EXPLORING SPACECh 2, Section 2.1

Exploring Space Entering Space

Going into Space The Age of Rockets Sputnik: The Russian Moon Armstrong’s Small Step

Space Comes of Age Major Trends in Space Space International Space Science Big and Small The New High Ground The Future

WHAT COMBINATION MADE IT POSSIBLE?

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Military Necessity

• William Congreve• British Colonel• Developed incendiary rockets

• 1800s• Used during Napoleonic Wars

Military Necessity

• Used during War of 1812 in the U.S.

• Star-Spangled Banner

• Francis Scott Key• “The Rocket’s Red Glare”

Where Are Rockets Being Used Today?

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/games/mapgame.html

Rocketry in Russia

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Rocketry in Russia

Bureau for the Study of the Problems of Rockets (1924)

Age of Rockets:Germany

Treaty of Versailles inspired post-WWI interest in rockets as an alternative to prohibited heavy artillery

German government’s support of rocket societies played pivotal role in development of the V-2 rocket—the world’s first ballistic missile

Age of Rockets:Post WWII

Defeat of Germany resulted in recruitment of German rocket scientists by U.S. and Russia

Wernher Von Braun and 68 captured V-2 rockets became the basis of the U.S. rocket program

Age of Rockets: United States

Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) Launched first liquid-

fueled rocket in 1926 Lacked support from

US government

Age of Rockets:after WWII

V-2 experiments accelerated study of rockets and under-standing of space challenges

Cold War brought development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to deliver nuclear warheads

V-2 Rocket in White Sands, NM

Sputnik, the Cold War and the Space Race

Russian Launch of Sputnik (4 Oct 1957) First man-made orbiting satellite Starting gun for the space race

Rapid succession of research and launches fueled battle for national prestige

The Cold War and the Space Race

Explorer 1 First US satellite

Sputnik II Carried first living

creature to space—dog named Laika

Sputnik III Geophysical laboratory

Explorer 1 Satellite

The Cold War and the Space Race

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) formed Oct 1958

Budget ballooned to keep paceRussia’s Launch of Luna III (Oct 1959)

provided the first photographs of the Moon’s dark side

The Cold War and the Space Race

Mecury-Atlas 1 (29 Jul 1960) Exploded 1 minute after liftoff

Mercury-Redstone 1 (21 Nov 1960) Collapsed shortly after ignition when engines cut

out Mercury-Redstone 2 (21 Jan 1961) Launched Ham, the chimpanzee, on sub-orbital

flight

The Cold War:Crewed Spaceflight

Yuri Gagarin 12 Apr 1961 One orbit of Earth

Gus Grissom and Alan Shepherd May and July of 1961 Sub-orbital flights

Gherman Titov 7 Aug 1961 17 orbits of Earth Yuri Gagrin

The Cold War:Other Successes

Echo 1 12 Aug 1960 Large “balloon”

satellite reflected signal

Telstar 1 10 Jul 1962 Actively relayed

communications signal

Echo 1

Armstrong’s Small Step

Saturn V rocket boosted Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Ed White to the Moon

Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon

First on the Moon

Satellites and Interplanetary Probes

Satellites act as navigation beacons, relay stations for radio and television signals and other forms of communication.

Interplanetary probes helped us learn more about the nature of our solar system.

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Space Comes of Age

Major Trends in SpaceSpace InternationalSpace Science Big and SmallThe New High GroundThe Future

Space International

Increased cooperation between the United States and the former Soviet Union

US Shuttle docked nine times with Russia’s space station Mir from 1995 to 1998

The proposed US “Space Station Freedom” was revamped as the “International Space Station” Russians brought in as a major partner Unprecedented cooperation among 16 nations

Space International

Russian Space Station Mir

International Space Station

Space Science MissionsLarge, expensive space programs such as

Magellan and the Hubble Space Telescope began the 1990s

Reduced budgets and the need to be “faster, better, cheaper” ushered in a new era in the late 1990s

Big Missions—Magellan

Mapped 98% of Venus’s surface from 1990 to 1994

Revealed volcanic eruptions on Venus’s changing surface

Magellan Spacecraft

Big Missions—GalileoLaunched in 1989 to explore JupiterCaptured close-up images of asteroidsInvestigated impact of the Comet

Shoemaker-Levy 9Sent probe through Jupiter’s atmosphereDiscovered frozen water on the moon,

Europa, and possibly on the moon, Callisto

Did a low-altitude pass by the moon, Io

Big Missions—Galileo

Galileo with Jupiter in the background

Big Missions—Ulysses

Flew over poles of the Sun in 1994 and 1995

Measured solar wind and other solar properties

Ulysses: NASA and ESA combined mission

Big Missions—Cassini

Scheduled to reach Saturn in 2004

Will send probe to the surface of Saturn’s Earth-sized moon, Titan

May be the last of the multi-billion-dollar probes

Big Missions—Hubble

Long series of remarkable discoveries attributed to Hubble Stars being born Stars at the end of their

lives Black holes Chemical makeup of

Saturn’s moons Size and age of universe

narrowed down

Shuttle Astronaut repairs Hubble

Small Missions—Stardust

Will rendezvous with a comet: Wild-2

Will sample fragments of comet and interstellar dust

Will return samples to Earth in 2006

Discovery Mission: Stardust

Small Missions—Mars PathfinderLanded rover on MarsReturned high-

resolution imageryDemonstrated simple

low-cost landing

Mars’ Twin Peaks

Other Small Missions

Lunar Prospector: found large amounts of ice on the Moon

Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR): sent up-close imagery and data from the asteroid, Eros

