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Apollo’s Legacy
Space is for everybody. It’s not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That’s our new frontier out there.
—Christa McAuliffe, teacher and Challenger astronaut
After the Apollo program ended, NASA launched a series of unmanned spacecraft to explore the solar system. Robot spacecraft flew by and collected data from Mercury, Mars, Neptune, Jupiter, and Saturn. NASA also built a space station as a science and engineering laboratory.
Skylab
NASA launched Skylab, America’s first space station, on May 14, 1973, with one of the leftover Saturn V rockets from the Apollo program. Skylab orbited Earth while three-man crews tested how weightlessness affected their muscles and body systems for extended periods. They also conducted scientific experiments in solar astronomy, life sciences, and Earth studies. The first team of astronauts lived and worked on the space station for twenty-eight days. The second crew spent fifty-nine days in space, and the third crew lived in space for eighty-four days. Besides the crew, Skylab carried mice, spiders, and fish into space to test the effects of weightlessness on animals.
The three Skylab crews conducted nearly three hundred experiments in space.
From Competition to Cooperation
The space race began as a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. It ended in a spirit of cooperation between the two nations. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project brought the two superpowers together in the vastness of space. On July 17, 1975, three American astronauts in the final Apollo command module met two Soviet cosmonauts in a Soyuz spacecraft and flew in orbit around Earth.
The spacecraft moved close to each other, and their crews took photographs. Then Apollo commander Thomas Stafford guided the Apollo command module to the Soyuz spacecraft and docked, joining the spacecraft together. A few minutes later, hatches opened, and astronauts and cosmonauts shook hands. It was the beginning of a new era of unity in space. “We were a little of a spark or a foot in the door that started better communications,” said American astronaut Vance Brand.
Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford and cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov in the hatchway between the Apollo docking module and the Soyuz orbital module during the joint US-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The spacecraft spent about forty-seven hours joined together as they orbited Earth.
Space Shuttles
NASA spent the rest of the 1970s and 1980s creating the space shuttle program. Designed to lower the cost of getting to space, space shuttles were reusable spacecraft. A cross between a spacecraft
and a jet plane, space shuttles launched from Earth like a rocket and glided back to the ground with wings like an airplane. Shuttles ferried astronauts and supplies to and from space stations orbiting Earth. They also launched, repaired, and recovered satellites. A fleet of five space shuttle crafts flew 135 missions from April 1981 to July 2011. The program pushed the boundaries of space exploration. Thousands of people worked to create the technologies needed for the space shuttle program.
The space shuttle program saw tragedy as well as success. On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff. All seven crew members died, including Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher chosen to fly into space. NASA put a hold on space shuttle flights for nearly three years and made safety improvements to the spacecraft. With the launch of Discovery on September 29, 1988, shuttle missions resumed. But on February 1, 2003, a second disaster struck the program when the shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry and killed its seven-person crew.
The space shuttle Columbia lifts off from launchpad 39A on January 16, 2003.
International Space Station
The space shuttle program made it possible for NASA to help build the largest structure in space, the International Space Station (ISS). The United States and Russia worked together to build the ISS. The bulk of the construction took place between 1998 and 2011, and updates to the structure continued as needed. The ISS
is the size of a football field. Each section was built on Earth. Space shuttles carried the pieces into space, and astronauts put them together during space walks as the station orbited Earth. Robot arms helped astronauts move modules and equipment into the correct position.
The ISS is a giant research laboratory. Astronauts from eighteen countries have lived and worked together on the ISS to explore the solar system. They conduct experiments on plants, animals, and themselves. They study and predict weather patterns on Earth, monitor natural resources, and assess crop yields. They also test new products, such as espresso machines and 3D printers. Besides human astronauts, the ISS has a humanlike space robot on board. Robonaut flips switches and performs routine tasks while the astronauts sleep.
The International Space Station, photographed by a crew member on board the space shuttle Atlantis on May 23, 2010
The sun powers the ISS. Solar panels convert the sun’s energy to electricity. Docking ports act like car garages and allow astronauts from all around the world to attach their spacecraft to the ISS and stay awhile. Most astronauts work in the ISS for six months at a time. In 2015 to 2016, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko lived and worked together on the ISS for nearly a year. Astronauts are scheduled to live and work on the ISS until at least 2024.
The ISS costs the United States between $3 and 4 billion per year to operate. NASA is working with commercial space companies such as SpaceX to develop vehicles to transport US astronauts and supplies to the ISS and other destinations in low-Earth orbit. This would free up funds for NASA to explore deep space and plan expeditions back to the moon and to Mars.
Astronauts exercise every day to stay fit and preserve their bones and muscles while they live and work in space. Alexander Gerst, a German European Space Agency astronaut, works out on the International Space Station’s fitness bike in 2014.
A Book and a Film
In the 1990s, Lovell wrote his autobiography. He worked with science writer Jeffrey Kluger to chronicle his life as an astronaut and his path to that career. A new generation had grown up with little knowledge of his harrowing journey on Apollo 13. Lovell wanted to share the story from the view of someone who’d been there. The book, Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, later became the basis of a film. Director Ron Howard acquired the rights to turn Lovell’s book into Apollo 13, a blockbuster motion picture starring Tom Hanks.
