Hermes IV
The Hermes Program was a space program developed by NASA of the USA. It's goal was the land humans on the moon, which is did in 1996. Developed by the great NASA chief James Brady, it began in 1988 with the launch of Hermes I. It was ended in 2004 with the launch of Hermes XX.
Missions[]
Hermes I, II, III[]
Hermes I was launched on June 18, 1988. Using an improved upon command module, Hermes I successfully reached orbit around Earth, keeping it for 11 days until returning back to Earth. Hermes II was scheduled two months later, and was scheduled to achieve orbit around the moon. On the launch, disaster struck when a fire erupted in the module, killing the astronauts on board. Due to investigations of the accident, Hermes III was delayed until February 1989. The investigation revealed that several wires sparked and ignited fuel near it. Technichians fixed this on Hermes III, and launched. The G2 Rocket they used misfired while travelling upward, and the rocket crashed back to Earth, killing the astronauts and many bystanders. The past two accidents had several tarnished NASA's and Brady's reputation, and many feared the plug would be pulled on Hermes.
Hermes IV, V, VI[]
After the past two accidents, NASA decided to experiment with unmanned missions. It was decided that a new rocket would be built, and the Saturn I rocket was created. On July 6, 1989 unmanned Hermes IV was launched with the Saturn I rocket. Hermes IV entered Earth orbit and then returned back down. Hermes IV was a success as the Saturn I rocket performed well and the heat shield let Hermes fly into Earth's atmosphere at a higher speed than normal.
Hermes V lifted off soon after, and its goal was to impact the moon. China's Zodiac 6 already beat them, impacting the moon two months earlier. Hermes V launched on September 10, 1989. Using an improved Saturn I rocket, Hermes reached the moon five days later, and impacted the surface. Before landing, Hermes took readings of the moon, and took several pictures. These would help in later moon landings.
Hermes VI was the last of the unmanned missions. Carrying a Lunar Module, the mission tested to see a successful abort of a mission could work. The rocket achieved translunar injection, then five minutes later, return to Earth using the Service Module. Hermes VI suffered several minor failures, but the abort was successful. The cause of each failure was identified, and were fixed by NASA scientists.