TABLE OF CONTENTS
EARLY PIONEERS	ROCKETRY
PICTURES OF MODERN ROCKETS	MEDICAL ADVANCES
TECHNOLOGY	NASA
VIDEO GALLERY	YOUR PREDICTION
REFERENCES	TEAM

Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882 - 1945) was considered to be the father of the Space Age. He went to Clark University. He built the first rocket to use a "liquid propellant fuel," and he launched it in 1926. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington D.C. is named after him. He read science books and magazines and became interested in science. He became sick with tuberculosis and couldn't work. Goddard's principals on liquid fuel helped with the first landings on the moon in 1969. 

Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977) was an American German engineer. He was considered an early pioneer experimenter of rockets. He helped German Nazis with rocket research. He came to America after World War II. He helped develop rockets for the Army, including the Redstones, Jupiter-C, Juno, and Pershing. He helped develop the group of rockets that orbited Explorer in 1958. He helped develop the Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo flights.

Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov was a (1906-1966) Soviet aeronautical engineer. He was part of the Moscow Group of Study of Reactive Motion and directed the launching in 1933 of Soviet Union's first liquid propellant rocket. In 1945, he began designing rockets, guided missiles and spacecraft. He was later placed in charge of systems engineering for Soviet spacecraft and later directed their space program.

Carl Edward Sagan (1934-1996) was a professor at Cornell University. He was the Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at the university. He worked with NASA in the Mariner, Viking and Voyager spacecraft expeditions to the planets for which he received the NASA Medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and the Distinguished Public Service Medal.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a German-American physicist who developed the Special and General Theories of Relativity, which along with Quantum Mechanics, forms the foundation of modern physics. Television, electronics, plastics, and nuclear sciences are all based on his work. Albert Einstein's famous E=MC2, meaning energy equals mass times the velocity of light squared is the most famous equation known to many people.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was the English mathematician and physicist who invented calculus, discovered the classic laws of motion and gravity, built the first reflecting telescope, and demonstrated the compound nature of white light, in the process laying the foundation of spectroscopy. He is best remembered for the apple falling from a tree and giving him the idea about gravity.

James Van Allen is the American physicist who discovered the Earth's radiation belts with an instrument aboard the first successful American shuttle, Explorer I.

Jules Verne wasn't a scientist but a science fiction writer. Some of his novels are Journey to the Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, 20,000 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, Mysterious Island, Master of the World, and Robur the Conqueror. These books inspired many future scientists and inventors such as Robert Goddard.

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was a Polish astronomer who advanced the heliocentric theory that the Earth and other planets revolved around the sun.

Galilei Galileo (1564-1647) was an Italian astronomer and physicist. He was the first to use a telescope to study the stars. Galileo was a supporter of Copernicus. The Church declared it heresy to say this. Galileo was formally exonerated in 1992. He also explained the basic law of falling bodies that light objects fall as fast as heavy objects when pulled by the Earth's gravity.

Rockets have been around for quite a while. The earliest rockets used a form of gunpowder for fuel. The rockets were used in religious or other rites to scare away evil spirits or nonbelievers.

Rockets were used out of necessity by the Chinese to defend themselves from the Mongolian hordes. Chinese soon had experts in rocketry to help fire and aim these new weapons.

Other groups that learned to use the rockets for protection were Arabs to defend themselves against the French Crusaders. The French used rockets in the Hundred Years Wars against the English. The Dutch, German and English quickly followed in developing new, bigger and deadlier rockets. Rockets even started to be used in America in the War of 1812.

Whaling boats used explosive harpoons to kill whales for their fat and oil. These harpoons soon helped with destroying the whale population and bringing efforts by future generations to stop this senseless slaughter.

Rockets would be further refined and used to kill many people during wars. The science to develop and refine the use of rockets would lead to space exploration and faster more effective travel on earth.

 The Navaho missile propulsion system, is the Great Grandfather for all of Rocketdyne's rocket engines.

Left to right, the German V-2 engine, the Rocketdyne Redstone engine, and the Rocketdyne Navaho engine.

The historic launch of America's first orbiting satellite, Explorer I, atop a Rocketdyne-powered Jupiter C missile.

Here is the Redstone rocket with Mercury spacecraft lifting off the pad.

The Atlas booster and Mercury spacecraft provided the U.S. space program with its first manned orbital experience. The Atlas booster has been a workhorse of the space program, still lifting satellites into orbit today.

The Little Joe II allowed in-flight testing of the Apollo Launch Escape System.

The full Saturn 1B configuration as used in early Manned Apollo launches as well as the Skylab crew missions.

The Apollo Command and Service Modules in orbit above the Moon.

The incredible Saturn V rocket gracefully moving away from the launch pad and on toward the Moon.

The culmination of unbelievable dedication and vision: Man stepping onto the Moon.

A view of America's Space Shuttle on its climb out over the Florida Coast.

Medical experiments in space have been of great importance for earth and space medicine. Improving hearing, industrial hygiene, joint fitness, medical lab services, life support services, medical supply systems, medical assistance, occupational and environmental services, pollution control, radiation exposure and assessment, and safety training are some of the important contributions for medicine from the space program.

