Project Mercury Thesis Statement

For example, the Mariner 2 flew past Venus in 1962 and we were able to gain information that Venus has extremely hot temperatures. Another example is Mariner 9 in 1971. This mission was the first to successful complete a full orbit around Mars and allowed to snap a picture at one of the largest Volcanoes in the Solar System. These probes we have sent out allow us to discover these properties more in depth and make adjustments on future probes that we plan to set out. We have

Shepard Jr. is the first American man to be launched into space. He was in the Mercury space capsule in a 15 minute suborbital mission (meaning it reaches the atmosphere and falls back on Earth). John H. Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962. After Project Mercury, Project Gemini started. Gemini 4's, Edward H. White Jr. conducted the first spacewalk (when an astronaut get’s out the space vehicle). Project Apollo began to be NASA’S priority in May 25, 1951. President John F. Kennedy announced the plan of launching a man in space to land on the Moon. He used this as a tool to subtly announce the US’s superiority of the Cold War enemies. It took 11 years to carry out. It took $25.4 billion dollars to achieve. This withstood challenges including lives of Roger B. Chaffee, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, and Edward H. White Jr. Jr. after a fire that took place in the Apollo capsule (January 27, 1967). October 1968 they launched different Apollo missions such as Apollo 7 (orbit earth) and Apollo 8 (orbit moon). July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong steps foot on the Moon after Apollo 11 landed with Edwin E. Buzz Aldrin Jr. Michael Collins remained in the capsule. Apollo 13 almost launched however the oxygen tank exploded. Harrison H. Jack Schmitt was a geologist that was chosen to become an astronaut. NASA and the Soviet Union allied to make the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). It served testing purposes and the crew launched separately,

In 1961, the United States of America was embroiled in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This confrontation was taking place not only on land, sea and air, but in space as well. On May 25th, 1961 recently elected US President John F. Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress, during which he outlined his now famous Man on the Moon challenge. It was through this ambitious dream that the creation of the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) came about, which President Kennedy challenged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Although he didn't live to see the achievement of his dreams, the United States successfully landed Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon on July 20, 1969 and

He understood the need to restore America’s confidence and intended to pass the Soviets. On May 25, 1961, he stood before Congress to deliver a special message on “urgent national needs.” He asked for an additional $7 to $9 billion over the next five years for the space program. Settled upon this goal as a means of focusing and mobilizing the nations lagging space efforts. Within a year, Gus Grissom and Alan Shepard became the first two Americans to travel to space.

In October of 1957 the first artificial Earth satellite was launched by the Soviet Union into an elliptical low Earth orbit; Sputnik. Being visible all around the Earth and having its radio pulses detectable, this was a surprise success that caused the American Sputnik crisis (a period of public fear and anxiety having awareness of the technological gap between the United States and Soviet Union). This surprise success triggered the Space Race, a 20th-century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in spaceflight capability, while ushering in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments.

Proposed by John F. Kennedy to Congress on May 25, 1961, the Apollo Program, or “Project Apollo,” was the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s third exploratory program and the first project worldwide to attempt the tremendous endeavor putting a man on the moon. After sufficient studying over a five year period, the first flight, unmanned, was launched in 1966. Two years later, the first flight with a crew took place (Apollo 7, October 1968). Overall, the project sent up 19 spacecrafts using multiple launch vehicle designs. It achieved a fairly positive rate of 16 successes to three failures (total and partial). The best known flights of the program are the tragedy of Apollo 13 and the first manned moon landing with Apollo 11.

Kennedy before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, set the stage for the nation's emerging space program. The goal took what was Kennedy Space Center from a testing ground for new rockets to a center successful at launching humans to the moon. From this source we can see how far the US space program has gone it started off with only a small space center that was just testing ground for rockets. Technological advancement and motivation made this program grow into a broader program that in the future would be one of, if not the best space

October 4th, 1957, The Soviet Union launched the first ever rocket into space: Sputnik-1. This event in human history brought about immeasurable panic within the American people, and thus,

Viking 1 was part of a two-part mission to investigate “The Red Planet” which is known as Mars. Viking 1 searched for signs of life. It was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars. It performed the first Martian soil sample using its robotic arm for bodyguard and the special biological laboratory. The Viking 1 lander touched down on the western slope of Chryse Planitia. Viking 2 lander stopped at a Utopia Planitia. Viking ½ were identical spacecrafts. They were launched on different dates. Viking one was launched August 20, 1975. Viking 2 was launched on September 9, 1975. Viking 1 arrived to Mars on June 19, 1976. Viking 2 arrived on Mars August 7, 1976. They took pictures and collected scientific data on the surface. They conducted

Originally, the mission was planned to consist of two spacecraft to orbit Mars, the Mariner 8 and the Mariner 9. However, when Mariner 8 was launched on May 9, 1971, it failed to launch properly and crashed in the Atlantic Ocean about 350 miles north of Puerto Rico. NASA then combined the mission objectives of Mariner 8 (mapping 70% of the Martian surface) and Mariner 9 (studying temporal changes in the Martian atmosphere and on the surface).

"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 important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult of expensive to accomplish."(John F. Kennedy - "Special Joint Session of Congress", May 25th, 1961)

NASA has sent several spacecraft to Mars, the ones I am going to discuss first ore the spacecraft’s that are no longer in operation. The first spacecraft that was sent to Mars that is no longer in operation is Marine 3, which was designed to make the first flyby of Mars. Marine 3 got launched on November 3, 1964. However, the shroud encasing the spacecraft above the rocket didn’t open properly, causing Marine 3 to not get to Mars, making it unsuccessful. However shortly after Marine 3 NASA sent Marine 4, it got launched on November 28, 1964 and got to Mars on July 14, 1965. This spacecraft was able to take 21 photos and its total flight time was 228 days (Cain). The next two spacecraft’s that were sent to Mars were Marine 6 and 7. Marine 6

With his speech John F. Kennedy captured America’s imagination with the promise of space exploration. Eight years later, on July 16, 1969, a Saturn V rocket launched Apollo 11 at the Kennedy Space Centre; and on July 20th, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin made the first manned landing on the Moon 's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility [2].

Surveyor 1 - LANDED IN OCEANUS PROCELLARUM - was launched on 30 May 1966 at 14:41:00 UT (9:41 EST) on an Atlas/Centaur from Complex 36-A of the Eastern Test Range directly into a lunar impact trajectory. After a midcourse correction at 06:45 UT on 31 May the spacecraft reached the Moon about 63 hours after launch.

Kennedy envisioned a dream where he had the chance to send a man to the Moon and return him home safely. Cheryl L. Mansfield quotes Kennedy, ‘“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.”’ (1). Little did he know