Astrum | How Quick Thinking Astronauts Saved NASA and Themselves | Apollo Episode 2 @astrumspace | Uploaded March 2022 | Updated October 2024, 17 hours ago.
The NASA programs leading to Apollo, Project Mercury and Project Gemini
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Image Credits: NASA
#projectmercury #projectgemini #apollo #nasa #astrumspace #redstone
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Just like with Isaac Newton, the Apollo program did not stand alone. Its achievements would not have been possible if it had not been for the important missions that ran before it and alongside it. It built on the understanding learned from those missions, expanded on their technology, and drew on the expertise of the people who worked on them.
I’m Alex McColgan, and you’re watching Astrum. Join with me today as we examine two of those vital early programs – Project Mercury and Project Gemini – and investigate how they helped a fledgling NASA to gain a greater understanding of how to put a man on the moon. I hope by the end of this video to have earned your like and subscription.
NASA as an institution has not been around forever. It was only created in 1958, in response to the Soviet Union launching the Sputnik satellite about a year earlier. However, it’s not accurate to say that NASA was completely new, even in 1958.
When US President Eisenhower signed off on the formation of NASA, he did it by combining several already existing programs and institutions. There was the NACA (the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), the US Army’s Ballistic Missile Agency, and German scientists who had worked on ballistic missiles for Germany during World War Two. Beyond that, the US Air Force had been working on a “Man in Space Soonest” (or MISS) program, which was also given to NASA, along with some of their facilities.
These alongside other government projects provided the foundation for NASA. However, amongst all of these, there wasn’t a way to get a human into orbit.
The closest was the X-15 program of the NACA. This aeroplane was able to skim the edges of space, and in the early 1960’s broke records by flying to a height of 105.9km, and achieving speeds of over 6000 km/h. A later X-15 broke 7,200 km/h and holds the record to this day for the fastest crewed, powered aircraft. However, while this was above the Karmin line of 100km, the FAI’s definition of space, this really is the limit of an airplane. Something more would need to be developed to get a human into orbit, and ultimately to the moon.
And so, NASA began its first project to get a human properly into space – Project Mercury.
Project Mercury’s mission was a continuation of the “Man in Space Soonest” program – and as that name suggests, its objective was to get a man into Earth orbit and back again safely, ideally before the Soviet Union. This would not be an easy task. Riding a rocket into space meant an astronaut would need to deal with G-forces, intense vibrations, the risk of explosion from riding on what was basically a repurposed missile, and the threat of catastrophic burning up on re-entry. Scientists also worried about radiation once an astronaut left the atmosphere, and even micrometeors striking the ship. While some of these threats proved to be negligible (the odds of being hit by a meteor turned out to be very small), the rest were very real dangers to a human life.
The rockets NASA used for Project Mercury were the Redstone rocket, which was later replaced by the Atlas rocket. Both of these rockets were originally designed as missiles. The Redstone was a direct descendant of the German V-2 rocket developed for use in the war. When the Second World War ended, America brought German scientists over and put them to work developing American weapons and technology. Wernher von Braun, a German scientist brought over in this way, became a chief engineer at NASA, and was instrumental in helping develop the rocket technology for Project Mercury and later Apollo.
The NASA programs leading to Apollo, Project Mercury and Project Gemini
Claim your SPECIAL OFFER for MagellanTV here: try.magellantv.com/astrum. Start your free trial TODAY so you can watch "Gemini and Apollo", and the rest of MagellanTV’s science collection: magellantv.com/series/battle-for-the-moon-19571969/gemini-and-apollo
Astrum merch now available!
Apparel: teespring.com/stores/astrum-space
Metal Posters: displate.com/promo/astrum?art=5f04759ac338b
SUBSCRIBE for more videos about our other planets.
Subscribe! goo.gl/WX4iMN
Facebook! goo.gl/uaOlWW
Twitter! goo.gl/VCfejs
Astrum Spanish: bit.ly/2KmkssR
Astrum Portuguese: youtube.com/channel/UChn_-OwvV63mr1yeUGvH-BQ
Donate!
Patreon: goo.gl/GGA5xT
Ethereum Wallet: 0x5F8cf793962ae8Df4Cba017E7A6159a104744038
Become a Patron today and support my channel! Donate link above. I can't do it without you. Thanks to those who have supported so far!
Image Credits: NASA
#projectmercury #projectgemini #apollo #nasa #astrumspace #redstone
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Just like with Isaac Newton, the Apollo program did not stand alone. Its achievements would not have been possible if it had not been for the important missions that ran before it and alongside it. It built on the understanding learned from those missions, expanded on their technology, and drew on the expertise of the people who worked on them.
I’m Alex McColgan, and you’re watching Astrum. Join with me today as we examine two of those vital early programs – Project Mercury and Project Gemini – and investigate how they helped a fledgling NASA to gain a greater understanding of how to put a man on the moon. I hope by the end of this video to have earned your like and subscription.
NASA as an institution has not been around forever. It was only created in 1958, in response to the Soviet Union launching the Sputnik satellite about a year earlier. However, it’s not accurate to say that NASA was completely new, even in 1958.
When US President Eisenhower signed off on the formation of NASA, he did it by combining several already existing programs and institutions. There was the NACA (the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), the US Army’s Ballistic Missile Agency, and German scientists who had worked on ballistic missiles for Germany during World War Two. Beyond that, the US Air Force had been working on a “Man in Space Soonest” (or MISS) program, which was also given to NASA, along with some of their facilities.
These alongside other government projects provided the foundation for NASA. However, amongst all of these, there wasn’t a way to get a human into orbit.
The closest was the X-15 program of the NACA. This aeroplane was able to skim the edges of space, and in the early 1960’s broke records by flying to a height of 105.9km, and achieving speeds of over 6000 km/h. A later X-15 broke 7,200 km/h and holds the record to this day for the fastest crewed, powered aircraft. However, while this was above the Karmin line of 100km, the FAI’s definition of space, this really is the limit of an airplane. Something more would need to be developed to get a human into orbit, and ultimately to the moon.
And so, NASA began its first project to get a human properly into space – Project Mercury.
Project Mercury’s mission was a continuation of the “Man in Space Soonest” program – and as that name suggests, its objective was to get a man into Earth orbit and back again safely, ideally before the Soviet Union. This would not be an easy task. Riding a rocket into space meant an astronaut would need to deal with G-forces, intense vibrations, the risk of explosion from riding on what was basically a repurposed missile, and the threat of catastrophic burning up on re-entry. Scientists also worried about radiation once an astronaut left the atmosphere, and even micrometeors striking the ship. While some of these threats proved to be negligible (the odds of being hit by a meteor turned out to be very small), the rest were very real dangers to a human life.
The rockets NASA used for Project Mercury were the Redstone rocket, which was later replaced by the Atlas rocket. Both of these rockets were originally designed as missiles. The Redstone was a direct descendant of the German V-2 rocket developed for use in the war. When the Second World War ended, America brought German scientists over and put them to work developing American weapons and technology. Wernher von Braun, a German scientist brought over in this way, became a chief engineer at NASA, and was instrumental in helping develop the rocket technology for Project Mercury and later Apollo.
