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