Transcript Space Exploration

Space Exploration
1957 Through 1977
Explorer
► 74
successful missions
► 4 unsuccessful
► Explorer satellites have made important
discoveries:
 Earth's magnetosphere and the shape of its
gravity field;
 the solar wind;
 Some Explorer spacecraft have even traveled
to other planets, and some have monitored
the Sun.
Explorer 1
Pioneer
► Designed
for planetary
exploration
► Pioneer 10 and Pioneer
11 explored the
outermost planets and
left the solar system
► Pioneer 10 lasted for
almost 30 years
Ranger
► Designed
to obtain
close-up images of the
moon.
► Designed to impact the
moon after taking
pictures
► First image of the
moon by Ranger 7 in
1964
► Nine missions
Mariner
a series of robotic
interplanetary probes
designed to investigate
Mars, Venus and
Mercury
► first planetary flyby, the
first pictures from
another planet, the first
planetary orbiter, and
the first gravity assist
maneuver
► 10 vehicles—7
successful
►
Voyager
► Primary
mission was to
gain information about
Jupiter and Saturn
► Went on to explore
Uranus and Neptune
► 1 and 2 were deployed
in 1977
► Last pictures were sent
in 1990
Surveyor
► Sent
seven robotic
spacecraft to the
surface of the Moon.
Its primary goal was to
demonstrate the
feasibility of soft
landings on the Moon.
► 5 of the 7 were
successful
► All 5 are still on the
surface of the moon
Mercury
► First
man-in-space program
► 6 manned flights from 1961-1963
► Previous unmanned mission carried a
chimpanzee
► Goals:
 To orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth
 To investigate man’s ability to function in space
 To recover both man and spacecraft safely
Virgil Grissom and Alan Shepard
Gemini
► 2 man space flights
► 12 flights, including
the equipment
► Goals:
two unmanned flight tests of
 To subject man and equipment to space flight up to two
weeks in duration.
 To rendezvous and dock with orbiting vehicles and to
maneuver the docked combination by using the target
vehicle's propulsion system;
 To perfect methods of entering the atmosphere and
landing at a preselected point on land. Its goals were
also met, with the exception of a land landing, which
was cancelled in 1964.
Edwin Aldrin in EVA
(Extra Vehicular Activity)
Apollo
► The
Apollo program was designed to land
humans on the Moon and bring them safely
back to Earth.
► Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15,
16, and 17) achieved this goal.
1966-1970
► Apollo
1 caught fire before liftoff, killing all
three men aboard.
1966-1970
► Apollo
10 (USA) May 1969
 Lunar Manned Orbiter
 tested the Lunar Module, separating it from the
Command and Service Module and descended
to within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface
► Apollo
11 (USA) July 1969
 Lunar Manned Lander
 the first manned lunar landing, which took place
on July 20, 1969
1966-1970
► Apollo
12 (USA) November 1969
 Lunar Manned Lander
 retrieved portions of Surveyor 3, including the
camera
 Astronauts also deployed the Apollo lunar
surface experiment package (ALSEP), an
automated research station which was also
deployed by all subsequent lunar crews.
1966-1970
► Apollo
13 (USA) April 1970
 Lunar Flyby
 The Apollo 13 mission became one of survival
for the astronauts on board. During the
translunar coast an explosion destroyed both
power and propulsion systems of the Command
Service Module. The Lunar Module was used as
a lifeboat for the astronauts.
Apollo 11 Command Module
“Columbia”
Apollo 11 Lunar Module “Eagle”
Sizes of Capsules