Courtesy Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress. Photo above: General view of a launch pad with mobile service structure, Cape Canaveral Air Station, 1981. JanuThe first of two mobile labs, Spirit and Discovery, lands on the surface of Mars, discoving that water had at one time existed on the planet, possibly supporting life. Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzendko and Sergei Krikalev.įebruThe Space Shuttle Columbia explodes during its descent, losing seven astronauts in the tragedy.
OctoThe first expedition of the International Space Station begins its 136 day mission with U.S. JanuSpace Shuttle Challenger disaster shortly after launch kills seven astronauts.
Skylab Space Station launched into orbit.ĪpThe first Space Shuttle, Columbia, flies into orbit. Armstrong take "one small step for man - one giant leap for mankind" when he becomes the first man to step on the moon. JanuApollo 1 fire on the launch pad kills Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. MaFirst manned two-man Gemini flight by John Young and Virgil Grissom.įirst American surveyer launches for its first landing on the moon three days later in the Ocean of Storms. It lasted 14.8 minutes.įebruJohn Glenn became the first American to circle the earth in space. There will likely be a vacation to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center to check out NASA's past and present, before then.įirst manned suborbital flight by Alan Shepard.
And somewhere, probably at Space Camp, the new astronauts are forming their visions of new frontiers in space and a future of historic achievements for them to make. The current era, with the Space Shuttle undergoing some of its final missions, and the International Space Station will give way to new challenges. The achievement have been many, with more to come, with tragedies of large proportion along the way. The picture above of earth is from the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. The goal, which seemed unattainable when uttered, was achieved less than a decade later. Sheppard, Jr., John Glenn.Īs NASA moved from the Mercury missions to Gemini and then to the Apollo programs, it became a stated goal, as explained by President Kennedy (see excerpt right) as a national priority to put a man on the moon. The astronaut program would launch with what would become famous names: Alan B. It was at Cape Canaveral that this history would take place, from its triumphs to its tragedies, from Mercury through the Space Shuttle, from missions to the moon and Mars, and into the future.
NASA KENNEDY SPACE CENTER HISTORIC COINS HOW TO
It must beat the Russians to other firsts to put a man on the moon, to find out more about the movements in the sky, to gain an advantage in the use of space for military purposes and defense, and how to harness it better than their counterpart in Moscow. With these two advances, the mission of the United States and NASA was known. But it was the Soviet Union that made the initial giant leaps in space exploration when it launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the first satellite to circle earth, then followed that with the first man to do the same on April 12, 1961.
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