Changes In My Lifetime - Space Travel

 SPACE TRAVEL

History of All Logos: All Nasa Logos

In the 1960s, amid national tragedies and social changes, America’s space achievements were a source of pride. It was unfathomable during this decade to watch as we put men into space. On May 5, 1961, Alan Sheppard was launched into the earth’s sphere.  It was amazing and terrifying at the same time. This precipitated President Kennedy to announce a formal ‘space race’ against the Soviet Union on May 25, 1961, and by in February 1962, John Glenn lifted off in a rocket to become the first American to orbit the earth.  The large complex in Florida eventually grew into NASA; and with their discoveries and advances in technology, our lives began to change forever.  During the next 2 years, Project Mercury had 6 successful launches with a solo astronaut, followed by the 10 missions of the Gemini Project, where man continued to conquer space with space walks and spacecraft dockings. This was huge national news as we were able to watch the liftoffs and ocean landings on black and white televisions. The Kennedy Center began to build its massive moon launch facility. With the last Gemini mission in 1966, the stage was set for the final march to the moon. Bigger and more powerful rockets were needed to propel astronauts beyond earth’s orbit and on towards the moon. Tragedy struck on Jan 27, 1967 when the first Apollo mission carrying 3 astronauts blew up during take-off.

This proved that there was enough power, but the launch had to be perfected. America didn’t give up, and with Apollo 7, three men were launched for an orbital mission. They circled the earth and returned.  Just 2 months later, Apollo 8 lifted off and on Christmas Eve 1968, man circled the moon and viewed the earthrise from the lunar horizon.  The unthinkable occurred in July 1969 when Apollo 11 carrying Neal Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, landed on the moon’s surface as all the world watched on television. It was breathtaking and nerve wracking to watch this and not know what could/would happen. I remember thinking they may be stuck in space forever, but their nodule lifted off and was able to take orbit and return to Earth without burning up. It was unreal and some wanted to claim that it was fake and didn’t happen. America did win the space race and Kennedy space center became the launch capital of the world.