Transilvania University of Brasov

Languages and Literatures Faculty, Applied Modern Languages

Project
regarding the

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA)

Student: Mustata Mihai, AR, gr. 17B

Coordinating teacher: PhD Andreea Pîrnuta

Abstract: NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an executive branch agency of the
United States government, responsible for the nation’s civilian space program and aeronautics and space
research. Since it was funded, in 1958, NASA has conducted numerous high-altitude test flights, extra-
terrestrial space flights, moon landings, Mars landings (unmanned semi-automated probes) and research
on other planets from our solar system. Also, the agency is involved in high research regarding micro-
gravity, zero gravity, ozone depletion and long term living in a zero-gravity environment. Currently,
NASA is more focused on the assembly of the ISS – International Space Station, with help from the ESA
– European Space Agency, RKA – Russian Federal Space Agency, JAXA – Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency and CSA – the Canadian Space Agency. Further on, a return to the Moon and a mission to Mars
are taken into consideration, both with human crew.

Key words: Earth, space, moon, spacecraft, gravity, solar system, exploration, flight, government,
universe, technology, research.

Introduction:
NASA's mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics
research.

To do that, thousands of people have been working around the world -- and off of it -- for 50 years, trying
to answer some basic questions: “What's out there in space? How do we get there? What will we find?
“Can we learn there, or learn just by trying to get there, that will make life better here on Earth?”

Chapter 1. A little history

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958,
partially in response to the Soviet Union's launch of the first artificial satellite the previous year. NASA
grew out of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), which had been researching
flight technology for more than 40 years.
President John F. Kennedy focused NASA and the nation on sending astronauts to the moon by the end of
the 1960s. Through the Mercury and Gemini projects, NASA developed the technology and skills it
needed for the journey. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first of 12 men to
walk on the moon, meeting Kennedy's challenge.

Meanwhile, NASA was continuing the aeronautics research pioneered by NACA. It also conducted
purely scientific research and worked on developing applications for space technology, combining both
pursuits in developing the first weather and communications satellites.

After Apollo, NASA focused on creating a reusable ship to provide regular access to space: the space
shuttle. First launched in 1981, the space shuttle has had 120 successful flights. In 2000, the United States
and Russia established permanent human presence in space aboard the International Space Station, a
multinational project representing the work of 16 nations.

NASA also has continued its scientific research. In 1997, Mars Pathfinder became the first in a fleet of
spacecraft that will explore Mars in the next decade, as we try to determine if life ever existed there. The
Terra and Aqua satellites are flagships of a different fleet, this one in Earth orbit, designed to help us
understand how our home world is changing. NASA's aeronautics teams are focused on improved aircraft
travel that is safer and cleaner.

Throughout its history, NASA has conducted or funded research that has led to numerous improvements
to life here on Earth.

Chapter 2. Conquering the Moon

From ancient times, the human species dreamed about leaving Earth, venturing into unknown space and
discovering new life forms and habitable places. In 1950’s this dream was on the verge of becoming real.
After many tests and failed projects, on 12 April 1961 the USSR managed to send Yuri Gagarin in space
using the Vostok 1 spacecraft. Gagarin, successfully made one orbit around Earth and survived the re-
entry in the planet’s atmosphere.
On May 5, 1961, Mercury Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, blasted off in his Freedom 7 capsule atop a
Mercury-Redstone rocket. His 15-minute sub-orbital flight made him the first American in space.

The American government had fears about being left behind in a technological competition with the
Soviet Union. On 25 May 1961, John F. Kennedy assigned a task to NASA, a challenging, almost
impossible one, in some analyst’s opinion, considering the fact that the United States had not even
launched a man in space before.

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not
because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure
the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are
unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

John F. Kennedy (25 May 1961)

To facilitate this goal, NASA expanded the existing manned space flight program in December 1961 to
include the development of a two-man spacecraft with limited supplies of water and oxygen. The program
was officially designated Gemini on January 3, 1962.

The Gemini Program was a necessary intermediate step between Project Mercury and the Apollo
Program, and had four objectives:

 To subject astronauts to long duration flights- a requirement for projected later trips to the moon
or deeper space;
 To develop effective methods of rendezvous and docking with other orbiting vehicles, and to
maneuver the docked vehicles in space;
 To perfect methods of reentry and landing the spacecraft at a pre-selected land-landing point;

 To gain additional information concerning the effects of weightlessness on crew members and to
record the physiological reactions of crew members during long duration flights
As a further response to Kennedy’s bold goal for NASA, the Apollo program was funded. Project
Apollo's goals went beyond landing Americans on the Moon and returning them safely to Earth. They
included:

 Establishing the technology to meet other national interests in space.

