History of Spaceflight
Chapter 1, Introduction to Space
( NASA Space History)
Supplemental References
1. NASA Space History (Unmanned and Manned)
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/index.html
2. First V-1 Rocket Attack on Britain
http://e.com/worldwar2/timeline/v1.htm
3. V2 Guided Ballistic Rocket (Images from Rocket! By Richard
Maurer)
http://accessweb.com/users/mconstab/v2.htm
4. Untitled V-2 Doc
http://home.earthlink.net/~gawebster/a4folder/a4.html
5. Doody, Dave and Stephan, George, “Basics of Spaceflight Learner’s
JPL, web document by Diane K. Fisher
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov.basics
Supplemental References
(Concluded)
Damon, Thomas D., “Introduction to Space The Science of
Spaceflight”, Orbit Book Co., 1990
Meriam, J.L., and Kraige, L.G., “Engineering Mechanics
DYNAMICS”, John Wiley
and Sons, Inc., 1997
The Solar System, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University
of Tennessee
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/index.html
Awakening/Insights and Visions
Ancient Rocketry
400 BC (Greek): Bird on wire using steam
100 BC (Greek): Sphere on water bottle made to rotate
Middle Ages Rocketry
1232 AD (Chinese): Fire arrows
1400-1600 (English): Improved gun powder / range
1400-1600 (French): Rocket Launch through tube
1500 (Chinese): Wan Hu and his winged chair
Rocketry as a Science
William Casagrande (Dutch 1720s)
Newton’s principles
Endeavors such as steam powered cars
German and Russian Scientists (1800s)
Masses greater than 45 kg
Powerful exhaust flames
William Congreve (1800s)
Modern stick rocket
Highly Successful in battle
Used to pound Ft McHenry
William Hale (late 1800s)
Improved accuracy
Spin Stabilization
The Giants of Modern Astronomy
Nicolai Copernicus (1473 - 1543)
Polish origin
Disputed Earth-centered universe of Aristotle and Ptolemy
“On the Revolutions of heavenly Bodies”--published while he was on
his deathbed--proposed a heliocentric system
Tycho Brahe (1546 - 1601)
Challenged other to dual over who was better mathematician
Biggest contribution was precise instruments before telescope
Measured parallax to tell comet was farther away than moon
Disputed Copernicus claim of heliocentric system
The Giants of Modern
Astronomy (Continued)
Johannes Kepler (1571 - 1630)
Became Brahe’s assistant in Prague
Studied Brahe’s data on Mars
Difficult because of significant eccentricity
Ironic in that it allowed Kepler to formulate correct laws of
planetary motion --elliptical
Copernicus postulated circular orbits for planets
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Proved Copernicus correct via his telescope
Dispute of Aristotle “haunted” some in church
Provided foundations for objects moving on Earth’s surface
Dynamics
Gravity ( objects from leaning tower of Pisa)
The Giants of Modern
Astronomy (Concluded)
Sir Isaac Newton
Changed our understanding of universe (Principia -1687)
Newton 1: Object in state of uniform motion unless external
force applied (essentially Galileo’s law of inertia)
Newton 2: F = ma (Aristotle thought F = mv)
Newton 3: For every action there is opposite and equal reaction
Albert Einstein:
General Theory of Relativity (1915)
Newton’s three laws of motion break down when velocities
approach speed of light
Newton’s law of gravitation only approximate in presence of
very strong gravitational fields
time, space warped
Bottom Line: Newton and Einstein agree most of the time
Dawning of Modern Rocketry
(1800s-1900s)
• Konstantin
Tsiolkovsky
Space via rocket
Liquid propellant for better rng
Exhaust vel limits spd/rng
Once considered mad, now
honored
Statue in Moscow
Father of Astronautics
• Robert H. Goddard
Rocket better in vacuum
Multi-stage to leave earth
Success with liquid propellant
Gyro for flight control
Patents acknowledged by U. S.
