History of Space Exploration

Start of the Space Race Oct 4, 1957 – Soviet Union lauches Sputnik, the first artificial satellite Apr 12, 1961 – Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space

Project Mercury NASA formed on Oct 1, 1958 Goal: Put an American in Orbit May 6, 1961 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American in Space Feb 20, 1962 – John Glenn becomes the first American to Orbit Earth Proved astronauts could control spacecraft and that a human could stay in space for more than a day.

Project Gemini Built on Mercury’s success 2 astronauts flew at once Conducted scientific experiments Performed first US space walks

Project Apollo July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon 12 Americans have walked on the moon First photographs taken of Earth from space First casualties of the space program with Apollo 1 disaster Gathered hundreds of pounds of lunar soil and rock, and helped us better understand the Moon

Skylab 36 meters long with 2 “stories” Launched May 14, 1973 Conducted experiments on how extended stays in space affected the human body Burned up in Earth’s atmosphere in 1979 (emptied of equipment and passengers!)

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Partnership between US and Soviet Union US spacecraft docked with Soviet spacecraft on July 17, 1975

Space Shuttle to Space Station 1981: first orbital test flight of space shuttle The orbiter and solid rocket boosters are reusable, only the External Tank is disposable. International Space Station construction began in 1998, scheduled to be complete in 2010 Over 15 nations are cooperating to build the International Space Station

Scientific Probes Robotic spacecraft sent out to explore moons, planets, and other places in our Solar System Some examples include Pioneer, Galileo, Mariner and Voyager. Viking and Mars Pathfinder explored Mars. What else did you learn about these spacecraft and missions as you conducted your planet research?

Brain Bites 20. How Robots Help Humans Explore.