Blog Post #7: NASA Space Exploration "When We Left Earth"

Space exploration dates back to the mighty space race between the United States and Russia. "When We Left Earth" is a miniseries that documents the achievements of American spaceflight from the very beginning with the first Mercury flights, through the Gemini program, and finally to the Apollo moon landings and construction of the International Space Station (ISS). Traveling to space took a variety of trials before success was reached. Different missions accomplished different goals, and through ever mistake and mishap NASA learned new information that would only help them grow.

Exploring the unknown is a process. Humans were not even the first living organisms to visit space. The  Russians launched dogs, while the United States used chimpanzees. With success from these trials, humans were able to discover more knowledge about what would happen to a living body in space. Now the question was: who to send? Stuntmen were originally considered, but NASA wanted the best of the best to be sent to space, which required potential astronauts to undergo a series of difficult tests. 

Once selection was complete, more trials and dry runs were necessary in order to efficiently test equipment, practice skills, and apply what the astronauts knew to a real-er situation in order to be better prepared for space. These tests and first-goes were not always successful, which helped add to NASA's knowledge for space exploration and amend their faults. The Mercury flights introduced the nation to astronauts and their journey into space as part of America's first human space flight program. The Gemini flights were necessary to adjust astronauts to long duration flights, learn effective methods for docking and maneuvering in space, perfect the process of landing spacecraft at pre-selected points, and gain more information on the effects weightlessness has on the body, especially for long periods of time. And finally, the Apollo flights were designed with the main goal of landing a human being on the moon, and bringing them safely back to Earth. 

Through all the trials and tribulations astronauts were subject to, each mission can be seen as a progressive step for new information about space exploration. Although not all trials and runs were successful, each was important for NASA's development and learning of life in the void. Each series of missions was designed to complete a different task that would add to the knowledge of space travel, and allow humans to continue their pursuit into the unknown.     

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."