SPACE EXPLORATION TIMELINE BY: Abby Norton

1. SPACE EXPLORATION TIMELINEBY: Abby Norton

2. 1900 TSIOLKOVSKY STARTED TESTING ROCKETS RUSSIA Tsiolkovsky drafted the design of his first rocket. It was to be powered by a combination of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. He was a true visionary and pioneer of astronautics. He theorized many aspects of human space travel and rocket propulsion decades before others, and played an important role in the development of the Soviet and Russian space programs. He was considered to be the "father" of present Soviet achievements in rocket technology. 1914 ROBERT GODDARD PATENTED THE FIRST ROCKET USA Goddard received two U.S. patents. One was for a rocket using liquid fuel. The other was for a two or three stage rocket using solid fuel. He developed and patented many of the technologies later used on large rockets and missiles including: film cooling, gyroscopically controlled vanes, and a variable-thrust rocket motor. He was granted about 70 patents altogether.

3. March 16, 1926 First Liquid Fueled Rocket LauncheduSaRocket Scientist, Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts. The 4-foot high rocket named “Nell" reached an altitude of 41 feet and a speed of about 60 miles per hour. The flight only lasted 2 1/2 seconds, but it paved the way for the U.S. Rocket program. 1930V-2 SPACECRAFT WAS MADE GERMANY Under the direction of German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, this eventually lead to development of the V-2 rocket, one of Nazi Germany's most powerful weapons of destruction.

4. 1944 V-2 SPACECRAFT LEFT THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE GERMANY The V-2 was the world's first practical, mass produced rocket. Developed by the Germans during World War II, V-2 rockets were designed to deliver bombs to allied cities in Europe and Great Britain. The V-2 became the catalyst of rocket research and development into the space age. All of today's rockets can trace their lineage to the V-2. V-2 Rocket MAY 24, 1954 VIKING SPACECRAFT REACHED 159 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH EUROPE The Viking 11 spacecraft reached 159 miles above the Earth, setting a new record for a western single-staged rocket. It launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. October 4, 1957FIRST ARTIFICAL SATELLITE (Sputnik)U.S.S.R.The world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was launched. It was the first manmade object to orbit the Earth. It transmitted radio signals back to earth for only a short time, but it was a major accomplishment.

5. OCTOBER 27, 1961 THE REDSTONE ROCKET LIFTED (NASA launched its first Saturn rocket) USA NASA’s launch of its first Saturn rocket was a major milestone in the challenge to send humans to the moon before the end of the decade and return them safely to earth. The Redstone rocket was developed by a group of US rocketry specialists working with Vonbraunbio and other German scientists at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. A direct descendant of the German V-2 rocket, it was a high-accuracy, liquid-propelled, surface-to-surface missile designed to counter Soviet Cold War threats. APRIL 12, 1961FIRST MAN IN SPACE RUSSIARussian Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human to venture into space. The Vostok 1 spacecraft made one complete orbit around Earth in 108 minutes, and reached altitudes of 112 to 203 miles. The flight lasted only one hour and 48 minutes.

6. FEBRUARY 5, 1967PHOTOGRAPH OF THE MOON TAKEN BY LUNAR ORBITER IIIUSAIt’s mission was to photograph 12 potential landing sites identified by Lunar Orbiter I and II with a comprehensive array of vertical, oblique, and forward wide-angle stereo and convergent telephoto stereo photography. The spacecraft produced photographs between February 15th and 23rd. It produced 211 photographs during 54 orbits. Approximately 75% of the photographs were transmitted to earth, but the remaining images were lost. The data led to eight candidate landing sites for early Apollo missions. The mission also targeted secondary sites of scientific interest on the lunar farside and at higher latitudes on the lunar nearside.

7. JULY 20, 1969FIRST MAN TO WALK ON THE MOON - USAApollo 11 made the first successful soft landing on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. became the first human beings to set foot on another world. One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. – Neil Armstrong

8. APRIL 19, 1971FIRST SPACE STATIONU.S.S.R.The Salyut 1 Space Station is launched by the U.S.S.R. It remained in orbit until May 28, 1973. NOVEMBER 13, 1971FIRST SPACECRAFT TO ORBIT ANOTHER PLANET USAAmerican space probe Mariner 9 (launched May 30, 1971) was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, Mars. During the following year, it took pictures and mapped 100 percent of the Martian surface. APRIL 16, 1972 APOLLO 16 TAKES PICTURES OF EARTH USA The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. Six of the missions (Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal. En route to the Moon, the Apollo 16 astronauts took several photos of Earth, one of which was with North America in the background, with much of the northern portion of the continent under extensive cloud cover.

