A history of NASA’s early exploration

A history of NASA’s early exploration

Oct. 1, 1958:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration began operation. At the time it consisted of only about 8,000 employees and an annual budget of $100 million. In addition to a small headquarters staff in Washington that directed operations, NASA had at the time three major research laboratories inherited from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics — the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory established in 1918, the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory activated near San Francisco in 1940, and the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory built at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1941 — and two small test facilities, one for high-speed flight research at Muroc Dry Lake in the high desert of California and one for sounding rockets at Wallops Island, Virginia. It soon added several other government research organizations.

Oct. 11, 1958:

Pioneer I is the first NASA launch.

Nov. 7, 1958:

NASA research pilot John McKay made the last flight in the X-1E, the final model flown of the X-1 series. Data from tests at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory (now NASA’s Langley Research Center) with actual flight values enabled the U.S. aeronautical community to solve many of the problems that occur in the transonic speed range (0.7 to 1.3 times the speed of sound), contributing to design principles that enabled reliable and routine flight of fighter as well as commercial transport aircraft from the mid-1950s to the present.

Dec. 6, 1958:

The United States launched Pioneer 3, the first U.S. satellite to ascend to an altitude of 63,580 miles.

Dec. 18, 1958:

An Air Force Atlas booster placed into orbit a communications relay satellite, PROJECT SCORE, or the “talking atlas.” A total of 8,750 pounds was placed in orbit, of which 150 pounds was the payload. On Dec. 19 President Eisenhower’s Christmas message was beamed from the PROJECT SCORE satellite in orbit, the first voice sent from space.

Feb. 17, 1959:

The United States launched scientific satellite Vanguard 2.

March 3, 1959:

The United States sent Pioneer 4 to the moon, successfully making the first U.S. lunar flyby.

April 9, 1959:

After a two-month selection process, NASA unveiled the Mercury astronaut corps: from the Marine Corps, Lt. Col. John H. Glenn Jr.; from the Navy, Lt. Cdr. Walter M. Schirra Jr., Lt. Cdr. Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Lt. M. Scott Carpenter; and from the Air Force, Capt. L. Gordon Cooper, Capt. Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and Capt. Donald K. Slayton.

May 28, 1959:

The United States launches and recovers two monkeys, Able and Baker, in Jupiter nose cone during a suborbital flight. The flight is successful, testing the capability to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and to recover spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean.

April 1, 1960:

The United States launched TIROS 1, the first successful meteorological satellite, observing Earth’s weather.

April 13, 1960:

The United States launched Transit 1B, the first experimental orbital navigation system.

July 1, 1960:

The Army Ballistic Missile Agency of the Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, formally became a part of NASA and was renamed the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. This organization included the German “rocket team” led by Wernher von Braun that came to the United States at the conclusion of World War II.

Aug. 12, 1960:

NASA successfully orbited Echo 1, a 100-foot inflatable, aluminized balloon passive communications satellite. The objective was to bounce radio beams off the satellite as a means of long-distance communications.

Dec. 19, 1960:

NASA launched Mercury 1, the first Mercury-Redstone capsule-launch vehicle combination. This was an unoccupied test flight.

Jan. 31, 1961:

NASA launched Mercury

2, a test mission of the Mercury-Redstone capsule-launch vehicle combination with the chimpanzee Ham aboard during a 16.5-minute flight in suborbital space. Ham and his capsule are successfully recovered.

May 5, 1961:

Freedom 7, the first piloted Mercury spacecraft (No. 7) carrying Astronaut Alan Shepard, was launched from Cape Canaveral to an altitude of 115 nautical miles and a range of 302 miles. It was the first American space flight involving human beings, and during his 15-minute suborbital flight, Shepard rode a Redstone booster to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. Shepard demonstrated that individuals can control a vehicle during weightlessness and high G stresses, and significant scientific biomedical data were acquired. He reached a speed of 5,100 miles per hour and his flight lasted 14.8 minutes. Shepard was the second human and the first American to fly in space.

May 25, 1961:

President John F. Kennedy unveiled the commitment to execute Project Apollo in a speech on “Urgent National Needs,” billed as a second State of the Union message. He told Congress that the U.S. faced extraordinary challenges and needed to respond extraordinarily. In announcing the lunar landing commitment he said: “I believe this Nation should commitment itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

July 21, 1961:

The second piloted flight of a Mercury spacecraft with astronaut Gus Grissom undertook a sub-orbital mission. The flight had problems: The hatch blew off prematurely from the Mercury capsule, Liberty Bell 7, and it sank into the Atlantic Ocean before it could be recovered. In the process the astronaut nearly drowned before being hoisted to safety in a helicopter. These suborbital flights, however, proved valuable for NASA technicians who found ways to solve or work around literally thousands of obstacles to successful space flight.

