Michael Dowdy
Year in Review
This was the very first paper we were assigned to write in the semester. The assignment was to write a 4-6 page paper about a year that I was interested in and wanted to write about for the rest of the semester. The year I picked also had to be between the years of 1945 & 2000. I looked at a lot of years and what events happened in each, and the one I chose was 1972. I chose this year because of its infamous Watergate Scandal, as well as the movie The Godfather debuting that year. There was so much more going on in that year and I mention a lot of it in this overview.
B-52 boming Vietnam
Nixon and Mao
Soldiers in Vietnam
Vietnam Protest
Pioneer 10
Michael Dowdy
Dr. Froehlich
English 30
09-02-2010
Amongst bloody war and political scandal, 1972 was still a year of momentous progress and advancement in technology, most notably in space exploration and aeronautics research. These new ideas have molded the scientific knowledge of today and helped make modern technology possible. Some of these great achievements include the approval of the space shuttle program, the launch of the Pioneer 10 unmanned spacecraft, and the development of the F-15 Eagle fighter jet. Many other space projects were making their debuts, such as the Copernicus satellite and Landsat 1. But another was coming to a close.
The Apollo Program would be the space program which was ending this year. Two more trips to the moon would be taken in this year. Apollo XVI was launched April sixteenth and returned to Earth April twenty-seventh. The second trip that year, Apollo XVII, would embark on its lunar mission December seventh of this year and would return on the nineteenth. It was the last mission of its kind and put an end to the Apollo program, a project dating back to 1963. But at the end of this illustrious venture, a new project emerged. It would prove itself to be a revolution to space travel as well.
“A reusable crewed orbital transportation system” (Clark 1) to ferry men and supplies beyond the atmosphere, It was the beginning of the Space Shuttle Program. The Shuttle system has been used for many years, and is still in use today. “In 1981, the first protoflight powered space shuttle Columbia was launched from Kennedy on the first of four orbital test missions” (3). Even though 1972 was not the year of the maiden voyage of the shuttle program, this year marked the first steps into developing the shuttle and into the future of transcending the atmosphere, to space itself.
Shortly before noon on January 28, 1986, Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on the twenty-fifth shuttle mission. At seventy-two seconds into the flight, with no apparent warning from real time data, the external tank exploded and Challenger was destroyed (Clark 4).
Many people today remember the Challenger explosion of 1986. But fresh in the minds of people today is the memory of the Columbia disaster. “On February 3, 2003, while the shuttle Columbia was reentering the atmosphere, it disintegrated. All seven crew members perished and pieces of the orbiter fell in a long swath over East Texas” (5).
This is the image that people are reminded of when they hear “space shuttle.” It is a terrible image to be placed over a program with so many extraordinary achievements and advancements. Improvements have been made to the shuttles that will help to prevent further accidents in the future. Even now, new systems are being developed to replace the aging shuttle systems that will be more sophisticated and cheaper to maintain. This, as well as the shuttle program itself, is proof of the rapid evolution of technology in the modern age, as well as growth from those technologies of the last century. The Shuttle Program will prove to be a major contribution to the space sciences in the future (Clark 6), in the development of new research and development techniques, scientific instruments and space vehicles.
Like the manned lunar missions and spaceflights, unmanned spaceflights were abundant. “Launched in 1972, Pioneer 10, the longest-lived interplanetary explorer, continues its voyage as contact with it is still maintained by NASA's Deep Space Network” (Puttkamer 7). Pioneer 10 was the first vehicle to pass through the asteroid belt, as well as take close up pictures of Jupiter. This space probe is currently seven billion miles away from Earth and is “passing through the transitional region between the farthest traces of the Sun’s atmosphere, the heliosphere, and free intergalactic space” (7).
Other unmanned spacecraft launch included Landsat 1 and the Copernicus satellite. “The first Earth Resources Technology Satellite, ERST-1 or Landsat 1” (Fredriksen 2184) was launched into orbit in mid-July. Its job was to obtain aerial knowledge of the Earth’s resources. Much like its predecessor, Landsat 7 is an Earth imaging satellite. “Expectations are that Landsat 7’s Earth observations will once again, as with the Landsats in the past, become the foundation for both terrestrial research and application activities” (Puttkamer 7).
