Lessons learned - Americans in space

Milestones in the learning process during development of spaceflight capability for different NASA missions are traced from the initial launch of the Mercury escape rocket to the advent of the Shuttle. A detached heat shield on the first manned Mercury orbital flight led to a decision for reentry with retrorockets attached, a situation which demonstrated a need for on-line communications with the spacecraft construction engineers. The Gemini program served to develop EVA techniques and docking procedures essential for the Apollo missions. Apollo 8 circled the moon after only one manned test flight of the equipment due to the success of the first flight. Lunar landing simulation training exposed the astronauts to situations beyond the human ability to respond. The training was justified when computer overload required the pilot to retake manual control of some spacecraft functions during the successful first lunar landing. All lessons previously learned were used to safely return the damaged Apollo 13 to earth. The Skylab missions provided an opportunity to maintain rotating teams of flight controllers on a 24-hr/day basis for periods of months. Finally, the six-year hiatus of U.S. manned space activities between the end of the Skylab missions and the first Shuttle flight provided time for incorporating previous lessons into new procedures, training strategies, and data resources.