The Apollo Era Of Human Space Exploration

As humans, we are born with a natural desire to learn and discover. With space exploration, we are able to do just that. In an online essay called “Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost”, Dr. Joan Vernikos,

In even the most primitive civilizations, the extra-terrestrial has had immeasurable influence on society. Mankind has always had an urge to explore the great unknown, and answer the most fundamental questions of our existence. Space exploration deserves not only to be a top priority in our nation, but much more funding than it already has, because it is rooted with history that has taught us many things and will continue to do so, it will help us advance technology beyond the scope of commercial innovation, and it can answer the greatest questions that every civilization has tried to answer.

The Apollo 11 mission was one of the most significant events in the space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. after the USSR launched Sputnik, the first satellite, and successfully sent a man into space, America rushed to develop the technology that the Soviets already had, prompting the creation of the Apollo program. Apollo 11 was a mission to complete the first manned lunar landing. The mission was considered a great success, and was a win for the United States in the Space Race. The Apollo 11 mission had a crew of three men: Neil Armstrong, the commander, Buzz Aldrin, the lunar module pilot, and Michael Collins, the Command module pilot. All three men had previous experience in space on various Gemini missions. Armstrong

When people refer to the space race, they often think about the development of the negative connotation between the relations of the United States and the Soviet Union. For three years, the United States has not had a single space mission from their own funds, however, only fifty years ago, the space race had been largely emphasized and referred to as a start of a new era . It was a time period where there was an urge to achieve supremacy in the heavens, and the land. It was a seventeen year period, which lasted from 1955-1972, where the two cold war rivals spawned satellites, receptors, and space probes for the sole purpose to achieving new heights. Over the span, the United States established two main goals: imperialism throughout the

I was a curious boy. I was born and raised in Nashville TN alongside my older sister. Ever since I was seven, I’ve strived to be an astronaut and explore the expansions of space. After World War III, the United States rebooted their space program, with the funding and resources at an all time high. On the eve of my ninth birthday, I, along with the rest of the world, received the news that One of Jupiter’s moons was reached and prepared for colonization, marking the second space body fit to be home to humans after Mars. Graduating high school with a perfect record, I set my sights on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to jumpstart my career as a NASA Astronaut. Years past, Degrees were acquired, and preparations were made. Through the

The subject that I chose to research is the Apollo missions. After reading 50 Years of Americans in Space I was amazed and the continuous path of discoveries and exploration. When NASA was just beginning it had a spaceflight program that’s goals were to simply be able to survive out in space. From there they continued to push the boundaries, to try harder and get farther and in 1969 they landed on the moon. Along the way so many questions were asked, theories were tested, and lives were risked and lost.

Throughout history, the United States and the U.S.S.R. have been competing in what is known as the "Space Race". This all began when the Russians sent the first satellite into space in 1958 called Sputnik. Soon after, Americans did the same. The U.S. followed in the footsteps of the U.S.S.R. with sending animals into space. When they sent the first human into space, Yuriy Gagaran, it became evident that the race to the moon had begun. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy made a speech saying "We will go to the moon in this decade amongst other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard." After he was assassinated, NASA decided to pursue his plan and in 1967 the Apollo program began. In 1969, NASA landed Apollo 11 on

"That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," were the words heard across America, from astronaut Neil Armstrong when he took his first steps on the surface of the moon on July 20,1969. President John F. Kennedy felt very passionate about the United States, accomplishing the historical feat of landing on the moon. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy made a speech in front of Congress stating, “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 impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space.” Through the dedication and efforts

0n July 16, 1969 Apollo 11 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. On board the space shuttle was Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Micheal Collins. They were inside the command service module named the Columbia. Underneath the CSM was the lunar module Eagle that was 23 feet tall. This is what would be used to land on the moon. It sat on top of the Saturn V rocket. It stood 364 feet high and had 91 separate engines. The rocket weighed 5.8 million pounds had 8,000,000 parts that moved and would create shock waves that made the ground shake. Michael Collins was the command module pilot for the Apollo 11 mission. He had to use a sextant, star chart and telescope to plot the trip to the moon. After using the tools to chart a course he entered