Government
New York Times admits its
mistake after 49 years
Dawning of Modern Rocketry
(Concluded)
Herman Oberth (1894-1989)
Writings led to V-2
Werner von Braun as a follow-on
Some Additional Scientists Who
Should Be Recognized
Poincare: Suggested gravitational waves at the speed of light
Gauss: Theory of surfaces
Hilbert: Variational principle to gravitation
James Clerk Maxwell: Gravitational wave similarity to EM waves
Euler: 6 Degree of Freedom Equations of Motion
Lagrange: Interconnected system requiring more than one coordinate
D’Alembert: F - ma = 0 (dynamics problem as statics problem)
Laplace: Transform methodology for solving differential equations
Coriolis: Two or more axis systems with relative rotation
W. T. Thomson: Early missile instability problems
WW 2 and the V-1 “Rocket”
Not a rocket but a small airplane with jet engine
3000 ft altitude
350 mph
Nicknamed “buzz bomb”
Engine would cut out at preset distance
First launched against England on June 13, 1944
The V-1 “Rocket” (Concluded)
Appropriately called weapon of reprisal
29000 built
8564 launched against England and Antwerp
Many airmen killed trying to destroy V-1 factories
WW2 and the V-2 Rocket
A true rocket
benzol and petrol fuel, nitric acid oxidizer
56000-67200 lb thrust
3960 fps velocity, 48 mile altitude
Advanced guidance
three axis gyropilot
steerable exhaust vanes
aerodynamic rudders
V-2 Rocket (Concluded)
Potent Weapon
No warning due to lack of sound
One ton warhead
11 mile CEP
Post WW 2 Era
Many V-2 rockets and components captured
Potential of rocketry as a military weapon realized
German scientists to U.S. and USSR
Sputnik 1 and Laika (shortly thereafter) into space (10/4/57)
Explorer 1 launched by Army Ballistic Missile Agency (01/31/58)
NASA created for peaceful exploration (October, 1958)
Humans in Space
Manned Space Flight
Yuri Gargarin of Russia into space
Orbited Earth on 4/12/61
Capability attributed to very large rockets to carry hydrogen bombs
U.S. ICBM booster rockets smaller because Teller and associates
developed technology for relatively lightweight warheads
Project Mercury (Man in a can)
First astronauts military test pilots
Suborbital flight by Alan Shepard on 5/5/61 (beaten by Ham 1/31/61)
15 minute 22 second flight
Altitude of 116.5 miles and speed of 5,180 mph
Three orbits by John Glenn on 2/20/62
Mercury capsule carried by Army Redstone rocket and AF Atlas rocket
Purposes of program were to investigate human functioning in space
and to recover man and spacecraft safely
Retro-rocket slowed capsule to take it out of orbit and return it to Earth
Parachute descent, landing in ocean, and recovery by ships
Manned Spaceflight (Gemini)
Project Gemini
Two man capsule propelled by modified Titan missile (1965 and 1966)
Volume about the size of the front part of a compact car
19 feet long and 10 feet diameter
Same basic design as Mercury capsule
As with Mercury, capsule designed for one-time use and landing in
sea
One of the flights about two weeks in duration
Gemini astronauts learned how to maneuver, change orbit, and
rendezvous and dock with other spacecraft (Gemini 6 and 7 at distances
of 1 foot to 295 feet for over 5 hours on 12/15/65)
Project recorded first space walk (Edward White attached to Gemini 4
by 23 foot tether line on 6/5/65)
Landing on land not perfected by U.S. but successfully used by the
Soviets
Manned Spaceflight (Apollo)
Project took men to Moon and back
Met President Kennedy’s challenge by achieving dozens of
technological breakthroughs
Carried three men in a volume the size of the inside of a minivan
Allowed work in a shirtsleeve environment
Provided hot water for meal preparation
Saturn 5 launched spacecraft on its way to the Moon
Height of 363 feet and weight of 6.5 million pounds
First stage burning of liquid oxygen and kerosene to provide 15 tons
per second of mass flow at liftoff
Burning of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for second and third
stages
Apollo spacecraft composed of cone-shaped command module,
cylindrical service module, and spider-like lunar module
Manned Spaceflight (Apollo)
(Continued)
Command module 10 feet 7 inches high and 12 feet 10 inches in
diameter
Service module carried electrical equipment, oxygen tanks, and rocket
engine for leaving lunar orbit and returning to Earth
23 foot tall lunar module carried two of the three astronauts to the
Moon’s surface and returned them to the command module
Only the command module landed back on Earth
Landed in the ocean
Nothing (except the astronauts) was reused
For safety, lunar landings made on smooth, level terrain
Lunar rover carried on last three flights to provide astronaut
transportation
