it was called the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics a new
independent agency created by President
Woodrow Wilson in 1915 its job make the
United States a world leader in the
field of Aeronautics in less than three
decades these early pioneers in aviation
and those who followed would be called
upon to think through problems a million
miles away and do it with boldness and
vision by the mid 1950s NACA had modern
wind tunnels and was moving into the
area of rocket and satellite research
then on October 7th 1957 the US and the
rest of the world were greeted by the
sounds of Sputnik 1 the Soviet Union had
placed the first artificial satellite
into orbit it would not be until early
the following year that America's
satellite Explorer London
successfully orbited the earth and
discovered a dense belt of radiation
surrounding our planet who would have
believed at this early stage that we
will one day move out on the den driven
upwards atmosphere to the very edge of
our solar system
Project Mercury the country's first
manned spaceflight program was given the
go-ahead just one week after NASA was
formed on October 1st 1958
seven test pilots were selected to
become astronauts Donald K deep sleep
Alan B Shepard
Walter M schirra
Virgil I Gus Grissom
John h.glenn jr.
Leroy Gordon Cooper
and malcolm scott carpenter
the seven new astronauts spent months
and months undergoing rigorous testing
and training
and while they were being trained
several monkeys took check rides in the
new mercury spacecraft
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meanwhile the orbiting of unmanned
satellites became more and more
commonplace and weather watchers like
tie ropes found a permanent place in our
daily lives by improving weather
forecasting capabilities
on August 12 1960 President Eisenhower
took part in the first transmission of
the echo1 communication satellite it is
a great satisfaction to participate in
this Crist experiment in communications
involving the use of the satellite
balloon known as echo
on May 5th 1961 astronaut Alan B Shepard
America's under way
soon after freedom seven landed
President John Kennedy gave NASA an
ambitious new space goal not because
they are easy but because they are hard
because that goal will serve to organize
and measure to the best our energies and
skills because that challenge is one
that were willing to accept one we are
unwilling to postpone and why we can't
win
after Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom's
test flights for other American
astronauts orbiting in mercury
spacecraft starting the John Glenn he
was followed by spec Buccaneer Wally
schirra
all pre-start dialyzer corrector a light
on eject the umbilical
it became clear that
unknowns about the moon were numerous
such things as whether an astronaut
would sink into dust over his head were
a real concern lunar impact studies like
these were carried out in an attempt to
learn researchers fired projectiles
simulating meteors hitting the moon into
sand like and rocky materials and then
measured how much material was thrown
out by the impact
this animation shows how scientists
believe the huge crater Tycho was formed
on the moon a crater 54 miles wide
a series of pictures
in Rangers spacecraft
then five lunar orbiters photographed
over 90% of the moon's surface including
the never-before-seen backside we saw a
glimpse to of our own planet from lunar
distance but most important of all it
made possible the selection of landing
sites
six surveyor spacecraft made soft
landings on the moon over a two-year
period
a robot arm dug a trench lunar soil was
like wet sand men and equipment could
safely land there
panoramic views like these were
assembled from hundreds of individual
photographs
Communications via satellite exploded
into a whole new industry that first
live intercontinental transmission by
Telstar one was just the start relay
designed to transmit television
telephone and high-speed data
simcom with Olympic coverage from Tokyo
an early bird want who all were
follow-ons to previous research and
development since rendezvous docking and
having astronauts work outside the
spacecraft critical to lunar missions
NASA began project Gemini using the
mercury capsule as a model the Gemini
spacecraft was enlarged to hold a
two-man crew Gemini would provide design
answers for the upcoming project Apollo
spectacular first walk in space made by
astronaut ed white
ten times pairs of astronauts flew into
orbit walking in space rendezvous in and
ducky Gemini had blazed a trail for
project Apollo the three-man spacecraft
that would carry astronauts to the moon
more than eight years were poured into
designing building testing and preparing
astronauts rockets and spacecraft for
the first lunar landing here's a visual
look back at some of that preparation
