THE U.S. SPACE PROGRAM

Early Beginnings

1950’s

1957 – Sputnik I is launched by USSR

Jan. 1958 – 1st US satellite Explorer I is launched

Oct. 1958 – NASA is formed

April 1959 – Mercury Program begins “The Mercury Seven” are chosen:

Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Shepard, Schirra, Slayton

Project Mercury1961-1963

Objective: To orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth; To investigate man's ability to function in space; To recover both man and spacecraft safely

Jan. 1961 – “Ham” the Chimpanzee and “The Golden Three” are selected: John Glenn, Virgil Gus Grissom, Alan Shepard

April 1961 – Alan Shepard chosen to be first in Space BUT Yuri Gagarin wins 1st race

May 1961 – Mercury 3 - Alan Shepard (15 min. Suborbital flight that successfully put the first American in space.)

In a speech to Congress on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy stated, "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.”

Sept. 1962 – “The Next Nine” Armstrong, Borman, Conrad, Lovell, McDivitt, See, Stafford, White, Young.

Project Mercury1961-1963

Project Gemini1963-1966

Objective: To subject man and equipment to space flight up to two weeks in duration. To rendezvous and dock with orbiting vehicles and to maneuver the docked combination by using the target vehicle's propulsion system; To perfect methods of entering the atmosphere and landing at a preselected point on land. (12 flights)

Oct. 1963 – Shepard and Glenn retire

October- Group 3 Astronaut Selection (The Fourteen): Aldrin, Anders, Bassett, Bean, Cernan, Chaffee, Collins, Cunningham, Eisele, Freeman, Gordon, Schweickart, Scott, Williams.

March 23, 1965- Gemini 3-Gus Grissom, Commander John Young, Pilot (4 hours, 52 minutes 31 seconds – 1st manned Gemini flight, three orbits)Nov. 1966 – Gemini Program ends after 12 missions

Project Gemini1963-1966

Project Apollo1966-1972

Objective: The lunar missions were designed to launch on a Saturn V rocket. The first two stages of the Saturn V would boost the craft into space, and the third stage would put Apollo into an earth parking orbit and then fire a second time to send Apollo toward the moon. The Apollo spacecraft consisted of a command module that carried the three astronauts; a service module that held much of the water, oxygen, and fuel; and the lunar module, which was designed to bring two astronauts to the surface of the moon

Jan. 1967- Electrical wires ignite a flash fire onboard the Apollo 1 capsule during a pre launch test at the Kennedy Space Center. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed.

April 1967- Vladimir Komarov is killed during the Soyuz 1 mission.

Oct. 1968- Apollo 7-Wally Schirra, Commander (Saturn V Rocket test)

Dec. 1968- Apollo 8-Frank Borman, Commander(reached & orbited moon)

March 1969- Apollo 9-Jim McDivitt, Commander (tested lunar module)

May 18, 1969- Apollo 10- Tom Stafford, Commander (tested lunar module)

Project Apollo1966-1972

July 16, 1969- Apollo 11- Neil Armstrong, Commander, Mike Collins, CM PilotBuzz Aldrin, LM PilotJuly 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on the moon.“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”

April 1970- Apollo 13- Jim Lovell, Commander,Jack Swigert, CM PilotFred Haise, LM Pilot (The explosion of an oxygen tank)

Dec. 1972- Apollo 17- Dec. 14, 1972- Gene Cernan leaves the last human footprints on the moon.

1972 – Project Apollo ends The total cost of the Apollo program was $20 billion

Project Apollo1966-1972