The Space Race encapsulates both the best and the worst of aspects of U.S. history. On the one hand, there is humanity’s drive to learn and explore. All space programs have no choice but to celebrate the wonders of mathematics, physics, and engineering. (To put this into ’80s film terms: no matter how jock-ish an image an astronaut wants to put forth, it’s still nerds who get us into space.) Space exploration doesn’t just raise the possibility that humanity will find new homes across the galaxy, but it also leaves technological innovation in its wake.
But there’s still that other hand. The Space Race of the 1950s and 60s was the result of intense hatred and fear between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Many of the early aims of the program were baldly militaristic rather than scientific. At least one of the leading engineers was a former Nazi. And as idealistic as NASA was, it still enforced rigid racial and gender lines, refusing to allow qualified women to train as astrona
51 Famous Firsts in Space History
By Elizabeth Jackson, Stacker News
On 2/27/21 at 7:00 AM EST
In its first manned rocket launch, SpaceX s Falcon 9 rocket on May 30 is set to bring NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The spaceflight, taking off from the same launch pad used to bring people to the moon, represents other milestones, as well: It s the first time a private company is sending people to space; it s also the first space launch since 2011 to leave from the United States. The launch was scheduled for May 27 but was rescheduled because of rain.
In honor of this historic moment, Stacker used a combination of news, government, and other archival reports to curate a gallery of 50 other historic firsts in space. Although the idea of galaxies beyond the Earth s atmosphere has long entranced human beings, it wasn t until the second half of the 20th century that space flight became a reality, enabling humans to see beyond the Earth and, in the case of the firs
NuSil s high-purity silicones are taking off
Silicones can be found on satellites, within their solar panels and near antennas and sensors.
CARPINTERIA, Calif. It is no coincidence that a period of great growth occurred in the silicone industry in concert with the golden age of space exploration, beginning 70 years ago with the Mercury Program and carrying through the 1950s and 1960s with the Gemini and Apollo programs.
But the seals and coatings used in these early missions were not made from high-purity silicone, and they tended to leak when they broke down on re-entry emitting an oily residue, a low molecular weight silicone species that did not crosslink into the matrix causing unsafe condensations on windshields and contaminating other areas of the space vehicle.
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germany launch ad v-2. in world war ii. then the russians launched sputnik. they put a dog up. we were behind. so we put a monkey up. brought it back. and then, suborbital flights. nothing like gergarin, one complete orbit. we caught up with john glenn s mercury program. put in the mercury program with great objectiveses with to prepare for the three-man apollo which first had the wrong mission with a big lander to do everything out of dr. von braun and john hubolt who died recently. bill: amazing accomplishment and achievement. thank you for reminding us of it, sir. you understand we have breaking news. we have to get back to that.