This Is How the Apollo Program Began

Key Takeaways

in the shadow of the atomic bomb science and politics became entwined and as World War two progressed countries began to capitalize on the power of technology this shift in wartime strategy gave way to rapid advancements in weaponry like the development of the world's first long-range self-guided ballistic missile and unlike those before it this rocket had the potential to go to space and its creation would ultimately lead to a man on the moon [Music] in the final years of the war Nazi scientists successfully tested the v2 rocket the world's most sophisticated missile and the first man-made object to cross the Karman line which is commonly represented as the start of space when the war ended in 1945 the new world powers were dead set on acquiring the Nazis v2 technology this man Wernher von Braun who's known as the brains behind the rocket he along with other Nazi scientists surrendered to the Americans and were transported to the US under a top-secret project known as Operation Paperclip the Germans were put to work helping American scientists design and build military missiles that would ultimately be used in the beginnings of the space program meanwhile Soviet scientists were repurposing the remains of Nazi rockets and they were working much faster than the Americans by the mid-1950s the USSR developed an intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a multi-stage design and a multi engine propulsion system making it capable of reaching orbit today a new moon is in the sky a 23 inch metal sphere placed in orbit by a Russian rocket on October 4th 1957 the Soviet Union used its new missile to launch the first artificial satellite into space you are hearing the actual signals transmitted by the earth circling satellite the satellite known as Sputnik sent a wave of paranoia over the United States its Cold War enemy now had a vantage point from space increasing the fear of a nuclear attack always remember a flash of an atomic bomb can come at any time no matter where you may be the space race had officially begun the u.s. quickly tried to match the Soviet success by launching the Vanguard satellite but the rocket only made it about a meter off the ground before it's embarrassing explosion earning the nickname flop Nick now in full Sputnik crisis mode the government shifted its priority to the space race president dwight d eisenhower accelerated the 1958 launch of Explorer 1 the first u.s. satellites reach space and established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration within 11 days NASA launched its first spacecraft and within six months it announced the United States first manned space program Project Mercury had three objectives orbit of manned spacecraft around Earth investigate man's ability to function in space and recover both man and spacecraft safely in late 1950s these were seemingly improbable tasks considering this was all happening around the same time the first computer hard disk was used the electric printer was invented and this was considered a revolutionary toy needless to say technology had a long way to go on top of that NASA's first astronauts had never actually been to space they did however meet all the other necessary qualifications for a job that hadn't been done before candidates were all military pilots were highly educated and physically fit and they were the right height and weight to squeeze into the one man mercury spacecraft the seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury were painted as American heroes and for country inundated with a fear of nuclear attack they provided much-needed hope and distraction after a series of errors tests and a brave chimp named ham in May 1961 astronaut Alan Shepard became the second human in space the u.s. came up short again less than one month earlier Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to complete an orbital mission but the trajectory of the space race was about to change I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth under pressure to catch up to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War President John F Kennedy set an ambitious deadline and from that moment forward NASA's human spaceflight efforts were guided by a single NASA's second man in space program acted as a bridge to the moon project Gemini had four main objectives test and astronauts ability to fly in long-duration missions understand how spacecraft could rendezvous and dock and orbit perfect reentry and landing methods and further understand the effects of longer spaceflight on astronauts we have ignition sequence start all the while Project Mercury was achieving major milestones and on February 20th 1962 astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth by 1965 the first crew Germany mission took flight the missions to follow said a series of firsts not just for the United States but for the world a new race was on for the United States but now was a race against time in under five years NASA needed to land a man on the moon the Apollo program would become one of the country's biggest challenges costing billions of dollars and risking dozens of lives but if the decades of war and innovation leading up to this moment proved anything is that some of the biggest breakthroughs unfolding pressure is at its highest and just like the challenges before it Apollo would redefine the boundaries of possibility taking humanity on a ride to an entirely new world seeker is going back in time to look at the missions that led us to the moon make sure to subscribe to watch all of our Apollo episodes and if you want to learn more about space check out this playlist thanks for watching seeker