Since its formation in 1958, one of NASA’s core missions has been to explore. The fledgling space agency’s first successful probe to study what lies beyond Earth was Pioneer 4, 64 years ago. NASA’s commitment to exploration is continuing with plans to launch an Orion spacecraft atop a Space Launch System rocket on the Artemis 1 mission targeted for later this year.
On Aug. 14, 2017, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It was a commercial resupply mission delivering supplies to the International Space Station. Four days later, the agency’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M lifted off on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
In the 20 months following the first piloted Gemini mission, NASA astronauts demonstrated the ability to change orbits, perform rendezvous and docking, along with spending up to two weeks in space. Spacewalking, on the other hand, remained an enigma. With only one more Gemini flight on the schedule, solving the problems of working outside a spacecraft would be the primary goal for Gemini XII.
“I tell ya from up here the world is round. It is spectacular. It’s fantastic,” said Gemini XI command pilot Pete Conrad as he and pilot Dick Gordon looked down from their lofty vantage point. Their record-shattering altitude of 850 miles above the Earth was only one highlight of a demanding, three-day mission in September 1966 – 55 years ago.
During the summer of 1971, 50 years ago, three astronauts made the most of three days on the Moon’s surface and in lunar orbit. With the opportunity for more detailed exploration and the addition of “dune buggy”-like transportation, Apollo 15 was the most complex flight to date.
In mid-1966, Gemini X continued advancing NASA’s capabilities for operating in space with a record-setting, three-day flight. Two astronauts completed rendezvous with two separate targets, retrieved an experiment package from one and set a new altitude record for human flight. All the objectives were designed as stepping stones in preparation for the Apollo Moon landings to follow.
Launched unpiloted on May 14, 1973, Skylab was a complex orbiting scientific laboratory that set the stage for the International Space Station of today and long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars in the future. Three crews of astronauts performed microgravity experiments for up to three months in a shirtsleeve environment.
NASA’s Gemini IX mission was another step in developing technology for future spaceflights from Apollo to the agency’s upcoming Artemis Program designed to return astronauts to the Moon followed by exploration of Mars. But, this 1966 mission included developing alternate plans when faced with the unexpected.
“Liftoff of Discovery with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one American legend,” said launch commentator Lisa Malone of NASA Public Affairs as the Space Shuttle mission STS-95 flew into orbit on Oct. 29, 1998. While it was a flight in the late 1990s, it was reminiscent of NASA’s storied past. An international crew lifted off with John Glenn, a member of the Mercury program’s Original Seven astronauts.
When John F. Kennedy was sworn in as president in 1961, he promised to reach for a “New Frontier.” Attention abroad concentrated on the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Closer to home, there was increasing unrest among those who were being left behind simply because of their race. America’s space agency soon would be thrust into the forefront of both issues.