List #2: Recent Exploration

list #2: Recent Exploration

1. Shuttle Challenger

2. Shuttle Columbia

3. Skylab

4. International Space Station

5. Luna I

6. Viking I & II

7. Voyager 2

8. orbiter spacecraft

9. lander spacecraft

10. rover spacecraft

11. Spirit & Opportunity

12. Echo I

13. NOAA

list #1 : Early/Manned Flights

1. Sputnik 1

2. Explorer 1

3. NASA

4. Yuri Gagarin

5. Alan B. Shepard

6. John Glenn , Jr.

7. Valentina Tereshkova

8. Project Mercury

9. Project Gemini

10. Neil Armstrong

11. Edwin “Buzz” Armstrong

12. Apollo 11

13. Eagle lander

Unit 4.3

Space

Exploration

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  the Earliest Spacecraft
  

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  Sputnik I : 1^st space satellite (Oct., 1957) , launched by Soviets
  
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    placed into low earth orbit
    
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    transmitted “beeps” as it orbited
    
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  1958 NASA formed to lead American effort
  

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  NASA: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  
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  Explorer I: 1^st American satellite (Jan., 1958) to reach orbit
  

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  Early Manned Spaceflight
  

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  April, 1961: Soviet Yuri Gargarin becomes 1^st human in space, 1^st to orbit earth
  
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  May, 1961: Alan B. Shepard becomes 1^st American to reach space (sub-orbital flight)
  
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    flew in one-person Mercury “Friendship 7” spacecraft
    
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    flight lasted 15 minutes, splashed down in Atlantic Ocean
    
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  July, 1961: John Glenn becomes 1^st American to orbit earth, Mercury spacecraft
  
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  June, 1963: Soviet Valentina V. Tereshkova becomes 1^st female in space
  
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  March, 1965: Edward H. White become 1^st American to perform a “spacewalk”
  

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  flew in 2 person Gemini spacecraft
  
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  a transition to the 3 person Apollo craft
  

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  July 20, 1969: Apollo 11 becomes 1^st manned mission to land on the moon
  

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  Command spacecraft “Columbia” manned by Michael Collins orbited above moon
  
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  Neil Armstrong &Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin descend to moon in the Lunar Lander “Eagle”
  
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    Eagle touches down in the Sea of Tranquility
    
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    Neil Armstrong (1^st) and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin become 1^st men to walk on the moon
    
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  5 more Apollo missions landed on the moon (last one : Apollo17)
  
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  Apollo 13 exploded, astronauts’ lives endangered, never landed on moon
  

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  the Space Shuttles: a re-useable spacecraft with a large payload bay
  

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  landed on a huge run-way; 0ver 100 shuttle missions flown
  
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  repaired satellites, ran experiments, launched Hubble
  
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  1986: Shuttle Challenger exploded on launch
  

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  7 ASTRONAUTS KILLED
  
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  1^ST TEACHER IN SPACE, CHRISTA MCAULIFFE AMONG CAUSALITIES
  

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  2003: Shuttle Columbia lost heat shield tiles on re-entry and disintegrated, killing 7
  

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  the Space Stations: long-term, manned spacecraft in orbit around earth
  

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  1971: Soviet Salyut I, then in 1986 the Soviet Mir space stations studied earth
  
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  1973: the US. space station Skylab remained operational for over 6 years
  
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  1998: the International Space Station began construction and continues to operate
  

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  Currently the largest object ever in orbit, now visited by “Dragon” supply ship
  
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  manned permanently by an international crew
  

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  Notable Unmanned Probes, Orbiters, Landers, and Rovers
  

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  1959: Soviet Luna I 1^st to reach, fly-by moon
  
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  1962: US. Marnier 10 does a fly-by of Venus
  
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  1972: Pioneer 10 does fly-by of Jupiter
  
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  1976: Viking 1 & 2 land on Mars (landers)
  
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  1977: Voyager 1 & 2 launched, later fly-by major planets
  

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  Orbiter spacecraft: placed in orbit around a planet to observe and record
  

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  Lander spacecraft: land on a foreign body to study and observe it
  
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  Rover spacecraft: land on a foreign body and are able to move to different locations
  

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  mobility allows greater variety of observations, more information to be collected
  
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  latest Mars rovers were Spirit and Opportunity (2003) and Curiosity (2012)
  

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  Communication satellites: re-direct radio signals, allow instant communication across earth
  

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  1960: Echo 1 becomes the 1^st communication satellite
  
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  today: Direct TV and Dish TV satellites 22,000 mi. high relay signals directly to homes
  

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  Weather satellites: allow real-time observation of world-wide weather patterns
  

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  NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) directs weather satellites
  
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  World-wide coverage by US since 1978