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History of NASA

By rebekahwarren

  • President Eisenhower Approves to Orbit Satellite

    President Eisenhower Approves to Orbit Satellite
    Eisenhower approved to orbit a scientific satellite for part of the International Geographical Year for the period July 1, 1957 through December 31, 1957 to gather scientific data about the Earth.

  • Unites States Launches First Satellite

    Unites States Launches First Satellite
    Explorer 1 documented the existence of radiation zones encircling the Earth.

  • NASA is Created

    NASA is Created
    The creation of National Aeronautics and Space Admissions were to provide research of flight within and outside Earth's atmosphere, and other purposes.

  • Early Spaceflights

    Early Spaceflights
    Project Mercury let Alan B. Shepherd Jr. become the first American to fly into space.

  • Project Apollo

    Project Apollo
    Project to explore the Moon. Costing $25.4 billion dollars to make it a reality. The Apollo program as the largest nonmilitary technological endeavor ever undertaken by the United States.

  • Robotic Missions

    Robotic Missions
    Moon: Ranger, Surveyor, Lunar Orbiter
    Venus: Pioneer Venus
    Mars: Mariner, Viking 1 and 2
    Outer Planets: Pioneer 10 and 11

  • Gemini 4

    Gemini 4
    Edward H. White Jr. became the first U.S. astronaut to conduct a spacewalk.

  • Apollo 1 Fire

    Apollo 1 Fire
    During a program test, an Apollo capsule caught fire on the launch pad, taking the lives of astronauts Roger B. Chaffee, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, and Edward H. White Jr.

  • Apollo 8 Mission

    Apollo 8 Mission
    Orbiting the Moon when it's crew read from the book of Genesis.

  • Apollo 11 Mission

    Apollo 11 Mission
    Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. successfully landed on the moon. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

  • More Human Spaceflight

    More Human Spaceflight
    After 6 years, NASA returned to doing human spaceflight in 1981 with the space shuttle. The shuttle's first mission in April was successful when demonstrating that is could take off vertically and glide to an unpowered airplane-like landing. April 4-9 of 1983, F. Story Musgrave and Donald H. Peterson conducted the first shuttle EVA, to test new spacesuits and work in the shuttle's cargo bay.

  • Woman In Space

    Woman In Space
    Sally K. Ride became the first American woman to fly in space when STS-7 lifted off.

  • Solid Rocket Boosters

    Solid Rocket Boosters
    A leak in the joints of one of two Solid Rocket Boosters attached to the Challenger orbiter caused the main liquid fuel tanks to explode 73 seconds after launch, killing all 7 crew members. The Shuttle program was grounded for over two years, while NASA and its contractors worked to redesign the Solid Rocket Boosters and implement management reforms to increase safety. On September 29, 1988, the Shuttle successfully returned to flight and NASA then flew a total of 87 successful missions.

  • Columbia Orbiter Disaster

    Columbia Orbiter Disaster
    As the Columbia orbiter was returning to Earth on the STS-107 mission, it disintegrated about 15 minutes before it was to have landed. The CAIB determined that a small piece of foam had come off the External Tank and had struck the RCC panels on the underside of the left wing during launch on January 16. When the orbiter was returning to Earth, the breach in the RCC panels allowed hot gas to penetrate the orbiter, leading to a catastrophic failure and the loss of seven crew members.

  • NASA's New Vision

    NASA's New Vision
    President George W. Bush visited NASA Headquarters and announced a new Vision for Space Exploration. This Vision entails sending humans back to the Moon and on to Mars by eventually retiring the Shuttle and developing a new, multipurpose Crew Exploration Vehicle. Robotic scientific exploration and technology development is also folded into this encompassing Vision.