks have produced new evide nce on t h e q ue st io na b ou t t h e f o r m at i o n o f g r a n i t e . O t h e r d a t a n o t ed f i r s t i nl u n a r rock s have now been observed i n E a r t h r o c k s .

-- L u n a r s u r f a c e mate r i a l has f a l l e n i n t o t h r e e c a t e g o r i e s :(1) i gn eo us r o ck s , s o l i d i f i e d a f t e r m el ti ng ; ( 2 ) b r e c c i a , c h u n k so f rock and s o i l cemented together by t e m p e r a t u r e a n d p r e s s u r e ,and ( 3 ) f i n e s , small f r a g m e n t s .o f m a t e r i a l , The r o c k s a res i m i l a r to those found on E a r t h b u t h a v e d i f f e r e n t c h e m i c a lcompos i t ions

-- The seis mom eter s have re cor ded t h a t numerous moonquakeso c c u r a b o u t t h e t i m e t h e Moon i s c l o s e s t t o E a r t h d u r i n g i t smonthly cycle D

-- S e i s m i c s f g n a l s i m p l y t h a t t h e Moon la c ks p ro ce ss essuch as mounta in bu i ld ing_ a n d c o n t i n e n t a l d r i f t on the E a r t h .

-- Magnetic f i e l d s have been d et e c t e d on t h e Moon whicha r e s t r o n g e r t h a n e x p e c t e d b u t much l e s s t h a n t h a t o f E a r t h .

-- The s o l a r wind i s n o t d i s t u r b e d a s i t approaches t h eMoon and t h e r e f o r e t h e r e a r e no c h a rge d p a r t i c l e l a y e r s a r ou n dI t s i m i l a r t o EarthOs i o n o s p h e r e ,

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i s o n of he l ium t r a p p e d fn t h e so la r w i n d s t p i k i n gf a c e w i t h h e l i u m t r a p p e d a t various d e pt h s i nr e t u r n e d s u r f a c e mater ia l may fmProVe understanding o f t h ee y o l u t i o n of the Sun throughout t h e h i s- t or y o f t h e s o l m s y s t e m .

-- The l a s e r r e f l e c t o r e xpe ri men t e na bl es s c i e n t i s t s t oImp~rove ow^^^^^ oF Earth-Moon dirJtance t o a p r e c i s i o n of' 1 5 t o

hese Xt a%ao will. i n ~ r e a w a~i~~ hfeh i a vitcal. t o under-

The ~ ~ ~ o ~ mas e x c i t e d aajlentists who w l X 1 contliwauet o s t u d y i t f o r many year& The Spaoe S a i s n c e Board o f t h eNational. Academy of' S c i e n c e has S t a t e d j "The Apollo M i s s i o n s dnn o t simpby represe t t h e study of a s p e c i f i c sniall. p l a n e t b u t

t a ry e v o l u t i o nx" form 8 k e y s near-term under s t ndfng of' plane-

Recently, when A l a n Shepard was asked t o comment on what hec o n s i d e r e d . t o b e t h e s i g n i f i c a n t a c h i e v e m e n t s of manned spacef l i g h t , he s a i d , "1 f e e l w e have r e a c h e d - t h e pa y of f ' s t a g e , t h es t a g e when t h e i n f o r m a t i o n w e h a v e l e a r n e d i n ' t h e early flights,t h e t e c h n i q u e s w e have used f o r p u t t i n g man i n space and usingh i s a b i l i t i e s h a v e r e a c h e d f r u i t i o n s o t h a t t h e p u b l i c , t h en a t i o n and t h e world c a n b e n e f i t f r o m t h e t remendous technology."

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H I S TO RY OF U.S. MANNED SPACE FLIGHT

Flight Time Revo- SpacecraftDate (Hrs: Min: lutions Name

Sec)Remarks

MercuryAlan B. Shepard, Jr. 5/5/61 00:15:22 Sub- Freedom 7 Americas first mann ed space flight.

orbital~

VirgilI. Grissom 7/21/61 00:15:37 Sub- Liberty Bel l 7 Evaluated spacecraft function s.orbital

John H. Glenn, Jr. 2120162 04:55:23 3 Friend ship 7 Americas first manne d orbital space

M. Scott Carpenter 5/24/62 04:56:05 3 Aurora 7 Initiated research experime nts to

flight.

further fu ture spa ce efforts.

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Walter M. Schirra, Jr. 10/3/62 09:13:11 6 Sigm a 7 . Developed techniques and proceduresapplicable to extended time in space.

