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Forward: The Birth of NASA
On the fourth of October, 1957, the
Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 into orbit. This was probably the
greatest single event in mankind's history. It heralded the
coming of the space age, and announced to the universe that
humanity was no longer a prisoner of gravity. Soon after this
remarkable achievement, many satellites were following it into
orbit.
Sputnik 2 was launched less than a month later, and carried the first lifeform to orbit Earth. Sputnik 2 carried a dog named Laika. Then there was Sputnik 3, which carried many more instruments to orbit on the fifteenth of May 1958.
Four months after the first Sputnik, the United States launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, on the 31st of January, 1958. America quickly launched a wide range of satellites, from the early Tiros weather satellites, to many difference communication satellites. These satellites gave a new perspective on Earth, because operations could now be performed in orbit.Weather satellites added a whole new dimension to weather forecasting, and communication satellites allowed people to communicate halfway across the world.
Shortly following these early satellites were early space probes. Both nations launched probes to the moon, Venus, and Mars. The Soviet probes "Luna" made the first soft landing on the moon, and the Venus probes made the first soft landing on Venus.
The Americans, meanwhile, were developing probes of their own. The Ranger, Mariner, and Pioneer probes explored much of the solar system. The Ranger probes, after a series of failures, returned much valuable information about the moon. Rangers 7, 8, and 9 sent back images of the lunar surface close up. The Mariner probes were sent to Mars, taking several measurements and sending back close ups of the red planet on their journey. The pioneer probes by contrast had a wider variety of missions. Pioneer 1-4 were all lunar probes, while Pioneer 5 and 6 were Venus probes. The other probes studied the environment inside space.
One general trend for both nations was that as they gained experience in deploying probes, the failures grew less and less. During the beginning of the space age, it there was a good chance that the probe would somehow malfunction. But later on, when more was learned about space, it became more and more unusual for probes to malfunction.
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