in 1967 tragedy struck the nation
mourned the loss of the crew that would
have flown the Apollo spacecraft on its
maiden voyage astronauts Gus Grissom ed
white and Roger Chaffee died in a flash
fire as they were conducting pre-flight
tests on the launch pad the manned
flight schedule was delayed 18 months as
the command module underwent redesigned
while these changes were being made the
parts and pieces needed to assemble the
giant Saturn v moon rocket came together
at the Kennedy Space Center Florida
everything associated with the saturn v
was huge the rocket itself the building
where it was assembled and the
crawler-transporter
that carried it to the launch pad
the fully loaded Apollo Saturn 5 was 363
feet tall its main engines alone
generated 160 million horsepower and his
fuel fox pushed fuel to the engines with
a force of 30 diesel locomotives as
Saturn 5 lifted off launch complex 39
for the first time in way more than
2,800 tons
the pace quickened starting with Apollo
8 every Saturn 5 launched had a
three-man crew
two days before Christmas in 1968
astronauts Borman Lovell and Anders
became the first humans to pass out of
Earth's gravitational control and into
that of another body in the solar system
the moon the hardware to travel to the
moon had worked well and landing sites
looked good
our earth seemed small and fragile
hanging in the vastness of space this
view of ourselves from lunar distance
would change the way we think about
earth for all time it raised profound
questions especially those associated
with the Earth's finiteness and
unlimited resources the next two flights
Apollo's nine and ten would continue
dress rehearsals for the first lunar
landing all systems were indeed ready
astronauts Neil Armstrong Edwin Aldrin
and Michael Collins would make the
historic journey next stop
tranquility base liftoff
Neil Armstrong reporting their role and
pitch a program which puts Apollo 11 on
a proper headings
I get out here eat over again eat you go
you're looking great
coming up nine minutes II we're now in
the approach phase everything looking
good
altitude 4215 yourself for landing over
20 feet down two and a half cups of that
city feet go to a down take down for
forward or falling drip into the right
level Hey starting back over team
not backbite and gaudy baby people and
women at one all fifth man won by a
bleep
across the country and around the world
the Apollo 11 through
meanwhile more than 100 scientists from
here and abroad began intensive studies
of the lunar samples
before project Apollo ended six
additional flights to the moon were made
at all but one were highly successful
Skylab was the next man spaceflight
launch first was a two-story orbital
workshop
then the first of three three-man crews
departed to me to join and begin living
in the orbiting laboratory those crews
would stay 28 59 and 84 days
respectively one of the major objectives
was to find out if astronauts could
physically withstand extended stays in
space and continue to do useful work
there the answer was a resounding yes
experiments in astronomy earth resources
observations materials processing and
crystal growth all proved highly
successful then ASTP apollo-soyuz test
project a joint endeavor between the
Soviet Union and the United States the
mission called for a mutual docking and
crew exchange to develop the necessary
equipment for international space
rescues
before during and after Apollo Skylab
and ASTP
NASA's unmanned planetary programs were
giving scientists exciting new glimpses
into the history of the solar system
from early explorers to the infrared
astronomy satellite 7 Mariner spacecraft
flew by the planets Mars Venus and
Mercury sending back a stream of
pictures and data
ten pioneer spacecraft did like one us
including Jupiter flybys and probes to
the atmosphere of Venus
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Pioneer 10 became the first man-made
object to leave the solar system
atmosphere physics astronomy meteorology
and geodesy these are just a few of the
scientific disciplines studied by dozens
of Explorer class orbiters through the
years
by Oh satellite was sent aloft to answer
basic biological questions will cells
divide normally while weightless
how does zero-g affect plant growth
would radiation and weightlessness be a
hazard on long-duration spaceflights
everything from plants to primates were
orbited aboard by a satellite to find
out there were the ogos orbiting
geophysical observatories that blossomed
out like giant dragonflies in space
oh so orbiting solar observatories
studied our Sun and its influence on
earth
in the last 25 years our orbiting
astronomical observatories have
radically changed our view of the
universe we now see a dynamic universe
of quasars and black holes and other
extraordinary objects of cataclysmic
