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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

History of Space travel.1957-2003


A Brief History: Space Exploration

As often happens in science, the earliest practical work on rocket engines designed for spaceflight occurred simultaneously during the early 20th century in three countries by three key scientists: in Russia, by Konstantin Tsiolkovski; in the United States, by Robert Goddard; and in Germany, by Hermann Oberth. In the 1930s and 1940s Nazi Germany saw the possibilities of using long-distance rockets as weapons. Late in World War II, London was attacked by 200-mile-range “V-2” missiles, which arched 60 miles high over the English Channel from Germany at more than 3,500 miles per hour.
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union created their own missile programs. On October 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into space. Four years later on April 12, 1961, Russian Lt. Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth in Vostok 1. His flight lasted 108 minutes, and Gagarin reached an altitude of 327 kilometers (about 202 miles).
The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, went into orbit on January 31, 1958. In 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American to fly into space. On February 20, 1962, John Glenn’s historic flight made him the first American to orbit Earth.
“Landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth within a decade” was a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. On July 20, 1969, Astronaut Neil Armstrong took “a giant step for mankind” as he stepped onto the moon. Six Apollo missions were made to explore the moon between 1969 and 1972.
During the 1960s unmanned spacecraft photographed and probed the moon before astronauts ever landed. By the early 1970s orbiting communications and navigation satellites were in everyday use, and the Mariner spacecraft was orbiting and mapping the surface of Mars. By the end of the decade, the Voyager spacecraft had sent back detailed images of Jupiter and Saturn, their rings, and their moons.
Skylab, America’s first space station, was a human-spaceflight highlight of the 1970s, as was the Apollo Soyuz Test Project, the world’s first internationally crewed (American and Russian) space mission.
In the 1980s satellite communications expanded to carry television programs, and people were able to pick up the satellite signals on their home dish antennas. Satellites discovered an ozone hole over Antarctica, pinpointed forest fires, and gave us photographs of the nuclear power-plant disaster at Chernobyl in 1986. Astronomical satellites found new stars and gave us a new view of the center of our galaxy.
In April 1981 the launch of the space shuttle Columbia ushered in a period of reliance on the reusable shuttle for most civilian and military space missions. Twenty-four successful shuttle launches fulfilled many scientific and military requirements until January 1986, when the shuttle Challenger exploded after launch, killing its crew of seven.
The Challenger tragedy led to a reevaluation of America’s space program. The new goal was to make certain a suitable launch system was available when satellites were scheduled to fly. Today this is accomplished by having more than one launch method and launch facility available and by designing satellite systems to be compatible with more than one launch system.
The Gulf War proved the value of satellites in modern conflicts. During this war allied forces were able to use their control of the “high ground” of space to achieve a decisive advantage. Satellites were used to provide information on enemy troop formations and movements, early warning of enemy missile attacks, and precise navigation in the featureless desert terrain. The advantages of satellites allowed the coalition forces to quickly bring the war to a conclusion, saving many lives.
Space systems will continue to become more and more integral to homeland defense, weather surveillance, communication, navigation, imaging, and remote sensing for chemicals, fires and other disasters.
The International Space Station is now in orbit and permanently crewed. With many different partners contributing to its design and construction, this high-flying laboratory has become a symbol of cooperation in space exploration, with former competitors now working together.
And while the space shuttle will likely continue to carry out important space missions, particularly supporting the International Space Station, the Columbia disaster in 2003 signaled the need to step up the development of its replacement. Future space launch systems will be designed to reduce costs and improve dependability, safety, and reliability. In the meantime most U.S. military and scientific satellites will be launched into orbit by a family of expendable launch vehicles designed for a variety of missions. Other nations have their own launch systems, and there is strong competition in the commercial launch market to develop the next generation of launch systems.
Astronauts repair the Hubble Space Telescope1
1993..An austrunaut repairng the space ship.

The Hubble Space Telescope
 Hubble telescope.
Isaac Newton's telescope Telescope made by Sir Issac Newton continues to be improved.
The Chandra X-ray ObservatoryChandra Observatory.The telescope was named after the great astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION..THE SOYUZ22. Nov 2011


Soyuz TMA-22
Союз ТМА-22
Mission insignia
Soyuz-TMA-22-Mission-Patch.png
Mission statistics
Mission nameSoyuz TMA-22
Союз ТМА-22
Crew size3
Call signAstraeus
Launch date14 November 2011[1]
04:14:03 GMT
Landing16 March 2012
(planned)
Crew photo
Soyuz TMA-22 crew.jpg
From left to right: Daniel C. Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin
Related missions
Previous missionSubsequent mission
Soyuz TMA-02M Soyuz TMA-02MSoyuz TMA-02M Soyuz TMA-03M

Soyuz TMA-22 is a current flight to the International Space Station (ISS). TMA-22 was the 111th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, and transported three members of the Expedition 29 crew to the ISS. The spacecraft docked to the ISS on 16 November 2011 and will most likely remain docked throughout the Expedition 29 increment to serve as an emergency escape vehicle.
TMA-22 was the final flight of a Soyuz-TMA vehicle, following its replacement by the modernized TMA-M series.[3] The launch of Soyuz TMA-22 was originally scheduled for 30 September 2011, but was delayed until 14 November following the launch failure of the Progress M-12M resupply vehicle on 24 August 2011.
Soyuz TMA-22 was the first manned mission to dock with the ISS since the retirement of the American Space Shuttle fleet at the end of the STS-135mission in July 2011.


