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384 BCE
Aristotle
Aristotle was a philosopher and scientist who's lifespan was 384-322 BC. Aristotle founded his own school in Athens. He spent most of his life in Athens studying, writing, and teaching. He composed works on astronomy. Aristotle's theory was that the universe and stars were perfect spheres but Earth was not a perfect sphere, but later he thought that planets and stars were circular and if the motions were circular they could go on forever. He also believed in a geocentric universe. -
100
Ptolemy
Ptolemy was an astronomer and a mathematician who's lifespan was from 100-168 AD. Ptolemy believed that the universe revolved around the Earth. His idea is called "geocentric" theory because geo means earth in Greek. Although his theory was wrong he was still able to predict the movements of the planets using his knowledge of mathematics. He also said the planets move in a small circle whose center moves around the outside of a larger one, and the Earth moved along an imaginary circular motion. -
1473
Copernicus
Copernicus lifespan was 1473-1543, he is the man that came up with the idea of our solar system. He looked at the universe differently than Ptolemy. Copernicus believed that the Sun was the center of our system instead of the Earth being the center of the universe. To back up his theory he used his own observations of the movement of the planets. He also believed that the Earth rotated on its axis. -
1546
Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe lifespan was from 1546-1601. He believed in the geocentric theory at first. Tycho Brahe made a model with the Earth in the center and the moon, sun, and stars revolving around it. Later he believed in the heliocentric theory. Tycho then made another model similar to the one with the earth in the center but this time the sun was in the center with the earth and other planets revolving around it. -
1564
Galileo
Galileo had a lifespan from 1564-1642. He had a brilliant mind and was a student who had genius for invention and observation. He was a student of Aristotle but didn't believe that Aristotle's theory was correct. Galileo believed motion worked differently. He created a telescope that could enlarge up to 20 times. With his creation he proved that Copernicus's theory was correct. -
1570
Hans Lippershey
Hans Lippershey's lifespan was from 1570-1619. He was a Dutch eyeglass inventor who was given credit of inventing the telescope and sometimes the compound microscope. Even though Galileo was the first to make the telescope, invention patents were not a thing so when Hans invented a different telescope he was given credit of inventing the telescope. -
1571
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler had a lifespan from 1571- 1630. When he was born people still believed that the planets in our solar system orbited around the Earth. Kepler believed in a heliocentric system, but he also said that the orbit of the planets were not perfect circles. This motion of the planetary's motions is known as Kepler's law. -
Giovanni Cassini
Giovanni Cassini had a lifespan from 1625-1712. He was apart of scientific discoveries and projects and one of them included the first observation of Saturn's moons. He observed Mars and determined its distance from Earth allowing the first guess for the dimensions of the solar system. Giovanni also discovered the Cassini Division in the rings of Saturn, the Great Red spot on Jupiter, and the different rotations within Jupiter's atmosphere. -
Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton's lifespan was from 1643-1724. He was an English physician and a mathematician. Isaac discovered the composition of white light which helped join the phenomena of colors into the science of light. Also, he came up with the three laws of motion which then helped him come up with the law of universal gravitation. Isaac was also the first discoverer of the infinitesimal calculus. -
Reacting and Reflecting Telescopes
The reacting telescope uses two lenses. The first lens gathers the light coming from a distant object and bends it into a single point of focus. The second lens enlarges the focused image. The Reflecting Telescope uses two mirrors instead of two lenses. This telescope was invented by Isacc Newton. The telescope uses mirrors to focus light together. It bends light together by reflecting the light instead of bending it as it passes through (like lenses do). -
William Herschel
William Herschel had a lifespan from 1738-1822. He was the first to discover Uranus when he thought he saw a comet. He also discovered two of Uranus's moons, Titania and Oberon. William also modeled the Milky Way galaxy from stellar statistics. -
Percival Lowell
Percival Lowell had a lifespan from 1855-1916. He is best known for his theory of life on Mars and discovering Pluto. The naming and symbol of Pluto is in part of Percival's initials. -
Ejnar Hertzsprung
Ejnar Hertzsprung had a lifespan from 1873-1967. He made the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. This diagram classified types of stars based on their color and brightness. This diagram was later used to estimate the distance planets and stars where away from Earth. -
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein had a lifespan from 1879-1955. He was a German mathematician and a physicist. He developed the theories of relativity and he explained the photoelectric effect. He also is well known for his equation E=mc2. His work also had a impact on the development of atomic energy. -
Edwin Hubble
Edwin Hubble had a lifespan of 1889-1953. He helped prove that the universe is expanding with his research. He also created a classification system for galaxies. Earlier he proved that there were other galaxies other than the Milky Way. Edwin estimated that Andromeda Nebula was about 900,000 light years away from the Milky Way. -
Kal Jansky
Karl Jansky had a lifespan from 1905-1950. He discovered radio waves and heard an unidentified radio interference that came from the stars. -
John Glenn 1962
John Glenn had a lifespan from 1921-2016. He was the first US man to orbit the Earth. He completed 3 complete orbits around Earth -
Neil Armstrong 1969
Neil Armstrong had a lifespan from 1930-2012. He was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon and he was the commander of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, the spacecraft that took him and two other men to the moon. -
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin had a lifespan from 1934-1968. He was the first man in space. He flew in the Soviet Union's Vostok spacecraft and his flight lasted for 180 minutes and he circled the Earth for a little more than one orbit. Before his mission a dog and a life sized dummy were sent into space in a prototype of the Vostok. -
Sputnik
Sputnik was made in 1957. Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was the first satellite launched by man and it successfully made a full orbit around Earth. The orbit an apogee (the farthest point from Earth) of 940 km and a perigee (the nearest point) of 230 km. It circled Earth every 96 minutes and didn't stop orbiting until 1958. -
The Apollo Program
The Apollo Program took place in 1963-1972. The Apollo Program, also known as "Project Apollo", was the NASA program that had the outcome of 11 spaceflights and moonwalks made by American astronauts. Four of the flights were to test the equipment used in the Apollo Program and six of the other seven flights landed on the moon. The first flight apart of the Apollo Program took place in 1969 and the last flight took place in 1972. -
First Space Shuttle flight
The first space shuttle called Space Shuttle Columbia was launched in 1981. Astronaut John Young was the commander of the mission and Bob Crippen was the pilot. The spacecraft was launched at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Flordia. This shuttle was the first reusable spacecraft. Its rocket launchers would be reused when recovered from the ocean and the spacecraft would take off like a rocket and land like a plan. -
Mars Pathfinder Expedition
The Mars Pathfinder was a machine built to demonstrate a new way to deliver an instrumented lander. It was the first rover to land on Mars. The rover landed on Ares Vallis, Mars in 1997 and was launched in 1996. When the rover returned to Earth it had collected an unprecedented amount of data and outlived its primary design life. -
Cassini orbiter
The Cassini was one of NASA's spacecraft's. It was equipt with powerful cameras and instruments, this was so the spacecraft could take accurate measurements and detailed images on its mission. The Cassini's mission was to study the planet Saturn and its system. The Cassini was launched in 1997 and reached Saturn in 2004. This mission helped with the understanding of the Saturnian system. -
Proxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri is a star that is 4.2 light-years away from Earth's Sun. Scientists discovered a planet orbiting in Proxima Centauri's habitable zone, or the region where liquid water might exist on the planet's surface. This newly discovered planet has about a minimum mass of 1.27 times Earth's mass which means that this planet could be habitable. Fundraisers are being made so scientist can build a space telescope to study Proxima and look for signs of life there.
