Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 was the first satellite launched into space.

It showed America's rival, the USSR, was more advanced, leading to NASA and the Space Race. It only transmitted a beeping sound.

History of Sputnik 1:
Launched: 04/10/1957
Stopped transmitting: 25/10/1957
Burned up: 01/04/1958

Sputnik 2

Carried the first living being into space: Laika the dog. Sadly, she died a few hours after launch.

History:
Launched: 03/11/1957
Laika died: 03/11/1957
Burned up: 14/04/1958

Sputnik 3

First satellite to gather real scientific data, using a magnetometer, radiation sensors, and temperature sensors.

History:
Launched: 15/05/1958
Died: August 1958
Burned up: 06/04/1961

Sputnik 4 (Vostok 1 Test)

Test flight for the future human missions. Carried mice, rats, cress seeds, two dogs, tortoises, and fruit flies. Sadly, none survived.

History:
Launched: 15/05/1960
Reentered: 18/05/1960

Voyager Space Probes

The Voyager probes are two spacecraft launched in 1977 to explore the outer Solar System and beyond.

Voyager 1 visited Jupiter and Saturn.
Voyager 2 visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Instrument Abbreviations:

Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)
Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS)
Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS)
Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA)
Photopolarimeter System (PPS)
Magnetometer (MAG)
Plasma Spectrometer (PLS)
Low Energy Charged Particles Experiment (LECP)
Plasma Wave Subsystem (PWS)
Cosmic Ray Subsystem (CRS)
Radio Science System (RSS)

History of Voyager 1

Launch: 05/09/1977
Crossed asteroid belt: 10/12/1977
Start of Jupiter observation: 01/04/1979
Jupiter flyby: 05/03/1979
End of Jupiter observation: 05/01/1979
Start of Saturn observation: 05/08/1980
Saturn flyby: 12/11/1980
End of Saturn observation: 22/12/1980
PPS shutdown: 29/01/1980
"Pale Blue Dot" image taken: 14/02/1990
ISS shutdown: 14/02/1990
Became farthest man-made object: 17/02/1998
IRIS shutdown: 03/06/1998
PLS shutdown: 01/02/2007
PRA shutdown: 15/01/2008
Entered interstellar space: 25/08/2012
UVS shutdown: 19/04/2016
CRS shutdown: 25/02/2025

History of Voyager 2

Launch: 20/08/1977
Crossed asteroid belt: 10/12/1977
Start of Jupiter observation: 07/05/1979
Jupiter flyby: 07/09/1979
End of Jupiter observation: 01/08/1979
Start of Saturn observation: 12/08/1981
Saturn flyby: 25/08/1981
End of Saturn observation: 01/09/1981
Start of Uranus observation: 10/01/1986
Uranus flyby: 24/01/1986
End of Uranus observation: 06/02/1986
Start of Neptune observation: 10/08/1989
Neptune flyby: 25/08/1989
End of Neptune observation: 15/09/1989
ISS shutdown: 05/12/1989
PPS shutdown: 03/04/1989
UVS shutdown: 12/11/1998
IRIS shutdown: 01/02/2007
PRA shutdown: 21/02/2008
Entered interstellar space: 05/11/2018
PLS shutdown: 26/09/2024
LECP shutdown: 24/03/2025

The Mercury Program

The Mercury Program was aimed at bringing the first Americans to space. There were 10 missions and 7 astronauts selected: Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, and Deke Slayton.

LJ-1

Little Joe 1 (LJ-1) was the first mission; its rocket blew up, but the escape tower saved the capsule. Uncrewed mission.

