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Space Exploration
Historical events through space travel and exploration. -
Launch of Sputnik 1
Being the first ever satellite to enter Earth's orbit, Sputnik 1 marked the debut of the Space Age. It was launched by the Soviet Union, which caught the United States off guard. In the following years, the government focused on keeping up with the Soviet Union's technology. The satellite weighed 184 pounds, orbiting Earth for about three months. It finally crashed in January the next year. -
Launch of Explorer 1
Explorer 1 is the first satellite launched by the United States. It was a major step for the United States to compete with the Soviet Union in the Space Age. Although the satellite was much smaller than Sputnik 1, it remained in space much longer. Explorer 1 was able to hold orbit for over twelve years. It burned up in Earth's atmosphere on March 31, 1970. This was a major event for NASA and contributed the development of several future satellites and spacecrafts. -
Landing of Apollo 11
The Apollo 11 mission sent the spacecraft Eagle, along with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, to the moon. It was the first instance of humans landing on the moon. Eight days after takeoff, the ship landed in the Pacific Ocean. This mission was a critical step in the history of space exploration. It provides the motivation for many projects being worked on today. -
Launch of International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is a base that was launched into space to provide a convenient location for many research projects. When it was sent into the atmosphere, it was scheduled to remain until 2020. The station has allowed scientists to perform many experiments and create new technology. Many astronauts have resided on the space station for extended periods of time to adapt to the anti-gravity environment of space. The ISS has been a vital resource to space development. -
Launch of spacecraft Kepler
The spacecraft Kepler was launched from Earth to explore beyond the solar system, further into the Milky Way Galaxy. It is designed to analyze connections between planets and stars. -
Landing of Curiosity Rover
Curiosity Rover was the most developed robot to be sent to Mars. Following many other robots to Mars, the rover's mission is to collect and return information about the planet's properties. Curiosity is about the size of a car with six wheels. It has many other pieces of equipment to efficiently analyze its surroundings. Since its landing, the robot has provided many answers to the people at NASA. Everyday it is finding more reasons to believe there was once life on the planet of Mars.