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Lancing of Sputnik 1
Sputnik means satellite in Russian. It was shaped like a sphere and had four radiating radio antennaes. It was the first man made thing to go into outer space. Its on-board radio transmitter sent out a beep beep signal that was heard all around the world.The Spunik 1 going into outer space shocked everyone. The lanch ushered in new political, military, technology and scientific devolpments. Eventhought the lauch was just one specific event it marked the start of the space race. -
Sputnik 2
The second satellite lanched into orbit by the Russian's. It was the first that carried an animal. Her name was Laika and she died in flight because they did not know how to get her back. It was a four meter high cone shaped capsule with a base diameter of 2 meters. It contained several compartments for radio transmitters, a telemetry system, a programming unit and much more. -
Explorer 1
The first American satellite to orbit. It carried scientific equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radation belt. It remanined in orbit until 1970 and has been followed by more than 90 scientific spacecraft.The primary science instrument was a cosmic ray detector which was designed to measure the radiation environment in orbit. -
Sputnik 3
A Russian satellite lanched from Baikonur. It was a research satellite to explore the upper atmosphere and the near space. Sputnik 3 was an automatic scientific laboratory spacecraft. It was conically shaped and was 3.57 m long and 1.73 m wide at its base and weighed 1,327 kg. -
Vanguard 1
A satallite launched by the Americans. It function for three years. It was the fourth satellite to go into outer space but the first satellite to be solar powered. Although communication with it was lost in 1964, it remains the oldest manmade satellite still in orbit. It was designed to test capabillites of a three stage launch vehicle and the effects of the enviornment on a satellite and its systems in orbit. -
Luna 1
Put up by Russia, it was the first spacecraft to reach the Moon, and the first of a series of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations successfully launched in the direction of the Moon. It was sphere-shaped with five antennae extended from one hemisphere and was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selection and verification of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions. -
The first man in space
Russian Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was the first man in space. Blasting off from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 6:07 a.m. local time at the Soviet Union launch site. He orbited the Earth for 108 mintues. The spacecraft that he orbited in was called the Vostok 1. He was raised in rank from a Senior Lieutenant to a Major during his flight. -
The first American in space
Alan B. Shepard was the first American man in space. He would later become the commander of Apollo 14. He blasted off in his Freedom 7 capsule atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket. He orbited for 15 minutes which 4 minutes he spent in zero g. The capsule he was in traveled 300 mph. -
Vostok 2
It was a Soviet space mission which carried cosmonaut Gherman Titov into orbit for a full day in order to study the effects of a more prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body. Titov orbited the earth over 17 times, exceeding the other orbits that other astronauts had done. He was the first astronaut to experience space sickness. -
Apollo 1
The first Apollo mission. A flash fire occurred in command module during the launch. All the astronauts died within 15 seconds in this accident. The tragey almosed causes Congress to shut down NASA. It was a moon landing plan. Apollo 2-6 were test runs to make sure everything was safe for the next attempt to space and that what happened to Apollo 1 would not happen again. -
Apollo 7
The first actual flight after Apollo 1. It was also the first 3 man space flight and a confidence builder after all that happened with Apollo 1. The primary objectives for the Apollo 7 was engineering test flight to demonstrate command and service module and crew performance, demonstrate crew, space vehicle and mission support facilities performance during a mission, and demonstrate CSM rendezvous capability. -
Apollo 8
The second manned mission in the American Apollo space program. It was an extremely risky mission. They only sent the service module, but did not send the lunar moduel with it like they usually do. If what had happened to Apollo 13 had happened to Apollo 8 the astronauts would have died in space. The mission was successful. -
Apollo 11
The spaceflight that landed the first humans on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The mission is considered a major accomplishment in the history of exploration. It was coducted by Americans. “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for man kind.” The famous qoute that Neil Armstrong said while walking on the moon. -
Apollo 13
The seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was successfully launched toward the Moon. The landing had to be aborted after an oxygen tank exploded, severely damaging the spacecraft's electrical system. After the oxygen tank ruptured, which crippled the service module upon which the Command Module depended. They had to conserve its batteries and the oxygen in order to get back to Earth safely. -
Challenger
Tuesday, January 28, 1986, is when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart in 73 seconds and lead to the deaths of its seven crew members. It all started with a small piece of foam falling off the shuttle. Then a whole was blasted in the wing and ripped it off and then the entire thing apart.
