Going to the Moon

1. Going to the Moon As of August 29, 2009, 505 individuals from 38 countries had flown in space.

2. This is Rocket Science • First U.S. spy satellites, the Discoverer series (1960-) • Designed to take photos, drop film canisters for mid-air recovery. • Thirteen consecutive failures before success • Eventually evolved into standard U.S. space intelligence systems • Spy satellites key in keeping peace during the Cold War

3. The Soviets Press On • Yuri Gagarin (one orbit) April 12, 1961 • Gherman Titov, August 6-7, 1961, more than 24 hours in orbit. • Andrian Nikolayev and Pavel Popovich, 1962; first two manned spacecraft to be simultaneously in orbit. • This series of spacecraft was called Vostok (Russian for "east", connoting sunrise).

4. More Soviet Firsts • In June, 1963, a second twin launch carried Valery Bykovsky and Valentina Tereshkova into orbit. • Tereshkova became the first woman into space, and the last for two decades.

5. And Still More • In 1964 the Soviets launched the first of the Voskhod (meaning "ascent") multi-person spacecraft. • Three cosmonauts orbited on Voskhod 1 in 1964 • Two orbited on Voskhod 2 in 1965. One of these, Alexei Leonov, made the first space walk.

6. Project Mercury 1961-63 • U.S. response: adapt a space capsule to an existing missile. • The first series of U.S. manned space missions was called Mercury. • Nobody had a clue what qualities would be necessary to travel in space. • Military test pilots were chosen. • Two suborbital flights • Four orbital flights (3-22 orbits)

7. Project Gemini, 1965-66 • Two-man craft • Ten flights up to 14 days long • First (and only) U.S. rendezvous (Gemini 6 and 7) • First emergency landing, also first Pacific landing (Gemini 8) • Altitude record (Gemini 11, 1370 km)

8. Russians to the Moon • In 1959 Luna II became the first spacecraft to strike the Moon. • In 1960, Luna III returned the first (very crude) pictures ever of the Moon’s far side. • 1966-68: First lunar soft landing, lunar rover and sample-return mission.

9. Did the Russians ever have a serious manned lunar program? • Critics: a myth to sustain NASA through the use of cold war hysteria. • In early 1990’s artifacts from the supposedly nonexistent Soviet lunar program, including lunar spacesuits, went on sale at Sotheby's in New York.

10. Did the Russians ever have a serious manned lunar program? • Several catastrophic explosions of the Soviet lunar rocket booster made it clear that they would not beat the U.S. to the moon. • Failure probably due to cutting corners and false economizing (Dan Goldin, are you listening?)

11. Did the Russians ever have a serious manned lunar program? • Author James Oberg calls continued denial of a Soviet lunar landing program a "cover-up".

12. Kennedy’s Challenge • U.S. had 15 minutes’ experience in space when Kennedy proposed a race to the Moon. • Reason: would require both sides to develop new technology • Would be a level playing field

13. U.S. Robots to the Moon, 1963-68 • Ranger series: designed to impact the Moon, returning pictures on the way. • Only last three of nine worked, but results were spectacular. • Surveyor soft-lander series; most of the seven worked well. • Five Lunar Orbiter missions mapped almost all of the Moon. • First pictures ever of the Earth rising above the lunar horizon.

14. Tragedy for the Russians • Vladimir Komarov, on Soyuz 1, 1967, was Russia's first two-time space traveler. In 1967 • His parachute failed on re-entry; first space traveler to be killed. • Soyuz 11, 1971, lost pressurization on reentry; three-man crew died from lack of oxygen.

15. Tragedy at the Cape • On January 26, 1967, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire. • The Apollo Program was delayed for 18 months while equipment and procedures were redesigned.

16. Apollo Gets Off the Ground • Apollo 7, October 11, 1968, was first launch of a manned Apollo capsule into orbit. • Decision was made to reverse the order of the next two missions • Apollo 8: lunar flyby and return. • Live broadcast from lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, 1968.

17. More Rehearsals • Apollo 9 in Earth orbit, was a test of the lunar module. • Apollo 10, a return to the Moon, practiced maneuvering the lander in lunar orbit but did not touch down.

18. The Eagle Has Landed • At 4:17:41 P.M. (EDT) on July 20, 1969, an estimated 500 million people watched worldwide as Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon, confirmed by the message: "Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." • 6-1/2 hours later, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon.

19. Houston, We’ve Had a Problem • Apollo 12 landed near the site of the Surveyor 3 lunar lander as a test of pinpoint lunar navigation. • Apollo 13: side of the lunar service module blew out halfway to the Moon and only heroic innovations on the ground and in space got the crew back.

20. Apollo Science • Apollo 14: first to explore lunar highlands. • Apollo 15: first to use the lunar rover. • Apollo 16 made three rover expeditions totaling 27 km. • Apollo 17 made three rover expeditions lasting 22 hours and travelling 35 kilometers.

21. End of Apollo • Apollo astronauts John Young (10, 16), Eugene Cernan (10, 17), and Jim Lovell (8, 13) each made two lunar flights. • No one has actually set foot on the Moon twice. • September 2, 1970: Apollo 18-20 cancelled. • We just quit.