But the Space Shuttle program was on an entirely different technological level from Gagarin’s single orbit in a tiny capsule. STS-1 followed in the footsteps of another first in spaceflight, launching on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s mission that made him the first human to fly in space. This was truly a new beginning for spaceflight and NASA, with the realization of a decades-old dream of a reusable spaceplane that could deploy large objects from a payload bay, serve as a scientific base for orbital research, and open up space to new professionals and industries interested in the unique offerings of low-Earth orbit for science and technology.Ĭolumbia situated on the launch pad for STS-1 (NASA Photo, S81-29212). The delays and concerns meant that the first launch would be the first full test of the Space Transportation System, the completely assembled unit of solid rocket boosters, external tank, and orbiter. Commanded by space veteran and moonwalker John Young and piloted by Robert Crippen, the launch slipped two years from its originally scheduled launch in 1979 because of problems with its powerful engines and the fragile thermal protection system. The reusable spaceplane, the Space Shuttle, ushered in a new era of human spaceflight 40 years ago this week with the launch of STS-1 on April 12, 1981. Your support will help fund exhibitions, educational programming, and preservation efforts.īecome a member Wall of Honor Ways to give Host an EventĪ cutaway drawing of the major components of the Space Transportation System (NASA Photo, S81-30630). Programs Learning resources Plan a field trip Educator professional development Education monthly theme Stories Topics Collections On demand For researchersīring the Air and Space Museum to your learners, wherever you are. National Air and Space Museum in DC Udvar-Hazy Center in VA Plan a field trip Plan a group visitĭiscover our exhibitions and participate in programs both in person or virtually.īrowse our collections, stories, research, and on demand content. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in DC. Last September, NASA sent a spacecraft slamming into an asteroid with enough force to nudge it from its natural path - the first time humans altered a celestial body's motion - in a successful test of a planetary defense system.Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history. NASA in 2021 launched a spacecraft named Lucy on a 12-year expedition to study the Trojan asteroids, two large clusters of space rocks orbiting the sun ahead of and behind the path of Jupiter. The launch came two weeks after NASA accomplished a return to Earth of the largest sample of material ever collected from an asteroid's surface - the rocky near-Earth asteroid Bennu. It also marks the first dedicated NASA launch on a Falcon Heavy rocket furnished by Elon Musk's SpaceX company, and the first interplanetary mission flown by the Falcon Heavy. Other spaceflight milestones in store for the mission include a ride-along technology demonstration testing a laser-based communication system to send high-bandwidth data to Earth from beyond the moon for the first time. The spacecraft is programmed to approach Mars in May 2026 for a gravity assist intended to boost its momentum and put its trajectory on course for its final destination. Still, scientists can only guess at what Psyche looks like, Elkins-Tanton said. The asteroid, discovered in 1852 and named for the goddess of the soul in Greek mythology, is the largest of about nine known asteroids that appear from ground-based radar observations to consist largely of metal, with rocky material mixed in. Upon reaching Psyche, the probe is set to circle it in a series of gradually descending orbits, ending up a mere 40 miles (64 km) from the asteroid's surface, before finishing the mission in November 2031. "So we say, tongue-in-cheek, that we're going to outer space to explore inner space," Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche's principal investigator for NASA's mission partner Arizona State University, told a briefing for reporters on Tuesday. Earth's molten center is too deep and too hot to ever be examined directly. Its objective is to gain greater understanding of the formation of Earth and other rocky planets that are built around cores of molten metal. The first asteroid of its kind chosen for study at close range by spacecraft, Psyche is believed to consist largely of iron, nickel, gold and other metals, with a collective hypothetical monetary value placed at 10 quadrillion dollars.īut the mission has nothing to do with space mining, according to scientists.
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