by Mark Ollig
It began Jan. 7, 1958, as a US House
resolution “to provide research into problems of flight within and outside the
Earth’s atmosphere, and for other purposes.”
This introduction to US HR
12575, by the 85th Congress of the United States of America, established the
National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958.
President Dwight D.
Eisenhower signed his approval to HR 12575 July 29, 1958.
HR 12575 listed many
objectives, such as the expansion of human knowledge, and the improvement of
space vehicles carrying living organisms through space.
Section 102 (c) objective
5 states “The preservation of the role of the United States as a leader in
aeronautical and space science and technology.”
In 1958, many felt, and
with good reason – the United States was not preserving or leading in space
exploration.
One year earlier, Russia
shocked the US and the world by placing the first artificial satellite into
Earth orbit.
Oct. 4, 1957, Russia
successfully launched an Earth-orbiting satellite atop an R-7 Semyorka rocket.
The R-7 is a Russian
Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile without the military warhead
attachment.
Instead of a nuclear
warhead, the rocket carried into space a payload called PS-1, better known as
Sputnik 1.
Sputnik means “traveling
companion.”
Sputnik 1 orbited the
Earth once every 92 minutes, at a speed of 18,000 mph, from a height of 139
miles.
The Sputnik 1 satellite
was a metallic, 23-inch-diameter orb made of an aluminum-magnesium-titanium
combination weighing 184 pounds.
Throughout October 1957,
the public became fixated listening to the repeating radio signal pattern of
“beep-beep-beep-beep” being transmitted to Earth by Sputnik 1.
Sputnik’s radio
transmissions were listened to by those around the world through their radios
and televisions.
People on the ground
looked up into the night sky and saw a bright globe quickly traveling over
their heads. It was Sputnik. Sunlight reflected off its highly-polished surface
as it sped across the dark, star-filled sky.
While Sputnik orbited
above their heads, the emotions many Americans were feeling ranged from shock
and amazement to being downright frightened and alarmed.
The population worried the
next Soviet rocket might carry a nuclear warhead, which could be dropped on the
United States.
After all, it was 1957,
and the US and Soviet Union were in the middle of the Cold War.
One minute of recorded
Sputnik 1 radio signal beeps can be heard at http://tinyurl.com/2u9b49.
Sputnik 2 was launched
Nov. 3, 1957, and instead of carrying a nuclear warhead, it transported a
living animal, a dog named Laika, into Earth orbit.
American citizens were now
placing tremendous political pressure on Congress for the United States “to do
something dramatic.”
And so, they did.
Friday, Dec. 6, 1957, the
United States placed a 3.25-pound, 6-inch sphere satellite into the nose of a
72-foot-tall US Navy Vanguard rocket in its first attempt to launch its own
satellite into Earth orbit.
At launch, the Vanguard
rose 4 feet off the ground – fell, and exploded into an orange ball of flames
on the Cape Canaveral launch pad at 10:45 a.m. CST.
In addition to the
embarrassment of the launch failure, the explosion caused the satellite to
detach and be thrown a short distance away, where it began to transmit radio
signals while lying on the ground.
The front page of the Dec.
6, 1957, afternoon Minneapolis Star read “U.S. Satellite Rocket Explodes on
Ground.” Beneath the headline was a UP Telephoto of the exploding Vanguard
rocket.
Not to be deterred,
America came back and successfully launched its first Earth-orbiting satellite,
called Explorer 1, Jan. 31, 1958.
A Jupiter-C-modified Army
Redstone rocket was used to get Explorer 1 into Earth orbit.
“U.S. Satellite Spins in
Orbit” was the front-page headline of the Feb. 1, 1958, Minneapolis Star
newspaper.
Experimental instruments
onboard Explorer 1 confirmed charged particles were suspended in space by
Earth’s magnetic field.
These charged particles
are known as the Van Allen Belts.
During the past 60 years,
NASA has sent 115 satellites into Earth-orbit to study our planet.
The National Aeronautics
and Space Act of 1958 officially launched (sorry for the pun) the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Oct. 1, 1958.
NASA was America’s
response to the growing Russian Soviet space program.
The rest, as they say, is
history.
NASA’s roots can be traced
back to March 3, 1915, and a US government agency called the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).
NACA was established
during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson to “supervise and direct the scientific
study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.”
Orville Wright was a
member of NACA from 1920 to 1948. He and his brother, Wilbur, are famously
known for successfully flying the first airplane called the Wright Flyer, Dec.
17, 1903.
All of NACA’s aerospace
personnel and technical assets were transferred to NASA Oct. 1, 1958.
Historical images from NACA
can be seen at https://go.nasa.gov/2xMMwyz.
A piece of fabric and
spruce wood from the Wright Flyer was taken to the moon during NASA’s July 1969
Apollo 11 mission. Check it out at https://s.si.edu/2NzSgX3.
The National Aeronautics
and Space Act of 1958 can be viewed at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/299868.
Happy 60th birthday, NASA.
You arrived into the world one day before I did.
