Finally My Term Paper

Remember when i was bouncing ideas off everyone for a term paper? Well here it is. All finished. Please tell me what you think.

BTW i am a horrible writer

NASA Disasters

Space travel has been an achievement that has awed the human race for more then four decades. Mankind’s desire to explore and the need for adventure have pushed them to look farther and farther into the void of space. The missions of Apollo 1, Apollo 13, and Challenger have taught us that mankind’s dream of exploring space will not come without consequences.

In early 1960, the United States government decided that they needed to establish a space program to keep up with the Russians. Eventually NASA was introduced. NASA’s major goal at the time was to put a man into space, and land on the moon before the Russians. The US hoped to accomplish this by 1970. Unfortunately for the United States, the Soviet Union was able to launch a manned spacecraft into space in 1961. Although this feat was crushing to the US, they still kept their eyes focused on the moon. NASA was ready to take a first step by putting a man on the moon. In January of 1967 NASA was preparing for their first Apollo Mission. Several mechanical tests had occurred over the past few months, and now it was time for manned practice test to begin. On January 27th, 1967 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, three NASA astronauts began exercise’s that would simulate their future trip. The main goal of the trip was to determine the function ability of equipment, and it’s effects on human beings while in space. This information would be used later when planning future trips to the moon. (Landau)

Apollo 1’s crew consisted of many unique people. The commander of the craft was Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom. (Landau) Mr. Grissom grew up in Mitchell, Indiana. He was an average student, and his interest in flying began by and was restricted to the building of model spacecraft. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mr. Grissom jumped into the Navy, hoping to get into an aviation cadet program. Unfortunately, for him the war ended and he did not get his flight training. It wasn’t until the Korean War that Mr. Grissom was able to fly. He became a successful fighter pilot and flew over one hundred combat missions with the 334th Fighter Squadron. After the war Mr. Grissom remained in the Navy, and achieved the rank of Captain. (Brubaker)

The youngest member of the crew, and also the youngest American in the Apollo program was Roger B. Chaffee he had never traveled to space before. (Landau) He was too young to take part in the Gemini Missions that had preceded him. He was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His father was a pilot so his interest in flying had been sparked early. Later on in life, Mr. Chaffee went on to earn an Aeronautical Engineering Degree from Purdue University. He joined the Navy, as a photoreconnaissance pilot. His success in this program was the guarantee he needed to get him into the 3rd Astronaut group. (Brubaker)

The Third and final member of the crew was Edward H. White II. Mr. White’s father was a retired Army General. The presence of the army tradition in the family drove Mr. White to West Point, where he graduated he than went on to earn an Aeronautical Engineering Degree, from the University of Michigan. From there he continued on to Edwards Air Force Base, where he worked as a rocket pilot. (Brubaker) Mr. White’s early NASA career consisted of flying balloons, and testing equipment. Later he was the first American to walk in space. (Brubaker)

On January 27th, 1967 the three astronauts where lead to their space craft and began prepping for their launch. The ship had an Environmental Control System that fed pure oxygen into the cabin, and regulated its atmosphere inside. (Landau) This system would soon prove to bring on a deadly outcome. After a few hours of practicing, a fire broke out in the cabin. (Landau) Within seconds the capsule was engulfed in flames, after relentless attempts there was nothing the technicians could do to save the trapped astronauts. A later investigation ruled on the causes of this disaster. The two major factors in the explosion were fatigue of the workers, and the use of pressurized oxygen in the command module. The cabin was kept at a steady 15 pounds per square inch. At this air density, aluminum, which the craft is made of, burns quickly. Faulty wiring and poor craftsmanship caused a spark that ignited the oxygen. A flaw in the hatch prevented the astronauts from escaping the inferno. As horrible as the disaster was, the changes that arose from it probably saved the lives of countless future astronauts. A quick open hatch was installed, heavy wire sheathing was used, pure oxygen was not used again, and more then one hundred more changes where made to make space travel safer. (Brubaker)

