Zack Ramsey

Eng-112-401- Issue Report

March 15, 2020

A look into NASA’s greatest successes and failures throughout their history.

Through Nasa’s nearly sixty-five years of history, they have had many successes and

failures. They have done many more things than just put the first man on the moon. Nasa has

also sent many rovers and satellites to space which have allowed humanity to get a better

understanding of the outer reaches of our galaxy but not everything Nasa has done has been

positive. There have been many failures but most notably there were the Challenger and

Columbia disasters which resulted in the deaths of many people. With any major company with

such an extensive history, there will be successes and failures which will be covered here today.

On August 6, 2012, Nasa landed a rover on Mars. This rover was sent to the planet to see

if the planet could have sustained microbial life at one point in time. This was a $2.5 billion

rover that was around the size of an SUV that was intent on studying the planet. Nasa has never

been a cheap company, but these expeditions help humanity get a better understanding of our

solar system and the distant past. Once the rover landed on the planet the team at Nasa was

overjoyed but they still had to make sure the rover still functioned correctly. “Before the

applause, however, were several tense hours as NASA officials prepared to put the rover through

a complicated landing sequence dubbed "seven minutes of terror." Adding to the tension was that

fewer than half of all Mars missions have succeeded.” (McClatchy, 2012) The rover entered the

Martian atmosphere going 13200 miles per hour but the thick atmosphere slowed it down to
 Ramsey 2

around 900 miles per hour which allowed it to deploy a parachute but even as the parachute

deployed it was still going too fast. Around a mile to the surface, the rover lost its parachute and

began using eight small retro rockets to slow its descent to 2 miles an hour. Those “seven

minutes of terror” turned into “seven minutes of triumph” as the rover landed on Mars. This

rover was successful in making it the red planet and allowing Nasa to study the surface of the

planet and try to learn if the planet could have once supported life.

In 1990 Nasa launched the Hubble space telescope to study the outer reaches of our

galaxy. The telescope wasn't all smooth sailing though. The telescope began with fabrication

errors which would have drastically hindered the telescope. Through the images that the

telescope has gathered the imaginations of countless people have been captured and given people

interest in space. The telescope has allowed for aspects of space to be measured in a more

reliable way. Nasa can now tell the distance of things, the life cycles of stars, black holes, the

growth of galaxies, and gas throughout the galaxy. In the future, the telescope will be able to

have clearer images and be more sensitive to ultraviolet and infrared light. Whenever the

telescope does become decommissioned though the high-resolution images of space and the

ability to capture more will be lost for decades to come.

The international space station is currently orbiting Earth. This station is considered an

area where military ties and countries' opinions of each other do not matter. This is a zone of

neutrality allowing for the tests to run freely and safely. People put their differences aside to

accomplish a common goal. This environment rarely happens on Earth, so NASA inadvertently

created an area of neutrality by sending the station into orbit. People are continuously being sent

to space to monitor anything from plant growth in space to the effects of zero gravity on the

human body.
 Ramsey 3

Nasa also has revolutionary plans for the future. There have been multiple plans to open

space travel to the public. This would only be accessible to the super-rich, but it would be a step

into the future. There are many plans to allow partners to take people into space and

commercialize it. This would bring the ideas that have only been science fiction in the past and

make them true and real possibilities for the normal person. It would allow more people to

experience zero gravity and to explore one of the last truly unexplored places.

While Nasa may have done many good things for society there have also been negatives.

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger tragically exploded at launch. This wasn't just

a normal expedition with trained astronauts though because Nasa held a raffle to allow normal

citizens to accompany them to space. One of these winners was Christa McAuliffe, she was a

teacher who planned to continue to teach her students from space. McAuliffe took the

opportunity to go to space as soon as she could “When NASA launched its Teacher in Space

Program in 1984, Christa seized the opportunity and applied for what she called the ''ultimate

field trip.''” (Shaheen, 2020) This ultimate field trip would allow her to continue her passion but

make it more interesting for her students and to show them to seize every opportunity that they

get. She would never make it to space, however. Just 73 seconds after the shuttles launch it

exploded. This killed everyone on board instantly. This disaster could have been avoided easily

if safety precautions were followed closely and checked before launch.

The Challenger disaster wasn't an isolated event though. On February 1, 2003, the space

shuttle Columbia was destroyed on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Contact with the shuttle was

lost at 9:00 am and by 2:05 pm president, Bush addressed the public saying ““Columbia’s lost:

there are no survivors”” (Guthrie; Shayo, 2005) All 7 astronauts on board were dead on the

impact of the disaster truly began affecting people as pieces of the shuttle began to appear in
 Ramsey 4

Louisiana and Texas. People began to speculate about what happened to the shuttle and “In the

wake of 9/11, theories of a terrorist attack surfaced and were quickly dispelled. The theory that a

piece of foam may have damaged the wing was proposed.” (Guthrie; Shayo, 2005) This theory

about foam hitting the wing ended up being true but wasn't the entire reason. At launch, a piece

of the shuttle's insulation foam broke off damaging the wing of the ship and the heat of reentry

was too much for the damaged ship to handle causing disintegration. This again could have been

avoided but the flaw would have been harder to spot because the foam breaking is only

something that could be seen during launch.

In NASA's history, they have made many great advances for society, but they have also

had many failures. They have sent many things to space with not all of it making it there or

coming back when it should. This company has had many successes and many failures but

overall, as a company, Nasa is a success. The failures are less common, and the successes are

monumental and can outweigh the tragedies.

 Ramsey 5

Works Cited

Dalcanton, Julianne J. "18 years of science with the Hubble Space Telescope." Nature, vol. 457,

no. 7225, 2009, p. 41+. Gale In Context: Science, https://link-gale-

com.proxy039.nclive.org/apps/doc/A192061371/SCIC?u=ncliveclcc&sid=SCIC&xid=7a9d

78ab. Accessed 23 Feb. 2020.

Guthrie, R., and C. Shayo. The Columbia Disaster: Culture, Communication & Change. IGI

Global, Hershey, 2005. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/192334713

?accountid=10163.

Matthews, Mark K. "Success! NASA Lands Rover on Mars and Begins Two Year Mission."

McClatchy - Tribune Business News, Aug 06, 2012. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/103116285

4?accountid=10163.\

"NASA selects first commercial moon landing services for Artemis Program." Space Daily, 5

June 2019. Gale General OneFile, https://link-gale-

com.proxy039.nclive.org/apps/doc/A587759037/ITOF?u=shel41774&sid=ITOF&xid=9b0c

154e. Accessed 23 Feb. 2020.

 Ramsey 6

Shaheen Statement on Anniversary of Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. Federal Information &

News Dispatch, Inc, Washington, 2020. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/234735389

5?accountid=10163.

Pellerin, Cheryl. Next International Space Station Crew to Launch April 7: NASA and

International Partners Set for Busy Year Ahead in Space. Federal Information & News

Dispatch, Inc, Washington, 2007. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/189980220

?accountid=10163.