 Achieving preeminence in space for the United States.
 Carrying out a program of scientific exploration of the Moon.
 Developing man's capability to work in the lunar environment.

In 1966, having only four years left to meet the objective assigned by Kennedy, NASA started the tests of
the Apollo Space Modules. Unmanned spacecrafts were launched in Low Earth Orbit (around 300-450
km) to verify the interconnection between the modules, boosters, life support systems and
communications. After a few tragic, but useful drawbacks, such as the destruction of the Apollo 1
spacecraft and the loss of three astronauts during a test in 1977, spacecraft Apollo 7 was the first to carry
a human crew on a long-term trip within Low Earth Orbit.

Soon, Apollos 8, 9 and 10 followed. These were build not to land on the moon, but to test the reliability
and spaceflight’s characteristics of the modules themselves. Apollos 7 and 9 tested spacecraft in Earth
orbit; Apollo 10 orbited the moon as the dress rehearsal for the first landing.

After eight years of hard work by thousands of Americans the mankind’s biggest dream accomplished.
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 made contact with the lunar soil. Commander Neil Armstrong stepped out of
the lunar module and took stepped in the Sea of Tranquility, pronouncing the words “That's one small
step for man. One giant leap for mankind.". Approximately one fifth of the population of the world
watched the live transmission of the first Apollo moonwalk.
Besides Apollo 11, another five spacecrafts landed on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. Apollos 12, 14,
15, 16 and 17 went on to land on the moon to study soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic activity, heat
flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields and solar wind. An oxygen tank explosion forced Apollo 13 to scrub
its landing, but the "can-do" problem solving of the crew and mission control turned the mission into a
"successful failure".

Apollo 17, launched December 7, 1972, was the last Apollo mission to the moon. Mission commander
Eugene Cernan was the last person to leave the Moon's surface. The crew returned safely to Earth on
December 19, 1972. Also, three more moon landings were planned, Apollo 18, 19 and 20, but were
cancelled, in order to preserve the already thinned NASA budget. The whole program had a tremendous
impact on the United States budget, costing roughly $25,4 billion until 1973. In a deep Congress analysis
presented in 2009, NASA estimated that until 2005, the whole Apollo program, including research and
development had cost the United States about $170 billion.

The 381,7 kg of Moon rocks returned to Earth helped the scientists to better understand how Earth’s only
natural satellite was formed. After detailed studies, it turned out that these rocks were extremely older
than similar rocks on Earth. This led to many previous theories regarding the Moon’s creation being
disassembled, and several new theories to be formed. One of the most supported hypothesis is that the
Moon was created through a "giant impact" of a large astronomical body with the Earth.

Chapter 4. The Space Shuttle

In the late 60’s, the US Air Force conducted a series of studies on next-generation space transportation
vehicles and concluded that a new, re-usable type of carriers was needed. The plans for such a spacecraft
were already layed out in the 1950’s. After much analysis, in December 1969, US President Richard
Nixon gave the green light for the development of the space shuttle.

After a decade of multiple designs, tests and improvements, in 1979, the first vehicle of its class –
Columbia shuttle – was ready for the final tests. It arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for its first launch
in November 1980. The Space Shuttle itself is in many ways similar to an aircraft, although it has Delta-
shape wings and three thrusters in the rear section.

The Space Shuttle assembly on launch was formed by the shuttle itself, an orange hydrogen External
Tank located underneath, from which the shuttle’s engines were fueled when launched, and two
additional Solid Rocket Boosters on each side of the spacecraft. After launch, the Solid Rocket Boosters,
which provide about 82% of the force necessary to liftoff, are separated from the shuttle at an altitude of
46 km. After that, they fly on their own until the remaining fuel is depleted, at an altitude of about 67 km,
when the parachutes are deployed. They are salvaged from the ocean to be refurbished and reused. On the
other hand, the External Tank attached to the belly of the shuttle is separated much later, in orbit, and it
burns as it enters the atmosphere.
On April 12 1981, Columbia made its maiden flight, being launched in Low Earth Orbit and, after
orbiting the Earth 36 times, it landed on the dry lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 1982, Challenger, the second space shuttle was completed. Its first flight was in 1983. It quickly
became the workhorse of NASA's Space Shuttle fleet, flying far more missions per year than Columbia.
In 1983 and 1984, Challenger flew on 85% of all Space Shuttle missions. This was largely due to it’s
larger payload capacity.

