Science and Technology

Apollo 8

Apollo 8 launched on December 21, 1968 from Cape Kennedy and was the first manned mission to the Moon.  The Apollo 8 had three crew members, Frank Borman (Commander), William A. Anders (Lunar Module Pilot), and James A. Lovell Jr. (Command Module Pilot).  There were 3 back up members Neil Armstrong (Commander), Fred W. Haise Jr. (Lunar Module Pilot), and Buzz Aldrin Jr. (Command Module Pilot). Apollo 8 reached the lunar orbit on December 24, 1968 at Christmas evening and astronauts spent their Christmas in space. The mission objectives for Apollo 8 included harmonized performance of the crew, the support facilities, the command and service module, the mission also was to determine Tran’s lunar injection, and CSM navigation. All the main and detailed objectives were accomplished. Apollo 8 reached the altitude of 118.82 above the orbit, and a total distance of 579,606.9 miles.  Apollo 8 had six prelaunch tests before the final launch. Separation of common module from the SM occurred 146 hours, and it caused the space craft to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on December 27. They splashed down about 5,100 yards from the recovery ship USS Yorktown, 147 hours after launch and precisely on time. The total duration of Apollo 8 flight was six days and three hours.

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was the most important space craft launched in 1960s decade and one of the most important one in history of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Apollo 11 had 17 prelaunch milestones and finally launched on July 16, 1969; 9:32 a.m. EDT with the velocity of 40.320 km (25.053686 mile) per hour and the mass of 2,923,387 kg. Apollo 11 had 3 crew members Neil Armstrong (Commander), Buzz Aldrin Jr. (Lunar Module Pilot), and Michael Collins (Command Module Pilot).  They had 2 back up crew members James A. Lovell (Commander) and Fred W. Haise Jr. (Lunar Module Pilot). The primary mission objective of Apollo 11 was to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth. They had some other missions which were collecting samples of the Moon surface taking photos extravehicular activity. They collected 21.7 kilograms of Moon rock, these first samples were basalts, and they were about 3.7 million years old. Apollo 11 was the largest space craft that was ever constructed in United States.  Neil Armstrong was carrying a video camera and was sending the photos to the Earth. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon and United States became the first country that successfully landed a man on the Moon. The total duration of Apollo 11 mission was about 8 days, 3 hours, 18 min, and 35 seconds and traveled a total distance of 953,054 miles. Apollo 11 landed in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science and Technology

Apollo 7

Apollo program was designed to land astronauts on the Moon and bring them back safely to the Earth. After January 27, 1967 that fire disaster occurred to Apollo 1 and took the lives of three astronauts during the preflight.  After the Apollo 1 disaster, the engineers were checking everything more carefully and before the preflight test and before the original flight. Apollo 7 launched on October 11, 1968 form Cape Kennedy Center, Florida. It was the first manned Apollo mission with three crew members Commander Walter M. Schirra, Command Module Pilot Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham as Lunar Module Pilot. Apollo 7 spent more time in space than all the space crafts that Soviet Union has launched until that time. The crew orbited the Earth 163 times and spent 260 hours and 9 minutes in space. 11 minutes after launch Apollo 7 reached the first phase of its trip, an orbital pathway 227 by 285 km (141.051 by 177.0908) directly above the Earth. The missions of Apollo 7 were: engineering test flight, determine the crew performance, determine CSM engagement capability, and determine the crew and vehicle performance during the manned flight. On October 22, 1968, Apollo 7 returned to Earth and all the objectives were achieved.  

 

Apollo 10

Apollo 10 was the second Apollo mission to orbit and fourth manned Apollo mission; the mission of this space craft was to confirm all aspects of the lunar, confirmation of lunar module system in lunar surroundings, and modification of the lunar gravity potential. Apollo 10 launched on May 18, 1969, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida with the mass of 28,834 kg (61.72943341177 pounds) and the velocity of 36,651 feet per second. Apollo 10 had 3 crew members Thomas P. Stafford, Commander, John W. Young, Command Module Pilot, and Eugene A. Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot. After 3 days journey, Apollo 10 entered an initial 315.5 by 110.4 km (196.042611 by 68.5993796 mile) lunar orbit on May 21, 1969. On May 26, 1969, Apollo 10 landed on Earth in the Pacific Ocean and the entire missions were accomplished. Apollo 10 reached the most velocity in Apollo series 39.897 km (24.7908465 mile). This picture is taken by Apollo 10 from the Moon surface

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science and Technology

Gemini 8

Gemini 8 was the 6th crewed Earth-orbiting space ship of the Gemini series. Gemini 8 launched on March 16, 1966 from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 14, Florida. There was a one day delay in launching the spacecraft because of the slight problems with the spacecraft and launch vehicle hardware. Gemini 8 had 2 crew members.  They were Neil A. Armstrong (Command Pilot) and David R Scott (Pilot).  They also had back up crew Conrad, Gordon. Gemini 8 noticed as the first successful twin launch and docking with the Gemini Agena Target Vehicle, concluding the world's first on-orbit docking of two spacecraft. The Gemini mission was planned for 3 days but was canceled in first day in space. Six hours after launch Gemini 8 successfully docked with Gemini Agena Target Vehicle that was launched on March 16, 1966 (couple hours earlier than Gemini 8) from Complex 14. However, because of the problem that occurred to space craft electronic control system, the astronauts were required to undock after almost 30 minutes. This problem forced the crew to land before the original schedule in the Pacific Ocean on March 17, 1966.The duration of Gemini 8 flight was 10 hours and 41 minutes and no extravehicular activity happened.

