V2 rocket technology1/6/2024 ![]() ![]() Its five giant rocket engines would have sounded like they were ripping apart the sky. Imagine seeing this massive rocket soar through the crisp, blue Florida sky. It is estimated that over a million people watched this launch in person. The launch happened on the morning of July 16th, 1969 in perfect weather. A group of three astronauts launched in a capsule on top of the massive Saturn V (pronounced Saturn five) rocket. Thanks to the efforts of thousands of scientists and engineers, the US reached this goal in July of 1969. In a speech to Congress in May 1961, President Kennedy stated that “ no single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind.” To catch up and move ahead of their Soviet rivals, the United States started the Apollo Program, which focused on landing astronauts on the Moon. So her flight alone beat all of the American spaceflight experience! The Legacy of Apollo Imagine seeing the sun rise and set 48 times in a span of just a few days! Before her flight, American astronauts had spent less than 3 days total in space. During her flight, she orbited Earth 48 times. Valentina’s flight was on June 16th, 1963. The Soviet Union also launched the first woman into space. Yuri responded with words that capture the excitement of space exploration: “ Поехали!” Pronounced po-yek-hali, this phrase is Russian for “Let’s go!” Yuri’s flight lasted about two hours before he returned to Earth. “We wish you a good flight! Everything is all right!” said Korolev. “Preliminary engine lit… intermediate engine lit… main engine ignition… lift off!” The rocket roared to life and began to lift Yuri upwards into the sky. Just before the launch of the rocket, the launch control room operator, Sergei Korolev, updated Yuri on the status of the rocket. ![]() Yuri’s flight took place on April 12th, 1961. They successfully launched the first human into space, Yuri Gagarin. The Soviet Union continued to beat the United States in space exploration for the next 10 years. This environment and beyond, at 100 kilometers (or about 62 miles) above the Earth’s surface, is now thought of as the boundary of space. It returned a lot of data about space just above our planet’s atmosphere. Explorer 1 was packed with scientific instruments. This launch took place on January 31st, 1958. Not to be outdone, the United States launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, just a few months later. The success of Sputnik showed the superiority of the Soviet Union at the time. (You can listen to the simple Sputnik radio signal here). It was essentially a radio beacon, designed to send a beeping signal that could be picked up around the world. Sputnik was launched on October 4th, 1957 by the Soviet Union. The first object launched into orbit around the Earth was the Sputnik 1 satellite. With these improvements, we could now launch robots and humans into space. This technology was rebuilt to allow for peaceful purposes. A more serious product of this competition was the improvement of the Nazi’s original rockets. For example, the two nations competed in activities like chess and sports. However, these two nations tried to show their superiority over the other for the next fifty years. The ‘cold’ part of this war means that no direct combat happened between the two countries. After their victory, these two countries shifted to a cold war. The Nazis were defeated by nations including the United States and the Soviet Union. This was the V2 rocket, designed by engineers in Nazi Germany. The first object launched into space was actually a rocket designed to be a weapon. ![]() The history of space exploration begins in the mid-1940s. ![]()
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