25 Years of Progress, Episode 6: Around The Moon

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hello I'm Lyn bandant and welcome once again to our series about America's civilian efforts and air and space during a quarter Century during this six episode we see NASA events from 1967 and 1968 1967 is to begin in tragedy for NASA when on January 27th three American astronauts die on a spacecraft fire during a pre-flight test [Music] the men to die are Virgil Grom Edward White and Roger chaffy a board of Investigation finds that the fire is apparently started with an electrical short which ignites in the oxygen rich atmosphere and burns combustible materials in the block one spacecraft following the accident the Apollo block 2 spacecraft is completely redesigned and rebuilt though the delay is 18 months the resulting block 2 spacecraft is safer but despite the tragedy there is success in 1967 too there were three successful surveyors this year helping prepare the way for Americans who would land on the Moon these three-legged craft hurled 235,000 mi from Earth and sat down gently on the moon their job photograph large areas of the lunar surface this the surveyors did and more upon a signal from Earth an arm on surveyor 3 with a small shovel attached extended out to this unknown soil retrieved a scoop full and placed it on one of the spacecraft's landing pads surveyor's camera then took a look at the Moon material in color other instrumentation has chemically sampled the soil but the surveyors were not alone three picture-taking lunar orbiters gave scientists a different perspective as they circled above the Moon again pictures pictures from a distance and pictures close up pictures revealing the lunar surface in remarkable detail the kind of detail needed before men land there explaining what we've learned from the two spacecraft NASA's assistant director for lunar flight programs captain Lee Sherer there are three major accomplishments of the S and lunar orbitor programs they have demonstrated that we have the technical confidence to do a significant exploration of the planets with automated spacecraft they have shown us that the Moon is a complex and scientifically interesting place for further exploration by man and they have paved the way for that first man landing this will be accomplished along the equatorial belt of the Moon in this Zone the eight smoothest sights have been selected from Orbiter photography into four of these surveyors have landed the next step is that historic moment when man first sets foot on the lunar surface it will be a launch vehicle like this Saturn 5 that will one day boost astronauts toward the moon in this important first flight test on November 9th all systems worked flawlessly separations occurred as programmed stages untried in space fired on command shown here in animation the all important re-entry to duplicate a return trip from the Moon it too exceeded its requirements the spacecraft skipped in and out of the Earth's atmosphere to slow it down blazing in at nearly 25,000 mph simulating ating a lunar return finally a landing in the Pacific within sight of recovery ships a textbook flight from liftoff to splash down Saturn 5 and its Milan component parts worked and worked [Music] well 1967 was an especially busy year for other unmanned Space Explorers bio satellite carried out the first biological research in space under controlled conditions 13 experiments were chosen to study how various life processes are affected by the space environment these Earthly space Travelers included frog eggs wheat seedlings wasps and flower Beetles the main objectives of the mission were to study the effects of weightlessness and radiation upon living organisms after 2 Days in Space the bio satellite capsule re-entered the Earth's atmosphere was snatched in midair by plane and rushed rush to Hawaii to waiting scientists it was learned from the flight that several types of plants are dependent upon a continuous gravity field however most of the data from the various experiments including those for radiation are still being studied three Observatory type spacecraft were launched during the year this is Ogo orbiting geophysical observatory in addition to giving scientists a better understanding of interplanetary and Galactic space oo's many experiment hours of data may eventually unlock some of the Mysteries of the Earth's [Music] environment two spacecraft in the orbiting solar Observatory series are studying the Sun and its influence on the Earth the Sun is the nearest star to our planet and the only one we can study in detail here's an UltraViolet view as never before seen it indicates solar heat in excess of a million and a 12° orbiting solar observatories will also serve as watchdogs for future space Travelers enabling those on the ground to advise astronauts of solar activity warning them when they should come in out of possibly hazardous solar storms the reliable Atlas aena launch vehicle was used this year to launch the second and third in a series of five applications technology satellites the spider-shaped spacecraft are being used to test out experimental systems for improving weather forecasts radio television and Communications of all kinds up till now airplanes flying over mid ocean have been out of radio range for periods of an hour or more with ATS technology Airlines can keep in touch at all times and will you give us your latest ETA for London Clipper 162 this is G test control over a g test control from Clipper 162 Roger a loud and clear a perfect signal this conversation between a PanAm Jet Pilot and mainland United States took place when the plane was halfway from New York to London the communication traveled from the ground to the satellite and finally to the airplane ATS can also relay color TV and multiple telephone calls from around the globe color pictures of the Earth show the changing Cloud pattern over the world for an entire day giving weathermen a view in color of developing storms while the ATS were checking out possible Advanced application systems NASA launched six more operational satellites three Essa satellites for the weather bureau and three intat spacecraft for the communication satellite corporation on June 14th a 540 lb spacecraft called Mariner was launched toward the planet Venus after traveling through space for nearly 3 and 1/2 months and covering a distance of 219 million miles Mariner 5 flew by Venus the highly successful Mariner transmitted data about the venusian atmosphere