Aircraft Location: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
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1957
Milestone: SPUTNIK First Artificial Satellite | | Date of Milestone: October 4, 1957 | | Spacecraft: Sputnik 1 | | Mission Operated by: USSR | | Spacecraft Location: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery |
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1958
Milestone: First Successful United States Satellite | | Date of Milestone: 1958 | | Spacecraft: Explorer 1 | | Operated by: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Spacecraft Location: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
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1959
Milestone: First winged aircraft to achieve Mach 4, 5, & 6 and to operate at altitudes above 30,500 meters (100,000 feet) | | Date of Milestone: Test flights in 1959 | | Aircraft: North American X-15 | | Operated By: NASA | Aircraft Location: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
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1962
Milestone: First American to orbit the Earth. | Date of Milestone:
February 20, 1962 | Spacecraft:
Mercury "Friendship 7" | Astronaut:
John H. Glenn Jr. | Spacecraft Location:
Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight gallery |
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1962
| Milestone: First Manned Lunar Landing Mission | | Date of Milestone: July 16-24, 1969 | | Spacecraft: Apollo 11 Command Module "Columbia" | | Astronauts: Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins | Aircraft Location:
Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
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1962
Milestone:
First Spacecraft to Study Another Planet | Date of Milestone:
December 14, 1962 | Spacecraft:
Mariner 2 | Mission Operated by:
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Spacecraft Location:
Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
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1969
| | Aircraft: Boeing 747 (Not displayed at the Museum) | Mission Operated by: Boeing Aircraft Company USA
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| Milestone: | The first Boeing 747-100 was flown for the first time at 11:34 AM on February 9, 1969. The subsequent problems have their roots in the early days for the construction of the Boeing 747's. The aircraft construction business in the early 1970's was extremely difficult. In fact, one wag wrote in the Seattle Times, "Would the last person to leave Seattle please turn out the lights!" Boeing was under pressure to cut costs. According to my sources, to cut the costs Boeing discovered that it could purchase aluminum parts from a plant in the USSR (now Russia). The Russians could produce the aluminum to the exacting specifications of the Boeing engineers and did so for the first fifteen planes. Then Russia decided that it was not profitable to make the aluminum to the Boeing specifications and decide to cheat. The Russians produced an inferior product but sent it to the USA as meeting all of the requirements. It was not until Boeing had made 686 planes including the 747-100's. the 747-200's and some 747-300's, that it realized what had been going on. Boeing knew there was a problem and designed the necessary modification to remedy the situation. Boeing was a major source of export revenues for the USA and the planes were in big demand since commercially they were very successful. The problem was discovered in the early eighties when there was over a thousand planes flying passengers and freight all over the world. In fact, to shut down over six hundred planes would be a disaster for world commerce apart from the loss of prestige, national pride, and competition from the Europeans who were developing the now equally famous Airbus.
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1972
Milestone: One of a collection of rocks returned from the Apollo manned missions to the Moon. | | Date of Milestone: 1972 | | Artifact: Lunar Basalt returned by Apollo 17 Astronauts | | Artifact Location: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
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1976 |
Milestone: VIKING LANDER
First Spacecraft to Operate on the Surface of Mars | | Date of Milestone: July 20, 1976 | | Spacecraft: Viking Lander | | Operated By: Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Spacecraft Location:
Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
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1987
| Milestone: Weapons eliminated under first International Treaty to control nuclear arms. | | Date of Milestone: INF Treaty signed December, 1987 | | Artifacts: Pershing II and SS-20 | Operated by:
United States (Pershing II) and U.S.S.R. (SS-20) | Location:
Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
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| 1999
Smithsonian Institution
photograph | Milestone:
First Nonstop Flight Around The World by Balloon | Date of Milestone:
March 21, 1999 | Vehicle:
Breitling Orbiter 3 Gondola | | Artifact Location:
Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery |
On March 1, 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones lifted off from the Swiss alpine village of Chateau d’Oex in the Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon. On March 21, 1999. 19 Days, 21 hours and 55 minutes later, they landed in the Egyptian desert after traveling 45,755 kilometers (28,431 miles) and completing the first non-stop flight around the world in a balloon. Pressurization: Cabin pressure dropped as the balloon climbed. At 10,000 meters (33,000 feet), the cabin pressure was raised to atmospheric pressure at 3,000 meters (10,000 feet). Temperature: Burners maintained the cabin temperature at 15 °C (59 °F).
Solar panels: Solar panels beneath the gondola recharged the onboard lead batteries that provided electrical power.
Instrumentation: The forward cockpit contains the controls and instruments needed to monitor and operate the aircraft and systems. The crew used satellite-based systems to communicate and navigate. Gondola: | Weight, empty: | 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) | | Fuel: | Propane | | Manufacturer: | Cameron Balloons, Bristol, England, 1998 |
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2004
| Milestone: First privately developed, piloted vehicle to reach space. | | Date of Milestone: June 21, 2004 | | Spacecraft: SpaceShipOne | Artifact Location:Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, National Mall building, Milestones of Flight Gallery
Launched from its White Knight mothership, the rocket-powered SpaceShipOne and its pilot ascended just beyond the atmosphere, arced through space (but not into orbit), then glided safely back to Earth. The flight lasted 24 minutes, with 3 minutes of weightlessness. With SpaceShipOne, private enterprise crossed the threshold into human spaceflight, previously the domain of government programs. The SpaceShipOne team aimed for a simple, robust, and reliable vehicle design that could make affordable space travel and tourism possible. Records and Awards: SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X-Prize for repeated flights in a privately developed reusable spacecraft, the Collier Trophy for greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in 2004, and the National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement. Its three record-setting flights: • 100 kilometers (62 miles) altitude*; Mike Melvill, pilot; June 21, 2004. • 102 kilometers (64 miles) altitude; Mike Melvill, pilot; September 29, 2004. • 112 kilometers (70 miles) altitude; Brian Binnie, pilot; October 4, 2004.
* The official boundary of space defined by the Fédération Aéronautique International. Gift of Paul G. Allen, Microsoft co-founder and sole investor in SpaceShipOne Unique Design Features • Three-person vehicle for suborbital spaceflight. • Lightweight composite structure with twin swept wing-tail booms. • Hybrid ascent rocket, burning both solid and liquid propellants • Wings that pivot up (feather) for stable, safe reentry. Credits • Investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen funded the project. • Aeronautical engineer Burt Rutan, Scaled Composites, designed the vehicle. • Pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie , Scaled Composites, became the first pilots to earn FAA commercial astronaut wings. SpaceShipOne, N328KF | |  | SpaceShipOne is carried aloft to 15 kilometers (50,000 feet) by its mothership, White Knight.
| | |  | Released from White Knight, SpaceShipOne gets a rocket-powered boost into space. | | |  | Candies float inside the cockpit during the time in space.
| | |  | In space, the pilot raises, or feathers, the wings for the coasting suborbital arc and initial descent. This brakes the spacecraft for reentry into the atmosphere.
| | |  | SpaceShipOne suborbital flight profile. | | |  | SpaceShipOne pilots Mike Melvill (right) and Brian Binnie.
| | |  | Investor Paul G. Allen and designer Burt Rutan with SpaceShipOne. | | |  | View from SpaceShipOne. Photo by pilot Brian Binnie. Courtesy of Discovery Channel and Vulcan Productions, Inc. |
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How was it?
Regards,
V S Saxena
Rocklin: CA. (USA)
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