This gallery presents many achievements related to a human presence in space, some of the highlights include a German V-1 "buzz bomb" and V 2 missile, Soviet and U.S. spacecraft and space suits, a Skylab Orbital Workshop, and a full-size test version of the Hubble Space Telescope.
German V-1 Buzz Bomb
• The V-1 was a pilotless bomber that employed a gasoline-powered pulsejet engine that could produce a thrust of about 1,100 pounds. The distinctive sound of the V-1 engine resulted in the vehicle being nicknamed the "buzz bomb" by Allied forces. Each V-1 was launched from a ramp, and was unguided. After it was launched, the V-1 flew a preset course until a switch cut off its engine, causing the V-1 to simply fall on whatever was under it.
• Each V-1 carried about 2,000 pounds of explosives, and was capable of causing great damage. But, since the V-1 was unguided, the weapon rarely hit a specific target. The V-1 had a top speed of about 390 mph. so could be intercepted by fighter aircraft or destroyed by antiaircraft artillery. The British reported that 6,139 people were killed as a direct result of V-1 attacks, about three times the number that were killed by the V-2.
German V-2 Rocket
• The German V-2 rocket is believed to be one of the most significant scientific advances of World War II, second only to the development of the atomic bomb. The V-2 was a significant advancement in rocket technology, and the ancestor of today's large-scale liquid-fuel rockets and launch vehicles.
• Despite its relative inaccuracy, the V-2 incorporated several major technological advances in rocketry. Its engine was 17 times more powerful than the largest rocket motor constructed up to that time; it flew at five times the speed of sound; and it could still fly to targets nearly 190 miles away.
• The V-2 incorporated four major advances: 1) its powerful engine that enabled it to achieve significantly higher thrust, about 17 times more powerful than the largest rocket motor constructed up to that time, 2) its aerodynamic shape, particularly the fins for controlling the rocket, 3) its innovative inertial guidance system allows for measuring the position or acceleration of the vehicle, and 4) its radio transmission system that could relay information about the missile's performance to the ground.
• The entire rocket weighed about 27,000 pounds at launch. The top six feet of the V-2 was a warhead containing up to 2,000 pounds of conventional explosives. Below the warhead was a 5-foot section containing instrumentation, a 20-foot section containing the fuel tanks and a 15-foot section containing the engine.
• Because the V-2 flew so high and so fast, there was no defense against it. The missiles could not be detected until they exploded on the ground. Late in World War II, Germany launched almost 3,000 V-2s against England, France, and Belgium. After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union used captured V-2s as a basis for developing their own ballistic missile programs.
SKYLAB: Early U.S. Space Station
• Skylab was a manned space station launched into Earth orbit by the United States in 1973. It was made from the third stage of a Saturn V launch vehicle. A crew of three astronauts occupied Skylab during each of three missions. The longest mission lasted almost three months.
• The Skylab missions obtained vast amounts of scientific data, and they demonstrated to the American public that people could live and work productively in space for months at a time. When the last two Apollo missions were canceled, NASA used some of the remaining Apollo hardware for an experimental space station, Skylab, as an interim program before the Shuttle was ready to fly.
Apollo-Soyuz Rendezvous
• In July 1975 two manned spacecraft were launched into Earth orbit one from Soviet Union the other from United States. Their rendezvous in orbit fulfilled a 1972 agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States to participate in a joint venture in space. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project marked a brief thaw in the Cold War and the first time that the two rivals cooperated in a manned space mission.
• Engineering teams from both sides collaborated in the development of a docking module to link the spacecraft. Control centers in Moscow and Houston exercised joint duties through a cooperative exchange of tracking data and communications. The crews visited each other's spacecraft, shared meals, and worked on various tasks during several days together in space. This mission was meant to symbolize the end of competition and the beginning of an era of cooperation in space.
Hubble Space Telescope
• The Hubble Space Telescope is the largest astronomical telescope ever sent into space. It was launched in 1990 from Space Shuttle Discovery. From its vantage point high above Earth's atmosphere, the telescope is providing astronomers with fascinating new information on the state of the universe.
