Apollo & # 039; s First Crewed Trip to Space Happened 50 Years Aug
Apollo & # 039; s First Crewed Trip to Space Happened 50 Years Aug
Precisely 50 years ago today, three astronauts flew in the blue sky and accelerated in orbit around the Earth. The flight was a crucial step for the landing of the moon that occurred just nine months later.
That mission was Apollo 7, the first Apollo flight with crew to successfully reach the space. It was also the first astronaut launch from the Apollo 1 disaster in January 1967 they killed all three passengers during what was supposed to be a routine test.
"All the credibility of the Apollo program was based to some extent on it being a smooth flight, also, of course, after all that, which was very aggressive," said Michael Neufeld, a space historian at the Smithsonian National Institute. Museum of Air and Space, told Space.com.
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After the Apollo 1 Fire and a congressional investigation into what had gone wrong, NASA needed a victory. Then, the agency did what it had to do to get one, stepping back from the frantic pace of development.
"It forced a reimagination from top to bottom of the whole project," said Neufeld. NASA changed the command moduleThe wiring, the exit hatches and more, all to ensure that future spacecraft do not result in the same type of disaster. "It's hard to imagine that the moon landing could have been done, unfortunately, without the death of those astronauts."
When the new launch date finally arrived, astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham piled into the new command module. This time, the launch was done without major problems and the trio orbited the Earth for almost 11 days, which shows that the Apollo program was safe for humans.
But although it may have been safe, it was definitely not pleasant. The three men caught a cold in the confines of the command module, and did not handle the snorts with grace. (Colds in space are particularly unpleasant, because without gravity, the fluids do not move through the body as they do on Earth.)
The astronauts spent much of the mission acting in a bad mood with the controllers on the ground and protesting their tasks. When it was time to land again, they refused to wear their helmets, which would have prevented them from blowing their noses. The NASA ground crew was not kind to the insubordination, and none of the three astronauts arrived on a future mission.
"Certainly, he gave the message to the astronauts: stay in line or risk not being able to fly again," Neufeld said of the debacle.
A moment of tension came from another factor that distinguished Apollo 7: the mission was the first time that humans broadcast live television from space. At one point during the flight, Schirra canceled a scheduled transmission because the equipment was not ready. However, live video has now become a pillar for NASA missions.
The success of Apollo 7 took place in a context of national tension, including high-profile assassinations and widespread protests against the war in Vietnam, Neufeld said. But while this mission was an important technological achievement and ensured the success of the Apollo program, it did not sell to the public in the United States with the idea of spending so much money on the project.
"One of the favorite illusions that Americans like to have is that they were all united by the lunar landing," Neufeld said. "The reality is that there was a lot of dissidence."
Email Meghan Bartels in mbartels@space.com or follow it @meghanbartels. Follow us @Spacedotcom Y Facebook. Original article about Space.com.
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