space comes of age

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SPACE COMES OF AGE Major Trends in Space Space International Space Science Big and Small

The New High Ground The Future

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SPACE INTERNATIONAL

Increased cooperation between the United States and the former Soviet Union

US Shuttle docked nine times with Russia’s space station Mir from 1995 to 1998

The proposed US “Space Station Freedom” was revamped as the “International Space Station” or ISS Russians brought in as a major partner Unprecedented cooperation among 16 nations http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/f

eatures/materials_archive_3.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html (What’s going on now on the ISS)

Space Shuttle is born: 1972

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/features/materials_archive_3.html


http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html

http://player.discoveryeducation.com/views/flashView.cfm?guidAssetId=7b5e3289-9f89-493b-9cd3-41de552929a4

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SPACE INTERNATIONAL

Russian Space Station Mir

International Space Station

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SPACE SCIENCE MISSIONS Large, expensive space

programs such as Magellan and the Hubble Space Telescope began the 1990s

Reduced budgets and the need to be “faster, better, cheaper” ushered in a new era in the late 1990s

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BIG MISSIONS—MAGELLAN Mapped 98% of

Venus’s surface from 1990 to 1994

Revealed volcanic eruptions on Venus’s changing surface Magellan Spacecraft

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BIG MISSIONS—GALILEO Launched in 1989 to explore Jupiter Captured close-up images of

asteroids Investigated impact of the Comet

Shoemaker-Levy 9 Sent probe through Jupiter’s

atmosphere Discovered frozen water on the

moon, Europa, and possibly on the moon, Callisto

Did a low-altitude pass by the moon

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BIG MISSIONS—GALILEO

Galileo with Jupiter in the background

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BIG MISSIONS—ULYSSES

Flew over poles of the Sun in 1994 and 1995

Measured solar wind and other solar properties Ulysses: NASA and ESA combined mission

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BIG MISSIONS—CASSINI Reached Saturn

in 2004 Will send probe

to the surface of Saturn’s Earth-sized moon, Titan

May be the last of the multi-billion-dollar probes

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BIG MISSIONS—HUBBLE Long series of

remarkable discoveries attributed to HubbleStars being bornStars at the end of

their livesBlack holesChemical makeup

of Saturn’s moons Size and age of

universe narrowed down Shuttle Astronaut repairs Hubble

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SMALL MISSIONS—STARDUST

Rendezvous with a comet: Wild-2

Sample fragments of comet and interstellar dust

Return samples to Earth in 2006

Discovery Mission: Stardust

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SMALL MISSIONS—MARS PATHFINDER Landed rover on

Mars Returned high-

resolution imagery

Demonstrated simple low-cost landing

Mars’ Twin Peaks

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OTHER SMALL MISSIONS

Lunar Prospector: found large amounts of ice on the Moon

Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR): sent up-close imagery and data from the asteroid, Eros

Lunar Prospector

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SPACE INCORPORATED

Commercial investment in space surpassed government spending for the first time in the 1990’s

Commercial uses of GPS soared Communications satellites fueled

demand for cell phones and high-speed digital data transmission

Worldwide market for launch service evolvedPegasus—launched from commercial aircraftConverted ICBMs—peaceful use of

decommissioned weapons

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THE NEW HIGH GROUND 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War

highlighted pivotal role space assets play in modern warfareGPS allowed navigation across faceless

desertEarly warning for enemy’s tactical-missile

launches (Defense Support Program) helped forces prepare and intercept

Weather satellites predicted sand storms Intelligence satellites provided imagery on

troop movement and battle-damage assessment

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THE NEW HIGH GROUND USAF identifies other ways to exploit

space powerGlobal awareness

Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance Weather prediction Early warning

Global reach Ability to deploy troops or weapons anywhere in the

worldGlobal power

Command, control and communications Weapons targeting

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THE NEW HIGH GROUND

Defense Support Program (DSP) GPS Block 2F

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THE FUTURE People still willing to take great risks

for further exploration and discovery1986 Challenger accident2003 Columbia accident

Continued scientific experiments onboard the International Space Station

Continued inexpensive uncrewed missions to other planets will gather information

21st Century: crewed mission to Mars? Return to the Moon? (Constellation)


Unit 1, Chapter 2 , Lesson 2: Exploring Space SECTION 2.3 19

ORGANIZING THE AIR FORCE FOR SPACE OPERATIONS

A Beginning Early Visions of Space Operations The Gaither Commission The First Space Tracking Stations The First Satellite From “Air” to “Aerospace”