• This full-size test vehicle was used from 1972 to 1985 during the development of the Hubble Space Telescope. It resembles the actual telescope in size and basic structure, but it is not intended for use in space. The test vehicle has been refurbished twice. In 1996 thermal blankets, antennas, and other features were added to depict the telescope's appearance in space.
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• Each V-1 carried about 2,000 pounds of explosives, and was capable of causing great damage. But, since the V-1 was unguided, the weapon rarely hit a specific target. The V-1 had a top speed of about 390 mph. so could be intercepted by fighter aircraft or destroyed by antiaircraft artillery. The British reported that 6,139 people were killed as a direct result of V-1 attacks, about three times the number that were killed by the V-2.
German V-2 Rocket
• The German V-2 rocket is believed to be one of the most significant scientific advances of World War II, second only to the development of the atomic bomb. The V-2 was a significant advancement in rocket technology, and the ancestor of today's large-scale liquid-fuel rockets and launch vehicles.
• Despite its relative inaccuracy, the V-2 incorporated several major technological advances in rocketry. Its engine was 17 times more powerful than the largest rocket motor constructed up to that time; it flew at five times the speed of sound; and it could still fly to targets nearly 190 miles away.
• The V-2 incorporated four major advances: 1) its powerful engine that enabled it to achieve significantly higher thrust, about 17 times more powerful than the largest rocket motor constructed up to that time, 2) its aerodynamic shape, particularly the fins for controlling the rocket, 3) its innovative inertial guidance system allows for measuring the position or acceleration of the vehicle, and 4) its radio transmission system that could relay information about the missile's performance to the ground.
• The entire rocket weighed about 27,000 pounds at launch. The top six feet of the V-2 was a warhead containing up to 2,000 pounds of conventional explosives. Below the warhead was a 5-foot section containing instrumentation, a 20-foot section containing the fuel tanks and a 15-foot section containing the engine.
• Because the V-2 flew so high and so fast, there was no defense against it. The missiles could not be detected until they exploded on the ground. Late in World War II, Germany launched almost 3,000 V-2s against England, France, and Belgium. After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union used captured V-2s as a basis for developing their own ballistic missile programs.
SKYLAB: Early U.S. Space Station
• Skylab was a manned space station launched into Earth orbit by the United States in 1973. It was made from the third stage of a Saturn V launch vehicle. A crew of three astronauts occupied Skylab during each of three missions. The longest mission lasted almost three months.
• The Skylab missions obtained vast amounts of scientific data, and they demonstrated to the American public that people could live and work productively in space for months at a time. When the last two Apollo missions were canceled, NASA used some of the remaining Apollo hardware for an experimental space station, Skylab, as an interim program before the Shuttle was ready to fly.
Apollo-Soyuz Rendezvous
• In July 1975 two manned spacecraft were launched into Earth orbit one from Soviet Union the other from United States. Their rendezvous in orbit fulfilled a 1972 agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States to participate in a joint venture in space. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project marked a brief thaw in the Cold War and the first time that the two rivals cooperated in a manned space mission.
• Engineering teams from both sides collaborated in the development of a docking module to link the spacecraft. Control centers in Moscow and Houston exercised joint duties through a cooperative exchange of tracking data and communications. The crews visited each other's spacecraft, shared meals, and worked on various tasks during several days together in space. This mission was meant to symbolize the end of competition and the beginning of an era of cooperation in space.
Hubble Space Telescope
• The Hubble Space Telescope is the largest astronomical telescope ever sent into space. It was launched in 1990 from Space Shuttle Discovery. From its vantage point high above Earth's atmosphere, the telescope is providing astronomers with fascinating new information on the state of the universe.
• This full-size test vehicle was used from 1972 to 1985 during the development of the Hubble Space Telescope. It resembles the actual telescope in size and basic structure, but it is not intended for use in space. The test vehicle has been refurbished twice. In 1996 thermal blankets, antennas, and other features were added to depict the telescope's appearance in space.
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