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Period: to
first explorations
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first moons
1610- The first spotting of the moon through a telescope by Galileo Galilei -
student rockets
1929-Hermann Oberth launches first personal rocket with students -
first soviot rocket
1933-Soviet Union launches first rocket of there own -
V-2
1946-First research flight launched by the U.S. captured by the V-2 space rocket -
fruit flies?!?
1947-First animals launched into space (fruit flies) by the U.S. -
dog in space
1957-First animal launched into orbit, dog named Laika launched by USSR and did not return alive -
sputink 1
October 4, 1957 - Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until January 4, 1958. -
Period: to
a great leap in science
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first us satellite
January 31, 1958 - Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite in orbit, lifts off at Cape Canaveral using a modified ABMA-JPL Jupiter-C rocket. It carries a scientific experiment of James A. Van Allen, and discovers the Earth's radiation belt. -
Luna 9
February 3, 1966 - Soviet Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. -
Venera 4
October 18, 1967 - Venera 4 sends a descent capsule into the Venusian atmosphere, returning data about its composition. -
Lunokhod 1
November 17, 1970 - Luna 17 lands on the moon, with the first automatic robot, Lunokhod 1. Driven by a five-man team on earth, traveled over surface for 11 days. -
the SMS-1
May 17, 1974 - NASA launches the first Synchronous Meteorological Satellite, SMS-1. -
the reach of Venus
December, 1978 - Two Pioneer spacecraft reach Venus. One drops four probes into the atmosphere, while the other maps the surface. -
Pioneer 11
September 1, 1979 - Pioneer 11 reaches Saturn, flying to within 13,000 miles and taking the first close-up photographs. -
Period: to
how we explore now
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voyager flyby
August, 1982 - Voyager 2 completes its flyby of Saturn. -
STS-41D
August 30, 1984 - The third space shuttle, Discovery, lifts off on it's maiden voyage (STS-41D). Crew: Henry W. Hartsfield, Michael L. Coats, Richard Mullane, Steven Hawley, Judith A. Resnik, and Charles D. Walker. -
the challeng... er. challenger
April 29, 1985 - The Challenger carries the ESA Spacelab-3 into orbit (STS-51B) -
Halley's comet
March, 1986 - Spacecraft from the U.S.S.R, Japan, and Western Europe fly by Halley's Comet on it's 30th recorded appearance. -
ISS
December 5, 2001 - Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched carrying the Raffaello logistics module back to the ISS with new supplies.