9. MAY 14, 1973FIRST U.S. SPACE STATION LAUNCHED (SKYLAB)USASkylab, the first U.S. Space Station was launched. It was occupied by three crews and was an important arena for a number of scientific experiments. JULY 20, 1976FIRST SURFACE IMAGES OF MARS – VIKING 1USAThe first pictures of the surface of Mars were sent back to earth by Viking 1. It showed Martian soil, proving that the first U.S. Spacecraft had successfully landed on another planet, Mars. MAY 25, 1973FIRST US SPACE STATION LAUNCHED - SKYLAB USASkylab 2 was launched with the first crew to visit Skylab. The crew repaired damage sustained by Skylab station during its launch.

10. JULY 11, 1979 SKYLAB SHOWS THE IMAGE OF THE SUN’S CORONA USA Skylab re-entered the Earth's atmosphere in 1979 over Australia. This grazing incidence telescope produced images of the Sun in x-rays with wave- lengths from 6 to 49. Images taken through 6 different filters were recorded on film which was then returned to Earth with the astronauts for processing. A movie of these images shows some of the discoveries made from Skylab including coronal holes and x-ray bright points. APRIL 12, 1981THE FIRST RE-USABLE SHUTTLE, COLUMBIA, WAS LAUNCHED USAThe first manned mission of the Space Transportation System (STS-1), Columbia, was launched. This mission, along with the next three, were test flights to try out the spacecraft's systems.

11. APRIL 4, 1983CHALLENGER TAKES A PHOTO OF EARTH THAT SHOWS AUSTRAILIAUSAAmerica's second space shuttle, Challenger, embarks on its first mission into space. The mission includes America's first space walk in nine years. Challenger was the second of NASA's fleet of Space Shuttles. Its first launch was on April 4th, 1983. During its 5 day mission, Challenger launched a tracking and data relay satellite into the Earth’s orbit. FEBRUARY 20, 1986MIR STATION LAUNCHEDRUSSIAThe first phase of the Mir Space Station was successfully launched and placed into the Earth’s orbit. 

12. DECEMBER 7, 1995GALILEO ARRIVES AT JUPITERUSAThe Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter and a probe is dropped into the planet's atmosphere. It sent back photos and data about Jupiter’s composition. The orbiter spent the next two years orbiting and studying the planet and its moons. APRIL 24, 1990LAUNCH OF HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE USASpace Shuttle Discovery lifted off for mission STS-31, carrying the Edwin P. Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The telescope was successfully deployed, but was found to contain a seriously flawed primary mirror resulting in fuzzy images.

13. DECEMBER 4, 1996 MARS PATHFINDER LAUNCHED FOR MARS TO RELEASE THE “ROVER” USA The Mars Pathfinder, later renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, is an American spacecraft that landed the first roving probe deployed on another planet, Mars. It landed on Mars on July 4, 1997. It was made up of a lander and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner. The Lander spacecraft opened, exposing the rover which conducted many experiments on the Martian surface. It transmitted collected data on the atmosphere and surface and also transmitted images that were taken by the rover’s camera. The rover “Sojourner” is a six-wheeled vehicle which is controlled by an Earth-based operator, who uses images obtained by both the rover and lander systems. The mission carried a series of scientific instruments to analyze the Martian Celestial body atmosphere. It was the second project from NASA's Discovery Program, which promotes the use of low-cost spacecraft and frequent launches under the motto "cheaper, faster and better“.

14. NOVEMBER 20, 1998FIRST MODULE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION LAUNCHED RUSSIA and USAA Russian Proton rocket was launched from the BaikonurCosmodrome on the steppes of the Asian nation of Kazakstan. This rocket carries the Russian built Zarya Control Module, the first component of the new International Space Station (ISS).

15. RESOURCES: Internet: http://www.seasky.org/spacexp/sky5di.html www.nasa.gov http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/ http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/index.html/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/skylab http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/skylab.shtml