Many missions to further progress our knowledge of the universe had taken place after NASA was created in 1960. Apollo 11 was the first of these missions to reach the moon in 1969. Later that year Apollo 12 landed on the moon. The next year Apollo 13 was set to take off, and be the 3rd space flight to land on the moon. (Landau) Apollo 13’s crew consisted of 3 individuals. The commander was Captain James A. Lovell; he was accompanied by astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr. and Ken Mattingly. A back-up crew also trained with the first crew incase any problems occurred along the line that would remove an astronaut out of the primary crew. (Landau) One member of the back up crew, Charles Duke, came down with German measles. NASA was very concerned and decided to test everyone that was in contact with him. NASA could not afford to have an astronaut get sick while in space, especially when he needed to perform specific tasks to run the craft. After testing the astronauts, it was discovered that Ken Mattingly was not immune to the disease. NASA made a hard decision, and replaced him with John L. Swigert. The replacement brought about concerns as well. NASA was worried that Mr. Swigert did not have the extensive training needed to be on such a demanding flight, but in the end they decided to use Mr. Swigert, and continue with the mission. (Landau)

The spacecraft that the crew would pilot into space was of a rather complex design. The Command module, nicknamed Odyssey, was the area that housed the Astronauts. (Kerrod) This is where they where during the launch, and where most of the work was going to be done. (Landau) Next was the Service module. This is where the Engines, life support, and electrical power were stored. Finely there was the Lunar Module, nicknamed Aquarius. (Kerrod) This was the only part of the craft that was going to land on the moon. It was built for two people, and contained all of the instruments necessary to study the moon.

It was lift-off day. The Kennedy Space Center was filled with reporters and spectators. The countdown began, and Apollo 13 was off! For the next two days the crew was sent spiraling into space. (Collins) On the second day, more then 200,000 miles away from home, the astronauts heard a loud bang that shook the craft. (Landau) James Lovell reported to NASA. Mr. Lovell had noticed a gas being vented into space, while looking out a window. After checking the master alarm, and the rest of the gauges, the crew noticed that they where loosing oxygen. Panicked, and with the thought that NASA could have another fatal disaster, the crew began preparations for shutting down the command module. (Collins) It was discovered that, during a routine mixing of the oxygen containers, a short in a wire ignited and caused a fire to break out. The fire penetrated one of the oxygen cylinders, and caused it to explode. (Landau) The crew had lost half of their oxygen in seconds and where loosing the rest rapidly. The crew shut down the Command Module and moved into the lunar module. They stayed there for four days, using it as a life boat, until they we’re close enough to prepare for reentry. (Collins) On April 13, Apollo 13 began to make its decent to earth. Upon reentry communication was lost as the craft broke through the atmosphere. It was calculated that there would be a two minute period with no communication. After that, it was to be assumed that the craft did not survive the fall back to earth. By the time the Astronauts had made their final burn and entered the atmosphere two minutes had passed by, and there was still no sign of the craft. The worst was feared. A whole nine minutes had passed since the reentry, when suddenly the shuttle appeared on radar, and a communication was heard over the radio. The Apollo 13 crew was home, and the delay in the communication loss was the largest delay in NASA history to date. (Landau)

It was 1985, and the Flight of the Challenger had been delayed 6 times due to inclement weather, and re-occurring problems with the shuttle. (Hamilton) Ten days after the original launch date, NASA, declared the shuttle ready for launch. This was to be a very special mission for the United States. This was the first mission in the world to include a crew member that was not a trained astronaut, and also the first to have such a diverse crew which included many different ethnic, and racial backgrounds. (Landau)