[edit]
Crew

The Soyuz TMA-22 crew members pose for pictures in front of the Tsar Cannon at the Kremlin on 24 October 2011.
PositionCrew Member
CommanderAnton Shkaplerov
Expedition 29
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1Anatoli Ivanishin
Expedition 29
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2Daniel C. BurbankNASA
Expedition 29
Third spaceflight


Mission profile


Rescheduling of launch

Soyuz TMA-22's launch was rescheduled from late September 2011 to 14 November, due to the failed launch of the Progress M-12M cargo spacecraft on 24 August 2011. The incident, caused by a blocked fuel line leading to the gas generator of the Soyuz-U booster’s third-stage RD-0110 engine, resulted in a suspension of all Russian crewed spaceflights, due to the similar third stage in use on the crewed Soyuz-FG booster. A Russian commission blamed the failure on a single human error, and put additional procedures in place to prevent the problem from recurring. On 30 October 2011, Russia successfully launched the Progress M-13M unmanned cargo ship atop the Soyuz-U booster, clearing the way for the Soyuz TMA-22 launch.

Docking

Soyuz TMA-22 docked with the ISS at 05:24 GMT on 16 November 2011, about nine minutes earlier than planned. The spacecraft docked at the MRM-2 Poisk module, while Soyuz TMA-22 and the ISS were flying 400 kilometres (250 mi) above the southern Pacific Ocean. The Soyuz crew entered the ISS at around 6:39 GMT, and were greeted by Expedition 29 crewmembers Mike Fossum,Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa.
Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishin received congratulatory satellite calls from Russian dignitaries and family members before participating in a safety briefing led by Expedition 29 commander Fossum.
Photo: Space shuttle Discovery with Progress 22 resupply vehicleThe blackness of space and Earth's horizon provide the backdrop for this image of the docked Soyuz 13 (foreground) and the Progress 22 resupply vehicle. Astronauts photographed the Soyuz from a window on the International Space Station while space shuttle Discovery was docked with the station.
Photo: International Space Station above EarthThis view of the International Space Station over a blue-and-white Earth was taken shortly after the space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the orbital outpost on September 17, 2006. During its six days on the space station, the Atlantiscrew installed a pair of 240-foot (73-meter) solar wings, attached to a 17.5-ton section of truss with batteries, electronics, and a giant rotating joint. The new solar arrays were designed to double the station's onboard power.



Soyuz TMA-22
Союз ТМА-22
Mission insignia
Soyuz-TMA-22-Mission-Patch.png
Mission statistics
Mission nameSoyuz TMA-22
Союз ТМА-22
Crew size3
Call signAstraeus
Launch date14 November 2011[1]
04:14:03 GMT
Landing16 March 2012
(planned)
Crew photo
Soyuz TMA-22 crew.jpg
From left to right: Daniel C. Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin
Related missions
Previous missionSubsequent mission
Soyuz TMA-02M Soyuz TMA-02MSoyuz TMA-02M Soyuz TMA-03M


Soyuz TMA-22 is a current flight to the International Space Station (ISS). TMA-22 was the 111th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, and transported three members of the Expedition 29 crew to the ISS. The spacecraft docked to the ISS on 16 November 2011, and will most likely remain docked throughout the Expedition 29 increment to serve as an emergency escape vehicle.
TMA-22 was the final flight of a Soyuz-TMA vehicle, following its replacement by the modernized TMA-M series.[3] The launch of Soyuz TMA-22 was originally scheduled for 30 September 2011, but was delayed until 14 November following the launch failure of the Progress M-12M resupply vehicle on 24 August 2011.
Soyuz TMA-22 was the first manned mission to dock with the ISS since the retirement of the American Space Shuttle fleet at the end of the STS-135mission in July 2011.


edit]

[edit]Mission profile

[edit]Rescheduling of launch

Soyuz TMA-22's launch was rescheduled from late September 2011 to 14 November, due to the failed launch of the Progress M-12M cargo spacecraft on 24 August 2011.[6] The incident, caused by a blocked fuel line leading to the gas generator of the Soyuz-U booster’s third-stage RD-0110 engine, resulted in a suspension of all Russian crewed spaceflights, due to the similar third stage in use on the crewed Soyuz-FG booster.[7] A Russian commission blamed the failure on a single human error, and put additional procedures in place to prevent the problem from recurring. On 30 October 2011, Russia successfully launched the Progress M-13M unmanned cargo ship atop the Soyuz-U booster, clearing the way for the Soyuz TMA-22 launch.