156
3 A Brief History of Space Flight
a manned spacecraft for orbital flight. On February 20, 1962, the astronaut John H.
Glenn by the MA-6 spacecraft Friendship-7 was successfully launched into orbit
with an altitude of 260 km, and after three circles around the Earth, the Friendship-7
returned to the ground safely, lasting for 4 h and 55 min and 23 s. As of the time, the
United States had completed a real sense of manned space flight. Since then, three
missions of the manned space flights, MA-7, MA-8 and MA-9, were conducted
sequentially, of which the longest flight duration reached 34 h and 19 min and 49 s
with 22 orbits around the Earth.
Although the advance on Project Mercury in the United States is delayed, the key
techniques of manned space flight have been verified systematically and thoroughly,
the various types of launch vehicles tested and improved, the achievements on space
medicine made, and the abundant experience of in-orbit flight accumulated, all of
which created conditions for implementing the subsequent large-scale space flight
program. At the beginning of Project Mercury, the NASA and the Space Task Group
initiated a systematic argument of the future development plan of space technology
in the United States. At that time, the manned flight around the Moon and the manned
landing on the Moon had been focused on commonly for the members of the argument
team. For this reason, based on the implementation of Project Mercury, a series of
key technologies including long-time orbit flight, space-walking and rendezvous and
docking was still required to break through. By adding an instrumental cabin, the
Space Task Group proposed an improved design for the Mercury Spacecraft, known
as MK-II plan.
During the early years of the Soviet and American race into space, their competitions were measured by headlines-making “firsts”, such as the first satellite, the first
robotic spacecraft to the Moon, the first man in space, and so on. To the dismay of the
United States, the USSR had first achieved each of these feats. For this reason, on May
25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy (1917−1963) announced before a special joint
session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely
to the Moon before the end of the decade, after which the NASA decided a much
larger organization to perform the function of the Space Task Group. As a result,
the Group was transformed into the Manned Spacecraft Center (now the Lyndon B.
Johnson Space Center), located in Houston, Texas. On the basis of the MK-II plan,
the Manned Spacecraft Center put forward a more complete spaceflight plan, Gemini
Program, whose main goals were: to test an astronaut’s ability to fly long-duration
missions (up to two weeks in space), to understand how spacecraft could rendezvous
and dock in orbit around the Earth and the Moon, to perfect re-entry and landing
methods, and to further understand the effects of longer space flights on astronauts.
On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot and killed in the City of Dallas,
Texas and subsequently, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded him. One
week later, President Johnson renamed both the Launch Operation Center and the
Cape Canaveral Auxiliary Air Force Station to the John F. Kennedy Space Center
with Executive Order 11129.
McDonnell Aircraft Corp. as a manufacturer continued to undertake the missions
of developing the Gemini Spacecrafts. The Gemini Spacecraft, similar to the Mercury
Spacecraft in shape, was an enlarged and redesigned spacecraft for two astronauts,
3 A Brief History of Space Flight
a manned spacecraft for orbital flight. On February 20, 1962, the astronaut John H.
Glenn by the MA-6 spacecraft Friendship-7 was successfully launched into orbit
with an altitude of 260 km, and after three circles around the Earth, the Friendship-7
returned to the ground safely, lasting for 4 h and 55 min and 23 s. As of the time, the
United States had completed a real sense of manned space flight. Since then, three
missions of the manned space flights, MA-7, MA-8 and MA-9, were conducted
sequentially, of which the longest flight duration reached 34 h and 19 min and 49 s
with 22 orbits around the Earth.
Although the advance on Project Mercury in the United States is delayed, the key
techniques of manned space flight have been verified systematically and thoroughly,
the various types of launch vehicles tested and improved, the achievements on space
medicine made, and the abundant experience of in-orbit flight accumulated, all of
which created conditions for implementing the subsequent large-scale space flight
program. At the beginning of Project Mercury, the NASA and the Space Task Group
initiated a systematic argument of the future development plan of space technology
in the United States. At that time, the manned flight around the Moon and the manned
landing on the Moon had been focused on commonly for the members of the argument
team. For this reason, based on the implementation of Project Mercury, a series of
key technologies including long-time orbit flight, space-walking and rendezvous and
docking was still required to break through. By adding an instrumental cabin, the
Space Task Group proposed an improved design for the Mercury Spacecraft, known
as MK-II plan.
During the early years of the Soviet and American race into space, their competitions were measured by headlines-making “firsts”, such as the first satellite, the first
robotic spacecraft to the Moon, the first man in space, and so on. To the dismay of the
United States, the USSR had first achieved each of these feats. For this reason, on May
25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy (1917−1963) announced before a special joint
session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely
to the Moon before the end of the decade, after which the NASA decided a much
larger organization to perform the function of the Space Task Group. As a result,
the Group was transformed into the Manned Spacecraft Center (now the Lyndon B.
Johnson Space Center), located in Houston, Texas. On the basis of the MK-II plan,
the Manned Spacecraft Center put forward a more complete spaceflight plan, Gemini
Program, whose main goals were: to test an astronaut’s ability to fly long-duration
missions (up to two weeks in space), to understand how spacecraft could rendezvous
and dock in orbit around the Earth and the Moon, to perfect re-entry and landing
methods, and to further understand the effects of longer space flights on astronauts.
On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot and killed in the City of Dallas,
Texas and subsequently, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded him. One
week later, President Johnson renamed both the Launch Operation Center and the
Cape Canaveral Auxiliary Air Force Station to the John F. Kennedy Space Center
with Executive Order 11129.
McDonnell Aircraft Corp. as a manufacturer continued to undertake the missions
of developing the Gemini Spacecrafts. The Gemini Spacecraft, similar to the Mercury
Spacecraft in shape, was an enlarged and redesigned spacecraft for two astronauts,