::VIDEOS
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::AMERICAN PROGRAMS
Mercury
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formed on Oct. 1, 1958, and the man in space program was introduced just six days later.
The program was renamed "Project Mercury" by Nov. 26, 1958, just prior to the commencement of the astronaut candidate selection process.
Project Mercury met all three of its objectives: orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth; learn about man's ability to function in space; and safely recover the man and spacecraft.
The project ultimately put six men in space, four of whom made orbital flights around Earth. It proved that men could function normally for up to 34 hours of weightless flight.
Over two million people worked on the project for almost five years. By 1963, Project Mercury wrapped up and Project Gemini was two years into its development stages.

Gemini
There were 10 spaceflights in Gemini Program. In the years following the Mercury program and before the Apollo missions, astronauts and mission operators honed their skills and gained essential spaceflight knowledge from the Gemini program. Gemini allowed them to learn about fundamental things, such as orbital rendezvous and docking and extravehicular activity, thereby laying the groundwork for successful lunar missions.

Apollo
The Apollo Spacecraft consisted of three modules: Command, Service and Lunar. Command Module: The Command Module (CM) was the spacecraft's control centre and housed the three-man crew of astronauts. The Apollo capsule was conical in shape. It was 12 feet high and 13 feet in diameter and weighted 10,000 pounds. The launch escape system, a tower-like structure above the Command Module, provided power to lift the Command Module up and away from the Saturn launch Vehicle should an emergency occur after fuelling and before injection in orbit. Solid propellant rockets provided this standby emergency power.
Service Module: Below the Command Module was the Service Module. It was 2.8 feet in diameter, 22 feet long and contained the propulsion system for midcourse corrections, retrofire to achieve lunar orbit , and thrust to return from lunar orbit into an Earth Trajectory.
Lunar Module: The Lunar Module (LM - pronounced lem) was stored between the Service Module and the Saturn V rocket in the Lunar Module Adapter. This section was 29 feet long and 21.7 feet in diameter where it joined the S-IVB stage. The LM housed in this section was designed to carry 2 astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and return them to the Command Module. The LM was 21 feet high and 11 feet in diameter, weighing 30 pounds. There were 2 engines, one with controllable thrust for descent to the surface of the moon, and the other with a fixed 35,000 pound thrust for ascent to rendezvous with the Command Module in lunar orbit.


Space Shuttle
The US Space Shuttle was first launched in 1981. It has flown more than 120 times. Currently the Space Shuttle is being used to construct the International Space Station. The Space Shuttle consists of the Shuttle orbiter, 2 solid rocket boosters and an expendable external tank. The Orbiter uses 3 SSME Rocket Engines which use Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen as propellants.
The payload is carried in the cargo bay. One of the most famous payloads is the Hubble Space Telescope.


::Russian Space Vehicles

Salyut 1
- Launched in April 1971
- Composed of three working compartments, a service/engine module at the end of the vehicle, and an airlock/transfer module and docking unit at the front end of the station
- Launched on the Proton launch vehicle
- First mission to the station was aborted
- Second mission was successful and the crew completed a 24 day mission that included scientific research in the areas of astronomy, biology, and Earth oberservation
- The re-entry into Earth was a failure and left three cosmonauts dead

Salyut 2
- First Almaz type station produced by the Chelomei design bereau
- Launched on April 3, 1973
- One week into the mission, the station developed a tumbling problem and broke up into twenty-five pieces

Salyut 3
- Designed between 1964 and 1973
- Length is 11.61 meters
- Launched on June 25, 1973
- Two missions were flown to Salyut 3
- One lasted 15 days and was to check out the station and make observations of military points of interest

Salyut 4
- Launched in December, 1974
- Second station devoted to primarily civilian objectives
- Very similar to Salyut 1
- Designed to orbit for up to 60 days
- Two successful missions were flown to it

Salyut 5
- Primarily for military purposes and scientific research
- Launched in June, 1976
- Nearly identical to Salyut 3

Salyut 6
- First of the second generation FSU space stations
- Equipped with two docking modules
- In orbit for almost 5 years
- Manned for a total of 676 days


Salyut 7
- Very similar to Salyut 6 in design
- Launched in April 1982
- Hosted a total of nine missions
- Occupied for over 800 days
- Orbited in space for 9 years

Cosmos 1443
- Launched in March 1983
- Mated with the Salyut 7 space station
- Delivered 3600 kg of supplies
- Carried the Merkur return capsule on the front end of the vehicle
- Designed to carry a crew of three

Mir Space Station
- It's been in orbit for over 10 years
- Launched on February 20, 1986
- Five docking ports
- Composed of many modules


::SPACE FUTURE
Most people believe that after the ISS(International Space Station) is completed the next logical step would be to establish a Lunar Space Station and a Moon base. Russia does have the technology for such a mission because of their super rocket (Energia). If only they could find the funds to keep their space industry alive.
Moonbase
Establishing a Permanent Moon Base (Luna Base) would be a challenging task. The first step in building a Luna Base would be to set up Habitats and Laboratories. They probably would be modified Space Station Modules.Possible uses for a Moon Base are: Outpost for astronomical studies, Stepping Stone to the Planets, an Abundant source of Raw Materials and Space Tourism.
Mars Mission
The two powerful new Mars rovers have far greater mobility than the 1997 Mars Pathfinder rover. These identical robotic explorers will each be able to trek up to 100 meters (about 100 yards) a day across the martian surface. Each rover carries a sophisticated set of instruments – the Athena Science Payload – that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water in the planet's past.
The mission seeks to determine the history of climate and water at a site on Mars where conditions may once have been favorable to life. The landing sites at Gusev Crater and Meridiani Planum were selected on the basis of intensive study of orbital data collected by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft and other missions. These sites offer evidence that liquid water was once present. The rovers' scientific instruments will be used to read the geologic record at each site, to investigate what role water played there, and to determine how suitable the conditions would have been for life.

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