 

Gemini 10

Gemini 10 was the 8th crewed Earth-orbiting space ship of the Gemini series. Gemini 10 launched on July 18, 1966 from complex 19, Cape Kennedy Canaveral, Florida, with the mass of 3762.6 kg (8295.11308 pound) and inserted to orbit with the altitude of 753.3 km (468.078919 mile). Gemini 10 had 2 crew members John W. Young, and Michael Collins and 2 back up crew Alan L. Bean, and Clifton C. Williams Jr. The primary objective of Gemini 10 was to manner engagement and docking tests with the Agena target vehicle, and 2 EVA (extravehicular activity)testing tours , astronauts had about 1 hour and 30 minutes extravehicular activity. Scientific objectives of Gemini 10 were synoptic environment, synoptic weather photography, ion wake dimensions, and meteoroid erosion. At orbit supplement Gemini 10 was nearby 1600 km (994.1939 mile) behind the Gemini Agena Aim Vehicle 10 which had been launched into a near circular orbit almost 100 minutes earlier. The Gemini 10 mission duration was 2 days, 22 hours and 46 minutes.  The Gemini 10 also orbited the Earth 43 times. On July 21, 1966, Gemini 10 landed on the western Atlantic 875 km (543.6998 mile) east of Cape Kennedy and 6.3 km (3.914639) off from the target point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science and Technology

Surveyor 1

Surveyor 1 was launched on 30 May 1966 and after an expedition of 63 hours and 36 minutes around the lunar orbit.  On June 2 1966, Surveyor 1 successfully landed on the Moon. Surveyor 1 became the first American space craft that successfully landed on the Moon 9 miles away from its target, at an altitude of 75.3 km (46.7893 mile) and a velocity of 5842.878 per hour. The mission of Surveyor 1 was to identify the surface of the Moon and if the terrain was safe for a manned craft to land for the series of Apollo projects on the Moon. This space craft was equipped with a television camera and transmitted more than 10,000 photos of lunar surface on June 14, and a total of 11,240 on July 14 to the Earth. The Surveyor 1 mission lasted until January 1967. The Surveyor program consisted of building and launching 7 space crafts to the Moon at the total cost of $469 million.

Surveyor 3

In continuation of Surveyors program, Surveyor 3 was the second United States space craft that softly landed on the Moon to complete the Surveyors 2 mission that crashed during the maneuver because one of the engines failed to ignite. Surveyor 3 launched on April 17, 1967 and after 3 days flight on April 20 landed on the Oceanus Procellarum, one of the most volcanically active sites of the Moon. Oceanus Procellarum site was considered as Apollo region that was the area which Apollo wanted to land. The Surveyor 3 touched down on the Moon three times before landing because the engine did not shut down as planned. First time it moved 12.4274 miles and second and third times it moved for 6.83508 and 11.811 inches. This space craft was also carrying a television camera and in addition was carrying surface sampler instrument for digging trenches. The Surveyor 3 mission was to take new photos of lunar surface and dig the surface to gain new information about the lunar materials in depth. During this operation, which ended on May 4, 1967, Surveyor 3 gained large capacity of new facts and took more than 6000 pictures. In addition, the surface sampler collected 18 hours of work which was new important information about the roughness, structure, and strong point of the lunar material to the depth of 6.8897638 inches. Later in November 1969, Apollo 12 landed near the Surveyor 3 and the astronauts brought 22.0462 pounds of the spacecraft to the Earth, including the camera. The picture is the Surveyor 3 and the astronaut of Apollo 12.

 

About Us

Hi! We are the Team 60’s! This team is composed of Maria Marquez, John Osorio, Aline Niyonzima, and Sassan Haghighat. The decade that we got to research and write about was the 1960’s. During this decade, like many others throughout history there were a lot of changes and events occurring in America, which are what helped it develop to what it is now. Now we will introduce ourselves and the specific categories that are in this blog.

Hi! My name is Maria Marquez and my major is psychology. The category that I wrote about was the social and political movements that were occurring during the 60’s. There were many movements that had a huge impact in America. The main ones that I focused on were the gay rights, civil rights, Chicano movement, feminism, and the counterculture. In each of these movements specific leaders and groups emerged who have made history and are some of the most popular people we study today. Laws were created as well as broken. Change occurred in every movement and each has its unique way of showing how the people involved fought for their rights. If you are interested to learn more about these changes just go on and visit the Social/Political Movements Page.

My name is Sassan Haghighat; I am student in Grand Canyon University. My major is pre-med with emphasize in dentistry. The blog I wrote is about the Space Race between United States and Soviet Union that lasted for 20 years 1957 to 1975. However, I am writing about the 60s decade, the decade that I and my group mates wrote different and interesting blogs about it. The most important goal in science filed in 60s decade was to send a man from Earth to the Moon and return him safely. In this blog you can read about the space crafts that launched and their details.

Hi, my name is Aline Niyonzima; i am a student at Grand Canyon University and my major is elementary education with emphasis in science.My blog is about entertainment in the 60s, and i know when speaking of entertainment there  music, sports, fashion, movies , tv shows, etc..during this decade, there was a lot of baby boomers who were looking at the american entertainment different. They felt that it was time for change in the kind of music they listened to or the clothes they wore. i chose this topic especially because i love fashion and music,. While reading this blog you will find interesting facts about the sixties' entertainment., and who made it all happen.

          I'm John Osorio and I wrote about religion in the 1960's. I think you'll find this blog both factual and entertaining  Religion in this era was changed by both religious people and especially the non-religious. You'll find that the impact of the 60's on religion spread across the following decades all the way until today. Googling the 60's religious change will spark so much information and conjecture about the decade that one can hardly know where to begin but I've highlighted key moments that should shed light on the mood and tone of the 60's own special religion.