Important Dates in Space Exploration

Philadelphia Water Comittee

1769

Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution.

Walden

1854

Henry David Thoreau published Walden.

Ecology

1866

The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel

Acid Rain

1872

The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain

Smog

1905

The term smog is coined by Henry Antoine Des Voeux in a London meeting to express concern over air pollution

National Park Service

1916

US Congress created the National Park Service

Explorer 6

1959

First photograph of Earth taken from the orbit

OSO-1

1962

First orbital solar observatory

Silent Spring

1962

Rachel Carson published Silent Spring

Apollo 8

1968

First piloted orbit around the moon.

Earthrise

1968

The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise

Apollo 11

1969

First human on the moon.

Earth Day

1970

First Earth Day – April 22. Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day. US Environmental Protection Agency established

Mariner 10

1973

First photograph of Venus from Space

Voyager 1

1977

First photograph of the entire solar system.

Ozone Layer

1989

Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force

NEAR shoemaker

1996

First landing on an asteroid.

Stardust

1999

First sample return from a comet.

Kepler Mission

2009

First space telescope designated to search for Earth-like exoplanets

MESSENGER

2011

First orbit of Mercury