Public Administration Agencies – NASA’s Greatest Achievements
The American X-plane Program all started with the X-1, which goes back to 1946, when it had its maiden flight. It was rocket-powered and is known as the very first airplane to succeed in breaking the sound barrier. It broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947.
Explorer 1 was launched into orbit on January 31, 1958. It is regarded as the first effective U.S. satellite launch, under the supervision of the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency and under Dr. Wernher von Braun’s direction. Radiation belts around the Earth were discovered after its orbit.
NASA was created on October 1, 1958. It came into existence due to the crisis of confidence that was provoked by Sputnik’s launch, just a year before. Almost as soon as it opened its doors, the agency started to work on human space flight opportunities.
The X-15 was an experimental aircraft that had its first flight back on June 8, 1959. All told, it flew for almost 10 years, from 1959 to 1968. Its legacy is that it contributed to the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury programs.
The first primate in space was called Ham, and he was a chimpanzee. The rocket with him on board launched on January 31, 1961, and it was a Mercury Redstone. After journeying more than 150 miles, the rocket fell into the Atlantic Ocean.
Race To The Moon: The Mercury Program
In May of 1961, the astronaut Allan Shepard got his name in the history books by becoming the first American in space. He accomplished this through a suborbital flight. The suborbital flight took place on his Mercury spacecraft, which was called Freedom 7.
Dedication Of The Johnson Space Center
1961 saw the announcement by NASA Administrator James E. Webb that Houston would be awarded the site of a center celebrating human spaceflight. It was initially named the Manned Spacecraft Center. In 1973, however, it was rechristened the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.
The Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS)
TIROS is a series of weather satellites that were launched by NASA back in 1960. The TIROS began non-stop coverage of the weather of the Earth in 1962. It produced the first reliable weather forecasts that were based on data from outer space.
The Dryden Flight Research Center has been integral for aeronautics research. It has been involved with important research for two kinds of vehicles. It has been involved with the Lunar Landing Research Vehicles and some wingless vehicles that were planned to fly back to the planet Earth from outer space.
The purpose of the Gemini program was to serve as a stepping stone to the Moon. It tested the astronauts’ endurance and also the clocking moves that were required for a mission to the Moon. The first Gemini launched on March 23, 1965.
First American To Walk In Space
The very first American to walk in space was named Ed White, an astronaut. He became the very first American to walk in space on June 3, 1965. White’s spacewalk has led later astronauts to repair the Hubble, retrieve satellites and build some parts of the International Space Station.
The Landsat Program is more than 30 years old. It has produced millions and millions of pictures of the Earth. This has presented scientists with a very special resource for agricultural applications.
January 27, 1967 saw NASA’s first fatal accident. It occurred while a launch pad test was going on at Kennedy Space Center. Roger Chaffee, Ed White and Gus Grissom were killed as a result.
Race To The Moon: Apollo Program
Everyone on the globe was captivated when Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 astronaut, stepped off Eagle, a lunar lander, and brought his feet down for the first time on the Moon. This occurred on July 20, 1969.
April of 1970 produced a so-called “successful failure” from the standpoint of NASA. An explosion in Apollo 13’s oxygen tanks ended up crippling the Command Module, impeding landing on the Moon. Apollo 13’s crew utilized the Lunar Module to get back to Earth, using it like a lifeboat.
On March 2, 1972, the Pioneer 10 was launched as the first spacecraft to journey across the asteroid belt. It was also the first spacecraft to get close-up images of the planet Jupiter. Currently, the Pioneer 10 is journeying toward Aldebarran, a red star.
Skylab was launched in 1973 and was the first experimental space station of the U.S. It performed student experiments, medical studies and earth resource experiments. Two additional crews followed later in 1973.
In July of 1975, an Apollo spacecraft docked together with a Russian Soyuz that was already in orbit. This mission’s purpose was to examine the compatibility of the Russian and American systems. This mission also cleared the way for any future joint tasks as well as space rescues.
The Enterprise never experienced flight in space. The Enterprise was the first space shuttle orbiter. In February 1977, the Enterprise was flight-tested on top of a Boeing 747 ferrying plane.
