When it comes to achieving incredible feats of aerospace engineering
Exploring the wonders of the universe
And realizing the dreams of astronauts from around the world
There’s one organization that stands out above all others
This is the Evolution of NASA
In the first episode we will cover the origins of NASA
When World War 1 started in 1914, the United States lagged far behind Europe
In technology and the number of military airplanes
Great Britain had 400 military airplanes
Germany 1,000 and France even 1,400
While the United States only had 23
In order to catch up, the NACA or National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was founded
In 1915 on a mission to change the face of U.S. aviation
The research of this committee and its technological expertise laid the foundation for NASA
Unlike NASA’s current huge budget of 22.6 billion dollars
The NACA initially only had a budget of 5,000 dollars
NACA received more funding in the following years
Leading to ground breaking research
They developed and tested new advanced airplane concepts
And fixed problems the Aviators had
For example, a common problem in the 1920s was that a wing would break off
Yea.. that’s not too nice if you’re flying at an altitude of 13,000 feet…
Luckily, the NACA succeeded in making wings stronger and more aerodynamic
During World War II, these wings were not only on US aircrafts
But also on the British Spitfire and even on enemy aircrafts like the German Focke-Wulf 190
World War 2 changed the pace and the kind of work that was done by the NACA
Basically every US aircraft in the war was tested and improved by the NACA
After World War 2, the committee developed the Bell X-1
It was an aircraft powered by a rocket engine
That could reach supersonic speeds, upwards of 800 miles per hour
In 1947 Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound in this machine
Flying a Bell X-1 Yeager broke the sound barrier, making him the fastest man alive
But then things quickly changed
When tensions increased between the United States and the Soviet Union
In what came to be known as ‘The Cold War’
It was during this time that the two superpowers began competing for a number of achievements in space
Starting the ‘The Space Race’
On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union struck a huge blow with their successful launch of Sputnik 1
It was the first satellite placed into orbit
Sputnik, which is Russian for ‘fellow traveler’ was about the size of a volleyball
And featured 4 antennas that transmitted beeps
Beep sounds
Those beeps were heard on radio’s everywhere in the world
And confirmed America’s worst fear
The Soviet Union technologically surpassing the United States
Now, the U.S. military seemed to have fallen behind in developing new technology
As a result, the launch of Sputnik 1 intensified the arms race and raised Cold War tensions
It wasn’t the Sputnik that made the successful launch so significant
It was the 29-meter-tall rocket that made it possible to get into space
It had 4 strap-on boosters, for a total thrust of 970 kilonewtons at lift-off
The Soviets quickly followed the launch of Sputnik 1 with the launch of Sputnik 2
Becoming the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika
Laika was found wandering on the streets of Moscow
Soviet scientists chose a street dog deliberately
Since they assumed that such a dog had already learned
To endure the conditions of extreme cold and hunger
Before the launch one of the scientists took Laika home to play with his children
He described Laika as a quiet and charming dog
Sadly, once Sputnik 2 was launched into space there was no way to get her back on earth
Due to a malfunction Laika died from overheating
Despite their successes being short-lived
The Sputnik launches signified a new age of technological, military and scientific development
For the United States though, they were seen as a ‘crisis’
And one thing was certain
To not fall further behind the Soviets, the US had to come back
The Vanguard rocket was the first attempt of the US to launch a satellite into orbit
The Vanguard was 22 meters tall and had 3 stages
The first stage would bring the rocket to an altitude of 58 kilometers
The second to 480 kilometers
And the final stage would bring the satellite into orbit
The rocket would carry a small, 1.5 kilogram satellite
That only had a diameter of 16 centimeters
Making it even smaller than the Sputnik 1
In December 1957 the Vanguard Rocket was launched
And although it was more a test than an actually launch
It was seen as “America’s answer to Sputnik”
But it did not go well
It reached an altitude of 4 feet or 1.2 meters before it fell and exploded
The press mocked the failed attempt by calling it ‘Kaputnik’
After the failure of the Vanguard rocket
The US army started developing the JUNO 1 rocket
The JUNO 1 was a descendant of the German V-2 Rocket
That was used by Nazi Germany during World War 2
The V-2 Rocket, also known as the ‘vengeance weapon’
Was the first long-range guided ballistic missile
It was Hitler’s secret weapon to attack London
A leading figure in the development of the V-2 rocket was Wernher von Braun
Von Braun had the ambition to land a rocket on the moon
And stated that the V-2 rocket worked perfectly
Except for landing on the wrong planet
Explosion sound
After Germany lost the war
Von Braun along with his team were secretly taken to the United States with Operation Paperclip
Because there was military interest in the V-2 technology
Under the direction of Von Braun the JUNO 1 was developed
The Rocket was 21 meters tall, had 4 stages
And while the Sputnik rocket could carry an estimated 500 kilograms to Low Earth Orbit
The JUNO 1 could only carry about 22 kilograms
On January 31, 1958, the JUNO 1 was launched
Producing a total thrust of 416 kilonewton
It was a success and the first American Satellite, the Explorer 1, was sent into space
This closeup edition of the United States Sputnik was made at a press conference
With leaders of the scientific teams, Dr. Wernher von Braun...
Because of the work of Von Braun and other former Nazi’s
The US managed to be successful
And this was just the start of Von Braun’s career
Who would become a leading figure for NASA
Von Braun certainly was a very controversial figure because of his past
He died in 1977 and is remembered in two ways
Either as an hero who did great work for NASA
Or as an evil former Nazi
Who created powerful bombs that killed thousands of innocent people
Nonetheless the Explorer 1 was a big success for the United States
However, the US was still behind the Soviet Union
And had to do much more to beat the Soviets
That’s why in July 1958, a historical moment happened
When NASA or National Aeronautics Space Agency was formed
NASA took over from the NACA and the goal was very clear
NASA would establish the United States as a leader in space exploration!
Thanks to Brilliant for sponsoring this video!
Did you ever dream of working at NASA?
Then you should probably know that Math and Science are incredibly important
Luckily on the website of Brilliant you can do all kinds of courses to improve your math and science skills
Not just by watching stuff, but by actually doing it
Explore the Gravitational Physics course to get a better understanding of Newton’s law of gravity
Make one small step today, and maybe, one day, it will become one giant leap for mankind
If you visit Brilliant.org/flatlife or click the link in the description
You can sign up for free!
The first 200 people will also get 20% off their annual premium membership
Watch Episode 2 by clicking on the left