Post by PhantomWolf on Oct 30, 2006 22:04:45 GMT -4
I was working out some stats and come across a few interesting things.
To achieve a manned landing certain steps had to be taken consistantly as such this is a list of the first country to do something successfully twice. Cut off is the launch of Apollo 11:
Step - Country - Craft
Put probe in orbit - Soviet - Sputnik 2
Put man in orbit - Soviet - Vorstok 2
Multiple Man Crew - Soviet - Voskhod 2
Manoeuvrable Robotic Lunar Spacecraft - American - Ranger 7
Robotic Lunar Impact Landing - American - Ranger 8
(Note: Though the Soviets succeeded with a planned impact once in 1959, they then didn't repeated it until they weren't actually trying too with Luna 5 in May, 1965, four months after Ranger 8.)
Robotic Lunar Orbit Soviet - Luna 11
Robotic Lunar Soft Landing - Soviet - Luna 13
(Note: The Americans weren't that far off. The Soviets had attempted a soft landing 13 times from 1963 before succeeding. The US had just two attempts previous to Luna 13, and one of those failed. Their second success, Suveyor 3, was only 4 months later.)
Robotic Lunar Lift Off - Neither. - Note: The Soviets didn't achieve this until after Apollo 11. The US only did it once.
Manoeuvrable Manned Spacecraft - American - Gemini IV
Spacewalk - American - Gemini IX-A
Manned Spacecraft Rendezvous - American - Apollo 9
(Note: Though the two Apollo craft were launched together, the LM and CSM separated and then had to rendezvous and dock so it counts. After Gemini VI-A and VII, the US didn't do a separately Earth launched rendezvous between manned craft until after Apollo.)
Manned Spacecraft Docking - American - Gemini X
(Note: This refers to docking a manned spacecraft with another craft which isn't nessecarily manned. The first craft to complete that country's second manned-manned docking was also American however, being Apollo 10.)
Manned Lunar Orbit - American - Apollo 10
Notice that while the Soviets where ahead early on, there was a switch over during the Gemini Period.
It's interesting to compare their unmanned misions too.
As of July 1969:
Soviet Unmanned Lunar Missions:
Total - 36
Successful - 11
(Note: this total includes Luna 1 and 4, both of which were successful fly pasts by were supposed to impact.)
Percentage Success Overall - 30.5%
Percentage Successful after First Success (Luna 1) - 34.4%
American Unmanned Lunar Missions:
Total - 21
Successful - 14
(Note: This includes Ranger 6 which as a Space craft performed exactly on profile, but had its TV camera fail. It however does not include Ranger 5 which even as a flyby was a failure.)
Percentage Success Overall - 66.3%
Percentage Successful after First Success (Ranger 6) - 93.3%
Perhaps this hints at why the US programme eventually succeeded whereas the Soviet one failed.
Goes quite well with my list of American Firsts.
1) First satellite to measure Van Allen Belts (Explorer 1)
2) First satellite in polar orbit (Discoverer 2)
3) First television weather satellite (Tiros 1)
4) First active communications satellite (Telstar 1)
5) First probe to study the Sun (Pioneer 5)
6) First manned spacecraft to successfully soft land (Freedom 7)
7) First successful interplanetary probe [Venus] (Mariner 2)
8) First commercial communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit (Intelsat 1)
9) First chemical analysis of lunar soil (Surveyor 5)
10) First robotic Lander to lift off from moon surface (Surveyor 6)
11) First successful Mars Probe (Mariner 4)
12) First manned spacecraft to be able to change its orbital path (Gemini)
12) First Navigation Computer for Manned Spacecraft. (Gemini III)
13) First fuel cell powered manned spacecraft (Gemini V)
14) First manned spacecraft rendezvous (Gemini VI-A & VII)
15) First manned docking with a separately launched target vehicle (Gemini VIII)
16) First manned mission into Van Allen belts. (Gemini X)
17) First teetering of two Spacecraft in orbit. (Gemini XI)
18) First successful performance of work during EVA (Gemini XII)
19) First manned flight round the Moon (Apollo 8)
20) First lunar spacecraft rendezvous (Apollo 10)
eta:
I noted that a lot of the Soviet failures were launches, but even if we remove launch failures from the list it still stacks up on the US side.
Soviet Unmanned Lunar Missions:
Total (excluding Launch Failures) - 20
Successful - 11
(Note: this total includes Luna 1 and 4, both of which were successful fly pasts by were supposed to impact.)
Percentage Success Overall - 55.0%
Percentage Successful after First Success (Luna 1) - 55.0%
American Unmanned Lunar Missions:
Total (excluding Launch Failures) - 19
Successful - 14
(Note: This includes Ranger 6 which as a Space craft performed exactly on profile, but had its TV camera fail. It however does not include Ranger 5 which even as a flyby was a failure.)
Percentage Success Overall - 73.7%
Percentage Successful after First Success (Ranger 6) - 93.3%
Edited to fix up a few things and add a bit.