But Copernicus, launched a month later, was put into orbit to survey away from Earth, to observe the stars from orbit. It became a revolutionary step towards orbital observatories, such as the Hubble Telescope.
While OAO-3 (Copernicus) operated from 1972 to 1980, [it] obtained high-resolution spectra of bright ultraviolet-emitting stars in order to probe the composition and physical state of intervening interstellar gas and to study the stellar winds of hot stars. (Savage)
A revolution in air superiority also made its debut in the summer of this year with the development of a new fighter. “Fighters are relatively short-range, highly maneuverable, fast aircraft, designed to destroy enemy aircraft and to attack ground targets” (Strohl). This Fighter’s maiden voyage marked the emergence of a superior fighter that would prove to be an effective tool to this day. “The U.S. Air Force’s primary all-weather fighter, The F-15, known as the Eagle, has been replacing the F-4 since the mid-1970’s” (Strohl). The predecessor to the F-15 Eagle was the F-4 Phantom. This plane was widely used in the Vietnam and Korean wars. Its design was bulky and inefficient. But the F-15 was anything but the same. Since this jet fighter was introduced, it has been a vital asset to providing the United States with air superiority through the years.
All of these advancements have propelled the U.S. into the new age on the leading edge of research and development of aircraft, propulsion and space exploration. The world as a whole continues to search for higher technology. Accuracy and precision in measurements and the collection of data have been essential to exploration of the solar system and beyond as well as here on Earth. The proliferation of so many essential engineering marvels was a vital step to the application of technologies used in the present day and in the future.
Works Cited
Clark, John F., and Jeffrey C. Mitchell. "Space shuttle." AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hill
Companies, 2008, Sept. 12, 2010. http://www.accessscience.com
Fredriksen, John C. "1972." Chronology of American History. Vol. 4. New York: Facts On File,
2008. 2180-184. Print.
Puttkamer, Jesco von. "Space flight, 1999." AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hill Companies, 2001,
Sept. 12, 2010. http://www.accessscience.com
Savage, Blair D. "Ultraviolet astronomy." AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008,
Sept. 12, 2010 http://www.accessscience.com
Strohl, Robert A., and Robert J. Strohl. “Military Aircraft.” AccessScience. ©McGraw-Hill
Companies, 2008, Sept. 12, 2010. http://www.accessscience.com
Dr. Froehlich
English 30
09-02-2010
Amongst bloody war and political scandal, 1972 was still a year of momentous progress and advancement in technology, most notably in space exploration and aeronautics research. These new ideas have molded the scientific knowledge of today and helped make modern technology possible. Some of these great achievements include the approval of the space shuttle program, the launch of the Pioneer 10 unmanned spacecraft, and the development of the F-15 Eagle fighter jet. Many other space projects were making their debuts, such as the Copernicus satellite and Landsat 1. But another was coming to a close.
The Apollo Program would be the space program which was ending this year. Two more trips to the moon would be taken in this year. Apollo XVI was launched April sixteenth and returned to Earth April twenty-seventh. The second trip that year, Apollo XVII, would embark on its lunar mission December seventh of this year and would return on the nineteenth. It was the last mission of its kind and put an end to the Apollo program, a project dating back to 1963. But at the end of this illustrious venture, a new project emerged. It would prove itself to be a revolution to space travel as well.
“A reusable crewed orbital transportation system” (Clark 1) to ferry men and supplies beyond the atmosphere, It was the beginning of the Space Shuttle Program. The Shuttle system has been used for many years, and is still in use today. “In 1981, the first protoflight powered space shuttle Columbia was launched from Kennedy on the first of four orbital test missions” (3). Even though 1972 was not the year of the maiden voyage of the shuttle program, this year marked the first steps into developing the shuttle and into the future of transcending the atmosphere, to space itself.
Shortly before noon on January 28, 1986, Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on the twenty-fifth shuttle mission. At seventy-two seconds into the flight, with no apparent warning from real time data, the external tank exploded and Challenger was destroyed (Clark 4).