Howard, the actors, and the film crew worked closely with NASA to make the film as authentic as possible. They built a replica of mission control in Hollywood. They borrowed NASA’s KC-135 airplane, jokingly known as the vomit comet, for some of the scenes of weightlessness. Filming was tricky in the small space. Actors, cameras, and set pieces all floated. Howard had to film tiny slices at a time and then combine them for the final film. For the splashdown scene, the film crew built a model of the command module and dropped it into the ocean from a helicopter. Released in 1995, Apollo 13 was a box office hit and won two Academy Awards.
On the first servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, astronauts installed a set of specialized lenses to correct the flawed main mirror in the telescope.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of the Sombrero galaxy, located 28 million light-years from Earth.
Benefits for All
Space exploration has generated countless benefits for people around the globe. Laptop computers, cell phones, and the internet all use materials and processes developed for the space program.
Personal entertainment devices and tablets are also possible because of the space age. Even the music we listen to on mobile devices has been translated into digital data, a technique first used in spaceflights.
The space program has brought important breakthroughs in health and medicine. Tools for diagnosing diseases, such as digital X-rays, CAT scans, and implantable heart monitors, use technology first built for use in space. Ear thermometers allow doctors to measure quickly and accurately the temperature of infants and critically ill patients. Improved artificial limbs and heart pumps for patients awaiting a heart transplant have improved the quality of life for thousands of people. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) developed at NASA are being used by the US military for relieving muscle and joint pain in soldiers. LED technology can relieve pain in bone marrow transplant patients and people suffering from multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease.
Many products used in homes, schools, and offices were developed due to the space program. Water-purification systems, smoke detectors, and fire-resistant building materials make life safer on Earth. Firefighters wear protective suits made from fabric first used in space suits. They also carry lightweight breathing devices to protect them from smoke inhalation injuries. Temper foam, or memory foam, is used in mattresses, cars, football helmets, and furniture. Baby formula contains a nutrient discovered through NASA research. Athletic shoes, wireless headsets, solar panels, and panoramic camera technology all have roots in the economy of space.
Satellite technology is another benefit of the space program. The satellites that make up the Global Positioning System (GPS) allow us to navigate our world. Weather satellites send images and data about Earth’s atmosphere to meteorologists. The information helps forecasters predict dangerous storms. Satellites also collect images of Earth’s surface. This information helps scientists understand how global warming and other environmental concerns are changing our planet. And satellites provide data that scientists use to protect wildlife, manage crops, and conserve natural resources.
The space program has led to innovations in nearly every aspect of life. But Earth is not alone in the solar system. Events outside our planet are impacting its future. Space exploration will continue to make new discoveries that will improve life on Earth and expand our knowledge of the universe.
What’s Next?
A new era of space travel is on the horizon. Private companies are working on launch systems to propel spacecraft into orbit and beyond. The US Air Force has awarded launch service agreements to Blue Origin, founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos; Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems; and United Launch Alliance. Each company is developing a domestic launch system prototype. The air force will review the designs and select two as national space launch service providers.
Through new public-private partnerships, the space community is committed to providing safe, reliable access to space for the nation. Private companies, such as SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, plan to offer commercial spaceflights for customers with lots of vacation money. NASA is working with these companies to make sure their spacecraft meet NASA’s rigorous safety standards. With private companies competing to handle short spaceflights, NASA is setting its sights on longer manned missions to the moon and to Mars.
Plans are underway for a lunar-orbiting station, the Lunar Orbiting Platform – Gateway, to pave the way for a lunar landing by 2024. Future missions will return US astronauts to the surface of the moon for extended exploration and study. NASA will use the knowledge gained from those missions to help with the next goal: landing astronauts on Mars.
Scientists are learning more about the Red Planet every day, thanks to InSight, NASA’s Mars probe, which landed on Mars in November 2018. For the first time in history, scientists are learning about the inner structure of Mars. This knowledge is helping them plan the safest way to land astronauts on the Red Planet. It may also help scientists learn more about our own planet’s history and future.
NASA’s InSight takes a selfie from the surface of Mars. InSight’s solar panels and deck are visible, including science instruments, weather sensor booms, and a UHF antenna.
To meet these ambitious goals, thousands of creative people will need to work together. Scientists, mathematicians, technology experts, engineers, and dreamers all have a place in the twenty-first century’s space age. Unlike the space race of the 1960s, women will play key roles in every area of discovery as astronauts, scientists, flight controllers, and engineers. This new space age will be built on the foundation of the Apollo program. Apollo proved humanity could explore the universe beyond Earth. It revealed a future as rich in possibilities as space itself.
It’s been fifty years since Apollo 13 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. Remembering the triumph of that perilous voyage reminds us that any problem, even the most difficult problem, can be solved by ordinary people working together to reach a common goal. When machines break and technology fails, human ingenuity, hard work, and boldness turn failure into success.
Who knows what challenges the future will hold? Looking back on Apollo 13, we can be confident that whatever they are, we can solve them together.
Private companies like SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace are taking over the job of ferrying people and supplies into low-Earth orbit, freeing NASA to develop missions to the moon and to Mars.