Period:
Name:
Space History Notes
Circa 130 B.C.
World's First Accurate Star Map
Discovered by Hipparchus
Equipment/Technology:
His own knowledge of mathematics and observations of movement of the
stars.
1609
Galileo and the telescope.
Discovered by Galileo Galilei
Equipment/Technology:
Making improvements on the first telescope, was able
to magnify objects 3-30 times; used this telescope to
discover 4 moons of Jupiter, cycles of Venus,
and was one of the first to study sunspots.
Period:
Name:
Space History Notes
October 4, 1957
Soviet Union launches first artificial satellite called Sputnik. It is the 1st to
orbit Earth.
Satellite about 58 cm in diameter, about 83.6 g weight,
travelled 29,000 km/hr ÿ96 minute orbit), beeping radio
beacon.
Less than one month later they launch Sputnik 2 with a
dog named Laika.
January 31, 1958
Two months after 2nd Soviet
satellite is launched, US Navy tried to launch satellite called Vanguard
Rocket. To the embarrassment of U.S. it only rose I meter into air and
then exploded.
America launches its first successful satellite called Explorer I.
NASA stands for:
National
Aeronautics
Space
Administration
Period:
Name:
Space History Notes
April 1, 1960
Tiros 1, the first weather satellite is launched by U.S.
April 12, 1961
Soviet Cosmonaut, Yuri Gaÿarin, became first human to
orbit
Earth in a USSR developed spacecraft called Vost0k 1.
Once again Soviets beat U.S.
May 5, 1961
Alan Shepard became the 1st American in space. It only
lasted about 15 minutes.
May 25, 1961
President Kennedy announces much to everyone's surprise he wants to go to
moon.
U.S. hadn't even reached Earth's orbit. American people accepted challenge.
July 20, 1969
Apollo 11 makes soft landing on the moon with Moon lander,
Neil Armstrong and Buzz AIdrin are 1st humans to set foot in another world.
Commander Neil Armstong became the first man on the
moon. He said the historic words, "One small step for man, one qiant
leap for mankind."
April 19, 1971
Soviets became the 1st to place a manned space station in low Earth orbit.
Name:
Period:
Space History Notes
May 14, 1973
Skylab was U.S. first space station
Skylab began to decay in 1979 much of debris fell in Indian Ocean and in the
Australian Outback.
September 5, 1977- Present
NASA developed Voyager i Space probe.
Equipment/Technolo_qy:
U.S. robotic space probe, 722 kg, farthes man made object in space,
first to leave the solar system detailed photo study of Jupiter/Saturn
systems, also carries a golden record with details of life on Earth in
case it is discovered by intelligent life.
April 12, 1981
• 1st reusable space vehicle, the space shuttle, Columbia, is launched.
• It takes off like a rocket and lands like a plane.
January 28, 1986
Tragedy struck when space shuttle Challenqer.
All 7 astronauts were killed including Christa McAuliffe, who would have
been 1st teacher in space. All space shuttle flights were grounded until
1988.
Name:
Period:
Space History Notes
April 24, 1990
1st space telescope, Hubble Space Telescope is
launched with Space shuttle Discovery
Equipment/Technology:
• array of cameras capable of taking photos such
as the deepest look into the universe.
Allows scientists to take sharp images of distant objects in space.
International Space System ÿISS) 1998-2012
• American, European, Japanese, and Russian space programs.
• Largest artificial satellite to orbit Earth,
Can be seen from the ground with naked eye, has a micro-gravity
environment for carryout research.
July 4, 1997
• The Mars Pathfinder probe lands on surface of Mars.
• A small robotic rover examines the terrain sendinÿ images of planet's
surface.
July 17, 1975
American and Soviet dock together proving they could work together
peacefully in space.
Period:
Name:
Space History Notes
2010 Future testing, future flights
Virgin Galactic Commercial Space Flight
• Who: Richard Branson, Virgin Group
Equipment/Technology:
• $200,000 per ticket, 6 passenger, 2 pilot
craft,
Spacecraft Two is carried atop a carrier aircraft
called White Knight II, will go 100 km into space for 6
minutes of weightlessness.