In 1984 and 1985, another two shuttles were ready for use, Discovery and Atlantis. United States now had
a fleet of four space shuttles, and everything seemed perfect. Nasa’s scientists were already having glimps
on space and moon colonization, and, why not, even other planets.

But on January 28, 1986, in Challenger’s tenth mission, disaster struck. In the second minute of STS 51-
L, while rising in Earth’s atmosphere, Challenger exploded, killing the seven-man crew onboard .The
investigation that naturally occurred concluded that a Solid Booster malfunction caused the accident. This
malfunction could have been avoided if the launch had been done in a warmer weather.

The accident led to a two-and-a-half year grounding of the shuttle fleet, with missions resuming in 1988
with the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. Challenger itself was replaced by the Space
Shuttle Endeavour, which first launched in 1992. Endeavour was constructed from spare parts originally
meant for Challenger and the other shuttles in the fleet.

Throughout the 90’s the space shuttles have carried out many important missions, deploying satellites,
probes, the Hubble Telescope, and have played a crucial role in the building and maintenance of the
International Space Station. The Space Shuttle program was conducted over a period of 17 years without
any incidents.

On February 1 2003, the whole American nation stunned once again when Columbia disintegrated over
Texas, during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. The investigation revealed that this disaster occurred
due to a piece of foam that broke off from the External Tank and damaged the shuttle’s thermic shield.
The External tank is shielded in foam as an insulator to prevent ice forming on it while it contains oxygen
and hydrogen.

All American space flights were stopped as a result, leaving the Russian Progress unmanned spacecraft to
supply the ISS. Also, Soyuz modules were used to rotate the crew on the ISS, until NASA deeply
investigated the stages that led to Columbia’s disintegration and modified the remaining shuttles to avoid
similar disasters.

On 25 July 2005, after two and a half years from the incident, Discovery was launched to replace the ISS
crew. A similar piece of foam also broke off at launch, this time with no incidents, but NASA further
cancelled the space flights for a full year to came up with a solution.

On 4 July 2006, Discovery was once again launched to test new safety and repair techniques introduced
and to supply ISS with supplies and equipment. Its successful launch and landing led NASA to fully
resume regular Space Shuttle launches in the construction of the ISS. The Space Shuttle Program has
ended for shuttle Atlantis, and Discovery and Endeavour still have one planned mission each. The
program is likely to end around November 2010, without further Congress approval on extension.

The contribution of the space shuttles to space exploration is priceless. Besides the experiments, the
installation of new satellites, the assembly of the ISS and the classified missions NASA made for the
Department of Defense, the shuttles have, most of all, inspired confidence in the US Space Programs,
particularly on NASA’s way of managing every operations. With a number of missions of 132 plus two
planned, and more than 2.5 million parts, the Space Shuttle has been called the most complex machine yet
created by humanity.
 Chapter 5. Unmanned NASA Missions

In the last 50 years, NASA conducted 12 unmanned space programs and launched no less than 45 space
probes, rovers or orbiters, with a rate of success of 47%. Most of them failed at launch.

5.1 The Pioneer Program

Between 1958 and 1979, within the Pioneer program, 19 unmanned probes were developed, but only 8 of
them actually accomplished their missions; the remaining ones were either not launched, destroyed at
launch, crashed into the moon or missed their targets because of wrong calculations.

Pioneer 6, 7, 8 and 9 were launched with the mission to analyze the so-called space winds between the
Sun and Earth and to warn humanity in case of a solar storm. In 1983, Pioneer 9 stopped transmitting, but
6, 7 and are still functional today.

Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, launched in 1972 and 1973 were designed to fly towards Jupiter and Saturn, to
analyze the planets, and after that to further continue their journey towards the edge of the Solar System.
Currently, the probes have leaved it and are exploring the deep void between the solar systems.