Unit 1, Chapter 2 , Lesson 2: Exploring Space 20

ORGANIZING THE AIR FORCE FOR SPACE OPERATIONS

NORAD Begins Anti-Ballistic Missile Programs Strategic Air Command’s Era A New Command Is Born Consolidating Space Missions


A BEGINNING Use of the V-2 in World War II showed

rockets had military applications US use of a nuclear weapon to end the

war in the Pacific heightened mistrust between Russia and the West

Postwar recruitment of German scientists by both the West and Russia advanced early rocket programs


EARLY VISIONS OF SPACE OPERATIONS

RAND corporation published Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-circling Spaceship

Soviets’ test of first hydrogen bomb and suspected development of missile delivery systems heightened drive for early-warning and tracking systems


THE GAITHER COMMISSION Commission appointed by President

Eisenhower to assess civil defense posture following a nuclear attack

Commission also assessed whether a US counter strike was possibleShowed counterstrike unlikely due to inability

to predict attack until first warhead fellAccelerated US ICBM development and other

strategic programs


THE FIRST SPACE TRACKING STATIONS Minitrack

Built by the Naval Research LaboratoryNetwork of simple ground tracking stations

developed to track a proposed new satellite under the Vanguard Program

MoonwatchSmithsonian Institution developed a network of

Baker-Nunn CamerasSought civilian volunteers to phone in when

they saw the satellite


THE FIRST SATELLITE Launch of Sputnik shocked the US and

highlighted Minitrack’s inability to accurately track Sputnik

Sputnik tracking mainly from Moonwatch teams

Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) established Project Shepherd as an effort to improve Minitrack’s tracking problems


FROM “AIR” TO “AEROSPACE” 1959 change to the Air Force mission

added the word “aerospace” to recognize space’s new importance

ARPA opened a system program office to develop equipment and techniques to track space objects and incoming Soviet missilesBy the mid 1960s, had three radar sites that

could give 15-minute warning of missile impactRadar sites also tracked space objects


NORAD BEGINS North American Air Defense Command

(NORAD) established in Sep 1957 Joint effort with CanadaMission to defend combined airspace of US

and Canada Development of submarine-launched

ballistic missiles (SLBMs) by US and Soviets created a need for more tracking stationsAir Force developed several radars on the

Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf CoastsEntire system operational by 1972


AIR FORCE DEVELOPMENTS SLBM warning augmented by Air Force’s

new space-tracking radar in Florida Air Force brought more tracking ability by

developing PAVE PAWS radar sitesPowerful phased-array radar—steerable beamSites established in Massachusetts, California,

Georgia, and Texas


ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE PROGRAMS

DoD attempted to establish a defense shield against Soviet missile attackCovered one area of US: ICBM sites in North

Dakota to enable US counter strike if attackedShut down by congress in 1976 due to great

expense and low probability of success Air Force took over the system’s radars

toAid early warning for SLBMs over Hudson BayAdd coverage for ICBM early warning Improve accurate space tracking


STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND’S ERA

Strategic Air Command (SAC) took over administrative control of people and equipment in space surveillance and missile-warning missions

NORAD maintained operational control over these missions

Several studies in the 1970s suggested the need for reorganization


A NEW COMMAND IS BORN Space Command

began in 1982 under General James V. Hartinger

SAC passed operational control of at least 25 space-surveillance and missile-warning sensors to Space Command

Air Force Space Command Headquarters


MERGING SPACE MISSIONS Air Force Systems Command controlled

much of the Air Force’s launch systems and satellitesSystems Command not always sensitive to

the needs of the warfighters USING assetsAF Space Command sought to take over

these functions to service the warfighter more directly


MERGING SPACE MISSIONS (CONT’D) AF Space Command opened the

Consolidated Space Operations CenterHandles operations for all DOD satellitesTook over control of most AF satellites

Global Positioning System (GPS) Defense Satellite Communications System

(DSCS) Defense Support Program (DSP)


MERGING SPACE MISSIONS (CONT’D) AF Space Command (AFSPC) took control of

all AF launch systems and operations in 1990AFSPC operates all launches at Cape Canaveral

AS, FL and Vandenberg AFB, CASystems include Atlas E, Atlas II, Delta II, Titan II,

and Titan IV


AIR FORCE LAUNCH SYSTEMS

Atlas II Delta II


CURRENT AF MISSION Today’s Air Force Mission: “Defend the

United States through control and exploitation of air and space”


SUMMARY Entering Space Space Comes of Age Organizing the Air Force for Space

Operations


NEXT You now have historical perspective on

our early experience in space You’re now ready to begin your own

exploration of space

space comes of age

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