History of LJ-1:
Launch: 21/08/1959
Failure: 21/08/1959

BJ-1

Big Joe 1 (BJ-1) tested the heat shield successfully and the rocket didnt blow up this was an uncrewed mission it was a 30 minute suborbital flight to test the heat shield

History of BJ-1

Launch: 09/09/1959
Reentry: 09/09/1959

MR-1

Mercury-Redstone 1 (MR-1) was the first uncrewed test of the mercury capsule but the guidance systems failed and the mercury capsule didnt seperate from the rocket so instead of having a suborbital flight it started tumbling out of control and eventually crashed and the rocket only lasted 2 minutes

History of MR-1

Launch: 21/11/1960
Crash: 21/11/1960 2 minutes after launch

Mr-2

Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) Was the first crewed flight test of the mercury capsule but it wasnt crewed by humans it was crewed by: Ham the chimp. Ham was trained to press specific buttons so that the US can study how space affects the body and also test the life support systems. However ham luckily survived and there were no failures and the capsule reached a height of 158 km above earths surface

History of MR-2

Launch: 31/01/1961
Reentry: 31/01/1961
Recovery: 31/01/1961

MR-3

Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) was the first crewed spacecraft bringing the first american citizen to space (Alan Shepard) in a 15 minute suborbital flight (A spaceflight where you dont fully complete 1 orbit you just go up ans right back down) infact because of the weather the launch was delayed and Alan Shepard needed to go to the bathroom he enetered the rocket 2 hours early and added onto the delays he couldnt hold it and mission control wouldnt let him out of the rocet as it would delay the alunch even more so Alan Shepard just releived himself there and thats why NASA started working on a space toilet and Alan Shepard reached 187.5km above the surface of earth and Alan shepard also went on to be the 5th person on the Moon

History of MR-3

Launch 05/05/1961 Splashdown: 05/05/1961

MR-4

Mercury Redstone 4 (MR-4) brought the second american into space (Gus Grissom) for another suborbital flight

History of MR-4

Launch: 21/07/1961
Splashdown: 21/07/1961

MA-1

Mercury Atlas 1 (MA-1) was the first test flight of of the Mercury Atlas module for full orbital flights but it failed due to its booster disitegrating

History of MA-1

Launch:29/07/1960
Failure 29/07/1960

MA-2

Mercury Atlas 2 (MA-2) was the second test flight of the Mercury Atlas capsule it was succsesful and it did not do an orbit of the Earth but completed a suborbital flight with a height of 2,305km

History of MA-2

Launch: 21/02/1961
Splashdown: 21/02/1961

MA-3

Mercury Atlas 3 (MA-3) was the 3rd flight of the Mercury Atlas capsule and it failed because the launch escape system activated early

History of MA-3

Launch: 25/04/1961
Failure: 25/04/1961

MA-4

Mercury Atlas 4 (MA-4) was the first succseful full orbit test and it completed 1 orbit of the Earth and lasted for 1 hour, 49 minutes and 20 seconds

History of MA-4

Launch: 13/09/1961
Splashdown: 13/09/1961

MA-5

Mercury Atlas 5 (MA-5) was the first orbital flight with a living being in it by the USA the capsule took Ham the chimpanzee he orbited the Earth twice for 3 hours and 20 seconds

History of MA-5

Launch: 29/11/1961
Splashdown: 29/11/1961

MA-6

Mercury Atlas 6 brought the first american (John Glenn) to orbit the Earth fully he completed 3 orbits over the span of 4 hours and 55 minutes

History of MA-6

Launch: 20/02/1962
Splashdown: 20/02/1961

MA-7

Mercury Atlas 7 (MA-7) borught the second american to fully orbit the Earth (Scott Carpenter) he completed 3 orbits of the Earth over the span of 4 hours and 57 minutes

History of MA-7

Launch: 24/05/1962
Splashdown: 24.05/1962

MA-8

Mercury Atlas 8 (MA-8) brought the 3rd american to orbit the Earth(Wally Schirra) he orbited the Earth 6 times over the span of 9 hours and 13 minutes

History of MA-8

Launch: 03/10/1962
Splashdown: 03/10/1962

MA-9

MA-9 was the last Mercury program flight it brought the 4th american to orbit the Earth (Gordon Cooper) he orbited the Earth 22 times over the span of 34 hours and 19 minutes

History of MA-9

Launch: 15/05/1963
Splashdown: 16/05/1963

The Apollo Program brought the first people to the Moon in 1969 by the USA

Apollo 1

Apollo 1 was a test of the apollo spacecraft that was supposed to stay in orbit for 2 weeks unfortunatly the capsule was set on fire killing Ed White, Gus Grissom and Edward H White this event almost led to the apollo program being cancelled the capsule burned up on 27/01/1967