The commanding officer of the mission was Francis Scobee. Mr. Scobee joined the Air Force when he turned 18, and became a flight mechanic. He was observed to be an average student, and was looked upon as being the role model for the average person looking to do something great. (Landau) The second member was Ellison Onizuka. Mr. Onizuka earned a degree in Aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado, and was the crew’s mission communication specialist. Mr. Onizuka was also the first American Asian in space. (Landau) The third member of the crew was Michael Smith. Mr. Smith was the Air Forces most experienced pilot. He flew over 4,300 hours in 28 different types of Aircraft. (Landau) The fourth member, a mission specialist, Ronald Menair, earned a Doctorate in Physics from MIT. (Landau) The Fifth member was Judith Resnick. She was another mission specialist that was in charge of taking photos and handling other tedious work on the space craft. Miss. Resnick was the only female in her class to receive a perfect score of 800 on her SATs. (Landau) The sixth member was Gregory Jarvis. He was the mission’s AF Sat. Communications Specialist; his job was to experiment with satellites on board the shuttle. (Landau) The final member was Christa Mc Auliffe. She was to be the first non-astronaut in space. Mrs. Auliffe was the mission’s payload specialist. She performed special tasks that where relevant to the mission, and was frequently in contact with mission control. (Landau) On June 28, 1986, NASA declared the shuttle ready for launch. (Hamilton) There where some concerns, such as a build-up of ice on the launch pad, and bad weather out to the west, but the preparations continued. One technical problem had delayed the launch two hours that day. Questions arose, such as, would the rocket boosters operate in such cold weather? (Landau) Engineers where worried that the outside temperature would cause O Rings in the boosters to shrink and harden, causing a leak. After much examination, the shuttle was cleared once more, and the count down began. (Landau) The liftoff went smoothly. It looked like it was going to be a perfect flight. Then disaster struck. A large explosion rocked the air. The shuttle disappeared under a cloud of smoke. (Hamilton) Everyone was puzzled by the blast and had concerns for the astronauts. As the smoke began to clear everyone feared the worst. (Landau) It was confirmed later that all eight members of the flight perished in the blast. Government investigators dug deep into the wreckage. They examined the salvaged parts for months searching for the cause of the blast. (Hamilton) Months later NASA came out with their report. It seemed that the explosion was caused by a leak in the right booster. Fuel leaking out was ignited by the booster rockets, and the flames engulfed the whole booster in seconds. The whole canister covered in flames, exploded ripping the shuttle apart. There was nothing NASA or the crew could have done to save themselves or their spacecraft. (Hamilton)

There were several warning signs that were over looked, that may have prevented this disaster. The ice buildup on the launch pad, although not significant was a good enough warning that there might be problems with freezing components. Secondly data shows dropping temperatures in the hull of the rocket booster. If the data was reported immediately to the control room, the flight would have been canceled. As NASA learns more from unfortunate disasters, they take this knowledge and use it to try to perfect the shuttle so that nothing like this will ever happen again. (Landau)

The expert knowledge gained by NASA’s space travel and exploration program has not been without ultimate human sacrifice. The men and women aboard Apollo1, Apollo13, and Challenger ultimately gave their lives so mankind could further its quest for more knowledge about our vast universe in space.




cooked

 

Cooked,

You did a good job, very well written. You could include the paragraph below in your introduction of the race for space. I remember my parent's talking about Sputnik, it was a big deal back then. Good job!

Steve

 

Great job!

 

Hey thanks

Could you give me a link to where you got that? i need to put it in my works cited if i am going to include it.

Thanks



cooked

 

Whooaaaa... how long did that take u?
Great, Excellent, outstanding, exceptional, superb, tremendous, brilliant, extraordinary, amazing, first-rate, terrific, stupendous job!
i said that because i take about 2 hours just to write a 1 and a half page essay and this would have taken me a century..

 

Here, http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/

Good job Cooked, you should be proud.

Steve

 

Thanks everyone! I've been working on this for about 3 weeks. Of coarse i have had a topic for a month and a half, just never got around to doing any work until the teacher remained us.

Thanks Matacumbie. Ill try and fit that into the paper. I keep going through and through filling in things where they are needed, and constantly correcting. lol

Thanks all



cooked