The Modern United States ~ Lesson 7 NASA
In the 1970's, NASA launched many satellites. Some were to report the weather. Others transmitted phone calls and television pictures. Still others were used as navigation aids. They helped ships tell exactly which location they were by bouncing radio signals off the satellites.
Unmanned space probes were sent to other planets to send back scientific information. In 1979, Voyager I passed Jupiter. A year later Pioneer II reached Saturn.
In April 1981, a new type of space ship called the Columbia was built. Unlike the earlier space rockets, these could return to Earth. In April 1983 Columbia's sister shuttle, the Challenger, was launched.
Space Shuttle Columbia
In January 1986 the space shuttle Challenger was launched. Shortly after take-off, the craft exploded killing all seven astronauts on board. The cause of the explosion was faulty rings which acted as fuel seals.
The crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-51-L pose for their official portrait on November 15, 1985. In the back row from left to right: Ellison S. Onizuka, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, and Judy Resnik. In the front row from left to right: Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, and Ron McNair. All were killed when Space Shuttle Challenger blew apart 73 seconds after liftoff.