Lunar Prospector

Space IncorporatedCommercial investment in space surpassed

government spending for the first time in the 1990’s

Commercial uses of GPS soaredCommunications satellites fueled demand for

cell phones and high-speed digital data transmission

Worldwide market for launch service evolved Pegasus—launched from commercial aircraft Converted ICBMs—peaceful use of decommissioned

weapons

The New High Ground1990-1991 Persian Gulf War highlighted pivotal role

space assets play in modern warfare GPS allowed navigation across faceless desert Early warning for enemy’s tactical-missile launches

(Defense Support Program) helped forces prepare and intercept

Weather satellites predicted sand storms Intelligence satellites provided imagery on troop movement

and battle-damage assessment

The New High Ground

USAF identifies other ways to exploit space power Global awareness

Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance Weather prediction Early warning

Global reach Ability to deploy troops or weapons anywhere in the

world Global power

Command, control and communications Weapons targeting

The New High Ground

Defense Support Program (DSP)

GPS Block 2F

The FuturePeople still willing to take great risks for

further exploration and discovery 1986 Challenger accident 2003 Columbia accident

Continued scientific experiments onboard the International Space Station

Continued inexpensive uncrewed missions to other planets will gather information

21st Century: crewed mission to Mars?

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Organizing the Air Force for Space Operations

A BeginningEarly Visions of Space OperationsThe Gaither CommissionThe First Space Tracking StationsThe First SatelliteFrom “Air” to “Aerospace”

Organizing the Air Force for Space Operations

NORAD BeginsAnti-Ballistic Missile ProgramsStrategic Air Command’s EraA New Command Is BornConsolidating Space Missions

A Beginning

Use of the V-2 in World War II showed rockets had military applications

US use of a nuclear weapon to end the war in the Pacific heightened mistrust between Russia and the West

Postwar recruitment of German scientists by both the West and Russia advanced early rocket programs

Early Visions of Space OperationsRAND corporation published Preliminary

Design of an Experimental World-circling Spaceship

Soviets’ test of first hydrogen bomb and suspected development of missile delivery systems heightened drive for early-warning and tracking systems

The Gaither CommissionCommission appointed by President

Eisenhower to assess civil defense posture following a nuclear attack

Commission also assessed whether a US counter strike was possible Showed counterstrike unlikely due to inability to

predict attack until first warhead fell Accelerated US ICBM development and other

strategic programs

The First Space Tracking StationsMinitrack

Built by the Naval Research Laboratory Network of simple ground tracking stations

developed to track a proposed new satellite under the Vanguard Program

Moonwatch Smithsonian Institution developed a network of

Baker-Nunn Cameras Sought civilian volunteers to phone in when they

saw the satellite

The First Satellite

Launch of Sputnik shocked the US and highlighted Minitrack’s inability to accurately track Sputnik

Sputnik tracking mainly from Moonwatch teams

Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) established Project Shepherd as an effort to improve Minitrack’s tracking problems

From “Air” to “Aerospace”

1959 change to the Air Force mission added the word “aerospace” to recognize space’s new importance

ARPA opened a system program office to develop equipment and techniques to track space objects and incoming Soviet missiles By the mid 1960s, had three radar sites that

could give 15-minute warning of missile impact Radar sites also tracked space objects

NORAD Begins

North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) established in Sep 1957 Joint effort with Canada Mission to defend combined airspace of US and

CanadaDevelopment of submarine-launched ballistic

missiles (SLBMs) by US and Soviets created a need for more tracking stations Air Force developed several radars on the Atlantic,

Pacific and Gulf Coasts Entire system operational by 1972

Air Force Developments

SLBM warning augmented by Air Force’s new space-tracking radar in Florida

Air Force brought more tracking ability by developing PAVE PAWS radar sites Powerful phased-array radar—steerable beam Sites established in Massachusetts, California,

Georgia, and Texas

Anti-ballistic Missile Programs

DoD attempted to establish a defense shield against Soviet missile attack Covered one area of US: ICBM sites in North Dakota

to enable US counter strike if attacked Shut down by congress in 1976 due to great expense

and low probability of success Air Force took over the system’s radars to

Aid early warning for SLBMs over Hudson Bay Add coverage for ICBM early warning Improve accurate space tracking

Strategic Air Command’s Era

Strategic Air Command (SAC) took over administrative control of people and equipment in space surveillance and missile-warning missions

NORAD maintained operational control over these missions

Several studies in the 1970s suggested the need for reorganization

A New Command is Born

Space Command began in 1982 under General James V. Hartinger

SAC passed operational control of at least 25 space-surveillance and missile-warning sensors to Space Command

Air Force Space Command Headquarters

Merging Space Missions

Air Force Systems Command controlled much of the Air Force’s launch systems and satellites Systems Command not always sensitive to the needs

of the warfighters USING assets AF Space Command sought to take over these

functions to service the warfighter more directly

Merging Space Missions (cont’d)

AF Space Command opened the Consolidated Space Operations Center Handles operations for all DOD satellites Took over control of most AF satellites

Global Positioning System (GPS) Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) Defense Support Program (DSP)

Merging Space Missions (cont’d)

AF Space Command (AFSPC) took control of all AF launch systems and operations in 1990 AFSPC operates all launches at Cape Canaveral

AS, FL and Vandenberg AFB, CA Systems include Atlas E, Atlas II, Delta II, Titan II,

and Titan IV

Air Force Launch Systems

Atlas II Delta II

Current AF Mission

Today’s Air Force Mission: “Defend the United States through control and exploitation of air and space”

Summary

Entering SpaceSpace Comes of AgeOrganizing the Air Force for Space

Operations

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You now have historical perspective on our early experience in space

You’re now ready to begin your own exploration of space