History of Space Exploration

Sputnik Who? USSR (Soviet Union/Russia) What? Satellite; looks like a “ball with whiskers” When? October 1957 Where? Orbited Earth Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st artificial satellite 1st manmade object to orbit the Earth Simplest satellite ever Beginning of the Space Race between the US and the USSR

Luna 1 Who? USSR (Soviet Union/Russia) What? Round with antennae; looked like Sputnik; satellite When? January 1959 Where? Flyby of the moon Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st man-made satellite to orbit the moon 1st spacecraft to leave geocentric orbit and enter heliocentric orbit 1st observation of solar winds

Luna 3 Who? USSR (Soviet Union/Russia) What? Space probe When? October 1959 Where? Far side of the moon Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st photos of the far side of the moon

Mercury space program Who? USA What? One-man capsule When? 1959 - 1963 Where? Orbit around Earth Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) Sent a monkey and two chimpanzees into space to learn about the effects space would have on humans 1st human space flight 1st American in space (suborbital) – Alan Shepard (1961) 1st American to reach orbit – John Glenn (1962) Mercury 6 “Friendship” flight Mercury 7 – seven astronauts selected for program

Mariner 2 Who? USA What? Space probe When? August 1962 Where? Flyby of Venus Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st spacecraft to visit another planet Measured atmosphere and temperature of Venus 800+ degrees Celsius Carbon dioxide atmosphere

Mariner 4 Who? USA What? Space probe When? November 1964 Where? Flyby of Mar Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st object to take photos of any planet from space 1st spacecraft to visit Mars Took photos of Mars

Luna 9 Who? USSR (Soviet Union/Russia) What? lander; had a camera When? February 3, 1966 Where? Moon Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st soft landing on the moon 1st photos from the moon’s surface

Venera 4 Who? USSR (Soviet Union/Russia) What? Space probe; had sensors When? June 1967 Where? Venus Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st spacecraft to transmit data from within Venus’ atmosphere Found atmosphere to be made almost entirely of carbon dioxide (remember “greenhouse effect”???)

Apollo 8 Who? USA What? Spacecraft with command module and rocket (Saturn V) When? December 1968 Where? Moon Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st manned space craft to orbit the moon 6 day mission; orbited 10 times 1st mission to take pictures of the Earth

Apollo 11 Who? USA What? Spacecraft with command module, lunar module, and launch escape system When? July 1969 Where? Moon Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st person to walk on the moon Neil Armstrong, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”

Venera 7 Who? USSR (Soviet Union/Russia) What? Space probe When? December 1970 Where? Venus Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st space probe to soft land on Venus 1st man-made spacecraft to land on another planet and transmit data Temperature and atmosphere

Mariner 9 Who? USA What? Satellite When? May 1971 Where? Venus Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st spacecraft to orbit another planet Mapped the surface of Mars

Pioneer 10 Who? USA What? flyby When? March 1972 Where? Flyby of Jupiter Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st spacecraft to visit Jupiter 500+ images of Jupiter Collected data on Jupiter’s magnetic field and solar wind 1st man-made object to go through the asteroid belt

Pioneer 11 Who? USA What? Space probe When? April 1973 Where? Flyby of Jupiter and Saturn Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st spacecraft to visit Saturn Photos of Saturn and its rings Took better photos of Jupiter than Pioneer 10

Mariner 10 Who? USA What? Space probe When? November 1973 Where? Flyby of Mercury and Venus Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st flybys of Mercury Photographed more than half of Mercury’s surface Found Mercury had extreme temperatures and magnetic field

Voyager 1 Who? USA What? Space probe When? September 1977 Where? Jupiter, Saturn, and Titan (Saturn moon) Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) Most distant man-made object in space Discovered volcanic activity on Io (Jupiter moon) Flew by Titan but could not penetrate its haze

Voyager 2 Who? USA What? Space probe When? August 1977 Where? Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) Only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune Best source of information on Uranus and Neptune

Hubble Space Telescope Who? USA What? Space telescope When? April 1990 (carried by Discovery) Where? Orbits around Earth Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st space based optical telescope Helped to determine the age of our universe Information on “dark energy” (energy that causes the universe to expand) Pictures showing the growth of galaxies

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory Who? USA What? telescope When? April 1991 (launched from shuttle Atlantis; burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere in 2000) Where? Low orbit of Earth Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) One of NASA’S four “great observatories” Explore chemical reactions in the universe that create the greatest amount of energy (gamma rays) Discovered gamma ray bursts come from outside of the Milky Way Discovered other galaxies and black holes

Mars pathfinder Who? USA What? Lander/rover When? December 1996 Where? Mars Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st Mars rover Traveled on surface collecting data on rocks, weather, and atmosphere Photographed over 16,000+ images

International Space Station Who? USA, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada What? Space station; artificial habitable satellite When? 1998 Where? Low Earth orbit Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) Brings together different countries working towards one goal of learning more about space Location for conducting experiments in space to learn how space effects life/humans and to learn more about the universe “staging base” for future missions to the Moon and Mars

Chandra X-ray observatory Who? USA What? Telescope with mirrors When? July 1999 (carried by Columbia) Where? Milky Way Galaxy Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) Detects x-ray releases from very hot parts of the solar system Largest satellite launched from a shuttle 1st images of Cassiopeia Observed the black hole near the center of our galaxy (Milky Way)

Spitzer Space Telescope Who? USA What? Infrared telescope When? August 2003 Where? Orbit around the Earth (trailing the Earth) Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) Most sensitive infrared observatory/telescope launched Final mission in NASA’s “Great Observatories Program” Detects heat radiation (aka the Sun, stars, etc) Pictures of the cosmos, stars, other galaxies, other “planets” 1st mission to detect light from planets outside of our solar system

messenger Who? USA What? satellite When? August 2004 Where? Mercury Why? (Goal/Accomplishment) 1st spacecraft to orbit Mercury 100% mapping of Mercury Discovered water ice at Mercury’s north pole