To achieve a manned landing certain steps had to be taken consistantly as such this is a list of the first country to do something successfully twice. Cut off is the launch of Apollo 11:
Step - Country - Craft
Put probe in orbit - Soviet - Sputnik 2
Put man in orbit - Soviet - Vorstok 2
Multiple Man Crew - Soviet - Voskhod 2
Manoeuvrable Robotic Lunar Spacecraft - American - Ranger 7
Robotic Lunar Impact Landing - American - Ranger 8
(Note: Though the Soviets succeeded with a planned impact once in 1959, they then didn't repeated it until they weren't actually trying too with Luna 5 in May, 1965, four months after Ranger 8.)
Robotic Lunar Orbit Soviet - Luna 11
Robotic Lunar Soft Landing - Soviet - Luna 13
(Note: The Americans weren't that far off. The Soviets had attempted a soft landing 13 times from 1963 before succeeding. The US had just two attempts previous to Luna 13, and one of those failed. Their second success, Suveyor 3, was only 4 months later.)
Robotic Lunar Lift Off - Neither. - Note: The Soviets didn't achieve this until after Apollo 11. The US only did it once.
Manoeuvrable Manned Spacecraft - American - Gemini IV
Spacewalk - American - Gemini IX-A
Manned Spacecraft Rendezvous - American - Apollo 9
(Note: Though the two Apollo craft were launched together, the LM and CSM separated and then had to rendezvous and dock so it counts. After Gemini VI-A and VII, the US didn't do a separately Earth launched rendezvous between manned craft until after Apollo.)
Manned Spacecraft Docking - American - Gemini X
(Note: This refers to docking a manned spacecraft with another craft which isn't nessecarily manned. The first craft to complete that country's second manned-manned docking was also American however, being Apollo 10.)
Manned Lunar Orbit - American - Apollo 10
Notice that while the Soviets where ahead early on, there was a switch over during the Gemini Period.
It's interesting to compare their unmanned misions too.
As of July 1969:
Soviet Unmanned Lunar Missions:
Total - 36
Successful - 11
(Note: this total includes Luna 1 and 4, both of which were successful fly pasts by were supposed to impact.)
Percentage Success Overall - 30.5%
Percentage Successful after First Success (Luna 1) - 34.4%
American Unmanned Lunar Missions:
Total - 21
Successful - 14
(Note: This includes Ranger 6 which as a Space craft performed exactly on profile, but had its TV camera fail. It however does not include Ranger 5 which even as a flyby was a failure.)
Percentage Success Overall - 66.3%
Percentage Successful after First Success (Ranger 6) - 93.3%
Perhaps this hints at why the US programme eventually succeeded whereas the Soviet one failed.
Goes quite well with my list of American Firsts.
1) First satellite to measure Van Allen Belts (Explorer 1)
2) First satellite in polar orbit (Discoverer 2)
3) First television weather satellite (Tiros 1)
4) First active communications satellite (Telstar 1)
5) First probe to study the Sun (Pioneer 5)
6) First manned spacecraft to successfully soft land (Freedom 7)
7) First successful interplanetary probe [Venus] (Mariner 2)
8) First commercial communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit (Intelsat 1)
9) First chemical analysis of lunar soil (Surveyor 5)
10) First robotic Lander to lift off from moon surface (Surveyor 6)
11) First successful Mars Probe (Mariner 4)
12) First manned spacecraft to be able to change its orbital path (Gemini)
12) First Navigation Computer for Manned Spacecraft. (Gemini III)
13) First fuel cell powered manned spacecraft (Gemini V)
14) First manned spacecraft rendezvous (Gemini VI-A & VII)
15) First manned docking with a separately launched target vehicle (Gemini VIII)
16) First manned mission into Van Allen belts. (Gemini X)
17) First teetering of two Spacecraft in orbit. (Gemini XI)
18) First successful performance of work during EVA (Gemini XII)
19) First manned flight round the Moon (Apollo 8)
20) First lunar spacecraft rendezvous (Apollo 10)
eta:
I noted that a lot of the Soviet failures were launches, but even if we remove launch failures from the list it still stacks up on the US side.
Soviet Unmanned Lunar Missions:
Total (excluding Launch Failures) - 20
Successful - 11
(Note: this total includes Luna 1 and 4, both of which were successful fly pasts by were supposed to impact.)
Percentage Success Overall - 55.0%
Percentage Successful after First Success (Luna 1) - 55.0%
American Unmanned Lunar Missions:
Total (excluding Launch Failures) - 19
Successful - 14
(Note: This includes Ranger 6 which as a Space craft performed exactly on profile, but had its TV camera fail. It however does not include Ranger 5 which even as a flyby was a failure.)
Percentage Success Overall - 73.7%
Percentage Successful after First Success (Ranger 6) - 93.3%
Edited to fix up a few things and add a bit.