The Apollo space missions of the 60’s and 70’s mark a time when space was the final frontier and the only destination world leaders had their view set upon. The cold war in full swing, each nation wanted to prove its dominance without total world destruction, was the single greatest driving force in the space race to the moon. But how do we invent, build, and use a set of technologies barely dreamed of by the most elite scientists? Rockets, computers, practical space suits, and a lunar lander/space shuttle all had to be built nearly from scratch with almost no past experience. The history of rockets comes from German scientists in the Second World War seeking ways to deliver explosives to enemy forces (Funk). We asked many of these experienced

During the 1960s the superpowers of the world Russia and the US were in great tension during the space race. And the finish line was the moon. The race ended on July 20, 1969 when Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neal Armstrong took the historical first steps on the moon. During the Apollo missions many questions were asked from is it even possible? To. Can man walk on the moon or is there not enough gravity so they would just float off in space? But through much research and great people. Some things I learned from my research was there were 2 other mission before the Apollo missions ever started. The mercury missions and the Gemini mission. The purpose of the mercury missions was to put a man in space and the purpose of Gemini was to test

Apollo 13 was the 7th mission in the American Apollo Space Program and launched on April 11, 1970. Apollo 13 was the third mission that had planned to land on the moon and its location was in the Fra Mauro crater. However, two days into the flight, an oxygen tank exploded forcing the crew to orbit the moon without landing and return to earth.

Space exploration companies, such as NASA or SpaceX, work towards encouraging the new generations of students, which will supply the companies with well-equipped personnel in the future. For example, UniverseToday recently stated, “NASA’s education office has three goals: making the workforce stronger, encouraging students to pursue STEM careers (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), and ‘engaging Americans in NASA’s missions.’ Other space agencies also have education components to assist with requirements in their own countries” (Howell, What Are). Another writer wrote how it inspires younger generations by saying, “You could either ask a child, ‘Would you like to become an aeronautical engineer whose job it is to design a plane 20 per cent more efficient than the previous model?’. Or you could ask, ‘Would you like to become an aeronautical engineer whose job it is to design a spaceship that could fly to Mars?’. Guess which question is more likely to inspire him or her to study and dream of achieving great things?” (Intini, 10 Reasons). The programs made available by space agencies are beneficial to those seeking education, and will provide valuable learning even if they do not wish to pursue space exploration. Along with education, space agencies have the potential to instill ambitious morals in future generations. The hunger for exploration, which has motivated people to risk their lives, characterizes humanity. Without this ambition, our ancestors would have never left Africa, or set foot on the moon; we would have never made the achievement of searching a comet for life like the Rosetta Mission did in 2014 (Intini, 10 Reasons). Thus, by continuing exploration, the human race can work towards determining the eternal question of “Are we alone in the universe?”, and make

I choose for my discovery one of the Apollo space missions. The one mission that I have a keen interest in has been the Apollo 11 Mission. Apollo 11 was one of NASA’s mission to get 12 astronauts in space and to land on the moon. The Mission control team did many of the behind-the-scenes. Many of the team members were young so they were able to bring some new ideas for the program. One mission control engineer gave this quote about the young team, “Space was such a new thing that they were not willing to risk their careers on space, so we were forced to have a relatively young team. By Apollo, we had to bring in young people because the people, who did [the earlier] Gemini [space program] were technical dinosaurs by that time." (Weiss).

The Apollo Mission started out as an idea that John F. Kennedy came up with. He said that he would send people to the moon and they would return to Earth safely. There were many things that would have to go into this mission. For example, what was the safest way to get the astronauts to the moon? How long would it take? What do we need to do to prepare for the moon landing? All of these questions played a part in the Apollo mission.