Telemedicine was futuristic in nature before space programs started. This uses satellites to provide disaster relief logistics. This means it helps locate the problem and help with the solutions via satellite hook-up. The telemedicine SpaceBridge provided a way for doctors to give consultations immediately to save lives by the satellite with full motion color video. This monitor work has helped with many emergencies around the globe and in the Untied States.

Ocular screenings system for the eyes is a portable device to detect problems in children. The system was from NASA's image processing technology. This helps in screening for eye defects that can cause vision loss if not treated early.

Neurolab experiments will be done in the NASA future flights. This will be an experiment in space in early 1998. This will study the effect of microgravity (weightlessness) on sleep. It will measure the amount of oxygen during the sleep in space and maybe new ventilation systems will be installed. The effects of Melatonin on sleep will be studied. Melatonin is supposed to help you sleep better on earth.

Microgravity was a concern during early space travel. Nobody knew of the effects of not having gravity on the early astronauts. In a normal environment on earth, the heart pumps the blood up and doesn't pump down because gravity pulls it down. When the body is exposed to microgravity, blood goes to the upper limbs, and very little blood to the lower limbs. This causes fluids to accumulate in the upper body.

Exercising on treadmills or fixed bicycles helps keeps the legs from becoming smaller and out of shape. The people who live in space colonies would have to exercise constantly to keep from having medical problems. New ways of combating these problems will have to be found in order to have a normal life in space.

Radiant barriers are the materials used in spacecraft and space suits. Radiant barriers are added to the attic of your home and can reduce temperatures by 10 - 15 degrees in the summer months. This radiant Barrier can prevent heat from rising into your attic in the wintertime. Our everyday lives have been improved as a result of space technology.

Special education has been improved from space technology. Synthetic speech and enhanced images, large print, and optical character recognition are being used to help the disabled to use the power of the computer. There are electronic bulleting boards (BBS) and many new different types of software that can be installed into your computer. There are now specialized camps for the disabled to go and be part of the technologized age. The Gretzky Score Camp is one camp. This camp is for the visually impaired.

Almost all the aircraft in use today use some of the technology developed by NASA. The aerospace industry gets billions in annual exports and billions in trade each. New industries like personal computers, advanced medical equipment, communication satellites, weather forecasting and natural resource mapping have been, and are continually being developed. All of this generates new jobs in the private sector.

The United States Army Command played a very important part in the early beginning of space exploration and rockets. The period between January 1950 to August 1962 was a time of outstanding success for the U.S. Army's rocket and missile programs.

In April of 1950, a staff of Army officers together with German scientists arrived to make their headquarters at Redstone Arsenal.

Testing of free rockets, solid propellants and other items, the arsenal was doing research and development of guided missiles. Von Braun led the rocket team.

The first missile was fired in 1950. Many different types of missiles were tested during the next few years, including the ones with liquid for fuel. There were several explosions that killed people, but the research went on.

On October 21,1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved the transfer from the Army, all the scientists and engineers to the newly created NASA.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed with the Space Act of 1958. This agency was formed for peaceful benefits for mankind. Research was to assist in helping the environment and find things that were helpful for man.

NASA has major goals; they are manned flight, Mission to Planet Earth (MPTE), Aeronautics and Technology. The biggest problem facing NASA and the rest of the government is the question of money. The budget is always being cut. What should be cut out? How many jobs should go? Which programs?

The new era of space exploration started in the 1970's. The spacecraft would carry more people and different types of specialists would be needed. The new applications for the positions did not have many women or minorities. NASA asked Nichelle Nichols from the television series Star Trek to help get qualified people to apply to NASA. Most women and minorities did not believe that the space program really wanted them so they did not apply. With her help, many people applied and NASA was able to get women, African Americans, and Asian Americans as astronauts.

America's space shuttle orbiters are named after sea vessels that were the first to explore outside the known map areas. NASA looked through the history books to find the most notable names and their accomplishments. The names NASA picked also had to be from around the world to show that many countries had contributed to exploration of the world around them.

The Enterprise is the property of the Smithsonian Institute now. It was originally named the Constitution but the name was changed through a write in campaign by viewers of the television show Star Trek. It was 150,000 tons and was a test vehicle and not equipped for space flight. A big Boeing 747 carried the Enterprise up on its back and it was released. There were problems with the engine and the heat-shielding tiles that protect the frame when it reenters the atmosphere. This delayed other flights until the problems were fixed.

It took disaster to help develop safety practices. Three astronauts, Virgil Grisson, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were inside a spacecraft during a prelaunch test. A fire broke out in the capsule, but because the exit hatch failed to open, the crew could not escape and all three astronauts died. There would be another disaster in the future, even with new safety devices; there was a lot of work to be done for safety.

Apollo 13 was a near disaster. One of the spacecraft's two oxygen tanks failed, and part of its electrical power was lost. The men could be saved and returned to earth, but others would not be so lucky.