ionosphere magnetic fields and the energy levels of cosmic rays in Pasadena the director of the jet propulsion laboratory talked about the results here's Dr William H Pickering on October 19th of this year marinina 5 flew past the planet Venus at a distance of about 2500 m above the surface this was the second successful Marin mission to the planet the path of the marinina is shown by this model and between these two points of the path around the planet marinina was out of sight of the Earth this was done deliberately so that we could observe the effect of radio signals pass passing through the atmosphere of the planet Venus by observing the effect of the atmosphere on the radio signals we were able to learn a great deal about the atmosphere of the planet to show for example that it is exceedingly dense at the surface that it is mostly carbon dioxide NASA continued broadly applicable basic research in Aeronautics during 1967 supersonic aircraft technology was of particular interest this effort included the operation of test planes like this xb7 the xb7 is being used to study the flight Dynamics associated with supersonic speeds the huge birdlike plane duplicates the size and speed of the SST although primary interest has been on materials propulsion and flight Dynamics work in such areas as fuels radiation factors and Sonic Boom is also continuing one thing the xp70 cannot simulate is the variable sweep feature of the SST which allows the plane's wings to fold close to the fuselage for supersonic travel and then swing back to normal position for landing the F-111 can however and NASA is using this plane to provide much of the experience needed to study the variable sweep characteristics of SuperSonic transports to study speeds in excess of 3500 mph the Hypersonic X15 rocket airplane is used the usual jet black X15 took on a new appearance this year as it was painted with a special ablative coating to withstand the Searing heat Beyond Mach 7 on October 3rd major William Knight set a new speed record with the newly painted rocket plane 4,534 mph as usual the X15 is carried aof by a giant B-52 when the desired altitude is reached the X15 drops away and Maneuvers on its own major Knight and all the test pilots at the flight Research Center mourned the recent death of major Michael J Adams in a fatal crash of one of the x15s the first fatality since the program began in 1959 a so-called hl10 lifting body was successfully tested this year at the flight Research Center lifting bodycraft are being studied as one possible means of flying future spacecraft back to Earth after a mission rather than parachuting into the ocean their stubby design will allow an astronaut to maneuver his spaceship back through the Earth's atmosphere and then land like a conventional airplane jet aircraft noise is a national problem NASA's effort is part of a nationwide program with other government agencies and Industry is three-fold while studies are going on to improve existing engines the Lewis Research Center in Cleveland is designing a completely new engine designed to be quiet across the country at NASA's as Research Center in California a specially instrumented jet is being operated in a way to decrease the ground exposure to noise this involves flying the plane in at a steep approach and letting the distance reduce the noise on the ground eventually All the known noise control techniques will be combined in an effort to produce a truly quiet engine 1968 is a better year for NASA America in effect wins the space race when three American astronauts safely orbit the Moon NASA does planetary studies too the moon not nearly as mysterious as it used to be has been photographed landed on dug into and chemically sampled surveyor 7 was the last in a series series of unmanned spacecraft to land there reflecting on surveyor contributions Dr William Pickering director NASA's jet propulsion laboratory surveyor accomplished everything that we had hoped for from that mission five out of the seven surveyors which were launched landed successfully on the surface of the Moon and operated on the surface uh with the surveyor photograph we were able to show that um Landing a man spacecraft on the moon is quite a reasonable undertaking uh in and in fact that the man will be able to walk on the surface of the Moon without danger of falling through or sinking into the dust at any great depth uh we were able to measure the bearing strength of the surface we were able to get the general appearance of the surface to point out that there were that uh in certain areas of the moon at least there were not very many large rocks which have to be contended with uh but there were of course numerous smaller and smaller craters we also found the first chemical analysis of the surface of the Moon by Professor turkovich his experiment and this showed that in the areas that we landed the rocks or the surface material rather was very similar to a bassal here on the earth uh we were also able to dig in the surface and get an idea of the uh of the feel of the surface as uh we went down a little bit below the surface uh for a matter of a few inches uh the uh material is is very much like a soft sand to dig in JPL is also applying its scientific knowhow to Mars flying by initially landing and testing in the future the experimental model of a wheel-shaped planetary landing craft is one of several Landers being [Music] considered in an effort to learn more about the possibility of Life on Mars the lab again sent a scientific team to the Antarctic carefully collected soil samples in this and other desert areas were returned and subjected to rigorous analysis the sun seething and turbulent affecting every living thing on Earth by studying it we can learn more about our own environment interplanetary Pioneer spacecraft are doing just that two were launched in 1968 at one point in their Voyage millions of miles into space they pass directly behind the Sun the data being returned is helping improve weather forecasting and adding a measure of protection to moonbound astronauts by forecasting solar [Music] activity also helping us learn more about the Earth's environment orbiting geophysical Observatory Ogo 5 by studying such things as our magnetic field and radiation belt solar flares and solar wind we gain new insight into the complex Earth Sun relationship radio astronomy Explorer one of five Explorer type spacecraft launched here Dr John Finley chairman us lunar and planetary missions board explains its job an important