Space Exploration

By EP20342

  • First Telescope Invented

    Dutch eyeglass maker named Hans Lippershey (or Lipperhey). In 1608, Lippershey tried to lay claim on a device with three-times magnification. His telescope had a concave eyepiece aligned with a convex objective lens.
  • Period: to

    1607-1957

  • First Telescopic Observation of the Night Sky

    First Telescopic Observation of the Night Sky
    First telescopic observation of the night sky: Discovery of Jupiter's moons, Lunar craters and the phases of Venus.

  • The Moon

    The Moon
    First clear telescopic photograph of another world: the moon

  • Magellan

    Extended (multi-year) orbital exploration of Venus

  • Liquid Fueled Rockets

    Liquid Fueled Rockets
    Goddard files for and is subsequently awarded U.S. patents on multistage and liquid-fueled rockets

  • Solid and Liquid Fueled Rocketry

    Solid and Liquid Fueled Rocketry
    Goddard's widely influential paper "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes" discussed solid- and liquid-fueled rocketry

  • Robbert H. Gaddard

    Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket.

  • Captured and Improved V-2 Rocket

    First space research flight (cosmic radiation experiments).

  • WAC Corporal

    First U.S.-designed rocket to reach edge of space (80 km (49 mi))

  • V-2

    First pictures of Earth from 105 km (65 mi)

  • V-2

    First animals in space (fruit flies)

  • Sputnik 1

    The first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. The first artificial satellite was Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957.

  • Explorer 1

    Confirmed the existence of the Van Allen belts.
  • Period: to

    1958-1980

  • Sputnik 2

    First animal in orbit, the dog Laika

  • Luna 1

    First artificial satellite to reach the Moon vicinity and first artificial satellite in heliocentric orbit

  • Explorer 6

    Explorer 6
    First photograph of Earth from orbit

  • Luna 3

    First photos of another world from space: The far side of the Moon

  • Freedom 7

    First human-piloted space flight–Alan Shepard). First human-crewed suborbital flight.

  • OSO-1

    First orbital solar observatory

  • OAO-2

    OAO-2
    First orbital ultraviolet observatory

  • Apollo 11

    Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans on the Moon, Americans Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins on July 20, 1969, at 20:18 UTC. Armstrong became the first to step onto the moon.

  • Viking Lander

    Viking Lander
    First photos and soil samples from the surface of Mars
  • Period: to

    1981-2015

  • Venera 13

    First Venus soil samples & sound recording of another world.

  • Voyager 1

    First photograph of the whole Solar System

  • Hupple Space Telescope

    Optical orbital observatory

  • Mir

    Record longest duration spaceflight (437.7 days) set by Valeri Polyakov

  • HALCA

    First orbital radio observatory

  • Mars Pathfinder

    First operational rover on another planet (Mars).

  • Cassini-Huygens

    Cassini-Huygens
    First soft landing on Titan

  • Stardust

    Stardust
    First sample return from comet

  • First Food Grown and Eaten in Space

    First Food Grown and Eaten in Space
    First food eaten that was grown in space (lettuce).