America In Space (1963)

then the day begins quietly for some it starts early in a federal agency that today marks its first five full years of accomplishment this is nasa the national aeronautics and space administration as the day begins at nasa headquarters in Washington Dawn comes to the capital Canaveral NASA's launch operation center begins a new day at other NASA stations far to the west it is still night signals from satellites in space are being monitored for later study NASA's anniversary comes quietly yet these five years have been memorable exciting most Americans can remember the Rockets climbing into the sky with their cargoes of instruments or of men and a nation's pride in its new achievements in space and the tribute offered to that new man the astronaut they remember anxious moments too as search planes under the capsule returned from space what America achieved in those first five years of the civilian space program was done openly a nation dedicated to freedom of inquiry could not do otherwise these were the years Americans learn new words liftoff sin Cobb Tyros fly-by-wire if our successes were spectacular so were the failures failure itself was studied closely patiently progress into space must come step by step to NASA facilities like goddard space flight center came research scientists americans and visitors from other nations they saw programs that investigate fundamental physical phenomena an indication of NASA's increasing role in the advancement of basic knowledge from these centers across the nation NASA's Space Program is guided and directed in five years the world has been dotted with a network of tracking stations that monitor space probes unmanned satellites and our astronauts in orbit the status and position of every space vehicle and a mass of other scientific data are transmitted from the tracking stations to control centers all of these facilities are staffed by engineers scientists and technicians already veterans of the Space Age from these ingredients of knowledge and skill of facilities and equipment of a guiding organization America's achievements in space have been created they began more than five years ago when America's first satellite explorer one rose from its launching pad it carried into orbit the means for performing an historic scientific experiment one that first revealed the Earth's belt of radiation it has been followed by well over 100 spacecraft launched by the United States satellites and space probes on scientific missions are the vehicles for experiments by the earthbound investigator here is the space probe mariner 2 shortly before it's 1962 launching on and historic flight to venus for 109 days mariner transmitted back to earth continuous data on conditions in space then at a distance of 36 million miles it sent back important data on the planet Venus our record-breaking achievement one of the scientific satellites the orbiting solar observatory has provided precise information about the Sun and the effect of its radiations on the upper atmosphere the satellites in the space probes have given man new tools to study the mysteries of the universe where before he could only wonder and speculate other satellites some of them closer to Earth are solving practical problems in the field of communications the first to go up was echo a giant balloon it provided a surface in space from which radio signals were reflected telstar privately financed and NASA launched and relay NASA's own satellite heralded a new era in global communication their first transmissions dramatize the future a permanent system of communication satellites sin com a satellite that maintains an almost fixed position over the earth represents another approach here messages are received from sin cow hanging 22,000 miles overhead the weather satellite tyros mounting two cameras and a television tape system returns photographs to earth on command kairos photographs of cloud cover are valuable aids in discovering the growth of storms and in plotting basic weather patterns but no satellite however complex has the power of observation and understanding possessed by man himself there is no substitute for manned flight into space in the famous x-15 NASA continued a development in rocket-powered aircraft extending back over 15 years over a hundred times the x-15 has climbed above our atmosphere it was the first craft to demonstrate that man can fly into space control his flight during reentry and select his landing point within a thousand feet Project Mercury the manned orbital spaceflight program selected seven pilots after intensive screening of many candidates skin-diving was one part of an elaborate program to train them for flight into space and a safe return they studied the navigation the engineering the physical problems of space flight they learn the sheer ability of the human body to withstand high temperatures and experienced other punishing stresses of a journey out of this world even zero gravity that peculiar property of space flight was sampled in an aircraft flying a controlled arc finally the long program of training development and testing was completed opening the major phase of Project Mercury there were suborbital flights by astronauts Shepard and Grissom then in February 1962 John Glenn Road this Atlas rocket into space for a three orbit flight around the earth project mercury moved into high gear within three months another successful flight was completed by astronaut scott Carpenter then a six orbit flight by a Scott water schirra in May 1963 when Gordon Cooper returned to the earth after a flight of 22 orbits American space flight reached a state of high precision Project Mercury was completed but it was only a first step toward the goal that now lay ahead avoids to the moon and return by 1970 it would be an historic achievement with immense practical consequences but the technical problems dwarf those solved in Project Mercury demanding absolute precision and orbiting and new techniques for rendezvous docking and landing first comes project Gemini unlike mercury two men will fly geminii in orbit for up to two weeks practicing space rendezvous and docking geminii capsules are now being built and tested Apollo the three-man craft that will actually go to the moon is also undergoing a long period of test this is Saturn first of the family of giant boosters that will lift man to the moon and beyond product of more than five years of intensive research and development Saturn undergone two major flight tests on this day we moved at least one step closer to the moon visiting Cape Canaveral are the new astronauts the men who will join the original seven and ride the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft they are the new pioneers of space but their path has already been charted by those who have gone before for these first five years have been a sustained effort an effort that has broken through the first barriers to man's exploration of space because of this first giant step the cosmos opens itself to man's investigation what will he discover on these journeys already he has seen the earth as never before in his history and viewed parts of the universe with new clarity perhaps now he'll discover clues to the origin of life itself and through them a glimpse of its purpose and his own these five years have seen the first bold steps forward today experienced tested capable we look with confidence toward the future and our path to the stars