important dates in space exploration

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

  • Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden

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

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

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

  • US Congress created the National Park Service

  • First artificial earth satellite (Sputnik 1)

    First artificial earth satellite (Sputnik 1)
    sputnik 1 was created by the U.S.S.R
  • First space craft to hard land on the moon

    First space craft to hard land on the moon
    the Luna 2 space craft was made by the U.S.S.R
  • First human to orbit Earth

    First human to orbit Earth
    the first human to orbit earth was Yury Gagarin. he was in the space craft Vostok 1.
  • Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring

  • First space walk

    First space walk
    the first space walk was executed by Aleksey Leonov on Voskhod 2
  • The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise

  • First human to walk on the moon

    First human to walk on the moon
    the first human to walk on the moon was Neil Armstrong on the Apollo 11 mission
  • First Earth Day – April 22. Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day. US Environmental Protection Agency established

  • first soft landing on another planet (Venus)

    first soft landing on another planet (Venus)
    the soft landing on venus was by the space craft Venera 7
  • first space craft to fly by Jupiter

    first space craft to fly by Jupiter
    pioneer 10 managed to cross the astroid belt and was able to fly past Jupiter.
  • Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force

  • first large optical space telescope launched

    first large optical space telescope launched
    the first large optical telescope was the hubble space telescope. launched by the U.S, European space agency
  • The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December. Countries commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide

  • U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol

  • first spacecraft to orbit and land on an asteroid

    first spacecraft to orbit and land on an asteroid
    this space craft was NEAR and landed on the astroid Eros
  • U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation

  • first landing on the Moon's far side

    first landing on the Moon's far side
    china was the first to go to the far side of the moon with the space craft Chang'e 4
  • U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation