Human space exploration - from Yuri Gagarin's first orbit of Earth, to the race for the Moon, and the Apollo landings.
 

Outline:

The evolution of rockets - from ancient China to the early 20th century.  Robert Goddard's pioneering work on liquid-fuelled rockets and the development of German military rockets during World War Two.

The initially successful Soviet space programme.  While the US stumbles, the Soviets put the Sputnik 1 satellite and several dogs into orbit.  America succeeds in 1961 as Ham, the chimpanzee, circles the Earth.  The same year, Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space.  Two years later, Valentina Tereshkova is the first woman.  In 1965, Alexei Leonov is the first cosmonaut to walk in space.

The three stages of America's race for the Moon.  Phase 1 - Mercury:  Alan Shepherd's sub-orbital hop and John Glenn's flight into orbit.  Phase 2 - Gemini:  Edward White is the first American to spacewalk and Gemini craft achieve orbital docking with a rocket upper-stage.  Phase 3 - Apollo:  three astronauts die during launchpad training and Apollo 8 loops around the Moon.  In 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins journey to the Moon aboard Apollo 11.  The first manned lunar landing.

Despite an explosion aboard Apollo 13 in 1970,  James Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise limp safely back to Earth.  Recap of the six Moon landings - including the final mission, Apollo 17, the first to carry a scientist.  Cancellation of future lunar landings and, in 1975, the first link-up in Earth orbit between a Soviet and American spacecraft.
 
 

Sub-chapters:

Dawn of the Space Age

*  Invention of the rocket in ancient China.

*  Physicist Robert Goddard's work on the liquid-fuelled rocket, a prototype for space.

*  World War Two - the Germans develop powerful military rockets under the leadership of Werner von Braun.

*  The Soviets are the first in space.  Their Sputnik 1 satellite is launched in October 1957.

*  One month later, a dog, called Laika, travels into space aboard Sputnik 2.

*  America's space programme is initially unsuccessful.  Its Vanguard project results in five out of six rockets exploding during lift-off.

*  In 1961 - an American success.  Ham, the chimpanzee, orbits Earth.
 

First Men in Space

*  April 12, 1961:  Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space on the spacecraft Vostok 1.

*  In 1963, cotton mill worker Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.

*  Alexei Leonov is the first person to leave his spacecraft and "spacewalk".

*  President John F. Kennedy pledges to land a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s.  There are three phases.

*  Phase 1 - the Mercury project.  Alan Shepherd's sub-orbital hop in a Mercury capsule.

*  February 20,1962:  John Glenn is the first American into space aboard Friendship 7.  After three Earth orbits, a loose heat shield makes re-entry a rocky ride, but Glenn returns safely to Earth.
 

Preparing for the Moon

*  Phase 2 - the Gemini project.  Edward White spacewalks in June 1965.

*  Two Gemini craft rendezvous in space, and later Gemini craft successfully dock with a rocket upper stage.

*  Phase 3 - the Apollo project.  On January 27, 1967, a fire in the Apollo 1 capsule kills Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee during launchpad training.

*  In December 1968, Apollo 8 loops around the Moon.
 

Apollo 11

*  Early 1969:  extensive tests on lunar spacesuits and landing modules.

*  July 20, 1969:  Armstrong and Aldrin make the historic first lunar landing while Collins stays in the command module circling the Moon.
 

Near Disaster !

*  1970 - an explosion aboard Apollo 13 cripples the craft.

*  After limping around the Moon, using the lunar module as a "life-raft", astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise are safely returned to Earth.
 

From Competition to Cooperation

*  The final lunar landing, Apollo 17, is the first to carry a scientist, Harrison "Jack" Schmidt.  He is able to cover relatively long distances in the lunar rover.

*  Subsequent Moon landings are cancelled after interest wanes.

*  July 17, 1975:  an Apollo vehicle and a Soyuz craft link-up in Earth orbit.  The launch of  Soyuz is the first televised Soviet rocket launch.
 