forces causing the birth and death of
stars of billions of galaxies wheeling
in the immensity of space
we looked back at planet Earth with
landsat remote sensing satellites crops
forests pollution all can be
photographed in great detail to help us
better manage our earth's resources
the Viking program was a systematic
effort to investigate the planet Mars to
separately launched Viking spacecraft
made up of a pair of orbiters that would
photograph from above the planet and
twin Landers built to descend to the
Martian surface spent 11 months and 420
million miles traveling to the
mysterious red planet the Landers robot
arm conducted chemical and biological
tests on the soil in a search for
life-forms Martian weather and seismic
reports were also sent back routinely
cameras began returning pictures
thousands of pictures
color photographs showed a surface
littered with rocks a fine dust red or
yellow brown could be seen everywhere we
even had a chance to view the two moons
of Mars Phobos and Deimos Vikings
complex Science and Technology were
considered to be a triumph equal to the
landings on the moon two unmanned
Voyager spacecraft carried a record with
the sights and sounds of Earth just in
case they encounter a cosmic neighbor
along the way their head of planetary
journey was designed to take them past
Jupiter and Saturn and eventually one
Voyager was to pass close to Uranus and
Neptune voyager sensors recorded
Jupiter's intricate weather patterns and
detected massive lightning bolts in its
churning cloud tops it took 40 minutes
for a signal from Voyager passing
Jupiter to be received by mission
controllers at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory so the spacecraft had to be
essentially automatic Voyager also took
a good look at Jupiter's largest moons
there's Isle with its active volcanoes
Europa Ganymede the largest moon appears
to be a mixture of rock and ice and
Callisto probably the oldest of the four
the voyagers next assignment was to fly
by Saturn and its moons
Saturn's vast ring system is made up of
many small particles that orbit the huge
planet in wave-like patterns its
atmosphere is buffeted by a strong jet
stream that blows eastward at 1,200
miles per hour Voyager detected the
hottest gases ever observed in the solar
system up to a billion degrees
Fahrenheit
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as of now two-thirds of the planets in
our solar system have been explored and
by the end of this decade we will have
explored most of the rest including
Uranus and Neptune through the years the
single most constant in NASA has been is
now and continues to be its aeronautical
research it is a common thread that is
woven throughout the agency it has
influenced everything that flies both on
earth and in space there is little doubt
why this country has been the world
leader in things aeronautical here are
some of the goals of the program make
aircraft more energy efficient
systematic improvement of engine
components reduce weight through use of
light but very strong composite
materials
study problems associated with wake
vortices tornado-like patterns of air
that trail off behind jet aircraft
causing problems for smaller planes
following closely in their wake
airplanes are America's leading
industrial export thanks to NASA's
research and development programs since
there are some 200,000 general aviation
aircraft in this country national
research is also improving this class of
airplanes
the heart of the research is a unique
refrigerated test panel capable of
simulating the icing conditions an
aircraft is likely to encounter want to
test has been run newly developed
computer codes are used to evaluate the
results
during the early days of manned
spaceflight consideration was given to
using a Parowan to return astronauts and
spacecraft to earth while this method
was ultimately discarded it did produce
a rather interesting new sport
and oblique wing crafts that reduce air
drag by pivoting the wing at various
angles to the plane's fuselage the
expertise used to make airplane
propellers better has also been applied
to powerful wind turbine electric
generators including some of the largest
in the world
NASA's aeronautical research was the
seed from which the space program would
grow a prime example of this was the
lifting body project that began in the
early 60s the combination of Windtunnel
tests and actual flights led to the
design of the reusable space shuttle
when the design and Windtunnel work was
completed a series of approach and
landing tests were scheduled since the
orbiter has no power for landing its
ability to land easily without a wrong
try was pretty
the enterprise's near private audience
gave finally proof that the shuttle
orbiters have viable landable craft
the years of research and development
