Echoes Among the Stars: The Original Website
Echoes Among the Stars — Chapter One
NASA Lifts Off: The 1950s
“On October 4, 1957, 10:28 p.m. Moscow time, the U.S.S.R. launched the Sputnik 1 satellite from a site in Tyuratam, in Soviet Central Asia. A simple device, an aluminum sphere with four antennas and a radio transmitter, Sputnik 1 was the first human-made object to orbit the earth. The space age had begun.” -- page 5
• Topics Covered in This Chapter
• Topics for Discussion
• Historical Context
• Possible Writing Assignments
Topics Covered in This Chapter
• International Geophysical Year
• Role of German V-2 Rockets in Early Space Program
• First Sounds From Space: Sputnik 1
• Early U.S. Satellite Surveillance
• Soviet Luna Series of Lunar Probes
• Philosophical Differences in U.S. and Soviet Space Programs
• Space Exploration at the End of the 1950s
Topics for Discussion
To lay the groundwork for an understanding of the engineering achievements of the space program, catalogue the contributions that engineers have made to the more easily understood realm of consumer electronics. For example, list the products that we use every day that didn’t exist when the space program first began.
Historical Context
End of World War II
Korean War
Beginning of the Cold War
Eisenhower Administration
Korean War
Beginning of the Cold War
Eisenhower Administration
Possible Writing Assignments
College
In a short essay, discuss the implications of President Eisenhower’s decision to make space travel a largely civilian program administered by NASA, rather than a primarily military-sponsored project. How did that decision affect the future course of the space program’s development?
High School
The early years of the space race were marked by competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Describe a similar situation currently in the news that revolves primarily around competition between countries, companies, or individuals, and explain how competing with each other is helping or hurting each side.
K-8
On a clear night, look at the moon and the stars and try to imagine what kind of a spaceship you would need to travel into space.
In a short essay, discuss the implications of President Eisenhower’s decision to make space travel a largely civilian program administered by NASA, rather than a primarily military-sponsored project. How did that decision affect the future course of the space program’s development?
High School
The early years of the space race were marked by competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Describe a similar situation currently in the news that revolves primarily around competition between countries, companies, or individuals, and explain how competing with each other is helping or hurting each side.
K-8
On a clear night, look at the moon and the stars and try to imagine what kind of a spaceship you would need to travel into space.
