October 4, 1957, Russia launched the first earth orbiting satellite
called sputnik. Sputnik was a shiny metal sphere containing a
radio transmitter. The space race had begun!
One month later the Russians launched a dog into earth orbit.
So far the United States had not launched a satellite into orbit.
Russians were clearly ahead of the United States in the exploration
Even though the United States had been working on a program to
launch a satellite into earth orbit since 1955, then President
Dwight Eisenhower gave approval for a second team of scientists,
headed by Wernher Von Braun, to pursue the development of a rocket
capable of launching a satellite.
Wernher Von Braun had to launch a satellite with existing rockets
as early as 1954, using a rocket called the Jupiter-C. This idea
was not accepted because the Jupiter-C rocket was an upgraded
version of the military Redstone rocket which was originally designed
to deliver weapons. So a new rocket called Vanguard was chosen
based on political grounds to be the rocket chosen to launch the
first United States satellite.
On December 6, 1957, the first Vanguard rocket lifted off from
the launch pad and immediately fell back to earth erupting in
a ball of fire.
With the failure of Vanguard, the Jupiter-C was called into action.
On January 31, 1958, a Jupiter-C rocket carrying the satellite
named Explorer 1 was successfully launched into earth orbit. The
United States was now in the space race.
The team of scientists under the direction of Wernher Von Braun
began design on a rocket called Saturn which would eventually
take U.S. astronauts on a journey to the moon and back.
In the interim, existing rockets such as Redstone, Atlas, and
Titan, would be used to carry United States spacecraft into space.
In 1958, President Eisenhower formed a civilian space agency called
NASA (National Aeronautical and Space Administration),
which was formerly called NACA (National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics). Project Mercury was started with the goal of launching
a man into space. Seven military test pilots were selected to
be the first United States Astronauts.
On April 12, 1961, the Russians achieved another first in the
exploration of space. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was launched into
earth orbit in a spacecraft called Vostok for a 108 minute flight
that made one complete orbit of the earth before re-entering the
earth’s atmosphere and returning Yuri Gagarin to earth.
It was not known until years later that Gagarin actually ejected
from the Vostok spacecraft and parachuted to earth and did not
actually land inside the spacecraft. Russian spacecraft landed
on land, while U.S. spacecraft landed in the ocean.
May 5, 1961, America launched
Alan Shepard in a mercury spacecraft named Freedom 7 atop a Redstone
rocket. Although the Redstone rocket did not have enough thrust
to place Alan Shepard and his Mercury spacecraft into earth orbit,
the Mercury spacecraft did reach space thus making astronaut Alan
Shepard the first American in space. His flight only lasted approximately
15 minutes but was extremely valuable in testing Mercury spacecraft
systems and procedures.
U.S. Space Log
Shepard’s flight was followed by an identical mission flown
by astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom. The flight went
perfectly. However after splashdown, a mechanical malfunction
caused the spacecraft hatch, which was fitted with explosive bolts
for easy and quick removal, to blow open before the recovery helicopter
had securely latched on. The spacecraft quickly filled with water
and astronaut Grissom climbed out of the spacecraft into the ocean.
The spacecraft was too heavy now that it was full of water and
had to be released by the helicopter where it sunk to the bottom
of the ocean. Astronaut Grissom was picked up out of the water
and brought to the recovery ship.
Clearly we had a lot to learn about spaceflight and we have not
even sent an astronaut into orbit.
The following references give detailed information of all
the manned space flight:
From Mercury to First Moon Landing
Glenn in the Mercury capsule Friendship 7
(The exterior replica is available from us.)
Check out the size of spacecraft
Check out how they looked