Many people today remember the Challenger explosion of 1986. But fresh in the minds of people today is the memory of the Columbia disaster. “On February 3, 2003, while the shuttle Columbia was reentering the atmosphere, it disintegrated. All seven crew members perished and pieces of the orbiter fell in a long swath over East Texas” (5).
This is the image that people are reminded of when they hear “space shuttle.” It is a terrible image to be placed over a program with so many extraordinary achievements and advancements. Improvements have been made to the shuttles that will help to prevent further accidents in the future. Even now, new systems are being developed to replace the aging shuttle systems that will be more sophisticated and cheaper to maintain. This, as well as the shuttle program itself, is proof of the rapid evolution of technology in the modern age, as well as growth from those technologies of the last century. The Shuttle Program will prove to be a major contribution to the space sciences in the future (Clark 6), in the development of new research and development techniques, scientific instruments and space vehicles.
Like the manned lunar missions and spaceflights, unmanned spaceflights were abundant. “Launched in 1972, Pioneer 10, the longest-lived interplanetary explorer, continues its voyage as contact with it is still maintained by NASA's Deep Space Network” (Puttkamer 7). Pioneer 10 was the first vehicle to pass through the asteroid belt, as well as take close up pictures of Jupiter. This space probe is currently seven billion miles away from Earth and is “passing through the transitional region between the farthest traces of the Sun’s atmosphere, the heliosphere, and free intergalactic space” (7).
Other unmanned spacecraft launch included Landsat 1 and the Copernicus satellite. “The first Earth Resources Technology Satellite, ERST-1 or Landsat 1” (Fredriksen 2184) was launched into orbit in mid-July. Its job was to obtain aerial knowledge of the Earth’s resources. Much like its predecessor, Landsat 7 is an Earth imaging satellite. “Expectations are that Landsat 7’s Earth observations will once again, as with the Landsats in the past, become the foundation for both terrestrial research and application activities” (Puttkamer 7).
But Copernicus, launched a month later, was put into orbit to survey away from Earth, to observe the stars from orbit. It became a revolutionary step towards orbital observatories, such as the Hubble Telescope.
While OAO-3 (Copernicus) operated from 1972 to 1980, [it] obtained high-resolution spectra of bright ultraviolet-emitting stars in order to probe the composition and physical state of intervening interstellar gas and to study the stellar winds of hot stars. (Savage)
A revolution in air superiority also made its debut in the summer of this year with the development of a new fighter. “Fighters are relatively short-range, highly maneuverable, fast aircraft, designed to destroy enemy aircraft and to attack ground targets” (Strohl). This Fighter’s maiden voyage marked the emergence of a superior fighter that would prove to be an effective tool to this day. “The U.S. Air Force’s primary all-weather fighter, The F-15, known as the Eagle, has been replacing the F-4 since the mid-1970’s” (Strohl). The predecessor to the F-15 Eagle was the F-4 Phantom. This plane was widely used in the Vietnam and Korean wars. Its design was bulky and inefficient. But the F-15 was anything but the same. Since this jet fighter was introduced, it has been a vital asset to providing the United States with air superiority through the years.
All of these advancements have propelled the U.S. into the new age on the leading edge of research and development of aircraft, propulsion and space exploration. The world as a whole continues to search for higher technology. Accuracy and precision in measurements and the collection of data have been essential to exploration of the solar system and beyond as well as here on Earth. The proliferation of so many essential engineering marvels was a vital step to the application of technologies used in the present day and in the future.
Works Cited
Clark, John F., and Jeffrey C. Mitchell. "Space shuttle." AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hill
Companies, 2008, Sept. 12, 2010. http://www.accessscience.com
Fredriksen, John C. "1972." Chronology of American History. Vol. 4. New York: Facts On File,
2008. 2180-184. Print.
Puttkamer, Jesco von. "Space flight, 1999." AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hill Companies, 2001,
Sept. 12, 2010. http://www.accessscience.com
Savage, Blair D. "Ultraviolet astronomy." AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008,
Sept. 12, 2010 http://www.accessscience.com
Strohl, Robert A., and Robert J. Strohl. “Military Aircraft.” AccessScience. ©McGraw-Hill
Companies, 2008, Sept. 12, 2010. http://www.accessscience.com