Pioneer Venus was a program initialized in 1976 with the sole purpose of investigating planet Venus. The
program relied on two unmanned spacecrafts: the Venus Orbiter and the Venus Multiprobe, both
launched in 1978. Venus Multiprobe was practically a bus carrying 4 probes that were to be launched in
Venus atmosphere to measure miscellaneous data, eventually crashing into the surface. The bus itself was
also designed to crash into the planet once all the relevant data from the probes were transmitted to Earth.
The Venus Orbiter, on the other hand, continued to transmit until 1992.
 5.2 The Mariner Program
The space probes Mariner 1, 2, 5 and 10 were intended to fly to Venus. Unfortunately, Mariner 1 was
destroyed in Earth’s atmosphere by the US Air Forces because of a damaged shuttle that threatened
populated areas. Mariner 2 however didn’t encountered any problems and became the first spacecraft to
fly by another planet. Also, Mariners 5 and 10 have successfully accomplished their missions to further
study Venus’ atmosphere and to determine the weather conditions on the surface.

Mariners 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 were on mission to Mars. Mariner 3 failed during transit. The remaining ones
took their missions to a successful ending. If Mariner 9 wouldn’t had been shut off, it would still transmit
data about Mars until 2022 when it would supposedly burn during entry into the atmosphere

5.3 Viking 1 and Viking 2

The Viking program consisted of two Mars Probes. Each one was formed by an orbiting spacecraft and a
surface rover. Both missions started in August and September 1975. After reaching Mars, the Orbiters
analyzed the surface to search for a proper landing site, the surface rovers detached, landed and started to
search for biological signs of life in the soil. The results of the experiments they sustained formed the
majority of NASA’s database about Mars until the late 90’s.The program was cancelled in 1983 after all
the four modules stopped functioning on various causes.

5.4 Voyager 1 & 2

In 1977, two unmanned probes were launched to do a fly-by study of Jupiter and Saturn. They performed
a near-perfect mission, which ended in 1989, when Voyager 2 did a fly-by over Neptune. Currently,
Voyager 1 and 2 are located in interstellar void, and are further going away from the solar system. The
energy reserves aboard the probes are believed to deplete around 2035, and, at that point, they will not be
able to communicate with Earth. Voyager 1 is, from the 1990’s when it overtooked Pioneer 10, the most
distant man-made object relative to Earth. Also, these two probes are the most widely-separated man-
made objects in the universe, because they are traveling in roughly opposite directions from the Sun.
 The Golden Record

Voyager 1 and 2 both carry with them a golden record that contains pictures and sounds of Earth, along
with symbolic directions for playing the record and data detailing the location of Earth. The record is
intended as a combination time capsule and interstellar message to any civilization, alien or far-future
human, that recovers either of the Voyager craft. The contents of this record were selected by a special
NASA committee.

5.5 The Modern Mars Exploration Rovers

In 1996, after more than ten years of US probes inactivity on Mars, the Mars Global Surveyor was
launched. Its mission was the mapping of the planet’s surface. The mapping process was a huge success
and, thanks to that, Mars is nowadays the best known planet in our solar system, after Earth. Between
1999 and 2001, the satellite’s photos led the flight controllers to believe that they discovered water in the
form of ice. In 2006, the spacecraft transmitted the last radio signals. After a public debate, it was
concluded that the Mars Global Surveyor had entered in a special operating mode, a safe mode – low
power mode, due to erroneous ground commands.

Mars Pathfinder

The Mars Pathfinder is a spacecraft composed of a landing base and an attributed rover. It was also
launched in 1996, with an ambitious plan regarding the landing on the martian surface. The module that
landed on 4th of July 1997, was covered by inflatable airbags which dispersed the inertial energy through
bumps. The Sojourner rover was deployed in the second day after the landing. Its mission’s goals, which
included chemical analysis of the soil and of the atmosphere, were achieved after only one month of
operations. After September 1997, signals from the expedition were no longer received by NASA.

Mars Pathfinder was the first NASA’s project from the Discovery Program, a low-cost program that was
organised under the devise “cheaper, faster and better”. This way, it was possible to send multiple probes
in outer space and other planets at lower costs; the possibility of the loss of a certain spacecraft was not
seen anymore as a tragedy, but more as a probability and a risk.
 Mars Exploration Rover

The Mars Exploration Rover is a program that consists of two rovers currently operating on the martian
surface. Spirit and Opportunity were launched in 2003, with a main mission to study the rocks, craters
and soil in search for water signs. They used a similar technology as that of the Mars Pathfinder, the
airbags deploying. In the early months of 2004, the rovers successfully landed on Mars. After the original
mission’s completion in 2005, the rovers were assigned for another five more missions. In 2009, Spirit
got stuck in the martian soil, and as of January 2010, all efforts to unstuck it were abandoned; thus, Spirit
became a static research station. As of February 2010, Opportunity is on its way to study a large crater,
after performing intense research on a smaller one. In June 2010, the rover covered about 14 miles of the
23 miles approximated distance.

