The International Space Station is a research laboratory in low Earth orbit. Space systems continue to become more and more integral to homeland defense, weather surveillance, communication, navigation, imaging, and remote sensing for chemicals, fires, and other disasters. The advantages of satellites allowed the coalition forces to quickly bring the war to a conclusion, saving many lives. Satellites were used to provide information on enemy troop formations and movements, early warning of enemy missile attacks, and precise navigation in the featureless desert terrain. During this war, allied forces were able to use their control of the “high ground” of space to achieve a decisive advantage. The Gulf War proved the value of satellites in modern conflicts. The final shuttle mission was completed with the landing of Atlantis on July 21, 2011, closing the 30-year space shuttle program. After each of the disasters, space shuttle flight operations were suspended for more than two years.ĭiscovery was the first of the three active space shuttles to be retired, completing its final mission on MaEndeavour did so on June 1. It was the second loss of a shuttle in 113 shuttle flights. An investigation determined the catastrophe was caused by a piece of foam insulation that broke off the shuttle’s propellant tank and damaged the edge of the shuttle’s left wing. The disaster occurred over Texas, and only minutes before it was scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center. 1, 2003, the shuttle broke apart while reentering the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. The Columbia disaster was the second shuttle tragedy. The Space Shuttle was the first reusable spacecraft to carry people into orbit launch, recover, and repair satellites conduct cutting-edge research and help build the International Space Station. The crew of seven was killed, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who would have been the first civilian in space. 28,1986, when just 73 seconds after liftoff, the space shuttle Challenger exploded. Twenty-four successful shuttle launches fulfilled many scientific and military requirements until Jan. In April 1981, the launch of the space shuttle Columbia ushered in a period of reliance on the reusable shuttle for most civilian and military space missions. Astronomical satellites found new stars and gave us a new view of the center of our galaxy. Satellites discovered an ozone hole over Antarctica, pinpointed forest fires, and gave us photographs of the nuclear power plant disaster at Chernobyl in 1986. In the 1980s, satellite communications expanded to carry television programs, and people were able to pick up the satellite signals on their home dish antennas. Skylab, America’s first space station, was a human-spaceflight highlight of the 1970s, as was the Apollo Soyuz Test Project, the world’s first internationally crewed (American and Russian) space mission. By the end of the decade, the Voyager spacecraft had sent back detailed images of Jupiter and Saturn, their rings, and their moons. By the early 1970s, orbiting communications and navigation satellites were in everyday use, and the Mariner spacecraft was orbiting and mapping the surface of Mars. Six Apollo missions were made to explore the Moon between 19.ĭuring the 1960s, unmanned spacecraft photographed and probed the Moon before astronauts ever landed. On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong took “one giant leap for mankind” as he stepped onto the Moon. “Landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth within a decade” was a national goal set by President John F. Landing on the moon: Apollo 12 launches for second moon landing Nov. 20, 1962, John Glenn’s historic flight made him the first American to orbit Earth. In 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to fly into space. satellite, Explorer 1, went into orbit on Jan. His flight lasted 108 minutes, and Gagarin reached an altitude of 327 kilometers (about 202 miles). Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth in Vostok 1.
Four years later on April 12, 1961, Russian Lt. 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into space. After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union created their own missile programs. Late in World War II, London was attacked by 200-mile-range V-2 missiles, which arched 60 miles high over the English Channel at more than 3,500 miles per hour.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Nazi Germany saw the possibilities of using long-distance rockets as weapons. In the latter half of the 20th century, rockets were developed that were powerful enough to overcome the force of gravity to reach orbital velocities, paving the way for space exploration to become a reality.
Humans have always looked up into the night sky and dreamed about space.
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