project of the off of Space Science and applications this year is the radio astronomy Explorer satellite while Grand based radio telescopes such as this 140t instrument can observe at the short radio wavelengths the radio astronomy Explorer will make its measurements at wavelengths of several hundred m in fact Beyond the Edge of the radio window from the results of this satellite we shall make maps of the brightness of the radio sky and these will help us find out how our own Galaxy generates and radiates radio waves the heaviest and most sophisticated satellite to be launched in 1968 was the orbiting astronomical Observatory o AO the Earth's atmosphere limits and distorts the Stars viewed by astronomers from the ground but oao rises above all this its 11 telescopes are viewing the stars with a Clarity never before possible mapping the skies and providing a better understanding of the origin of the solar system and universe shortly after launch Nimbus B an experimental weather satellite plunged into the Pacific just off the coast of California when a gyroscope malfunctioned divers recovered two valuable nuclear power generators about 300 ft [Music] down Advanced research and Technology moved ahead on many fronts in 1968 the wingless hl10 lifting body made 13 flights including two with sustained rocket propulsion the flat iron shaped craft gets its aerodynamic lift from the wingless body shape lifting bodies show promise as reusable spacecraft to the Future spacecraft that can land like conventional airplanes [Music] after 9 years and nearly 200 flights to the edge of space the rocket powered X15 program was brought to a close with eight final flights in 1968 the half plane half rocket X15 has been a unique flying test bed for researching Aeronautics and Space [Music] problems [Music] the giant xv70 flying at three times the speed of sound made 13 research flights Gathering data for use in the development of large supersonic aircraft NASA also conducted extensive flight studies on several types of vertical takeoff and Landing planes Vall as they are called are craft that can rise vertically then fly forward like any other airplane valls May one day be used as inter city transports improving short Hall air [Music] transportation much aeronautical research is done with models in this particular test a highly instrumented model is dropped from a helicopter then flown by radio control from the ground this type of study makes the most rigorous test possible without endangering valuable [Music] planes jet aircraft noise is a continuing National problem NASA has been attacking the problem in two ways first by attempting to design a new quieter engine and second by modifying existing engines so they make less noise on this plane engineers at the Lewis Research Center in Cleveland are trying out very ious engine modifications to determine the effect on the plane's [Music] performance it has been found that by cutting grooves in airport runways planes landing on rain soaked surfaces can land with less chance of skidding and stop easier these studies were continued in 1968 some of the braking tests were made with specially instrumented cars on the grooved runways the results now appear to have application to highways as well as airport landing strips at the nuclear rocket development station in Nevada NASA in cooperation with the atomic energy Commission test fired a powerful nuclear rocket reactor the tests are part of an effort to develop nuclear powered rockets for future deep space exploration Apollo can be likened to a finely tuned watch men and space machines are perfected to the highest degree possible in most cases the astronauts who fly the spacecraft train separately but concurrent with the buildup and development of the space machines themselves when brought together they must mesh smoothly there is little room for error Apollo is like this and the men who fly and the men who build know it there were four Apollo flights in 1968 two unmanned two manned all part of the preparation for moon landings Apollo 5 sent aoft to check out the lunar module it is in a lunar module that two astronauts will land and take off from the Moon both The Descent engine used to slow the spacecraft for the landing and the ascent engine which will boost the pair off the moon were successfully tested to further ready the Saturn 5 rocket and its many components the unmanned Apollo 6 was launched into Earth orbit engineering cameras on board recorded the first stage and interstage separations after 10 hours in Space the Command Module was rammed back into the Earth's atmosphere simulating a lunar return another milestone in preparing for Moon missions The Next Step check out the spacecraft with men aboard here astronauts shirra Cunningham and Eisley move about weightlessly in their Apollo 7 spacecraft this was also the First full dress rehearsal for the man space flight tracking Network 14 ground stations located in such places as Bermuda Australia Spain and Hawaii together with planes and tracking ships kept a constant electronic ear tuned to the Apollo spacecraft after 10 days and 163 revolutions Apollo 7 splashed down in the Pacific Paving the way for the first half million mile Journey to the moon and [Music] back from launch complex 39a at Kennedy Space Center the Saturn 5 rocket boosted Apollo 8 astronauts Borman Lovel and an ERS toward their rendevu with the moon the first time the big rocket was flown with men as passengers while on Route the crew kept busy checking and double-checking all systems as they sped toward the moon many of the things they did will have a direct bearing on future lunar missions nearly 3 days and 230,000 Mi later the crew of Apollo 8 fired their rocket engine placing them in lunar orbit here are some of the views recorded by the crew as they orbited the moon 10 times views from afar and close up showing remarkable detail the kind of detail needed before men land there then the cameras and spacecraft were turned toward Earth and after 3 days and the fire re-entry landed in the Pacific within sight of the recovery [Music] ship Apollo 8 final Flight of the Year historic Prelude to lunar Landings and to the peaceful exploration of space in the future those are some of the NASA highlights of 1968 during our next episode we cover the the years 1969 and 1970 when NASA lands men on the moon and returns them safely to Earth I'm Lyn [Music] bandant [Music] okay looking good Roger Clum on the roll [Music] Columbia Houston your go at 40 go [Music] [Music] 40