1. History of Space Exploration

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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”???)

10. 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

11. 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”

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. Chandra X-ray observatory
Who? USA
What? Telescope with mirrors
When? July (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)

24. 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

25. 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