 

Background:

Rocket Propulsion

Unlike an aircraft, a rocket can move through space without the help of air.  Like a firework, a rocket works on the principle of reaction.  A typical firework consists of a hollow tube filled with gunpowder and sealed at one end.  When the gunpowder is ignited, it burns very quickly. This produces a lot of hot gas that gushes from the open end.  It is the action of the gas pushing in one direction that thrusts the nose of the rocket in the other.  With sufficient thrust the firework lifts into the air.  When the gunpowder is exhausted, the firework falls back to Earth.  Gunpowder cannot be used as fuel for a space rocket because it burns too quickly.

Gunpowder is a solid fuel and a firework is a solid-fuelled rocket.  Most space-rockets, however, use liquid fuels.  Two liquids - such as hydrogen and oxygen (cooled to very low temperatures) - are carried in separate tanks.  The liquids are pumped through pipes into a chamber.  When they mix they react violently together.  This produces enormous quantities of hot gases that rush out of the nozzle at the base of the rocket, propelling it upwards.

Why are liquid fuels better than solid-fuels?  Firstly, because liquid fuels burn at a steady rate for much longer than solid fuels, thus producing  more thrust.  Secondly, liquid-fuelled rockets are safer than solid-fuelled vehicles.  Once lit, a solid-fuelled rocket will burn until all the fuel is exhausted.  But in a liquid-fuelled rocket, the mixing of the two liquid fuels is more easily and safely controlled.

The thrust from one rocket is insufficient for it to escape the pull of Earth's gravity.  This is overcome by using two or more rockets.  They are placed one on top of the other - and called a multi-stage rocket.  The huge first stage provides enough thrust to lift the whole rocket off the ground.  With its fuel is spent, the first stage is jettisoned and falls back to Earth.  As a result, the on-going vehicle is spared unnecessary weight.  The next stage, or stages, fire up and provide the thrust required to take the rest of the rocket into space.

Three stages were used for the giant American Saturn 5 rocket that launched astronauts to the Moon.  The Russians have a different method - using a central basic rocket with pairs of strap-on boosters at the side.
 

To the Moon and Back

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy set American scientists the challenge of landing men on the Moon before 1970.  The project was called Apollo.  Altogether, 12 astronauts were successfully landed on the lunar surface, the first in July 1969, and the last in December 1972.

To get three astronauts per mission to the Moon required a very large and a very powerful rocket.  These are the vital statitics of the giant Saturn 5 rocket that did the job.  It stood over 110 metres tall on the launch pad - as high as a 40-storey tower block.  All that came back to Earth was the tiny cone-shaped Command Module (CM) containing the crew.  On top of the Saturn 5 rocket was the Apollo spacecraft, 25 metres tall and consisting of several components.  The Spacecraft Lunar Module Adaptor (SLMA) linked the Apollo spacecraft to the rocket during lift-off.  The SLMA surrounded and protected the Lunar Module (LM).  The CM was attached to the Service Module (SM), a cylinder 7.5 metres across with its own rocket motor and fuel tanks.  Together they were called CSM.

After launch, the Apollo spacecraft and the third stage of the rocket entered Earth orbit.  Then the motors of the third stage were fired, propelling the astronauts toward the Moon.  Next, the CSM and the SLMA separated and the CSM was turned around to dock with the LM.  The CSM and LM then headed towards the Moon.

Once in lunar orbit, one astronaut stayed inside the CSM, while the other two entered the LM for the descent to the Moon.  The LM had two parts - one was the descent stage and the other the ascent stage.  The main engine on the descent stage took the LM gently to the lunar surface.  The LM landed on four legs, each with a large foot-pad.

After a brief and cautious exploration, the two astronauts returned to the LM.  Fitted with its own engine, the ascent stage of the LM blasted off, using the descent stage as a launch pad.  The ascent of the LM took it back to the CSM, waiting in orbit above. The CSM and LM then docked and the astronauts crawled back through the tunnel linking the two spacecraft.  The LM was then released to crash into the Moon.

The three astronauts returned to Earth in the CSM.  Shortly before re-entry, the SM dropped away and burned up.  The CM was protected by its heat shield from the fiery heat of re-entry caused by air resistance.  Parachutes opened and the CM splashed down gently in the ocean.  Waiting ships retrieved the CM and the crew.
 

Soviet "Firsts" in Space

The Soviets launched the Space Age by sending the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into Earth orbit on October 4 1957.  The early years of space exploration were dominated by the former Soviet Union.  The Americans were left far behind.

