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U.S.- On this day Chuck Yeager, an american test pilot, flew the Bell X-1 aircraft. In this vehicle that he dubbed 'Glamorous Glennis', Chuck became the first person to break the sound barrier. It wasn't until 1948 that the public was given any news of this feat, a foreshadowing of the secrecy that would come in the following decades of the cold war.
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U.S. - The United States primarily sent primates into space from 1948 to 1961. Albert II faired better than Albert I, who died of suffocation during flight. Albert II flew in a V-2 rocket and reached a height of 134 km, officially making him the first monkey and primate to travel in space. Unfortunately, he died on the re-entry impact.
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Soviet Union
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Soviet Union
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U.S.
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Soviet Union
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Soviet Union
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Soviet Union- Selected from 400 other applicants and 5 finalists, Valentina was tasked with piloting Vostok 6 in June of 1963. She orbited around earth 48 times, and remains to this day the only female to fly a solo space mission. She is alive today and has offered herself to take on a one-way trip to mars if the opportunity arises.
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Soviet Union
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U.S.- Originally designated AS-204, Apollo 1 was scheduled to begin mission on February 21, 1967. However, during the launch rehearsal of January 27, 1967, an electrical fire began on the spacecraft. It quickly spread due to highly flammable nylon and the pressurized pure oxygen of the cabin, killing all three crew members aboard. As a commemoration, NASA retired the name Apollo 1 in April of 1967, and manned Apollo missions would be suspended for another year.
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Soviet Union
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U.S.- Apollo 17 was a mission of declining interest. Scientists couldn't be more excited- a geologist, Harrison Schmitt, would greatly complement the crew of Apollo 17. However, the American public was focused on domestic problems and Vietnam. Apollo 17 marked the end of an expansive and mostly successful program. In particular, Apollo 17 provided over 100 kg of moon rock samples, and priceless moon data.
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U.S.
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U.S. and Soviet Union
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U.S.
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U.S.
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U.S.
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U.S.- The Mars Polar Lander, also known as the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, was a 290 kg robot meant to study the soil and climate of the south pole of Mars. 11 months after launch, on December 3 1999, the lander failed to re-establish communication with Earth after completing its expected decent phase. Post-mortem analysis determined that the most likely occurrence was that the landing rockets prematurely terminated, causing the craft to land with too much velocity to survive.
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