No other NASA mission has been to as many planets, satellites and rings as the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 crafts. They were launched in the year 1977. Voyager 1 is farther away from Earth than any other object that was man-made.
SEASAT was an experimental satellite that NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory constructed. Built in 1978, SEASAT was meant to test out a number of oceanographic sensors, such as radiometers and radar. SEASAT determined direction and wind speed.
Sally Ride was an astronaut. She was the first U.S. woman in space when she lifted off on Challenger on June 18, 1983. She was also the youngest American ever to enter space.
Guy Bluford was an astronaut. He was the first black American in space when he lifted off in August of 1983. That mission also marked the first nighttime landing and launch of a space shuttle.
Spacelab is a scientific, modular laboratory created by the European Space Agency and NASA. In November 1983, Spacelab was launched on the Columbia shuttle. This lab offered a workplace for scientist-astronauts.
The Challenger tragedy happened on January 28, 1986. In the explosion that occurred only 73 seconds after liftoff, its crew was annihilated and the craft was totaled. The destruction was caused by a leak in one of the rocket boosters.
1991 proved to be a significant year for the Dryden Flight Research Center. In 1991, the Center employed an F-18 HARV to research engine performance, aircraft control and airflow. It did this by utilizing paddles at the engine’s rear.
The Galileo spacecraft was launched in 1989. This spacecraft was launched on the space shuttle Atlantis. It examined the planet Jupiter and its moons and discovered icebergs and water on Europa prior to finishing its mission back in 2003.
The Hubble Space Telescope’s deployment did a lot to change humanity’s comprehension of the universe. The Hubble was launched back in 1990. It orbits some 375 miles right over the Earth.
Endeavor, a space shuttle, made its entry into space back on May 7, 1992. Endeavor’s launch included four spacewalks as well as one that was the first for three astronauts. Endeavor’s mission was a first, too, because it utilized a drag chute during the landing of a shuttle.
1994 saw the first Russian cosmonaut fly into space on an American mission. Sergei K. Krikalev was the first Russian cosmonaut to fly into space on an American mission. He flew on a flight of the space shuttle Discovery.
For 3 years in the mid to late 1990s, shuttles from NASA made several flights to Mir, the Russian space station. U.S. astronauts went onboard seven times. These same shuttles also made crew exchanges and delivered equipment.
Norm Thagard is known as the first U.S. astronaut who trained in Russia, back in 1995. Thagard also achieved other milestones. He was the first to finish a residency onboard the Mir space station.
Solar Research: An Uninterrupted View Of The Sun
SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, was put into orbit on December 2, 1995. It is designed to do three things. It is designed to research the sun’s internal structure, the sun’s outer atmosphere, and the hugely ionized gas, which regularly blows outward across the solar system.
Shannon Lucid holds the record for the longest stay in space. Starting on March 22, 1996, Lucid launched off from the Kennedy Space Center. For the next 188, Lucid stayed onboard the Mir space station, making her stay the longest stay of a woman who was living in space.
The Mars Pathfinder found itself on Mars on the Fourth of July of 1997. While there, it collected a lot of data. 2.6 billion bits of information were sent back to Earth, which included 550 images from the rover called Sojourner.
Cassini: The Long Way To Saturn
Cassini was launched in 1997. It arrived on the planet Saturn back in the year 2004. It is seen as the best-instrumented craft that was ever launched at another planet.
John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. In 1998, he went back into space onboard the Discovery shuttle. He was a test subject on some experiments related to the aging effect.
Development Of The International Space Station
The International Space Station is both the most complicated as well as biggest international, scientific project in history. It was led by the U.S. Building of the station began in 1998, and crews have been on the station since the year 2000.
A spectrometer from NASA discovered the biggest-ever Antarctic ozone hole. It was three times bigger than the whole land mass of America, which made it the biggest hole of its kind. This discovery was made back in September of 2000.
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia carrying seven astronauts was obliterated. The Shuttle’s orbiter disintegrated over Texas as it made its reentry. At the time of the obliteration, Columbia was coming back from a research mission.