space exploration

By jd19059

  • First telescopic observation on night sky

    Galileo Galilei used a telescope to made the discovery of Jupiter's moons, Lunar craters and the phases of Venus.

  • First exposition of the rocket equation

    William Moore's Treatise on the Motion of Rockets is the first exposition of the rocket equation based on Newton's third law of motion.
  • First clear telescopic photograph of another world

    First clear telescopic photograph of another world

    One of the first pictures ever taken of the moon by John William Draper.

  • The first liquid-fueled rocket

    Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket.

  • First vehicle to cross the Kármán line

    A German V2 rocket was the first to cross the Kármán line.
  • First pictures of Earth from 105 km

    First pictures of Earth from 105 km

    V-2 rocket gave us our first look at Earth from beyond the atmosphere。

  • First animals in space.

    An American V-2 rocket carried fruit flies launched and became the first animals to reach outer space and be recovered alive.

  • First intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

    The first ICBMs were deployed by the Soviet Union.
  • First artificial satellite

    First artificial satellite

    Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite.

  • The first animal to orbit Earth

    The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2. On board the small satellite was a little dog, Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth.
  • First human in space

    First human in space

    Yuri Gagarin was the first human to journey into outer space. His Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth.

  • First successful planetary flyby

    Mariner 2, an American space probe to Venus, was the first robotic space probe to conduct a successful planetary flyby.

  • First extra-vehicular activity

    The Union Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov made the first spacewalk in history.

  • First Mars flyby

    Mariner 4 performed the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first pictures of the Martian surface.

  • First orbital docking between two spacecraft

    First docking between American spaceflight Gemini 8 and spacecraft Agena target vehicle.

  • First soft landing on another world

    Luna 9, an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna programme, became the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.
  • First human on the moon

    First human on the moon

    Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans on the Moon, American astronaut Neil Armstrong.

  • First automatic sample return from the Moon

    Luna 16 was an unmanned space mission and was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample of lunar soil to Earth.
  • First space station

    First space station

    The first space station was Salyut 1, which was launched by the Soviet Union.

  • First landing on Mars

    Viking 1, an unmanned scientific probe controlled by scientists on Earth, transmits the first pictures from the surface of Mars.
  • First space shuttle

    First space shuttle

    Space Shuttle Columbia was the first space-rated Space Shuttle in NASA's orbiter fleet. It launched for the first time on mission STS-1.

  • First photograph of the whole solar system

    First photograph of the whole solar system was taken by Voyager 1. It was lanched by NASA.
  • Hubble space telescope

    Hubble space telescope

    The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit by NASA to observe the space.

  • First Spacecraft to Leave the Solar System

    Pioneer 10, launched on March 2, 1972, reaches a distance 50 times farther from the sun than Earth, becoming the first spacecraft to leave the solar system.

  • First polar orbit around the Sun

    Ulysses was a joint venture of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). It is the first to polar orbit around the sun.

  • First mission into the atmosphere of a gas giant

    Galileo launched the first probe into Jupiter, directly measuring its atmospher.

  • First operational rover on another planet

    Mars Pathfinder is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars.

  • First Spacecraft to Orbit Saturn

    Cassini-Huygens operates by NASA,ESA and ASI, became the first spacecraft to go into orbit around Saturn.
  • Kepler Mission is launched

    Kepler Mission is launched

    Kepler Mission is launched by NASA. It is the first space telescope designated to search for Earth-like exoplanets.

  • First spacecraft to orbit two separate celestial bodies

    Dawn is a space probe launched by NASA. It is the first spacecraft to orbit two separate celestial bodies.