Less than a month after Sputnik 1, on November 3, 1957, came the launch of Sputnik 2.  A dog called Laika, became the first space passenger.  She perished - but two other dogs, Belka and Strelka, were subsequently returned safely to Earth.  At last, on February 1, 1959, the United States got into space with the Explorer 1 satellite.  By January, 1961, the US had successfully sent several monkeys and a chimpanzee called Ham into orbit.

The Soviets forged ahead again by putting the first man into space.  On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin hurtled into Earth-orbit aboard Vostok 1.  Then, on August 6, 1961, Gherman Titov became the first person to spend a full day in space aboard Vostok 2 .  He was also also  first to experience space sickness.  On February 20, 1962, more than ten months after the Soviets, the Americans launched their first man into space, John Glenn.  But the Soviets pulled ahead again when, on August 11 and 12, 1962, they achieved the first space rendezvous when Vostoks 3 and 4 approached to within a few kilometres of each other.

Yet another Soviet first followed on June 16, 1963, with the first woman in space.  Valentina Tereshkova flew aboard Vostok 6, rendezvousing with Vostok 5, again at a distance of a few kilometres.  With Voskhod 1, the Soviets launched the first three-man spacecraft on October 12, 1964.  They also had the first spacewalker, Alexei Leonov.  On March 18, 1965, he took an orbital stroll outside his craft, Voskhod 2.  After this, the Soviets seemed to lose some of their impetus.

Meanwhile, the US made strides with its two-man Gemini programme.  Successes included the     first American spacewalk (or extra-vehicular activity) by astronaut Edward White and a series of orbital rendezvous and docking manoeuvres.  The Apollo programme, which would eventually send men to the Moon, experienced early disaster when the three-man crew of Apollo 1 was killed in a fire on the launch-pad.  As a consequence, there were many safety improvements.  The Soviets were also unfortunate when the parachutes on the Soyuz 1 capsule failed to open.  The craft crash-landed, killing lone cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov.

But the Soviet programme to put men the Moon never really took off.  After the successful American landings, the Soviets significantly changed emphasis.  While the US concentrated on the development of Space Shuttle, the Soviets launched a space station, Salyut 1, in April 1971 - another first.  Nearly two years later, the American followed with their own space station, Skylab.  The Soviets launched a whole series of manned space stations, culminating in the highly successful Mir, aboard which numerous space endurance records were set.
 
 

Links for Further Information:

Detailed page on the history of NASA - from the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1 to the Apollo 11 lunar landing.  Contains images and extensive links.
http://www.cob.montevallo.edu/student/SettleSL/NASA.htm

Overview of Soyuz missions, including key events, personnel and launch dates.  Links to Vostok, Voskhod and Salyut pages.
http://nauts.com/histpace/vehiclesNT/histsoyuzNT.html

Exellent page covering all the Apollo missions.  Includes various aspects of all the flights plus images.
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/mirrors/images/html/apollo.htm

Good page covering the Gemini missions.  Presented in the same format as the Apollo page.
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/mirrors/images/html/gemini.htm

The history of rocketry from China to Robert Goddard.  Informative page charting the evolution of the rocket through history.
http://www.namesinspace.com/history/june.june.html

Brief history of Werner von Braun's role in the development of American rockets.
http://www.spacevoyages.com/visions2.html
 
 

Questions and Activities for the Curious:

1.  Research the German V2 rocket developed in World War Two.  Explain why it was a prototype for space travel.

2.  Investigate the early "animal astronauts" with particular reference to the dogs, monkeys and chimpanzees.

3.  Imagine you are Yuri Gagarin and are about to become the first man in space.  Describe your hopes and fears in the hours leading up to blast-off.

4.  Summarise the many successes of the early Soviet space programme between 1957 and 1965.

5.  Imagine you are a journalist.  Write a short news report for your paper about the landing of the first men on the Moon.

6.  Describe the difficulties faced by the crew of Apollo 13 after an explosion crippled their spacecraft.  How were the problems overcome and how was the crew rescued?

7.  Write a brief description of each of the Apollo missions, beginning with Apollo 7 and ending with the flight of Apollo 18 - the Apollo-Soyuz link-up.

8.  Do you think that the rivalry between the Americans and Soviets during the "Space Race"  was beneficial or detrimental to progress in space exploration?