In the late 1950's and early 1960's, the media really played a huge roll in the competition between The U.S.A. and The U.S.S.R. in space. NASA was under a very close watch. Every test, simulation, new device were instantly public knowledge. If something was accomplished, or went wrong at the CAPE, it was on the 6:00 news. The networks had newspeople stationed at the Cape 24 hours a day.
On the other hand, the U.S.S.R. was very tight lipped and closed doored about their space program. The Russians made certain that the only news that was released was GOOD news. The propaganda that flowed out of Russia was controlled directly by the government. The space launch sites were far away from communities and were fenced in by huge parameter fences stretching for many miles. This insured the security of the launch site and kept their space vehicles from being photographed. When YURI GAGARIN was successfully launched into space and landed back here on Earth, the media blitz was kicked into high gear. The U.S.S.R. had beat The U.S.A. into space. Every headline of every publication on Earth reported the Russian's accomplishment. The Russians were leading the Space Race, but the United States were gaining ground. FAST
The United States launched many ships with primates (monkey's and chimpanzees) aboard. NASA felt the risk of human life was too great in the early developmental stages of the space program and decided to launch the first few space flights with primates aboard. The U.S. received bunches of bad press regarding the descision to put monkey's in space before man. Every stand-up commedian in the country took aim at NASA. Comics were not the only people taking pop-shots at NASA either. The media actually started to take cheap shots at NASA and the space program. This blitz lasted for a couple of months until Alan Shepard rode the FREEDOM VII capsule aboard a Redstone rocket into space. The United States had safely put a man in space. Shepard was a national hero before his capsule was fished out of the Atlantic and was treated to a ticker-tape parade. The United States was back in the space race and the race was neck and neck.
The United States launched many more missions in the months to follow. Most were very successful. The Gemini project began in 1961 and the United States began to show their superiority in space. The Russians on the other hand had suffered some setbacks and a couple of accidents. The United States began to increase their lead in the space race and just kept rolling with a strong head of steam. The 1960's were great years in the U.S. Space Program. The decade of success was topped with the APOLLO PROGRAM and the MOON LANDING.
Yes, the United States had a huge lead in space by the 1970's and has really never looked back. The Russians and Americans were involved in a joint program with the APOLLO-SOYUZ mission where Astronauts and Cosmonauts shared a space station. The station in inself was quite unique, in the fact that half was built in America and the other half was built in Russia. The two halfs joined in space with a lock and circled the Earth for 2 days together. After Apollo-Soyuz the United States seemed to place the space program on hold. Then came the big news
In 1976, The United States announced the development or a new type of space vehicle. A reusable vehicle that can be launched into space and then return to earth and land as a glider. This new vehicle was to be named Space Transport System. The STS became better known as The Space Shuttle. Up until The Shuttle, all rockets were made of disposable parts. The only parts that were salvaged on the Apollo Missions were the lower stage and the escape rocket and platform. The lower stage turned out to be not reusable. We were leaving tons of material and dollars in space and we needed a more efficient way to visit there. See TEAMQUEST'S JUNK-PAGE will give you an idea of what we have left in space. The shuttle solved many problems, but with it came many more. In 1986 The United States suffered its' worst loss in Manned Space Flight history. The Challenger blew up after take off and disintegrated. The vehicle and crew were lost. The Challenger incident rocked the entire planet who had fallen in love with her crew. A Teacher from Concorde, New Hampshire; Christa McAuliffe, had grabbed the hearts of millions, especially 1-6 grade students. Millions of students in America were tuned to the television to see the launch of this particular mission. With the teacher aboard there was a hightened interest to this launch. All who viewed, were subjected to the instant trauma that rocked the world. This was certainly the low-point in the American Space Program. In months to follow, rumors of the breakup and abolishment of NASA were running rabid.
The US Government launched an investigation of the terrible explosion of Challenger and concluded after months of studies that there was a leak in one of the Solid Rocket Boosters of the vehicle. The O-ring seals failed and allowed ignited gases to shoot a flame into the large main-tank of the Shuttle and the tank exploded.
It took some time for NASA to get back on its' feet and even longer to get the American Public's support. NASA returned to Manned Space Flight on 09/29/88 with Mission STS-26 . This launched marked an era that was not lost forever. The US was again in space !! Many people across the world and especially in the US were interested in this particular launch. Many were gripped with fear remembering the last time they watched the Shuttle launch.
The launch went off without a hitch and we were again in space. The Shuttle has now completed over 75 successful missions to date and is soon to be replaced with another Space Transport System. A newly designed vehicle is in the making. This reusable space vehicle will not need SRB's, and that will eliminate the chance of another O-Ring leak accident.
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Last Updated by TeamQuest '96 c/o hotshots@ix.netcom.com on August 15th 1996 at 20:59:59 PDT