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Space Exploration The Race continues.... or |
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So far we have seen the United States
and the Soviets in a race to orbit the Earth, to get to the moon, and the Soviets have
tried, unsuccessfully, to send probes to other planets... We pick up in early 1961, just prior to the first manned sub-orbit flights. Compared to what we have seen so far, 1961 was a slow year for probes. We can assume it is because the United States and the Soviets were concentrating more on manned flights. The Race continues.... The Soviets begin the year 1961... With Sputnik 7, launched February 4, 1961. Their destination this time was Venus. (Why they did not shoot for Mars again is beyond me...). It made it into earth's orbit, and the plan was for a 4th stage to ignite, sending the probe on its way. The 4th stage failed to ignite, leaving the probe in earth's orbit....for a while at least. February 12, 1961, the Venera 1 was launched. It's destination was again Venus, and this time, she made it..or so it is thought. On February 19, just one week after it was launched, all contact with the space craft was lost. It is said to have passed within 100,000 km of Venus, and also to be thought to have entered an orbit. The US continue their space exploration attempts in May of 1961, with the first launch of the Mercury Project. Please see Early Space Programs for more information on the Mercury Project. Sending a probe to the Moon continues to be a focus at NASA! NASA launches Ranger 1 August 23, 1961. From National Space Science Data Center Web Site "Ranger 1 was a spacecraft whose primary mission was to test the performance of those functions and parts that are necessary for carrying out subsequent lunar and planetary missions using essentially the same spacecraft design. A secondary objective was to study the nature of particles and fields in interplanetary space." It got into an earth's orbit, but went no further. It was a partial success. NASA follows up with Ranger 2, launched November 18, 1961. This was a test flight of Ranger space craft. It reached a low orbit, the gyro malfunctioned, and it remained in space only 2 days. January 26, 1962, NASA launches Ranger 3 towards the moon. It was to transmit pictures of the moon for 10 minutes prior to impact. Unfortunately, the Ranger 3 missed it's mark by about 36,800 km. because there was a malfunction in the guidance system which resulted in excessive speed. NASA tried to fix it, but course correction was not possible. Ranger 3 remains in helioorbit today. So Ranger 4 was launched on April 23, 1961. It's mission was essentially the same as Ranger 3. It made it to the moon surface, but spacecraft's computer and sequencer failed to provide command signals for the extension of the solar panels. It impacted April 26, 1962. At least we made it! NASA tries for Venus next! On July 22, 1962, NASA launches Mariner 1, and it's
mission is to be a Venus Flyby. The launch went well at first, but just 293 seconds after
launch, their was a problem. The guidance system malfunctioned, making steering
impossible. The Mariner 1 was headed into North Atlantic shipping It is the Soviets turn again.... August 25, 1962, Sputnik 23 was launched. It was to land on Venus, but the escape stage failed and it remained in earth's orbit for three days before it returned to earth's atmosphere. Back in the US Mariner 2 was launched on August 27, 1962. Built as a back up to Mariner 1, it to was headed Venus. This was a very successful mission. Not only did all go as scheduled to get her out of earth's orbit, but she made it to Venus. Despite numerous small problems, all were fixed with in days. From the National Space Science Data Center web site " On December 14 the radiometers were turned on. Mariner 2 approached Venus from 30 degrees above the dark side of the planet, and passed below the planet at its closest distance of 34,773 km at 19:59:28 UT 14 December 1962. After encounter, cruise mode resumed. Spacecraft perihelion occurred on 27 December at a distance of 105,464,560 km. The last transmission from Mariner 2 was received on 3 January 1963 at 07:00 UT. Mariner 2 remains in heliocentric orbit." The Soviets respond... September 1, 1962 with the launch of Sputnik 24. It was intended to be a Venus Landing mission but the escape stage (which helps the space vehicle escape the gravitational pull of the earth) failed. It came back to earth 5 days later. So they launched Sputnik 25 on September 12, 1962. A repeat of Sputnik 24. Big problems with it. The third stage exploded while in orbit and blew up the spacecraft. Back to a moon shot in the US.... Ranger 5 was launched on October 18, 1960. It's mission was the same as it's sister ships Ranger 3 and 4, and was to be a fly-by to once again (try to) take pictures of the moon. Remember, at this point, only the Soviets have been successful at getting close enough to the moon to photograph it. NASA wanted their own pictures. Remember, Ranger 3 made it as a flyby to the moon, but passed to far away to trigger the photosensors. Ranger 4 made it to the moon, but impacted it (at a distructive rate). Was Ranger 5 the one to do the job? Nope! From the National Space Science Data Center Web Site "A malfunction in the booster guidance system resulted in excessive spacecraft speed. Reversed command signals caused the TM antenna to lose earth acquisition, and mid-course correction was not possible. The spacecraft failed to generate power and missed the Moon by 725 Km. It is now in a heliocentric orbit. Gamma-ray data were collected for 4 hours prior to the loss of power." At least they are getting closer to the moon each time...with out impacting it. The Soviets shoot for Mars again! With Sputnik 29 . Launched on October 24,1962. This time there were major problems. Sources are not clear as to exactly what happened. Some say it broke apart as it was going into earths orbit, others say the upper stage blew up while in earths orbit. The odd thing about this rocket's desentergration is that it happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Many of the pieces of the rocket stayed in orbit after it broke up and the pieces were picked up by U.S. Military Radar Instillations. It caused quite a stir! Next they tried Mars1 (Sputnik 30). Launched November 2, 1962 From the National Space Science Data Center Web Site: "Mars 1 was an automatic interplanetary station launched in the direction of Mars. It carried various scientific and communications equipment including a magnetometer probe, a high-gain antenna, an omnidirectional antenna, a semi-directional antenna, and photographic equipment. Sixty-one radio transmissions were held in which a large amount of data was collected. On March 21, 1963, when the spacecraft was at a distance of 106 million km communications ceased. Mars 1 closest approach to Mars occurred on June 19, 1963, after which the spacecraft entered a heliocentric orbit." Then Sputnik 31, on November 4, 1962. It was to be a Mars lander! However, it failed to escape earths gravational pull and fell back to earth shortly. Next was Sputnik 33, launched January 4, 1963. It was to be a lunar soft landing, the first attempt of its kind. The main space craft was to impact the moon's surface, then eject a lander that held the scientific equipment. It failed to escape earths gravational pull, and never made it. Luna1963B was next on February 2, 1963. It was believed to be similar to Sputnik 33. It failed to reach earths orbit, and fell back to earth in the Pacific Ocean near Midway Island. Luna 4 was next. On April 2, 1963 it was launched. From the National Space Science Data Center : "Luna 4 was the USSR'S first successful spacecraft of their `second generation' lunar program. The spacecraft, rather than being sent on a straight trajectory toward the Moon, was placed first in an Earth orbit and then an automatic interplanetary station was rocketed towards the Moon. Luna 4, the second attempt of this program, achieved the desired trajectory but missed the Moon by 8336.2 Km and entered a barycentric Earth orbit." Cosmos 21 was next in line, and the last to be sent by either country in 1963. Launched on November 11th, it was believed to be a Venus Fly-by attempt. In did not make it out of earths orbit, and fell back into our atmosphere within days. To end the year 1962, I found these comments quite interesting: April, 1961: And Again, from the National Space Science Data Center: "Beginning in 1963, the name Cosmos was given to Soviet spacecraft which remained in Earth orbit, regardless of whether that was their intended final destination." Next: 1964: Nasa pulls ahead!
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