Aug. 23, 1961:

NASA launched Ranger 1, with the mission of photographing and mapping part of the Moon’s surface, but it failed to achieve its planned orbit.

Sept. 19, 1961:

NASA Administrator James E. Webb announced that the site of the NASA center dedicated to human space flight would be Houston, Texas. This became the Manned Spacecraft Center, renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1973.

Oct. 25, 1961:

NASA announced the establishment of the Mississippi Test Facility, renamed the John C. Stennis Space Center in 1988. This installation became the test site for the large Saturn boosters developed for Project Apollo.

Oct. 27, 1961:

NASA accomplished the first successful test of the Saturn I rocket.

Feb. 20, 1962:

John Glenn became the first American to circle the Earth, making three orbits in his Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft. Despite some problems with the craft — Glenn flew parts of the last two orbits manually because of an autopilot failure and left his normally jettisoned retrorocket pack attached to his capsule during re-entry because of a loose heat shield — this flight was enormously successful. Among other engagements, Glenn addressed a joint session of Congress and participated in several tickertape parades around the country.

June 7, 1962:

At an all-day meeting at the Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA leaders met to hash out differences over the method of going to the Moon with Project Apollo, with the debate getting heated at times. The contention was essentially between Earth-orbit versus lunar-orbit rendezvous. After more than six hours of discussion those in favor of Earthorbit rendezvous finally gave in to the lunar-orbit rendezvous mode, saying that its advocates had demonstrated adequately its feasibility and that any further contention would jeopardize the president’s timetable. This cleared the path for the development of the hardware necessary to accomplish the president’s goal.

July 10, 1962:

NASA launched Telstar l, the first privately built satellite for communications. First telephone and television signals carried via satellite.

Oct. 3, 1962:

Wally Schirra flew six orbits in the Mercury spacecraft Sigma 7. Dec. 14, 1962: Mariner 2 makes the first successful planetary flyby, of Venus.

May 15-16, 1963:

The capstone of Project Mercury took place with the flight of astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, who circled the Earth 22 times in 34 hours aboard the Mercury capsule Faith 7.

Aug. 22, 1963:

Experimental aircraft X-15 sets altitude record of 354,200 feet (67 miles).

Jan. 29, 1964:

NASA’s largest launch vehicle, Saturn SA-5, sends a record of 19 tons into orbit during a test flight.

Apr. 8, 1964:

The first American Gemini flight took place on this date, an unpiloted test that made four orbits and was successfully recovered. May 28, 1964:

The United States placed the first Apollo Command Module in orbit. This capsule was launched during an automated test flight atop a Saturn I in preparation of the lunar landing program. July 28, 1964:

The United States’ Ranger 7 sends back to Earth 4,300 close-up images of the Moon before it impacts on the surface. Oct. 30, 1964:

NASA pilot Joseph Walker conducted the first flight in the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, known for its unusual shape as the “Flying Bedstead.” Two LLRVs and three Lunar Landing Training Vehicles developed from them provided realistic simulation that was critical for landing a spacecraft on the Moon in the Apollo program. March 23, 1965:

After two unoccupied test flights, the first operational mission — Gemini III — of Project Gemini took place. Former Mercury astronaut Gus Grissom commanded the mission, with John W. Young, a Naval aviator chosen as an astronaut in 1962, accompanying him.

April 6, 1965:

The United States launched Intelsat I, the first commercial satellite for communications, into geostationary orbit.

June 3-7, 1965:

The second piloted Gemini mission, Gemini IV, stayed aloft for four days and astronaut Edward H. White II performed the first EVA, or spacewalk, by an American. This was a critical task that would have to be mastered before landing on the Moon.

July 14, 1965:

An American space probe, Mariner 4, flies within 6,118 miles of Mars after an eight-month journey. This mission provided the first close-up images of the red planet.

Aug. 21-29, 1965:

During the flight of Gemini V, American astronauts Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad set record with an eight-day orbital flight.