would now be put to the ultimate test
the first flight into space of shuttle
Columbia with astronauts at the controls
there was an air of excitement as the
brand new shuttle moved from its
processing facility at the Kennedy Space
Center to the Vehicle Assembly Building
where it would be mated with rockets and
fuel time and rolled out to the launch
pad
never before had a new spacecraft been
flown this way previous Mercury Gemini
and Apollo's were man rated in advance
meaning that unmanned flights were flown
before putting an astronaut crew on
board
despite nagging problems with engines
and protective titles there was a quiet
optimist long time space workers knew
from past experience with a lunar
landing program that design and
engineering problems do get worked out
thirty seconds if it goes into the
interior and the astronauts are eight
seven six five
Roger Columbia you got the normal cap
cops back now oh if that thought about
it do it we're gonna have to come down
into space okay standby
okay we see pan a on and we'd like you
to take
the second time the circle was completed
a new generation of space travel
when space shuttle 3 left the launch pad
it carried an experiment prepared by 18
year-old Todd Nelson of Rose Creek
Minnesota an experiment to study the
effects of weightlessness on insects in
space it's called the shuttle Student
Involvement project and includes NASA
the National Science Teachers
Association and Industry sponsors who
helped transform winning proposals into
flight experiments since this first
flight young people in high schools
around the country have developed and
flown a variety of experiments ranging
from medical projects to the study of
zero-gravity on an ant colony they are
setting an example for others who may be
encouraged to pursue careers in science
and engineering something that
ultimately can be translated into
technological leadership for the u.s. on
its fourth and final test flight
performance made it possible to certify
the space transportation system a fully
operational carrier as they landed on
July 4th the crew was greeted by
president and mrs. Reagan
the first operational flight to
commercial communication satellites were
hauled into orbit one for satellite
business systems and one for Telesat of
Canada their deployment was a complete
success
space shuttle six was the second
operational mission and flight one for
challenger this country's newest
spacecraft after launching a 5,000 pound
truck and mission specialist astronauts
story Musgrave and Donna Pederson became
the first Americans in nine years to
work in space
quite a pair of communication satellites
in Onision Roger that looks great
shuttles 1 & 2 were now operational with
the addition of a third orbiter
Discoverer
to the fleet and with literally dozens
of astronauts in training at any given
time this new space transportation
system would begin delivering in earnest
and with increasing frequency opening a
new era in science is Space Lab where
scientists from around the world work
together in a unique international
research center aboard NASA's Space
Shuttle built by the European Space
Agency Space Lab is creating exciting
new opportunities for research in all
the sciences and is making routine
international cooperation a reality
looking farther ahead there's the space
telescope that will expand our vision
almost to the edge of the universe the
shuttle gives the United States an
unrivaled tool for the practical use of
space historically the space program has
proceeded in a building block fashion
and toward that end nASA has begun
looking at the next logical step a
possible future space station a
permanent presence in space the station
would serve as a scientific and
technological laboratory as well as an
Operations base from which satellites
could be serviced and large structures
assembled one of the highest priorities
is to develop a clear understanding of a
station's proper role in the total space
program so that if and when it is
proposed for development the station
will be a truly significant national
asset one that would ensure continued
American preeminence in space our
freedom independence national well-being
will be new achievements new discoveries
and push new frontiers we must to the
future by demonstrating the potential
and establishing a more permanent in
space
the 25th anniversary of NASA to a casual
observer NASA is identified by launch
vehicles and spacecraft and airplanes
and wind tunnels but it is the people
behind it all who are really important
it's the people who think and dream and
work to make these things possible that
is the true measure of NASA's strengths
and its successes and it is to the next
generation of space pioneers the youth
of the world that this program is
dedicated
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