5.6 Other Unmanned space programs

Beside the presented ones, NASA conducted many other programs with space probes and rovers, each
and every one of them with a unique destination and mission. The New Horizons, Galileo, Magellan and
Helios are programs that were funded by NASA through its affiliated foundations.

Chapter 6. The Hubble Space Telescope

In 1970, some of NASA scientists proposed that space telescope should be built and launched in order to
better understand the origin of the Universe and of our own solar system. Although the telescope should
have been launched in 1983, the Challenger disaster, and other budget related issues made this
impossible.

Finally, in 1990, after almost two decades of delays and setbacks, the Hubble Space Telescope was
launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Deployment and main startup processes run well, despite
the high orbit relative to Earth – about 559 km – but, as the telescope’s ground controllers later realized, it
had a major flaw in its design. A mirror that was used to focalize the main mirror was too curved, and the
first photos received from the telescope were a big disappointment. A servicing mission was planned for
December 1993, to repair and correct the $3.1 billion machinery. Later on, NASA announced that the
repair mission was a total success, and Hubble finally began transmitting stunning photos from every
corner of the universe.

Hubble was improved and modernized from time to time in order to keep up with the increasing
advancement in electronics and computers. The last known servicing mission took place in 2009, during
which several super-computers were installed and the lens system was replaced with a Carl Zeiss modern
one.

The Hubble Space Telescope had a huge positive impact on astronomy. The Hubble Deep Field and
Hubble Ultra Deep Field (photos # and #) are just some of the marvels that this telescope can capture.
Besides observing galaxies, stars, star dust clouds and black holes, it provided an important answer to the
scientists regarding the ever-expanding universe, and the rate at which this universe expands.

The Hubble Space Telescope will be decommissioned in 2015, after twenty years of service.

Chapter 7. The International Space Station

From the Early flights of the Apollo spacecrafts, NASA imagined a permanently presence of human in
space. In 1970’s, this was somehow possible, thankfully to Skylab, a fully functional first space station in
Earth’s Orbit. But it would pass another three decades until the permanent human presence in space will
be an accomplishable thing to achieve.

In 1998, the assembly of an international research facility on Low Earth Orbit began. The first module,
Zarya – a Russian scientific research module was put into orbit by an American shuttle. During 12 years,
different modules belonging to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space
Agency (ESA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
(JAXA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) were launched aboard American space shuttles and
Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets.

The International Space Station’s major role is to provide a safe environment for the astronauts that are
conducting various experiments (biological, physical, and scientific).

As of 2010, the ISS is by far the most expensive object ever constructed by man costing approx. $140
billion, and also by 2010, it will be the largest Earth’s artificial satellite.
The International Space Station is so large that it can be spotted with the naked eye, near the ecuatorial
regions.

The station’s assembly program completion will be around 2011, 2015 being the last year of service, if
the program will not be extended.

Chapter 8. NASA – Today and Tomorrow

NASA’s plans for the future are somewhat unpredictable, in the context of the space shuttle’s retirement
in 2010. In 2009, the US President Barack Obama announced that another reusable space vehicle is
currently researched by NASA. Somehow, the Congress will have to support NASA and its expensive
maintenance, despite the worldwide economical crisis.

Programs such as the Moon Base and Mars Base are already conducted, in order to advance the manned
spaceflights and to use extra-terrestrial resources. The colonization of these two (The Moon and Mars)
are also taken into consideration, although there is no viable solution to implement a large-scale
atmosphere where there isn’t one.

NASA has had and still has a great importance in the future of mankind and many mysteries in the solar
system were solved.

Bibliography:
* NASA’s official site: http://www.nasa.gov/

*Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles, author Roger E.
Bilstein, 1996

*US Human Spaceflight, a record of achievement 1961-2006, author Judith A. Rumerman, 2007

*Exploring the Unknown:  Selecting Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, author
John M. Logsdon, 1995

*Flights of Discovery: 50 Years at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, author Lane E. Wallace,
1996

*Project Apollo: The Tough Decisions, author Robert C. Seamans, Jr., 2005

*Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions, author William D.
Compton, 1989

* The New Mars: The Discoveries of Mariner 9, author(s) William K. Hartmann & OdellRaper, 1974

* Mars Wars, The rise and fall of the space exploration initiative, author Thor Hogan, 2007