Dec. 4-18, 1965:

During the flight of Gemini VII, American astronauts Frank Borman and James A. Lovell set a duration record of 14 days in Earth-orbit.

Dec. 15-16, 1965:

During Gemini VI, U.S. astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford complete the first true space rendezvous by flying within a few feet of Gemini VII.

March 16, 1966:

During Gemini VIII American astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and David Scott performed the first orbital docking of their spacecraft to an Agena target vehicle. This was a critical task to master before attempting to land on the Moon, a mission that required several dockings and undockings of spacecraft.

June 2, 1966:

Surveyor 1 landed on the Moon and transmitted more than 10,000 high-quality photographs of the surface. This was the first American spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon, touching down on the “Ocean of Storms,” a possible site for the Apollo landings.

July 3-6, 1966:

During the flight of Gemini IX, American astronauts Tom Stafford and Eugene Cernan make a two-hour EVA.

July 18-21, 1966:

During Gemini X American astronauts Mike Collins and John Young make two rendezvous and docking maneuvers with Agena target vehicles, plus complete a complex EVA.

Nov. 11-15, 1966:

The last Gemini flight, Gemini XII, was launched. During this mission, American astronauts Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin completed three EVAs and a docking with an Agena target vehicle.

Jan. 27, 1967:

At 6:31 p.m., during a simulation aboard Apollo-Saturn 204 on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, after several hours of work, a flash fire broke out in the pure oxygen atmosphere of the capsule. The three astronauts aboard — Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee — died of asphyxiation. These were the first deaths directly attributable to the U.S. space program. As a result of this accident the Apollo program went into hiatus until the spacecraft could be redesigned. The program returned to flight status during Apollo 7 in October 1968.

Nov. 9, 1967:

During Apollo 4, an unpiloted test of the launcher and spacecraft, NASA proves that the combination could safely reach the Moon.

Jan. 22, 1968:

In Apollo 5, NASA made the first flight test of the propulsion systems of the Lunar Module ascent/descent capability.

Oct. 11-22, 1968:

The first piloted flight of the Apollo spacecraft, Apollo 7, and Saturn IB launch vehicle, this flight involved astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham who tested hardware in Earth orbit.

Dec. 21-27, 1968:

Apollo 8 took off atop a Saturn V booster from the Kennedy Space Center with three astronauts aboard — Frank Borman, James A. Lovell and William A. Anders — for a historic mission to orbit the Moon. At first it was planned as a mission to test Apollo hardware in the relatively safe confines of low Earth-orbit, but senior engineer George M. Low of the Manned Spacecraft Center at Houston and Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo program manager at NASA headquarters, pressed for approval to make it a circumlunar flight. After Apollo 8 made one and a half Earth orbits its third stage began a burn to put the spacecraft on a lunar trajectory. As it traveled outward the crew focused a portable television camera on Earth and for the first time humanity saw its home from afar, a tiny “blue marble” hanging in the blackness of space. When it arrived at the Moon on Christmas Eve this image of Earth was even more strongly reinforced when the crew sent images of the planet back while reading the first part of the Bible — “God created the heavens and the Earth, and the Earth was without form and void” — before sending Christmas greetings to humanity. The next day they fired the boosters for a return flight and “splashed down” in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 27.

March 3-13, 1969:

In Apollo 9, astronauts James McDivitt, David Scott and Russell Schweickart orbit the Earth and test all of the hardware needed for a lunar landing.

May 18-26, 1969:

In Apollo 10, Eugene Cernan, John Young and Tom Stafford run the last dress rehearsal for the Moon landing. They take the Lunar Module for a test run within 10 miles of the lunar surface.

July 16-24, 1969:

The first lunar landing mission, Apollo 11 began the three day trip to the Moon. At 4:18 p.m. EST on July 20 the Lunar Module — with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin — landed on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbited overhead in the Apollo command module. After checkout, Armstrong set foot on the surface, telling the millions of listeners that it was “one small step for man — one giant leap for mankind.” Aldrin soon followed him out and the two plodded around the landing site in the 1/6 lunar gravity, planted an American flag but omitted claiming the land for the U.S. as had routinely been done during European exploration of the Americas, collected soil and rock samples, and set up some experiments. After more than 21 hours on the lunar surface, they returned to Collins on board Columbia, bringing 20.87 kilograms of lunar samples with them. The two moonwalkers had left behind scientific instruments, an American flag and other mementos, including a plaque bearing the inscription: “Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon. Jul. 1969 A.D. We came in Peace For All Mankind.” The next day they began the return trip to Earth, “splashing down” in the Pacific on July 24.

