Summary: What Has NASA Done To Get This Far

On May 30, 1971, an unmanned space probe, named the Mariner 9, was launched into space from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Its mission: to study the atmosphere and the surface of the Martian planet. Where it contributed greatly to the exploration of Mars.

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

However, the Soviets were still in the lead, achieving more and more firsts: the first dual man flight, the first woman in space, the first three man flight, and the first spacewalk. Many Americans were getting worried. They saw the Soviet Union as the enemy, and right now the enemy was winning. The Americans needed something big to bring them to the lead. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy made the bold, public announcement that the US would land a man on the moon before the decade was

In counter to the Soviet Union's launch America decided to launch their own satellite. That satellite is what pushed President Dwight Eisenhower to created the Aeronautics and Space Administration A.K.A NASA (History.com Staff, 2010). Now that both the Soviet Union and America have

President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a plan to orbit a scientific satellite as part of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) for the period July 1, 1957 to December 31,1958. Quickly, the Soviet Union jumped in, announcing plans to orbit its own satellite. On July 29, 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration agency changed the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) which was a U.S. federal agency founded on March 3, 1915 to promote aeronautical research. On October 1st the agency was dissolved, and the staff formed the core of the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Nasa is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the Space Launch System and Commercial Crew vehicles. Nasa has also taught us a lot of incredible things about space exploration. NASA has invented all sorts of technology to solve the peculiar problems of space

Seven years later on July 20th 1969 a US rocket landed 238,900 miles from Earth, containing the first men to ever set foot on moon. The space race lasted over ten years and resulted in many scientific achievements for both

This was it, America's chance to win the space race. The Apollo Lunar Program was then formed. On December 21, 1968 Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders began the first manned journey from the earth to the moon on the Apollo 8. They orbited the moon and returned safely. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11's lunar module landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, and said the iconic words "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" and placed the American flag on the moon. The Soviet union canceled their lunar program, and the space race was over.

The Space Race began when the Soviet Union created Sputnik I, an artificial satellite. On October 4th of 1975, Sputnik I was launched into space by an ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile, and became the first ever satellite to enter space. The Soviets wasted little time though, and on November 3rd of the same year, they sent the first animal, a dog by the name of Laika, into space (1 ). However, it wasn’t until 1958 that the United States responded. Former president Dwight D. Eisenhower sent out troops to find former Nazi, Wernher Von Braun and his team of aerospace engineers (2). Von Braun and his team were quick to get to work, and attempted to send the Vanguard rocket into space in December of 1957, but to no avail, it failed and it wasn’t until January 31st of 1958 that the U.S. launched the Explorer and finally had a satellite in

Surveyor 1 was launched on May 30, 1966 at 2:41 Eastern Time. (NASA, n.d.) It was the first United States mission to land on the moon. (Arizona State University, 2009) It landed in Oceanus Procellarum on June 2, 1966 at 6:17 in the morning Eastern Time, and its specific location was 100 kilometers north of Flamsteed Crater. (NASA, n.d.) After landing, it transmitted photos of its surrounding back to NASA continuously until it lost power after two lunar nights on July 7, 1966. (NASA, n.d.) By the time it had reached the end, the craft had transmitted 11,240 pictures. (NASA, n.d.) According to NASA, all of its goals were accomplished, which included researching Oceanus Procellarum’s radar reflectivity and measuring surface strength and surface temperatures. (NASA, n.d.)

Sojourner landed on mars on July 4, 1997, and only lasted until September of the same year. Not much of a success for NASA so they launched the two twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The twin rovers have been on mars for three years now and the mission is still going with the success NASA was looking for. Was there life ever on mars and could there be life again? One of the rovers found evidence that there was once water on mars.

The space race began during the Cold War in 1957, when the USSR launched Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite that orbited the earth for 21 days (M​intz)​. The USA tried to launch a satellite as well and failed. They eventually were able to launch their first satellite, Explorer 1, four months later. The USSR launched the first manned spaceship into orbit in 1961, with Yuri Gagarin, and five years later they were the first to land an unmanned vehicle on the moon. America felt vulnerable because they had always thought of themselves as ahead in technology so JFK made the announcement that they would be the first to land a man on the Moon, launching the Apollo program. The Gemini program was

The next American thing to go up into space was the Explorer 1, a satellite used to measure the radiation in Earth's orbit. The Explorer 1 was formally known as Satellite 1958 Alpha. The program at the California Institute of Technology that was to make the Explorer 1 had taken only three months to build the satellite. The Explorer 1 was launched in January 31, 1958 from Cape Canaveral and was America's first satellite. It was sent up into space with the use of a Jupiter-C vehicle, which is "a special modification of the Redstone ballistic missile" (Explorer-I and Jupiter-C). The Jupiter-C vehicle was, under the management of Dr. Wernher Von Braun, a German scientist. Dr. Wernher Von Braun was part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, also known as ABMA. Once the satellite was up in orbit, it started its tests on how much radiation was in Earth's orbit. The scientist who was in charge of this experiment was Dr. James Van Allen. The Explorer had found that the level radiation was very low which went against Dr. Van Allen's prediction. Dr. Van Allen then made another prediction that the equipment that was used on the satellite was corrupted by a powerful belt of radiation. A couple months later when the second satellite went up

NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was formed in 1958 shortly after the Russia launched of Sputnik and the R-7 ICMB Rocket. The administration was formed to research and

The Mars observer “was based on a commercial Earth-orbiting communications satellite that had been converted into an orbiter for Mars. The payload of science instruments was designed to study the geology, geophysics and climate of Mars” (Greicius). The Mars observer was unsuccessful when NASA lost touch with the spacecraft right before it was going to enter orbit around Mars. The next spacecraft was that was launched was the Mars Pathfinder, which was launched on December 4, 1996. The Mars Pathfinder returned large amount of data when it explored an ancient flood plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars. The next spacecraft that was sent to Mars was the Mars Climate Observer Orbiter which launched on December 11, 1998. This was “designed to function as an interplanetary weather satellite and a communications relay for Mars Polar Lander. The orbiter carried two science instruments: a copy of an atmospheric sounder on the Mars Observer spacecraft lost in 1993, and a new, lightweight color imager combining wide- and medium-angle cameras” (Greicius). The Mars Climate Observer Orbiter was lost upon arrival on September 23, 1999. Engineers concluded that the spacecraft probably blew up after it entered the planet’s atmosphere too low. The next spacecraft was the Mars Polar Lander which launched on January 3, 1999. Its mission