Could carry astronauts for up to 6 miles to hills, cliffs, and craters
Each wheel powered individually with silver-zinc batteries
Rovers left behind with about everything else carried to surface
Manned Spaceflight (Apollo)
(Continued)
Disaster struck early on
Three astronauts killed in launch pad fire (1/27/67)
During actual flight, atmosphere of command module set at about
1/3 pressure of the normal atmosphere (5 psi pure oxygen)
Things burn as they would in a normal nitrogen-oxygen
atmosphere
During checkout, command module was pressurized to near normal
sea-level with pure oxygen
Caused materials to burn explosively
2.5 month investigation resulted in a design for a fireproof spacecraft
Goal set by President Kennedy still met
Two lunar landings made before the end of the sixties
First was Apollo 11 on 7/20/69
Manned Spaceflight (Apollo)
(Continued)
Near disaster happened with Apollo 13 on 4/13/70
Words “Houston, we have a problem” almost as famous as “one small
step for man, one giant leap for mankind”
On third day out, explosion in oxygen bottle blew a hole in service
module and caused second oxygen bottle to leak
Fuel cells could not generate electricity
Command module disabled
Three-man crew squeezed in to two-man lunar module (LM)
Had to continue around the Moon
Return trip took six days when LM designed for two
Food dehydrated and required hot water; however, none available
Careful consumption allowed astronauts to “limp” home
Total of 31.5 pounds lost by astronauts, but not their lives
Manned Spaceflight (Apollo)
(Concluded)
Apollo was a scientific, technological, and political success
Three manned flights around the Moon (Apollo 8, 10, and 13)
Six landings on the Moon (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17)
Apollo exploration provided valuable scientific knowledge
Understanding of Moon history through a period of severe impacts by
asteroids and meteoroids to the present quiet period
Understanding of lunar rock and soil composition
Absolutely necessary for establishment of a colony on the Moon
Work on Apollo provided crucial research and development experience
Building huge, reliable rockets
Developing life support systems
Refining orbital mechanics
Miniaturizing electronic devices
Advancing computer technology
Manned Spaceflight (SoyuzSalyut and Apollo-Soyuz)
Soviet Union also planned manned flights to the Moon
Not successful because of booster failures
First stage booster had 30 rockets burning simultaneously
Need to have balanced performance was not achieved
In contrast, Saturn only has five operating simultaneously
Soviets did have very successful unmanned lunar exploration program
24 flights including first soft landing on Moon
First flight around the Moon with pictures of the backside
Two lunar roving vehicles which returned over 100,000 pictures in
the space of about a year
Several flights which returned lunar samples to the Earth
Soviets concentrated on low Earth orbit manned flights
Soyuz spacecraft was the workhorse of manned space activities
Manned Spaceflight (SoyuzSalyut and Apollo-Soyuz)
(Concluded)
Soyuz has three segments
1. Equipment and instruments on one end
2. Spherical shaped living quarters and laboratory on the other end
3. Dome-shaped reentry vehicle in the center
60 Soyuz flights were made beginning in 1965
Seven Salyut space stations have been launched beginning in 1971
Initially placed in low orbits which decayed in a matter of months
Later models remained in orbit for years
Soyuz has acted as a shuttle craft to bring crews to and from Salyut
Project Apollo-Soyuz allowed the terminating Apollo program to be
completed by linking with the two-man Soyuz spacecraft (July 1975)
Docking in space of two craft (joint experiments and good fellowship)
Return safely after two days of joint operations
Manned Spaceflight (Skylab)
Project Skylab
Follow-on to USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) Program
Built from the empty third stage of a Saturn 5 rocket
About the size of a small three bedroom house
First launch was on 5/14/73 into a 270 mile orbit
Crews and supplies ferried to Skylab using Apollo vehicles
Last Skylab mission was for 84 days
Significant research was performed in solar physics, space physics, earth
science, and human biology
Effects of weightlessness
Eating, sleeping, and taking a shower in space
Onward to the Planets
(The Solar System, Univ of Tennessee)
Classification of Planets
(The Solar System, Univ of Tennessee)
Unmanned Spacecraft
Chronology of Solar System
Exploration (Unmanned)
Explorer: Varied missions ((1958 - 1980)
Initial launches from Kenya, Africa
Atmospheric and ionispheric studies
Reactions between ozone, sunlight etc.