L. Gordo n Cooper, Jr. 5115-16163 34:19:49 22 Faith 7 Met the final objective of the Mercuryprogram-spending one day in space.

GeminiVirgilI. Grissom 3123/65 04:52 31 3 Gemini 3 Americas first two-ma n space flight.John W. Youn g

James A. McD ivitt 613-7165 97:56:12 62 Gemini 4 First walk in space by an AmericanEdward H. White, II astronaut. F irst extensive maneuver

of spacecraft by pilot.

for sustained functionin g in spaceenvironment.

L. Gordo n Cooper, Jr. 8121-29165 190:55:14 120 Gem ini 5 Eight day fligh t proved mans capacityCharles Conrad, Jr.

~

Fran k Bor ma n 1214-18165 330:35:01 206 Gem ini 7 Worlds longest manned orbital flight.James A. Lo vell, Jr.

Walter M. Sch irra, Jr. 12115-16165 25:51:24 16 Gem ini 6A Wo rldsfirst successful spaceThomas P. Stafford rendezvous.

Neil A. Arm stron g 3116-17166 10:41:26 6.5 Gem ini8 First docking of tw o vehicles in space.David R . Scott

Thomas P. Staf ford 613-6166 72:20:50 45 Gemin i 9A Three rendezvous of a spacecraft and aEugene A. C ernan target vehicle. Extraveh icular

exercise-2 hou rs 7 minutes.~~~

John W. Youn g 7118-21 I6 6 70:46:39 43 Gemin i 10 First use of target vehicle as source ofMichael Collins

Cha rles Con rad, Jr. 9/13-15/66 71 :17:08 44 Gem ini 11 First rendezvous and do cking in initialRichard F. Gordon, Jr.

propellant power after docking. Newaltitude record -475 miles.

orbit. First mu ltiple dockin g in space.First formation flight of two spacevehicles oine d by a tether. Highestmanned orbit-apogee about 853miles.

James A. Lovell, Jr. 11111-15166 94134131 59 Gem ini 12 Astronaut walked and worke d outsideEdw in E. Aldrin, Jr. of orbiting spacecraft for mo re han

5% hours-a record proving that aproperly equipped and prepared mancan functio n effectivelyoutside ofhis space vehicle. First photograp h of asolar eclipse fro m space.

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Flight Time Revo- SpacecraftDate (Hrs: Wlin: lutions Name

Sec)Remarks

ApolloWalter H. Schirra 10/11-22/68 260:8:45 163 Apollo 7 First manned Apollo f lightDonn EiseleWalter Cunningham

-demonstrated the spacecraft, crew andsupport elements. Al l performed asrequired.

Frank Borman 12121-27/68 147:00:41 10,rev. Apollo 8 History's first manned flight to theJames A. Lovell, Jr. of MoonWilliam Anders

vicinity of another celestial body.

~~ ~~~~~~

James A. McDivitt 313-13/69 241 :00:53 151 Apollo 9 First all-up manned Apollo flight (withDavid R. Scott Saturn V and command, service, andRussell L. Schweickart lunar modules). First Apollo EVA. F

docking of CSM with LM.

Thomas P. Stafford 5118-26169 192:03 :23 31 rev. Apollo 10 Apollo LM descended to within 9 mJohn W. YoungEugene A. Cernan

Neil A. Armstrong 7/16-24/69 195:18:35 30 rev. Apollo 11 First landing of men on the Moon. TotaMichael Collins of Moon stay time: 21 hrs., 36 min.Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.

Charles Conrad, Jr. 11/14-24/69 244:36:25 45 rev. Apollo 12 Second manned exploration of theRichard F. Gordon, Jr. of MoonAlan L. Bean

James A. Lovell, Jr. 411 1-17/70 142:54 :41 - Apollo 13 Mission aborted because of serviceJohn L. Swigert, Jr.Fred W. Haise, Jr.

Alan B. Shepard, Jr. 1/ 31 219171 21 6:01:59 34 rev. Apollo 14 First manned landing in and explorationStuart A. Roosa of MoonEdgar 0. itchell

of Moon of Moon and later rejoined CSM. Firstrehearsal in lunar environment.

--

--

Moon. Total stay time: 31 hrs. 31 mi

module oxygen tank failure.

of lunar highlands. Total stay time:33 hrs. 31 min.

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10th Anniversary of U.S. Manned Space Flight

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