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Space Exploration Timeline
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January 1, 1609, First telescope, Galileo
An Italian physicist and astronomer named Galileo was the first person to point a telescope skywards. Even though the image was fuzzy and the telescope was small, Galileo was able to see mountains and craters on the moon. -
January 1, 1938, First Computer Z1, Konrad Zuse
In 1938, Konrad finished what is considered the first computer. He constructed this computer in this parents living room. -
January 1, 1655-1731, First Piano, Bartolomeo Cristofori
The birth of the very first piano was around the 1700’s, but the first true piano was invented in 1655-1731. Cristofori was an artful inventor, creating sophisticated action for his pianos. -
January 1, 1752, Lightning Rod, Benjamin Franklin
Before Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod, he studied a lot about electricity. He set out to protect houses from destructive forces of lightning. The lightning rod was a rod attached to the top of a building, and connected to the ground through a wire. The electricity strikes the rod and the charge harmlessly travels to the ground. -
June 4, 1783, Hot air balloon, The Montgolfier brothers
Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier were paper mill owners. They were trying to float bags made of paper and fabric. When the brothers held a flame near the opening at the bottom, the bag expanded with hot air and floated upward. When they saw what happened, they went to investigate right away. -
September 10, 1846, Sewing Machine, Elias Howe
Elias was the first inventor of the sewing machine. Howe moved from Spencer to Boston, where he found work in a machinist shop. That was how Howe began tinkering with the idea of inventing a mechanical sewing machine. -
January 1, 1891, Zipper, Whitcomb L. Judson
Forty-four years after the sewing machine was invented, the ‘Zipper’ was invented. At the time, they did not call a Zipper a ‘Zipper’, but instead, they called it a ‘Clasp Locker’. -
January 1, 1907, Helicopter, Paul Cornu
The very first piloted helicopter was invented by Paul Cornu in 1907. -
January 1, 1945, Microwave, Percy Spencer
While Percy Spencer was researching radar at the Raytheon company, he stopped for a minute at the magnetron, an electronic vacuum tube that generates high radio waves. Suddenly, he noticed that the chocolate bar in this pocket shirt was melting. Curious, Spencer placed popcorn kernels near the magnetron; soon, popcorn was popping. Then he put an egg near by and the exploding egg confirmed that microwaves could cook food quickly. -
July 1, 1950, First Launch of first rocket, Bumper 2
This was the first rocket and the first launch called Bumper 2. After this launch, seven years later, the Soviet Union launched two rockets called Sputnik l and Sputnik ll. -
October 4, 1957, First satellite, Sputnik, Soviet Union
Seven years after the first rocket was launched, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik l and Sputnik ll, which became the first satellite to orbit around Earth. Sputnik l was the size of a beachball, 58cm./ 22.8 inches in diameter, and weighed only 83.6kg/ 183 pounds. It took about 98 minutes to orbit Earth on its elliptical path. -
January 27, 1967, Apollo 1, NASA, Virgil “Gus” Ivan Grissom, Edward Higgins White, Roger Bruce Chaffee
During a launch pad test, module 012 started on fire. During the fire, three astronauts, Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, Lt. Col. Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee, died in this tragic accident. -
Apollo 11, United States, Soviet Union, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, MIchael Collins
This was a space race between the Us and the Soviet Union, they were racing to see who can land on the moon first. Neil Armstrong was the first to walk on the moon. -
January 1,1990, Hubble Telescope, Edwin Hubble, NASA
The Hubble is the best telescope in the world, not in size nor weight, but in space. Because the Hubble is in space, the images that it takes are way clearer and more accurate. The reason why is because the Hubble doesn’t have to look through the Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere, by the way, is really polluted, and dirty. -
November 12, 2014, Rosetta and Philae, NASA
The Rosetta and the Philae had been riding together for 10 year already, trying to catch a comet orbiting our solar system. They have already failed twice, and just finally made it on to the comet on November 12.
