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Jupiter and its moons, seen through a homemade telescope.
Galileo first observed the moons of Jupiter on January 7, 1610 through a homemade telescope. At first he thought he saw three stars by Jupiter, in a line through the planet. The next night, these stars moved the wrong way, this caught his attention. Galileo continued to look at the stars and Jupiter for the next week. On January 13, a fourth star appeared. -
First liquid-fueled rocket, seccessfully lanched.
On March 16, 1926, Robert Goddard successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket. The first-of-its-kind rocket reached an altitude of 41 feet and lasted 2 seconds and averaged about 60 miles per hour. -
The first animal in space
The first animals in space were fruit flies that were sent aloft by the United States using a captured German V-2 rocket on Feb. 20, 1947. The rocket lofted the Blossom capsule to an altitude of 68 miles on a brief suborbital flight. Blossom separated from the rocket and parachuted to Earth. Scientists discovered the fruit flies alive and well, unhurt by either the high acceleration or the radiation of space. -
Sputnik 1
The early era of space exploration was driven by a "Space Race" between the Soviet Union and the United States, the launch of the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, the USSR's Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957. -
Sputnik 2
November 3, 1957 - Sputnik 2, carrying the dog Laika for 7 days in orbit, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until April 13, 1958.The spacecraft, which remained attached to the upper stage, carried the dog Laika. No recovery was possible, and the dog perished in orbit due to higher-than-expected temperatures. -
Explorer 2
Explorer 2 was launched by a Jupiter-C rocket, and failed to reach orbit. It was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station LC-26A in Florida on March 5, 1958 at 18:28 UTC, by a Juno-I launch vehicle -
Luna 3
Luna 3 translunar satellite is launched, orbiting the moon and photographing 70 percent of the far side of the moon. -
Apollo
Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first manned soft landing on the Moon, and the first moonwalk, using Apollo 11. -
SMS-1
NASA launches the first Synchronous Meteorological Satellite, SMS-1. The SMS satellite was the first operational spacecraft to sense meteorological conditions from a fixed location. SMS-1 was a cylinder 75 inches in diameter, 103 inches high and weighed 630 pounds. -
Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11 reaches Saturn, flying to within 13,000 miles and taking the first close-up photographs. It was the first probe to encounter Saturn and the second to fly through the asteroid belt and by Jupiter. -
Galileo spacecraft
U.S. launches the Galileo spacecraft from Shuttle Atlantis flight STS-34, which took infrared images of Venus, and images of the asteroid Ida, before continuing to Jupiter. -
Space Shuttle Challenger
The space shuttle Challenger lifts off for its first mission and has the first American space walk in nine years. The crew was Paul Weitz, Karol Bobko, Donald Peterson, and Story Musgrave. -
Sakigake probe
The Sakigake probe is launched by Japan's Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, becoming the first interplanetary probe as it rendezvous with Halley's Comet. -
Mission STS-51L
The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff of mission STS-51L. -
Maintenance on the Crane and a faulty antenna.
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off for the International Space Station for maintenance on the crane and a faulty antenna, installation of a Russian boom arm, handrails and upgrades to the ventilation system, and delivery of new batteries, supplies and equipment.