Led to discovery of Van Allen belt
Mariner (1962 - 1975)
Mariners 1 thru 9
Venus flyby
Mars flyby
Mars orbiter
Mariner 10
Venus/Mercury flyby (1973-75)
Gravitational pull of Venus to reach Mercury
Chronology of Solar System
Exploration (Unmanned) (Con’t)
Pioneer (1965 - 1992)
Pioneer 6 thru 9
Solar orbit
Pioneer 10 and 11
Jupiter flyby
Jupiter and Saturn flyby
Out of the solar system
Pioneer Venus
Mapping of Venus surface
Orbited for 14 years, then “burned up”
Viking 1 and 2 (1975 - 1983)
Orbiter and lander
High resolution electronics to characterize structure/composition
Looked for life on Mars
Chronology of Solar System
Exploration (Unmanned)
(Concluded)
Voyager 1 and 2 (1977 to “Somewhere in Time”)
Jupiter and Saturn probe
On to Uranus and Neptune
Looking for edge of solar wind influence
Magellan (1989 - 1990)
Highly detailed mapping of Venus
Galileo (1989 - present)
Venus - Earth - Earth Gravity Assist (VEEGA)
Toward Sun for Venus gravity assist
Two Earth encounters two years apart
Adequate velocity to reach Jupiter for mapping
Unmanned Space Probes
Mercury
Mariner
X
Venus
X
Viking1,2
Mars
X
X
Magellan
X
PioneerV1,2
X
Unmanned Space Probes
(Concluded)
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus Neptune Pluto
Galileo
X
Pioneer10
X
Pioneer11
X
X
Voyager1
X
X
X
X
Voyager2
X
X
X
X
The Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle is a reusable
spacecraft that takes off
like a rocket, flies in orbit
like a spaceship, and returns
to Earth like an airplane
Emphasizes reusability
Shuttles crews and cargo to
and from space
Repairs satellites on station
(NASA)
The Future
Take off from runways, fly into space, return as an airplane
Establish permanent space stations
Establish space colonies
Discussion Period
Questions on Page 14, Introduction to Space
V-2 Rocket
V-1 Rocket
Winged V-2 Rocket
The Copernian Model
(The Solar System, Univ of Tennessee)
The nature of Ellipses
(The Solar System, Univ of Tennessee)
Planet Eccentricities
(The Solar System, Univ of Tennessee)
The Laws of Kepler
Kepler 1
Kepler 2
Kepler 3
(The Solar System, Univ of Tennessee)
Where Newton and Einstein Diverge
Mercury Precession
Orbit precession in time
Partially accounted for by
perturbation of Newton
Extra 43 seconds of arc
per century from General
Theory of Relativity
Light changing direction
in gravitational field
Light from strong gravitational (The Solar System, Univ of Tennessee)
field having wavelength shifted
to larger value
Mercury
(NASA)
Gemini
(NASA)
Apollo
(NASA)
Apollo-Soyuz
(NASA)
Skylab
(NASA)