1-2-3 Steps Into Space
This is a time-line history of the "race to the moon" -- a dozen year sprint from the time i was a freshman in college ( oct - 1957 ) until the time i had a year left in my doctoral program at the UFlorida - ( july 1969 ). Some say that this really wasn't a "race" because America knew in the long run that we would get to the moon first because we had been sophisticated technology -- computers -- whereas Russia had better brute-force technology: rocket engines. They could launch huge payloads - but . . .
See second page ( below ) called Space Cadets for early history.
mercury missions iii - ix = 1 person -- 6 flights - 24 months
these are not "facts," per se -- they are "knowledge nuggets" that fell from an incredible process that put man on the moon

gemini missions iii - xii = 2 persons -- 9 flights - 19 months
this process of getting to the moon should be thought of as the most elaborate & technically demanding lesson plan in the history
apollo missions vii - xvii = 3 persons -- 11 flights - 50 months
each mission built on the discoveries of the previous one and laid plans for the next
apollo -- to the moon
apollo 7 --- oct 11,1968
first earth orbital test of Apollo command ship; 163 orbits; last Atlas-Agena rocket; 1st live tvee from space; michael leyden on the beach to watch lift off
apollo 8 --- dec 21,1968
first use of Saturn 5 rocket to be manned; 10 lunar orbits; michael's there again
apollo 9 --- mar 3,1969
10 day flight tested rendezvous & docking operations
apollo 10 --- may 18,1969
went to moon & lowered to nine miles of its surface; 31 lunar orbits
apollo 11 --- july 16,1969
1st lunar landing -- stayed 22 hours; got 49# of rocks; mike is there
apollo 12 --- nov 14,1969
32 hours and 74# of rocks
apollo 13 --- apr 11,1970
"houston we have a problem;" looped around moon & limped home; no landing; hi mike
apollo 14 --- jan 31, l971
accomplished mission set for Apollo 13; 34 hours in Fra Mauro; 91# of rocks;
apollo 15 --- july 26, 1971
used lst moon car; 67 hours of rocks; 169 # of rocks; 3 EVA's
apollo 16 --- april 16,1972
71 hours & 208# of rocks; 3 EVA's (213# of rx ?: deke bookk p.325)
apollo 17 --- dec 6,1972
1st nite launch; 75 hours on moon; 210 # of rock; orange soil is discovered;
MISSION TOTALS:
26 flights = 139 months of flights: 11 years - 7 months
MOON TOTALS:
301 hours of moon living to return 801 # of rocks
apollo cost about $25-27 billion -- ~ $11 / citizen / year for the decade.
A ticket to the 1960's Super Bowl cost $12. Which is more "relevant."
1 / 21st / 95
12 / 13w / 95
another look at space history

space cadets ( LAUNCH dates listed )

'57: oct 4 -- sputnik i -- l84# -- 22" diam -- 95 min max alt of 560 mi -- orbit 65o
'57: nov 2 -- sputnik ii laika (dog) -- ll00# -- l02 min -- max alt of 937 mi
'57: dec 6 -- 63 days later: usa: ooops! vanguard rocket explodes on pad
'58: jan 3l -- 119 days after Sputnik -- usa: explorer 31# ll4 min x 230 mile
'58: feb 5 -- 124 days: usa: ooops! vanguard rocket explodes in flight

mercury program: l person in capsule

l96l: jan 3l -- suborbital: ham (chimp)
l961: mar 23 -- in l986 USSR admits a cosmonaut died in chamber fire
l96l: apr l2 -- yuri gagarin -- l orbit - l08 min; max altitude of 203 mi (he died: l968; plane crash)
l96l: may 5 -- suborbital: alan shepard (l5m 22s)
l96l: may 25 ----- jfk's call to land on the moon
 l96l: jly 2l -- suborbital: gus grissom (l5m 37s); capsule flood
l96l: aug 6 -- g. titov; l7 orbits; 25h l8m
l962: feb 20 -- john glenn -- 3 orbits -- 294 minutes
l962: may 24 -- scott carpenter
l962: oct 3 -- wally schirra
l963: may l5 -- gordon cooper -- 22 orbits -- 34 hours

gemini program: 2 people in capsule

by now, USSR lead the "space race" 507 hrs to USA's 54 hours of flight, but -- in the next 20 months there were l0 USA flights.

Hi-lites =
l965: mar 23 -- gus grissom and john young (gemini 3)
l965: dec l5 -- two crews rendezvous (gemini 7 & 6)
l966: mar l6 -- first docking in space (gemini 8)

apollo program: 3 people in capsule --9 missions / 6 landings -- 41 mos

l967: ? DEATH: USSR cosmonaut dies [ upon re-entry ]
l967: jan 27 -- apollo l -- DEATH: grissom / white / chafee
l967: oct ll -- apollo 7 lst three man crew orbiting earth
l968: dec 21 -- apollo 8 circled the moon
l969: mar 3 -- apollo 9 LEM in earth orbit
l969: may l8 -- apollo l0 LEM in lunar orbit

l969: jly l6 -- apollo ll landed on moon (jly 20th)
l969: nov l4 -- apollo l2
l970: apr ll -- apollo l3 -- "houston, we have a problem"
l97l: jan 3l -- apollo l4
l97l: jly 26 -- apollo l5
l97l: ??? -- DEATH: USSR -- three cosmonauts die upon re-entry
l972: apr l6 -- apollo l6
l972: dec l7 -- apollo l7 -- the last mission

l975: jly l5 -- apollo-soyuz -- usa-ussr combined flight
l981: apr l2 -- first space shuttle
 l986: jan 28 -- challenger explodes

12/3f/93