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Early Space Exploration
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Galileo's telescopes
Galileo Galilei demonstrates his telescope in front of Venetain officials -
Publication of Principia
Astronomer Isaac Newton publishes the Philosophae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. It outlines Newton's three laws of motion, his law of gravitation, and Kepler's laws for the motion of planets. It's considered one of the most important scientific works ever written. -
First rocket mechanics
The British mathematician William Moore publishes Treatise on the Motion of Rockets. This work features the first showing of rocket mechanics based on Newton's third law of motion. -
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky publishesThe Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices. This is the first serious book to be published that shows space exploration is actually possible. -
Robert Goddard
Robert Goddard publishes A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. The book describes Goddard's mathematical theories of rocket flight and his research into solid and liquid-fuel rockets. -
First Liquid Fueled Rocket Launched
U.S. rocket scientist Robert Goddard launches the first liquid fueled rocket. The 4-foot high rocket reaches an altitude of 41 feet and a speed of about 60 miles per hour. The flight lasts only 2 1/2 seconds. -
First U.S. High Altitude Flight
The U.S. military achieves its first high-altitude space flight using a rebuilt German V-2 rocket. The flight reaches an altitude of 70 miles. -
Wac Corporal
The US launches its first self-designed rocket. It reaches the edge of space at an altitude of 50 miles. -
Sputnik 1
Launched by the Soviet Union, Sputnik 1 was the first ever successful artificial stalite to orbit Earth. It was also considered to be the cause of the space race. -
Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2, shortly after Sputnik 1, was the first module to put a live animal into orbit around Earth. Laika the dog survived the launch but is believed to have died hours later due to overheating in the compartment. -
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The Space Race
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First Man In Space
Yuri A. Gagarin was the first man to survive going into space and back to Earth. The rocket was not meant to land saftly so Yuri jumped out and parachuted the last couple thousand meters to Earth. -
Apollo 1
This was the first US space tragety. Because of faulty wiring during a routine ground test, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in an inferno in Apollo 1's 100% oxygen atmosphere. -
Apollo 7
Apollo 7 was the first manned Apollo mission and the first live broadcast from space. Walter Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham were on this launch and were to see if the rocket was able to travel to the moon. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was the first rocket to land men on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin gather 46 pounds of rocks and deploy different scientific intruments on the moon. They are then quarentined for 3 weeks in case they brought back dangerous space microbes. -
Apollo 13
intended to be the third landing on the moon, Apollo 13 had an oxygen explosion, leaving the astronauts to flee to the lunar lander, go around the moon, and come back to Earth. -
Apollo 13
intended to be the third landing on the moon, Apollo 13 had an oxygen explosion, leaving the astronauts to flee to the lunar lander, go around the moon, and come back to Earth. -
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 carried the first rover to land on the moon. David Scott and James Irwin are the first to drive it. They drove 17 miles with the rover that made moon transportation much easier -
Skylab
America launches its first space station into orbit around Earth. Skylab is in orbit for 6 years and visited by a total of 9 astronauts before falling back to Earth in Australia in 1979 -
Apollo--Soyuz test project
Astronauts from Apollo 18 and Soyuz 19 meet together in space and stay with each other for 2 days then return to Earth. -
Viking 1
the first US Mars landing, Viking 1 took many photos of Mars' surface showing it's much like Earth deserts until late 1982 when communications stopped -
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Recent Space Exploration
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Columbia's 1st flight
Nasa launches Columbia, the first space shuttle, with commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen into orbit for 2 days then they come back, landing airplane style at Edwards Air Force Base in California. -
Challenger
Astronaut Bruce McCandless is the first to attempt an untethered space walk outside of the space shuttle Challenger with NASA's new jetpack-like device that slipped over the shoulders of astronauts' suits -
loss of Challenger
The space shuttle Challenger is ripped apart just over 70 seconds after launch due to a defective O--ring. All 7 astronauts were killed including Christa McAuliffe the first school teacher and ordinary civilian to go up in space -
Hubble Space Telescope
The space shuttle Discovery takes the famed Hubble space telescope up into orbit with 1 problem, the largest mirror is making many pictures blurry. The space shuttle Endeavour is put up with a repair crew to fix this, along with 3 others for different problems -
Sojourner
The first Mars rover, Sojourner is to test future Mars rovers and can take pictures and do chemical tests. It stays active for 3 monthes -
Loss of Columbia
The oldest space shuttle, Columbia burns up in the atmosphere during reentry. It is later proved that a block of foam broke off from the fuel tank during launch and damaged the tiles that protect the shuttle from heat during reentry -
Cassini reaches Saturn
After 7 years of traveling, the first probe to orbit Saturn is in position. NASA engineers adjust the orbit to view Saturn's rings and moons for several years. -
Huygens
Prepared to land in almost any environment, this European built probe lands on the surface of one of Satun's many moons Titan. All communication is lost withen a few hours -
Deep Impact
This 2 part probe collides with a comet while the second part observes and sees the gases that come out of the comet during impact and also whaat the inside of the comet looks like and what it's made out of. -
Dicovery
More than 2 years since the Columbia tragedy, the space Shuttle Discovery is launched. Once again a block of foam breaks off, damaging the heat resistant tiles, but this time it's nothing major and the shuttle returns saftly
