Post 1
Path to the Stars
Part 1
Ever since both the Soviet Union and the US had set the goal to launch a satellite in the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year, the countries had been putting money and effort into that goal. The USA left the goal to the Navy and the Army, Whilst the Soviet Union left theirs to the OKB-1 engineering division, known for their ICBMs. Initially the soviet union planned their satellite to be a 1.7m wide cone, weighing 1.3 tons and having many scientific instruments. The satellite was designed to be launched on a R-7, however it soon became obvious that the launch vehicle would need to be upgraded before it could launch this large payload.
This mission would be scheduled to launch in early 1958, but it soon became apparent that the US were planning their launch a lot sooner than expected, December 1957. This caused accelerated development of a new satellite, a 58cm sphere weighing 84kg. This satellite, named Sputnik 1, was ready for launch by October, when it successfully launched into a low earth orbit. This was the start of a new era for science, the Space Race.
On the US side of the world the launch of Sputnik 1 was a great blow to national pride, as well as the launch of Sputnik 2 a month later. By December the Vanguard was ready. The first attempt occurred on the 6th, however an engine fire caused an abort. The vehicle was repaired over a 2 week period, launching on the 20th. The launch was plagued with issues, with fuel pressure dropping to about two thirds of the intended pressure, parts of the engine section being damaged during ignition and a noticeable deviation from the designated flight path. The launch operators watched from the ground as the vehicle continued in a mostly correct trajectory. However, as the vehicle crossed the sound barrier, the vehicle suddenly veered to the side, disintegrating into thousands of pieces and causing debris to fall all over Cape Canaveral.
After the US Navy had their failure, the Army had their turn. The Army Ballistic Missile Agency, directed by Wernher von Braun. Their rocket, the Juno I, was a stretched Redstone SRBM with 3 solid upper stages. In early February the first launch attempt occurred, however was lost after third stage seperation, with the root cause later determined to have been an explosion in one of the three motors.
Finally the streak of US failures ended in March of 1958, with Explorer 2 and Vanguard 1 both having successful flights into orbit, although Vanguard 1 wouldn’t last long as the 3th stage had burnt for 2s less than expected, with the 4th stage able to compensate, however that left it on a 632x102km orbit. After that orbital launches became much more regular, with 8 launch attempts occurring in the first half of 1958, 5 of which were successful including Explorer 2, Vanguard 1, Explorer 3, Sputnik 3 and Vanguard 2.
After the launch cadence for LEO picked up, the Moon was the next logical target. The first attempt to flyby the moon was by Able 1 on the 17th of August, however that mission failed due to the turbopump on the Thor core stage failing shortly into flight.
During this sudden transition of focus to space it became apparent that the US government would need a dedicated division for space related endeavours. Along came the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in late July, to control the currently scattered US space program. The first launch of this administration was Able 2, a replica mission to Able 1, however this flight made it a lot further, to second stage cutoff, where the Altair third stage separated, however failed to ignite. After this flight NASA officially changed the program name to ‘Pioneer’, with this mission being Pioneer 1 and the previous mission being Pioneer 0. Another Pioneer mission was launched, Pioneer 2, in early November, which also ended in failure.
Whilst the US were messing around with their small 32.9kg lunar missions, the Soviet Union started trying to launch the Luna E-1 series of probes, weighing in at 361kg each. The first 3 launches occurred through the end of 1958, all ending in a failure of the still unreliable R7 rocket as well as its new upper stage. Finally on the 4th launch they had a success, launching the Luna 1 probe to a lunar impact. This demonstrated the capability of the Soviet space program, proving that Sputnik wasn't a one time thing and that the US was seriously behind in the space race.
Part 1
Ever since both the Soviet Union and the US had set the goal to launch a satellite in the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year, the countries had been putting money and effort into that goal. The USA left the goal to the Navy and the Army, Whilst the Soviet Union left theirs to the OKB-1 engineering division, known for their ICBMs. Initially the soviet union planned their satellite to be a 1.7m wide cone, weighing 1.3 tons and having many scientific instruments. The satellite was designed to be launched on a R-7, however it soon became obvious that the launch vehicle would need to be upgraded before it could launch this large payload.
This mission would be scheduled to launch in early 1958, but it soon became apparent that the US were planning their launch a lot sooner than expected, December 1957. This caused accelerated development of a new satellite, a 58cm sphere weighing 84kg. This satellite, named Sputnik 1, was ready for launch by October, when it successfully launched into a low earth orbit. This was the start of a new era for science, the Space Race.
On the US side of the world the launch of Sputnik 1 was a great blow to national pride, as well as the launch of Sputnik 2 a month later. By December the Vanguard was ready. The first attempt occurred on the 6th, however an engine fire caused an abort. The vehicle was repaired over a 2 week period, launching on the 20th. The launch was plagued with issues, with fuel pressure dropping to about two thirds of the intended pressure, parts of the engine section being damaged during ignition and a noticeable deviation from the designated flight path. The launch operators watched from the ground as the vehicle continued in a mostly correct trajectory. However, as the vehicle crossed the sound barrier, the vehicle suddenly veered to the side, disintegrating into thousands of pieces and causing debris to fall all over Cape Canaveral.
After the US Navy had their failure, the Army had their turn. The Army Ballistic Missile Agency, directed by Wernher von Braun. Their rocket, the Juno I, was a stretched Redstone SRBM with 3 solid upper stages. In early February the first launch attempt occurred, however was lost after third stage seperation, with the root cause later determined to have been an explosion in one of the three motors.
Finally the streak of US failures ended in March of 1958, with Explorer 2 and Vanguard 1 both having successful flights into orbit, although Vanguard 1 wouldn’t last long as the 3th stage had burnt for 2s less than expected, with the 4th stage able to compensate, however that left it on a 632x102km orbit. After that orbital launches became much more regular, with 8 launch attempts occurring in the first half of 1958, 5 of which were successful including Explorer 2, Vanguard 1, Explorer 3, Sputnik 3 and Vanguard 2.
After the launch cadence for LEO picked up, the Moon was the next logical target. The first attempt to flyby the moon was by Able 1 on the 17th of August, however that mission failed due to the turbopump on the Thor core stage failing shortly into flight.
During this sudden transition of focus to space it became apparent that the US government would need a dedicated division for space related endeavours. Along came the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in late July, to control the currently scattered US space program. The first launch of this administration was Able 2, a replica mission to Able 1, however this flight made it a lot further, to second stage cutoff, where the Altair third stage separated, however failed to ignite. After this flight NASA officially changed the program name to ‘Pioneer’, with this mission being Pioneer 1 and the previous mission being Pioneer 0. Another Pioneer mission was launched, Pioneer 2, in early November, which also ended in failure.
Whilst the US were messing around with their small 32.9kg lunar missions, the Soviet Union started trying to launch the Luna E-1 series of probes, weighing in at 361kg each. The first 3 launches occurred through the end of 1958, all ending in a failure of the still unreliable R7 rocket as well as its new upper stage. Finally on the 4th launch they had a success, launching the Luna 1 probe to a lunar impact. This demonstrated the capability of the Soviet space program, proving that Sputnik wasn't a one time thing and that the US was seriously behind in the space race.
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