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Galileo's Telescope
There is no exact date but we know the year. Galileo was the first person to point a telescope towards the sky. Galileo was able to make out mountains and craters on the moon and a diffuse light curving across the sky (the Milky Way). -
Sputnik
On this day the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. Sputnik was a 183-pound beach ball-sized sphere that took about 98 minutes to orbit Earth. This was the start of a space race between the US and the Soviet Union. -
Sputnik 2
Launched on this day, carried the dog Laika into space. Laika was the first living being to travel into space. Engineering and biological data were transmitted to Earth15 minutes of each orbit. Two spectrophotometers were on the spaceship to measure solar radiation and cosmic rays. television camera was mounted in the passenger compartment to keep an eye on Laika. -
Explorer I
On this day it launched and was the first US Satellite. May of the same year it ran out of batteries. Orbited Earth once every 114.8 minutes after launch, or 12.54 orbits per day.March 31, 1970 when it returned over the Pacific Ocean. Completed 58,000 orbits times before returning to Earth in March 1970. -
Vanguard 1
A satellite that was launched on this day. The battery powered transmitter stopped working in June 1958 and the solar powered transmitter stopped working until May 1964. The last signals were recieved in Quito, Ecuador. It was tracked visually from Earth. Vanguard also carried two thermistors which measured the interior temperature over 16 days in order to track the effectiveness of the thermal protection. -
NASA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. They took from the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. They officially opened for business on this day. They began to do space missons within their first month. They did projects such as Project Mercury and Project Gemini. -
Luna I
First man made satellite to orbit the moon and was launched by the USSR. On January 3 of the same year, Luna created a glowing ball of gas visible over the Indian Ocean with the brightness of a sixth-magnitude star, allowed astronomers to track the spacecraft. It also served as an experiment of the behavior of gases in the solar system. -
Luna II
Launched on this day towards the moon. The first spacecraft to land on the moon. Reached the moon on September 13 at a speed of three kilometres per second in the Palus Putredinis region. Luna II confirmed that the Moon had no appreciable magnetic field, and found no evidence of radiation belts at the Moon. -
Tiros I
Television Infrared Observation Satellite Program is what is stands for. Launched this day, this was the first weather satellitle launched by the United States. It was only in operation for 78 days. Provided the first accurate weather forecasts based on data gathered from space. -
Vostok 1
Launched on this day by the Soviets. This spacecraft carried Yuri A. Gargarin, the first man into space. He orbited Earth once. The spacecraft was made to eject the Gargarin at 7 km and for him to parachute back to Earth. No one knows if this happened. Radio communications with earth were made often during the flight, and television transmissions were also made from space. -
Aurora 7
Launched this day with M. Scott Carpenter making three orbits. The goal of this was to work together to put a man in orbit. They landed the same day, They hit a maximum altitude of 164 miles at an orbital velocity of 17,532 miles per hour. Carpenter's goal was to see if an astronaut can work in space. A huge step towards landing on the moon. -
Vostok 6
This carried Soviet Valentia Tereshkova the first women in space. Before this only military personal had been into space.The flight lasted for three days.This was the longest space misson at this time.It completed 48 orbits around the Earth before it landed northeast of Karaganda. This was the last Vostok mission for the Russin Space Agency. They started the Voshkod program. -
Luna 9
This was the first spacecraft to have a soft landing on the moon. It landed on the moon on February 3 of the same year. They're goal was to land a camera module.They transmitted three series of photos that are made into panoramic of the landing site. First set over a period of 107 minutes, second set over a period of 174 minutes and the third set over a period 138 minutes. -
Soyuz 1
On this day it's launched by the Soviets. This spacecraft carried Vladimir M. Komarov. Komarov was the pilot of the spacecraft. On April 24, it crashed killing Komarov. This was the first spaceflight that was fatal. This happened after it had orbit Earth 18 times. The purpose of Soyuz 1 was to test systems during their development. -
Zond 5
On this day it was launched by the Soviets. This was the first spacecraft to orbit the moon and return. On September 18 of the same year, it orbited the moon. Turtles, wine flies, meal worms, plants, seeds, bacteria, and other living objects were on the flight. According to the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the pilot's seat was a 175 cm tall, 70 kg mannequin containing radiation detectors. -
Apollo 7
It launched this day from Cape Kennedy. This is the first manned Apollo flight with Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham.It orbited the Earth only once. They returned to Earth on October 22, 1968. They spent an exact time of 260 hours 9 minutes 3 seconds up in space. -
Apollo 8
Lanuched from Cape Kennedy on this day. The first to launch on Saturn V. This flight carried Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr. and William A. Anders. This was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon. It made ten orbits during its 6 day mission. During this mission, six live telecasts were conducted of the surface of the moon. -
Apollo 11
Launched from Cape Kennedy with Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. About 530 million people watched and heard Armstrong say "...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969. -
Salyut 1
The space station was launched this day by the Soviets. Salyut 1 remained in orbit until May 28, 1973. It was announced the purpose was to test elements of the systems of a space station and to conduct scientific research and experiments. It was moved to higher orbits in July and August to prevent from decaying early. On October 11, its engine was fired for it to quickly decay over the Pacific Ocean. -
Mariner 9
November 13 is when it went to orbit Mars. During this time, there was a dust storm on Mars and that blocked Mariner's view of the surface. The storm cleared up the following year. Mariner took 7,000 or more pictures of Mars. It also measured the structure and atmosphere of Mars. -
Galileo Orbiter
On this day, it launched from the Kennedy Space Center. In July 1995, it started to explore Jupiter and it's moons. Five months in, the probe was let go and went through Jupiter's atmospere. Galileo discovered evidence of a sub-surface ocean on Europa. It took a final trip inside Jupiter's atmosphere on April 2003. -
Hubble Telescope
The Hubble Telescope's mission has been extended until December 31, 2014. This project was created by NASA and the ESA. The Hubble Telescope highlights are: proved that quasars are in galaxies, Hubble Deep Fields, measured the expansion of the universe, and proof that gamma-ray burst are found in galaxies. -
Mars Global Surveyor
The mission of the Global Surveyor was to study the planet over the time of one year on Mars (about 687 days on Earth). The Mars Global Surveyor took more than 80,000 pictures by the end of its primary mission in January 2001. From February 2001 to April 2001, it did an extended mission and focused on taking pictures of specific places. -
SpaceX
I couldn't find an exact date but I found the year. SpaceX is a company that launches rockets and spacecrafts. This company was founded by Elon Musk. He wanted to revolutionize transportation into space. Not only that, his ultimate goal was for people to live on other planets. It is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in December 2010. -
Mars Exploration Rovers
One of them launched this day, the other launched on July 7, 2003. The main goals of these rovers are to characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. The landing sites are Gusev Crater and Meridiani Planum.The rovers take panoramic pictures.
