The History of Space Travel

(1957- 2006)

The 1950s

• During the Cold War the USA and the USSR competed in everything from getting Gold medals in the Olympic Games to who would win the space race

Sputnik (1957)

• The Russians were the first nation to put a satellite in space

• The Americans worried that nuclear weapons could be sent into space

• It took 98 minutes to orbit the Earth

Laika

• Laika was a stray Russian dog

• She was the first animal sent into space

• Laika died a few hours into the flight from overheatingSending Laika into space

proved that animals could survive weightlessness and the launch

American Monkeys in Space

• Before Humans could be sent into space other animals were sent

• Gordo the squirrel monkey survived his flight, but died (1958) when his parachute did not open

• Able (top right (died the following month) and Baker (lived another 24 years) were the first animals to survive space flight

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/28/newsid_3725000/3725961.stm (Video)

Yuri Gagarin

• In 1961 the USSR put the first man in space

• The Soviet Cosmonaut orbited the Earth for 118 minutes at 17,000 mph

• He was never allowed to fly again

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/12/newsid_2477000/2477715.stm

The Vostok 1

The Launch

The Vostok 1 Capsule

The First Man on the Moon

• The Russians put the first satellite, animal and man in space, the Americans had to be the first to put men on the moon

• They launched on July 16th 1969 (600 million people watched)

• Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon on 21st July (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2635000/2635845.stm Video)

• They spent 21 hours on the moon, 2½ hours outside

• They returned to the Earth on 24th July

Commander Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin

The Saturn V, the rocket

that took the Apollo 11

mission to the moon.

The rocket broke into 3

parts, one with fuel, the

command module and

the lunar module.

Rockets only lasted for

one mission, part of the

Saturn V is still floating

through space and part

of it is at the bottom of

the Pacific Ocean

Buzz Aldrin poses for a picture, Neil Armstrong can be seen in his visor, taking the picture

Buzz Aldrin stands beside the US flag

Aldrin doing experiment, the lunar module is in the background

The Lunar module, the Eagle, returning to the command module the Columbia. The Earth and the moon can be seen in the background

The Columbia crashed into the Pacific Ocean and the astronauts were rescued by American Navy frogmen

The Astronauts were quarantined for three weeks in case they had brought back some alien disease

The First Pictures of Mars

• The American Viking 1 (1976) space craft captured the images of the Red planet

It worked up until 1982 when NASA scientists made a mistake reprogramming the batteries

Voyager 1 and 2 (1977)• These two spacecraft were sent into space

in 1977

• They were sent at a time when the planets were almost aligned (this speeded them up)

Saturn’s Rings (1980)

• The Voyager 1 took photos of Saturn • Titan (one of Saturn’s moons) has an atmosphere

The Space Shuttle (1981)

• It replaced the Rocket because most of it was re-usable

• There have been 5 Space shuttles;1. Columbia launched in 1981(destroyed 2003)2. Challenger launched 1983 (exploded 1986)3. Discovery launched 19844. Atlantis launched 19855. Endeavour launched 1992 (as a replacement for

Challenger)• http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle.htm (How it works)• http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/29/newsid_2542000/2542451.stm (Discovery take

off 1988)• http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=8147866533180818812 (Columbia’s Maiden launch)

The Space Shuttle Atlantis taking off at Sunset, this is why the top of the smoke plume is red

Discovery, December 2006

Voyager 2 passes Uranus (1986)•A day was found to be 17 hours and 14 minutes long

•A year on Uranus is 84 Earth Years

The Challenger (1986)• http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/28/newsid_2506000/2506161.stm (news

reports)

• 7 died as the Challenger exploded minutes after lift- off

• http://www.archive.org/details/ChallengerAccidentandInvestigation

• http://spaceflightnow.com/challenger/timeline/

• http://www.spacetoday.org/SpcShtls/ChallengerExplosion1986.html

(video)

• It was the second Space shuttle

• It exploded due to faulty O-rings

and cold temperatures

Voyager 2 reaches Neptune (1989)• It appears blue because of it’s Methane atmosphere• http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/25/newsid_2535000/2535545.stm

The Hubble Telescope (1990)

• Can see objects 14 billion years ago

• It had to be repaired in space in 1993

• It has produced images of Stars being born and dying

The Eagle Nebula is 7,000 light years away

The Horsehead nebula, 1,500 light years away

The Cat’s Eye Nebula, 3.3 kilo Light Years away

Andromeda Galaxy

Columbia (2003)• http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/1/

newsid_3416000/3416589.stm (BBC News Coverage)

• The Space Shuttle Columbia burned up on re-entry to the Earths atmosphere

• A ceramic heat tile has become loose on take-off• Seven astronauts were killed• Debris from the explosion landed in car parks, forests

and even a dentist’s office• Columbia was launched 22 years ago as the first space

shuttle

The Columbia’s Re-entry

• Ceramic tiles on the underside of the shuttle make a heatproof shield

• Friction with air molecules heats the shuttle to 1,500°C