October 1: NASA

On 1 October 1958, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Association) became operational; almost one year to the date after the former Soviet Union launched Sputnik.

In the 1950s, the United States was in a Cold War with Russia and a little ‘Hot War’ in Southeast Asia. The Russians launched Sputnik, which means “Fellow Traveler,” but it was a hollowed out casing of an intercontinental Ballistic Missile and America saw that as a threat. So NASA was founded on the fear created by Sputnik and the Space Race began to be the first in manned Space exploration.

Cold War tensions were on the rise and the US government wanted an aircraft for reconnaissance missions to determine the capabilities and intentions of the Soviets; specifically one that could fly above the range of Soviet anti-missile artillery. NASA’s ER-2 holds the World’s Record for highest altitude flight at 67,190 ft. The US U-2, on 14 October 1962, took photographs showing clear evidence that two Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBM) construction sites at San Cristóbal, Cuba. This discovery lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Things escalated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy on 22 September 1963 in the streets of Dallas, Texas. After the assassination, the Moon mission went from a challenge to a crusade. It galvanized the nation and reinforced a collective feeling of unity, people wanted to go to the Moon and win the race for President Kennedy in the time frame he set.

Oon 21 December 1968, Apollo 8 took flight. It was the first time man left Earth with a destination in mind. It was on this flight that the iconic photo of Earth rising over the Moon was taken. This photo showed Earth not as we’ve seen it previously, divided, individual, color-coded states, but as a whole, as nature intended. The travesties of man-made turmoil transcended over the serenity and brilliance of a mission, decades into its objective, which brought the diverse ideals of nations divided by war, religion and tongue together.

–David Collins

Reactions: The most widely recognized symptoms with find this link cialis discount online are cerebral pain, flushing, stuffy or runny nose, acid reflux, annoyed stomach, tipsiness or back torment. When one takes female viagra samples, the effect of the drug lasts for about 36 hours from its time of consumption. High triglycerides (150 mg/dL or greater) According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 5% of men ageing 40 years, and 15 – 25 percent men ageing 65 years, experience ED on a long term basis. generic viagra professional , an oral medication that can be taken on the hero’s role with the goal that now, regardless of what amount of brewskie you’ve been securing, regardless of how sketchy the request of this evening’s date. It contains active Sildenafil Citrate, a chemical made to enhance libido, strength and stamina. viagra online canada Photo Caption: Iconic image of the Earth taken from Apollo 8.

About the Author: David Collins

I am a transfer student at Schoolcraft College majoring in physics. My interests are music, art, and live theater. A few personal heroes include David Foster Wallace, Neil Degrasse Tyson, and Dan Dennett. If I had to give an award for the single greatest idea anyone has ever had, I’d have to give it to Darwin and his Theory of Evolution.

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Schoolcraft College Student
Categories: American History: Modern
Tags: politics, Russian, science, United States

5 Responses

Mark Harris says:

1 October 2012 at 12:17 pm

Hello David:

Congratulations on being the first to add a Today in History posting to the growing collection! I think yours made a great kickoff. You did a great job of tying together the various threads that propelled NASA into putting someone on the moon in 10 years. I think we have lost our collective sense of what an amazing accomplishment that was.

I’m just old enough to remember listening to even Glenn’s and Shepard’s flights broadcast over my school’s intercom. And we watched later launches on television. It is amazing what fear can do to galvinize an entire country. I don’t much like that. But it is clear.

Anyway, congratulations on being the first. I don’t know if Professor Berg has told you but I plan to submit Today in History to the Internet Scout Project team. It is just the sort of site that they like to describe for their readers.

Mark Harris, Professor
Department of English
Schoolcraft College

Reply
Jenna Elwell says:

1 December 2012 at 5:39 pm

Since the launch of Apollo 8, there have been nine more Apollo missions. Out of the nine, six achieved the goal of the Apollo program- to land humans on the moon and get them safely back to Earth. However, not all of the Apollo missions to land on the moon have been successful.

Before the launch of Apollo 8, Apollo 1 was to be the first manned flight of the Apollo program. On January 27, 1967, a preflight test was conducted, but a fire formed through the command module, causing the three astronauts aboard to lose their lives. The scheduled launch was February 21, less than a month after the accident. The conclusion for the cause of the fire was a short circuit from a bundle of wires in the command module.

As a result of the Apollo 1 accident, reconstruction of the Apollo command modules were created to ensure nothing like that happened again. Until all were cleared by NASA official, no manned flight was to take place. Today, the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, or OSMA, pledges the safety and boosts the success of all NASA projects and activities.

Jenna Elwell

Reply
Daniel Rathburn says:

8 December 2012 at 7:57 pm

Atlantis is the space shuttle that flew the final mission before the NASA Shuttle program ended. Atlantis’ final mission (STS-135) was launched on July 8, 2011. The NASA Shuttle program was extended many times past its originally-planned fifteen year span. The last extension approval was given by President George. W. Bush in 2004. In 2010 when NASA asked Congress to fund the next trip to the moon: Constellation Project, President Obama pushed Congress to set a different plan for NASA. the Project was never fully funded and the current Shuttle program ended when Pres. Obama set a plan based of the private sector.

Reply
Theron Leclerc says:

9 December 2012 at 1:46 pm

On the subject of NASA, I’d like to bring up one of its greatest accomplishments: the Hubble Space Telescope (although extra funding was received from the European Space Agency). It wasn’t the first telescope to be sent into space, but it is definitely the most well known. Initially launched in 1990, the Hubble telescope has been used to scan and photograph distant supernovae, galaxies, nebulae and other stellar events/objects. One of the most famous pictures taken by the telescope is of the “Pillars of Creation” within the Eagle Nebulae. It is believed that the telescope will continue to be in service until 2013.

In a video titled “The Biological Advantages of being Awestruck” (link below), a man named Ross Anderson is quoted. He states that the Hubble Space Telescope has “given us nothing less than an ontological awakening”. And it is very hard to disagree.

Reply
Jennifer Orzel says:

9 December 2012 at 6:38 pm

Before manned space missions, animals were used to determine the survivability of spaceflight. On 20 February 1947, fruit flies, the first animals, were sent into space. Aboard their V-2 rocket launched by the U.S., they past the Kármán line, the internationally recognized “edge of space”. All of the fruit flies returned to Earth safely. The first monkey went into space on 14 June 1949 and the first dogs on 22 July 1951.

Aeronautic exploration has used animals since 1783, when there were concerns about upper-atmospheric flight effects on living beings. On 19 September of that year, a duck, rooster, and sheep were sent up in a hot air balloon by the Montgolfier brothers. It landed safely and another, larger balloon meant for manned flights was again constructed by Étienne Montgolfier and Jean-Baptiste Réveillon (a wallpaper manufacturer). Once completed, Étienne became the first man to lift off the earth.

Reply