The Voyager explorers, which provided scientists and the world with the first detailed pictures of faraway planets, were designed and tested during 1972 to 1977. The two most intelligent machines ever built in the NASA space program, the explorers were launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in 1977. Voyager 2 was launched first on August 20, followed by Voyager 1 on September 5.
Air and Space Transportation
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Image Credit:
Courtesy ASME
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Voyager Spacecraft Interplanetary Explorers
Era_date_from:
1972
1993
The glider was the first heavier-than-air human-carrying aircraft to achieve controlled piloted flight. On his first successful flight, August 28, 1883, John Montgomery soared at about 600 feet. The Montgomery glider's success demonstrated aerodynamic principles and designs fundamental to the modern aircraft.
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Montgomery Glider replica, International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, 1996, original glider by John Joseph Montgomery, 1883 - Hiller Aviation Museum - San Carlos, California
Era_date_from:
1883
1996
Better known as the "Spruce Goose," the Howard Hughes Flying Boat was designed and built by Hughes Aircraft Co., to be the largest wood-constructed and the largest wingspan airplane ever built. As Hughes perfected his craft, he added significantly to what is known in areas of large-lift capability and power-boost systems. Originally designated the HK-1 in 1942, it was designed to meet wartime troop and material transportation needs (flying just high enough to evade submarine attacks).
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Image Credit:
Public Domain (Federal Aviation Administration)
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Howard Hughes Flying Boat, HK-1
Era_date_from:
1947
2002
The Advanced Engine Test Facility was built in 1964, three years after President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to world leadership in aeronautical science. Conceived and designed by Wernher von Braun, the first director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, this facility was used to perform static tests on the booster of the Saturn V rocket, which launched Apollo 11 to the moon on July 16, 1969.
The stand has four concrete legs, each four feet thick and rising 144 feet to a steel superstructure supporting a 200-ton crane.
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Image Credit:
Courtesy ASME
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Saturn V Rocket being lifted onto the A-2 Test Stand at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center
Era_date_from:
1964
1993
The Atlas E-2 Space Booster, or launch vehicle, is a modified intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Convair Division of General Dynamics and the U.S. Air Force. The basic concept of the Atlas system was proven in its first flight on June 11, 1957, followed over the years by the launching more than five hundred vehicles including the Pioneer, Ranger, Mariner, and Surveyor. Many payloads were sent into orbit as detachable sections of Atlas missiles.
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Image Credit:
All 3 images are Public Domain
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A compilation of three successful launches vehicles in action. On the left is the Atlas-Centaur, the center is the Atlas-Agena, and the right is the SM-65A Atlas missile.
Era_date_from:
1957
1985
6225 Vectorspace Blvd Titusville State: FL Zip: 32780 Country: USA Website: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/air-and-space-transportation/-162-apollo-space-command-module-%281968%29, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo14info.html Creator: North American Aviation
The Apollo was the vehicle that first transported humans to the moon and safely back to earth. Nine lunar flights were made between 1968 and 1972. The command module, built by North American Aviation (at the time of launch, North American Rockwell Corporation), accommodated three astronauts during the mission. It was the only portion of the Apollo spacecraft system designed to withstand the intense heat of atmospheric re-entry at 25,000 mph and complete the mission intact. This command module at Rockwell flew as Apollo 14 in 1971.
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Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Chad Nordstrom (CC BY 2.0)
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The real Apollo Space Command Module on display at the Kennedy Space Center's Saturn V Building.
Era_date_from:
1968
1992
The Apollo lunar module (LM-13) was developed by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. (now Northrop Grumman). The LM's main functions were to carry two astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon's surface, and then return them to lunar orbit to rendezvous and dock with the Apollo command-service modules. On the surface, the LM served as a shelter and base of operations as the astronauts carried out their exploration and experiments. On July 20, 1969, the LM "Eagle" touched down on the moon, becoming the first piloted spacecraft to land on a celestial body other than Earth.
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Image Credit:
Courtesy Flickr/Michael Gray (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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The Apollo Lunar Module LM-13 on display in the Cradle of Aviation Museum
Era_date_from:
1972
2002
The Wildcat's innovative "Sto-Wing" mechanism developed on the XF4F-4 prototype by Leroy (Roy) Grumman (1895-1982), a founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, was crucial to the U. S. Navy's success during World War II.
The idea of a folding wing was not new: as early as 1920, F.M. Osborne patented a high-wing monoplane with folding wings, but never produced this design. A 1928 plane with folding wings designed by W. Leonard Bonney crashed on its first flight.
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Image Credit:
Public Domain (US Navy)
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Grumman Wildcat “Sto-Wing” Wing-folding Mecha
Era_date_from:
1942
2006
America's first practical helicopter, it pioneered the single main rotor concept that became the predominant helicopter configuration throughout the world. The principles that were developed and demonstrated by the VS-300 had direct application in the design of the early mass-production helicopter, marking the beginning of the world's rotorcraft industry.
The initial flight of the VS-300 was piloted by its designer, Igor I. Sikorsky (1889-1972), on September 14, 1939, in Stratford, Connecticut.
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Image Credit:
Courtesy ASME
Image Caption:
Sikorsky VS-300 Helicopter
Era_date_from:
1939
1984