Apollo 4 (Apollo 2 and 3 were skipped)

Apollo 4 was a test of the Saturn V rocket it was uncrewed and launched on 09/11/1967 it tested the heat shield and structural integrity the mission was succseful

Apollo 5

Apollo 5 was the first test of the lunar module in space it was uncrewed and succsesful and launched on 22/01/1968

Apollo 6

Apollo 6 was the final test flight of the Saturn V rocket it was launched on 04/04/1968

Apollo 7

Apollo 7 was the first crewed test flight of the lunar module it was launched on 11/10/1968 and splashdowned on 22/10/1968

Apollo 8

Apollo 8 was the first apollo mission to go to the Moon, they orbited the moon before returning

History of Apollo 8

Launch: 21/12/1968
Splashdown: 27/12/1968

Apollo 9

Apollo 9 was the first full test of the Lunar Module in Earth orbit

History of Apollo 9

Launch: 03/03/1969
Splashdown: 13/03/1969

Apollo 10

Apollo 10 was a full dress rehearsal of apollo 11 it was to test all the systems and components of the Lunar and command module it descended to 15 km above the Moons surface and reached the fastest speed ever by a crewed veichle (39,897km/h)

History of apollo 10

Launch: 18/05/1969
Moon encounter: 21/05/1969
Splashdown: 26/05/1969

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 conducted the first Moon landing by Neil Armstron and Buzz Aldrin and Micheal Collins was in Lunar orbit they spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the Moon they conducted experiments and took samples

History of apollo 11

Launch: 16/07/1969
Landing on the Moon: 20/07/1969
Moonwalk start: 21/07/1969 02:56 UTC
Moonwalk end: 21/07/1969 05:24 UTC
Lunar takeoff: 21/07/1969 17:54 UTC
Lunar Module-Command Module docking: 21/07/1969 21:35 UTC
Splashdown:24/07/1969

Apollo 12

Apollo 12 was the second Moon landing and during the launch lighting striked the rocket twice once 36 seconds in and another time 52 seconds after launch the strikes knocked out telemenetary guidance systems temporarily and commander Pete Conrad landed just 163 meters away from Surveyor 3 which was an unmanned spacecraft

History of Apollo 13

Launch: 14/11/1969
Moon landing: 19/11/1969 06:54 UCT
Moonwalk 1: 19/11/1969 11:32 UCT
Moonwalk 1: end: 19/11/1969 15:28 UCT
Moonwalk 2: 20/11/1969 03:54 UCT
Moonwalk 2 end: 20/11/1969 07:43
Lunar liftoff: 20/11/1969
Lunar Module-Command Module docking: 20/11/1969 17:58 UCT
Splashdown: 24/11/1969 20:58 UCT

Apollo 13

Apollo 13 was suppose to be the 13th Moon landing but an oxygen tank exploded so they had to swing around the Moon and splashdown and Ken Mattingly was schedules to fly on apollo 13 but he gor rubella and he was replaced by Jack Swigart

History of Apollo 13

Launch: 11/04/1970
Oxygen tank explosion: 14/04/1970 03:07 UTC
Moon flyby: 15/04/1970
Splashdown: 17/04/1970

Apollo 14

Apollo 14 was the 3rd Moon landing and when they were still in Earth orbit the Lunar Module couldnt dock to the command module it took over an hour and over 6 tries simply to dock the 2 spacecraft and when they were on the Moon Alan Shepard famously played golf on the Moon he snuck in a 6 inch club and 2 2 gold balls his first attempt wasnt good but his second attempt sent the ball hundreds of yards away and on the second moonwalk they had to walk 1.5km to reach cone creator this was the first time the MET cart was used but they unknowingly stopped 30 meters away from the crater

history of Apollo 14

Launch: 31/01/1971
Moon landing: 05/02/1971
Moonwalk 1: 05/02/1971 14:41 UTC
Moonwalk 1 end: 05/02/1971 19:29 UTC
Moonwalk 2: 06/02/1971 08:11 UTC
Moonwalk 2 end: 06/02/1971 12:46 UTC
Lunar takeoff: 06/02/1971
Lunar Module-Command Module docking 21:35 UTC
Splashdown: 09/02/1971