Sept. 15, 1969:

The presidentially appointed Space Task Group issued its report on the post-Apollo space program on this date. Chartered on Feb. 13, 1969, under Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, this group met throughout the spring and summer to plot a course for the space program. NASA lobbied hard for a far-reaching program that included development of a space station, a reusable Space Shuttle, a Moon base and a human expedition to Mars. The NASA position was well reflected in the group’s report, but President Nixon did not act on the group’s recommendations. Instead, he was silent on the future of the U.S. space program until a March 1970 statement that said “we must also recognize that many critical problems here on this planet make high priority demands on our attention and our resources.”

Nov. 14-24, 1969:

In Apollo 12 U.S. astronauts Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon and Alan Bean go to the Moon for a second manned landing. They landed near the Surveyor 3 landing site and spend 7.5 hours walking on the surface, including an inspection of the Surveyor probe.

April 11-17, 1970:

The flight of Apollo 13 was one of the near disasters of the program. At 56 hours into the flight, an oxygen tank in the Apollo service module ruptured and damaged several of the power, electrical and life support systems. People throughout the world watched and waited and hoped as NASA personnel on the ground and the crew, well on their way to the Moon and with no way of returning until they went around it, worked together to find a way safely home. While NASA engineers quickly determined that sufficient air, water and electricity did not exist in the Apollo capsule to sustain the three astronauts until they could return to Earth, they found that the Lunar Module, a self-contained spacecraft unaffected by the accident, could be used as a “lifeboat” for the return trip. The crew returned safely, and the near disaster served several important purposes for the civil space program, especially prompting reconsideration of the propriety of the whole effort while solidifying in the popular mind NASA’s technological genius.

After several publicly failed attempts, the Naval Research Laboratory’s Vanguard I was launched in March 1958. Within two and half years, Project Vanguard built a three stage launching vehicle, a worldwide satellite tracking system and a launching facility.

Pioneer I was launched November 1958 weighing 84 pounds. Pioneer, the first lunar space program under NASA, was created to measure cosmic radiation between the Earth and the moon and to discover more information about the moon.

John McKay made the last flight in the X-1E. It is now on display in front of the Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

Above, the first pass of Echo 1, America’s first communications satellite, over the Goldstone Tracking Station managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, in the early morning of Aug. 12, 1960. The movement of the antenna, star trails (shorter streaks) and Echo 1 (the long streak in the middle) are visible in this image.

Launch of the unmanned Mercury Redstone 1A from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Dec. 19, 1960. It was the first successful flight to a peak altitude of 135 miles.

Sam, a rhesus monkey, flew to an altitude of 88 km in 1959. Here Sam is seen encased in a model of the Mercury fiberglass contour couch.

Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., pilot of the Mercury-Redstone 3 suborbital spaceflight, is retrieved by a helicopter from the USS Lake Champlain during recovery operations in the western Atlantic Ocean May 5, 1961. Shepard nicknamed the the Mercury spacecraft “Freedom 7.”

Saturn 1 rocket launch (Apollo moon program) Pad 37b, Cape Canaveral, Jan. 29, 1964.

Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford (left), pilot, and Walter M. Schirra Jr., command pilot, pose during a suiting up exercise in preparation for the NASA’s Gemini-6 two-day mission.

Buzz Aldrin performs a spacewalk during the Gemini XII mission, with the Agena Target Vehicle visible in the background.

The famous “Earthrise” photo from Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon. The crew entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve 1968. That evening, the astronauts held a live broadcast, showing pictures of the Earth and moon as seen from their spacecraft.

Portrait of the prime crew of the Apollo 12 lunar landing mission. From left to right: Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr., command module pilot Richard F. Gordon Jr. and lunar module pilot Alan L. Bean. The Apollo 12 mission was the second lunar landing mission in which the third and fourth American astronauts set foot upon the moon. This mission was highlighted by the lunar module nicknamed “Intrepid” landing within a few hundred yards of a Surveyor probe that was sent to the moon in April 1967 on a mapping mission as a precursor to landing. Apollo 12 astronaut Alan L. Bean holds a special environmental sample container which holds soil collected during a moonwalk. Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad had just put a soil sample in the tube with a shovel. Conrad took the photograph and can be seen in the reflection in Bean’s visor.