A+Boom+in+Space+Exploration

A BOOM IN SPACE EXPLORATION America has experienced a tremendous growth in space technology and research ever since that day on October 4, 1954 up until today (Obama cuts space funding).

// Vanguard Program fails //

As before stated the United States was planning on sending its own satellite into space before Sputnik was launched, but once Sputnik was in the Earth’s atmosphere, it was evident that the Vanguard Program was rushed into a finish. It’s fair to say however that since the United States was more concerned with developing ICBM missiles at the time, funding for the Vanguard Program was reduced. But designs and tests continuously failed for the Navy engineers working on the project. Pressure mounted steadily for a successful launch, especially after the Soviets placed Sputnik 1 in orbit on October 4, 1957, followed by Sputnik 2 on November 3 ( Smith).

One of the rejected designs was the Army’s Explorer satellite. Without approval, the team of Army Engineers started constructing their own satellite in case the Vanguard satellite failed. Ed by German immigrant Wernher von Braun, the team successfully built a working satellite and launching system, and waited on the sidelines in anticipation that the Vanguard Satellite would fail. After two embarrassing attempts of the Vanguard Satellite, the secretary of defense, Neil H. McElroy, told the Army to try Explorer.

// Explorer, America’s First Satellite //

On January 31, 1958 at 10:58 pm, the Explorer satellite made a successful launch into the Earth’s orbit. Not only was the satellite achievement of equal achievement of the Sputnik Satellite, the Explorer was also higher in orbit. The news of an American satellite brought great elation across the country, but also led to a consistent growth in American involvement in space.

// NASA and Apollo //

After giving some confidence back to the American people in their government, President Eisenhower felt it necessary to create a government agency that specializes in the development, research, and testing in aerospace technologies. On July 29, 1958, the Congress passed and the president then signed into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act. The act created the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which began functioning on October 1, 1958. Its first job was to establish a man-in-space program. Known as Project Mercury, the program would use the Atlas launch vehicle to boost the first Americans into space. In efforts to increase its ability to research in different aerospace technologies, NASA began absorbing other government run programs and privatmedia type="custom" key="6354159" align="left"e institutions. This included NACA, the Department of Defense, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (Jones). From this point on, any progression the United States has had in space, has gone through NASA On May 25, 1961, U.S. president John F. Kennedy issued a challenge to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the American aerospace community:

“. . . I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

After years of difficult tests and experiments including ten “practice runs,” the first ever attempt to land men on the moon was ready on July 16, 1969. After a successful launch and successful flight, the crew landed on the moon’s surface at 4:17 p.m. on the evening of July 20 (Tobias).

[|Kennedy's Challenge to Send Men to the Moon]

This speech by Kennedy is one of the best speeches of all time by an American president to challenge and inspire America and its citizens to never strive for second best. That’s why he makes this call for reaching for the stars, to ensure American superiority as the most technological savvy nation in the world. During this time period, some Americans were questioning America’s dominance due to the Soviets ability to send satellites before any other nation in humankind, and by Kennedy making this call to NASA and by NASA to effectively send three heroes to the moon there was no doubt at that time period America was back on top of the pedestol for the most technologically great nation in the world. Cultural