History of space mission

 Space missions are journeys by a manned or unmanned vehicle with a specific objective.

Steps

Design

A rocket and a payload would need to be deigned so that the mission's purpose can be accomplished. It should be designed with a lot of redundancies in mind to reduce the chance of a total mission failure. The engine used needs to be taken into consideration to ensure the rocket can lift off.

Production

The payload and the rocket would need to be created for the mission to even take place in the first place.

Launch

A rocket with its payload needs to be launched so that its mission can take place. It does not need to reach orbit if its mission does not require so.

Purpose time!!!

Experiments can now be carried out once launch is complete. Data can be gathered and transmitted back.

History

Sputnik-1

Sputnik-1 was the first mission to successfully launch the first satellite into orbit. It paved the way for communication and caused America to put more effort into its space program.

Vostok-1

Vostok-1 was the first mission to successfully send a person into space. It showed that humans have the ability to survive in space, and it showed off Soviet technology.

Gemini 6A/7

This mission consisted of the Gemini 6A and 7 capsules. The two capsules rendezvoused and taught the US the art of docking. It was important for the Apollo program later on.

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was the first successful moon landing. It fulfilled Kennedy's promise of a manned moon landing by 1970. It collected data and rocks on the moon as well.

Voyager missions

The Voyager 1 and 2 missions were sent to study the planets of the outer solar system. Voyager 2 was launched first and flew by all of the outer solar system planets, while Voyager 1 was launched 2 weeks later to visit Jupiter and Saturn.

Recent missions

Hubble mission

The Hubble mission launched the Hubble Space Telescope, which is simply a large reflector telescope. Its purpose is to study faraway stars and galaxies.

ISS missions

It took 30 missions to complete the construction of the International's Space Station. Its purpose is to study science in space and construct a human outpost with a permanent human presence. It is the largest man-made object orbiting the Earth.

Space Shuttles

There were 135 missions in total for the Space Shuttle. 6 shuttles were built. Only half of it was renewable and each launch was extremely expensive. However, it can launch, repair and bring down satellites from orbit.

Cassini-Huygens mission

The Cassini-Huygens mission launched in 1997 and ended in 2017. It was launched to study the Saturnian system and carried the Huygens probe, which landed on Titan in 2005. It crashed into Saturn in 2017 to prevent contamination of Saturn's moons.

Mars 2020

The Mars 2020 mission contains Perseverance, the most recent Mars rover to land on Mars.

Future missions

Artemis program

The Artemis program is NASA's new moon landing program. It would use the Space Launch System, which is basically a modified Space Shuttle booster.

R e f l e c t i o n

Today's lesson was ok. The slides were not too dense and they contained images to illustrate the concepts and ideas. The slides were not boring as well. A decent amount of text was used in the slides, but not too much was used. I learnt about the history of space missions, the steps of conducting one successfully, the terminology involved and their future. The presentation could be improved by reducing the word count and putting them over multiple slides, and reducing the number of videos and the volume level.