INTRO: It's now 60 years since humans started exploring space, with the Soviet Union launching its first satellite into orbit and the US following just weeks later. It was the beginning of six decades of space exploration and the start of the space age. Frances Read reports from NASA in California.
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PKG: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0207SpaceRace-fr-gen.mp3
SCRIPT:
LAUNCH CONTROLLER: "3,2,1."
VO 1: The year was 1958 - and the event a matter of pride for the United States, taking its first steps into space. The launch of the Explorer One satellite allowed The US to catch up with the Soviet Union - who'd already put their Sputnick One satellite into orbit just weeks before. It was the start of the space race, and the space age. Eric Conway is a space historian.
"Explorer one resulted from the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. The US weren't the first to launch a satellite they hoped to be in '57 '58 but the Soviet Union said they'd do it first, they said they would and they were successful. And that set off some concern in Washington that maybe the US was falling behind in the cold war so there was an acceleration of space activities."
VO 2: The International Space Station, now orbiting the earth, is made up teams from several different nations. And 60 years since the first satellites launched - countries are working cooperatively to send humans to other planets and moons. Dr Sue Smrekar is a scientist at NASA.
"NASA has lots of great things happening in the next decade or so. We have a new launch vehicle which is coming online where we'll be able to put huge payloads in space giving us the ability to send really large vehicles, perhaps including humans. One of the things we might do is use those vehicles to explore Europa, a place where we believe has water coming out of the interior, and we have lots of missions exploring planets around other stars as well."
ARCHIVE NEWSREADER: "You are hearing the actual signals from the earth's circling satellites, one of the great scientific feats of the age."
VO: It's the imagination of scientists starting in the 1950's that led to the rocket science we see today. But what may seem like a giant leap for mankind - now - may just be another small step in the space age as we'll eventually know it. I'm Frances Read in California.
IN: "3,2,1…"
OUT: California.
DUR: 2,20"
PKG: http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0207SpaceRace-fr-gen.mp3
SCRIPT:
LAUNCH CONTROLLER: "3,2,1."
VO 1: The year was 1958 - and the event a matter of pride for the United States, taking its first steps into space. The launch of the Explorer One satellite allowed The US to catch up with the Soviet Union - who'd already put their Sputnick One satellite into orbit just weeks before. It was the start of the space race, and the space age. Eric Conway is a space historian.
"Explorer one resulted from the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. The US weren't the first to launch a satellite they hoped to be in '57 '58 but the Soviet Union said they'd do it first, they said they would and they were successful. And that set off some concern in Washington that maybe the US was falling behind in the cold war so there was an acceleration of space activities."
VO 2: The International Space Station, now orbiting the earth, is made up teams from several different nations. And 60 years since the first satellites launched - countries are working cooperatively to send humans to other planets and moons. Dr Sue Smrekar is a scientist at NASA.
"NASA has lots of great things happening in the next decade or so. We have a new launch vehicle which is coming online where we'll be able to put huge payloads in space giving us the ability to send really large vehicles, perhaps including humans. One of the things we might do is use those vehicles to explore Europa, a place where we believe has water coming out of the interior, and we have lots of missions exploring planets around other stars as well."
ARCHIVE NEWSREADER: "You are hearing the actual signals from the earth's circling satellites, one of the great scientific feats of the age."
VO: It's the imagination of scientists starting in the 1950's that led to the rocket science we see today. But what may seem like a giant leap for mankind - now - may just be another small step in the space age as we'll eventually know it. I'm Frances Read in California.