Other shuttles were the Endeavor, Columbia, Discovery and the Atlantis.

The Columbia was the first space shuttle to fly into Earth orbit in 1981. This orbiter completed a two-day orbital test flight. After three more test flights, it was ready for its first operational use. The aim of the first mission was to complete simple test maneuvers and check out the ship's equipment. One important exercise was opening and closing the giant cargo-bay doors. Computers did this opening and closing of the doors. An astronaut was ready to suit up and go outside the spacecraft if the doors wouldn't close. The doors had to be shut to keep out the heat that would build up from landing.

Televised pictures of the astronauts at work or taking breaks were sent back to Earth during the flight. Television cameras revealed that some of the protective tiles were missing but not enough to stop the mission. The Columbia made its landing in the at Rogers Dry Lake in California. Budget problems almost stopped the launch of the Columbia. The Columbia's fifth launch made money by taking two communications satellites into space.

The next second space ship was getting ready to go into space. It was named the Challenger. This ship was able to carry 40% more weight. The first two missions in 1983, two of the astronauts got into space suits and spent four hours outside the ship. The ship also carried fruit and vegetable seeds for an experiment to determine how they should be packaged on late space missions.

The second flight of the Challenger carried astro-physicist Sally K. Ride, the first American woman to travel in space. Ride and another astronaut used the manipulator arm to lift out a German satellite. The satellite was released and picked up again to show how the arm was good for getting objects in space.

The launching of the Challenger on January 28, 1986 is a date that will always be remembered. The first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe was on board. She was picked from over 11,000 candidates to be the first teacher in space.

The crowds were bigger at the Kennedy Space Center because of the teacher on board. Seventy-three seconds into the flight and televised, the Challenger exploded. All seven aboard the craft were killed almost instantly. The debris from the explosion was thrown over many miles of the Atlantic Ocean.

The next craft was the Discovery. It was greatly modified and changed vehicle. It has over 210 changes. Even the solid rockets had been redesigned. The first flight was for testing only. The Discovery blasted off more than two years after the Challenger disaster. The space program was back on track.

The next spacecraft was the Atlantis. The first launch was called off with only thirty-one seconds to go. The fuel pumps had a malfunction. The second time the launch had to be stopped because of bad weather. The launch finally took place a few hours later when the weather cleared. The crew opened the cargo-bay doors and placed the Magellan probe on its path to Venus. The Atlantis brought a new oxygen generator to the Space Station Mir. It also carried much needed supplies to the now trouble prone, aging station. A new international space station international space station will be started in 1998.

The Endeavor space orbiter is named after the first ship commanded by James Cook, a British explorer, navigator and astronomer. New plant species and animal life were found on these voyages of Cook. His voyage was the first to have no one die from a disease called scurvy. He had his crew eat sauerkraut and orange extract that saved their lives. The Endeavor flew its first mission and fixed a satellite and put it in the correct orbit.

This spacecraft hopefully will be used to hook up with an international space station some day.

The Mir Space Station just celebrated its twelfth birthday. In its twelve years in orbit, cosmonauts and astronauts from dozens of nations have lived on the station and performed experiments of historical significance. Extensive research on Mir focuses on human life in space and observational sciences. The astronauts use themselves as guinea pigs for such things as bone density, blood work, and impact of weightlessness. The growth of crystals and proteins in a bure environment such as Mir could lead to new and better medicines. They also seek to answer vital questions about how humans, animals, and plants function in space, and how our solar system originated and developed.

Through increased knowledge of space, colonization brings many challenges and risks. We need to have the ingredients to make the colony safe for living. The cost and time of transporting the essential products would be staggering. Money would not be used at the colony to buy food, water or energy. Growing plants not only offer the possibility of food production, but also helping recycle water and air. Being so close could be a problem if strict working conditions were not adhered to. Workers would follow the standard eight hours work; eight hours recreation and eight hours sleep formula considered optimal by NASA.

Some of the most important problems once the colony has been established would be a medical emergency, radiation (there goes the DNA), and waste disposal. Do we really want to get rid of our waste in space and start polluting in space? A good example of bad things that can happen is the Biosphere in Arizona.

The Biosphere in Arizona was supposed to show how a colony could survive on its own. Everything went wrong from ants all over the play to people fighting over food and oxygen deprivation. One resident had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. Hopefully we can learn from their experience.

Click on the hot text under the desired picture, which downloads the movie to your computer for play. (Note: Requires QuickTime players.)

Please give us your predictions for the future of space exploration. Will we have colonies, meet aliens, develop time travel, or whatever. Please fill out the form.

Be creative and give a date for your prediction starting with the year 2000.

We gratefully acknowledge, and have permission to use the images of the talented artist, Molly Barr.

We gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the use of information obtained from various NASA Web sites

Cooper, Heather Exploring Space (Treasure Press 1984)

Moore, Patrick Mission to the Planets (W. W. Norton & Co., 1990)

Shipman, Harry L. Meeting the Challenge of a New Era (Plenum Press, 1987)

Trento, Joseph J. Prescription for Disaster (Crown Publishers, 1987)

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