Apollo 15

Apollo 15 was the 4th Moon landing and the first to use a lunar roving veichle (LRO) and brought back the genesis rock its a lunar anorthosite that is believed to be 4.4 Billion years old and it resembles the Moons early crust and also brought 3 new Moon technologies with it: The handheld lunar soil sampler and the Universal Sample Return Tool which was made to help astronauts identify Moon rocks and also apollo 15 conducted the first overnight stay on the Moon and the lunar roving veichle which was to help the astronauts have more mobility on the Moon

History of Apollo 15

Launch: 26/07/1971
Lunar landing: 30/07/1971
Moonwalk 1: 31/07/1971 18:24 UTC
Moonwalk 1 end: 31/07/1971 23:24 UTC
Moonwalk 2: 01/08/1971 18:07 UTC
Moonwalk 2 end: 01/08/1971 23:04 UTC
Moonwalk 3: 02/08/1971 17:00 UTC
Moonwalk 3 end: 02/08/1971 21:47 UTC
Lunar takeoff: 02/08/1971 18:47
Lunar module-Command module docking: 02/08/1971 20:55
Splashdown: 07/08/1971

Apollo 16

Apollo 16 was the 5th Moon landing and the first to land in the Lunar highlands which is a more rugged area of the Moon and it collected multiple samples which were thought to be volcanic but turned out to be impact related and it also brought back the "big mulley" rock sample which is an important breccia from the north ray crater

History of apollo 16

Launch: 16/04/1972
Landing: 21/04/1972
Moonwalk 1: 21/04/1972 03:56 UTC
Moonwalk 1 end: 21/04/1972 11:07 UTC
Moonwalk 2: 22/04/1972 13:38 UTC
Moonwalk 2 end: 22/04/1972 21:01 UTC
Moonwalk 3: 23/04/1972 14:35 UTC
Moonwalk 3 end: 23/04/1972 20:15 UTC
Lunar takeoff: 24/04/1972
Lunar module-Command Module docking: 24/04/1972 03:35 UTC
Splashdown: 27/04/1972

Apollo 17

Apollo 17 was the last crewed Moon landing in history brought the first geologist to the Moon, took the "blue marble" image and discovered orange soil on the Moon which turned out to be volcanic activity

History of Apollo 17

Launch: 07/12/1972
Landing: 11/12/1972
Moonwalk 1: 11/12/1972 11:55 UCT
Moonwalk 1 end: 18:23 UTC
Moonwalk 2: 12/12/1972 11:47 UCT
Moonwalk 2 end: 12/12/1972 18:54 UCT
Moonwalk 3: 13/12/1972 11:28 UCT
Moonwalks 3 end: 13/12/1972 18:56 UCT
Lunar takeoff: 14/12/1972
Lunar Module-Command Module docking: 14/12/1972 19:40 UCT
Splashdown: 19/12/1972

The venera program was a series of soviet missions to land landers on Venus there were 17 missions one of which failed to escpae Earth's orbit

Venera 1

Venera 1 was the first of the venera missions but it failed to enter Venus and was lost somewhear in space but likely flew close to Venus

History of Venera 1

Launch: 12/02/1961
Transmittion lost: 19/02/1961
Venus encounter: 19/05/1961

Venera 2

Venera 2 was the second mission and flew 75% percent closer than venera 1 at 25,000km above the surface it carried cameras, Infared spectrometers, Ultaviolet spectrometers, Magnetometers, Cosmic ray detectors, solar plasma detectors, micromeateorite detectors and a geiger counter but it died during the flyby so no data was transmitted

History of Venera 2

Launch: 12/11/1965
Venus flyby: 27/02/1966
Death: 27/02/1966

Venera 3

Venera 3 was the first of the Venera missions and the first in history to ever hit the surface of Venus it carried magnetometers, geiger counters, Cosmic Ray Detector, Solar Plasma Detectors and a micromeateorite detector