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Sputnik
Sputnik started the space race which resulted to Apollo 11. They were Russian satellites and first to be launched into space. Sputnik was 184 lbs or 83.6 kg and circled our planet every 96 minutes. The second Sputnik was launched November 3rd of the same year and carried a dog named Laika who was the first living creature to be launched into space. The other sputnik missions did experiments on multiple different animals to test spacecraft life-support systems. -
Apollo 11
This spacecraft was the first to land astronauts on the moon. The main goal was based off of the president's National goal which was to launch people in space and land them on the moon and then return back to Earth. That goal got accomplished and everyone who was sent into space returned back alive.
https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo11.cfm -
Sky Lab
Sky Lab is America's first ever space station. It was launched on May 14, 1973 at 1:30 pm EDT at Launch Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center. This station is also unmanned, so at first there were some technical problems when it got into orbit. However, it became a model for the International Space Station and proved that Humans can work and live in space for an extended period of time. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/skylab -
Hubble Space Telescope
This telescope is a long term object that astronauts can observe from things in space. It has impacted modern day astronomy in many ways including being a very helpful tool for making new discoveries and leading to future astronomical research. It can also detect light with eyes 5 times more precise than our ground based telescopes. It also observes the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths that are filtered out by our atmosphere. https://sci.esa.int/web/hubble/-/33155-summary -
Space X (founding)
Space X is a space transportation company that builds, designs, and launches complex or advanced rockets and other spacecraft. This company operates out of Hawthorne, California and is developing a partially reusable launch vehicle. This company also now holds 60% of the worldwide share of business launch contracts. It also delivered 48 satellites into orbit and 22,700 lb. of supplies to the International Space Station. https://www.fastcompany.com/company/spacex -
Mars Roversmars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/rover/ https://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer.html
The Mars Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) are small robots that gather information from Mars. The rovers have several parts that work to gather the information that astronomers use to study Mars. They also take pictures of Mars using their "eyes" (cameras)and "other senses" (tools). The rovers (mission) retired recently on February 13, 2019. Spirit drove 7.73 km and worked for 2210 Martian days while Opportunity drove 45.16 km and worked for at least 5111 martian days. -
Boeing Space Taxi
This space capsule was designed to hold 7 passengers or a mix of people and supplies for missions to low earth orbits. This capsule is reusable up to 10 times with a 6 month turnaround time. It also has wireless internet and tablet technology for passenger interfaces. As of right now, this taxi is not progressing as fast as Space X is because of the lagging. Therefore, it won't carry crew till the end of this year. https://www.boeing.com/space/starliner/
