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Wright Brothers & Their Flyer
In 1903 the wright brothers kicked off an aviation explosion with their flyer, the first powered airplane. Their plane was the first fixed winged aircraft to have a successful flight. They made their aircraft the first to be able to turn, using wind warping, which bent the wing tips to turn. before this aviation consisted of balloons and gliders which turned with the wind or by pitching and rolling the entire aircraft. -
The aileron, We Can Turn!
Aileron, french for little wing, is a small control surface attached to the trailing edge of a wing. An aileron would allow a pilot much more control than wind warping. In 1908 Glenn Curtiss flew and landed the June bug, The first powered aircraft to use ailerons. Glenn would run into legal issues with the wright brothers claiming he was infringing on their patent. -
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World War I
The first world war. -
All-metal Aircrafts
The Junkers J1 or Blechesel (Tin Donkey) was the first all-metal aircraft. Junkers had created the first metal hulled aircraft only 12 years after the wright flyer. The J1 had advanced features such as corrugated steel paneling, cantilever wings, and a Mercedes D.II engine. This craft would establish a foundation for WWII aviation. The J1 flew at 106mph for a short distance before landing safely. -
Rocket Powered, The First Rocket!
Robert H. Goddard launched the world's first rocket all the way back in the year 1926, with the dream of reaching space. that's almost 60 years before the first Apollo mission. His rocket flew at 60 mph for about 3 seconds and reached 41 feet agl. The rocket was ten feet tall and was pretty much a short pipe full of oxygen and gasoline with a few struts. -
Crossing The Atlantic
Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974) was the first person to fly a non-stop flight across the Atlantic. Charles became the first person to fly a solo non-stop flight over the Atlantic in 1927. Charles took off from Long Island, New York, flew for over 33 hours, and landed in Le bourget, Paris. -
Commercial Aviation
The Boeing 247 first took off in 1933, and was the first airliner to be produced in the U.S. The 247 had two R-1690 Hornet engines and other advanced features including trim tabs and auto pilot. The 247 was based off of B-9 bomber designs but allowed for 14 passengers and 400lbs of cargo. -
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World War II
The second world war between allied and axis forces. -
The Jet in Born
Han's van ohain created the Heinkel jet in 1937, first putting it into production in 1939 when the Heinkel 178 took flight. The Heinkel 178 was the first aircraft to use a jet engine for propulsion, although it wouldn't be alone for very long as many more jets would follow it including the HeS8 and He 280. -
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Cold war
Tension between The U.S. and The Soviet Union, Plus their respective allies, are high. Both countries are at risk of mutually assured destruction. -
Breaking Down Barriers
Charles (Chuck) Yeager proved many theories wrong in 1947 when he broke the sound barrier. Chuck flew the Bell X-1 at Mach 1.06 (662mph) when he broke the sound barrier, and reached a top speed of over 700mph. Most physicists of the time hypothesized that super sonic flight was impossible; because you would crash into an invisible wall of "sound". This is how the scientists came up with the name for the sound barrier. -
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Space Race
The U.S. and Soviet Union had long been rivals but with the emergence of space travel they had something new to fight over. This would actually improve relations between the U.S. and the USSR. -
The Sputnik Meets Space
The sputnik was the first man-made satellite to exit the earth's atmosphere. The USSR launched sputnik in 1957 becoming the first nation to reach space. Sputnik was launched off a huge rocket, and was roughly the size of a basketball and weighed 187lbs. The U.S. feared the USSR was using sputnik to spy on them, even though the sputnik had no surveillance equipment. -
The First Cosmonaut!
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first cosmonaut in 1961 when he piloted the Vostok 1 capsule into outer space. Yuri was in space for 1 hour and 48 minutes and returned to the earth's atmosphere thereafter. Yuri had several unsettling moments while in space, but maintained his composer during the trip, as he was given a pill to calm him down before flight. The Vostok ejected Yuri, per its design, a few kilometers agl where he deploy his chute and landed. -
To The Celestial Bodies
In 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first of 12 people to step foot on the moon. Neil and Buzz were on the moon's surface for about 6 hours before they left the lunar module; that's when Neil made his famous quote "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Their flight lasted a little over 8 days before they splashed down in the pacific ocean and were recovered along with their shuttle -
Disaster On The Challenger
On January 28, 1986 a tragedy was broadcast to the american public. 73 seconds into its flight the challenger had catastrophically failed, exploding at 46,000ft in the air, killing all seven members aboard the craft. One of the crew aboard was Christa McAuliffe an American teacher participating in the "Teachers In Space" program. NASA, against advisors, launched the challenger on a record breakingly cold day, causing the O-ring in the solid booster to contract and leak fuel causing the disaster. -
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Soviet Russia
The USSR with Growing political and public unrest along with a bad economy would soon fall; As a result, communist parties were dissolved and Boris Yeltsin became the first president of Russia. -
A Home Among The Stars
The first pieces of the International Space Station were joined together in November, 1998. Just two short years later the first astronauts, American and Russian alike, boarded the ISS. Here they would be able to conduct research previously thought to be impossible. The ISS was equipped with a laboratory, observatory, factory, and staging base for any future missions into outer space.