Space Exploration
Click here for our celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the moon landing
We know a little about our immediate surroundings in the solar system thanks to observations made on Earth with powerful telescopes, and also with the data that has been recieved from many space vehicles launced from Earth. Below we list a few of them
September 12th, 1959 : Russia Launched Luna 2. 36 hours later it hit the moon
October 4th 1958 : Russia again launched Luna 3
April 12th 1961 : First man goes into space. Russian Yury Gagarin flies aboard Vostok 1
May 5 1961 : US launch Alan Shepard into space aboard Mecury
June 16th 1963 : First woman, Valentina Tereshkova, goes into space aboard Vostok 6
July 28th, 1964 : Ranger 7 transmitted TV pictures of the moon just before it hit the surface
March 18th 1965 : First spacewalk. Aleksei Leonov leaves Voshkod 2
1965 - 1966 : US makes 10 manned space flights named Gemini
January 31st 1966 : Luna 9 launched and landed safely on the moon
May 30th 1966 : US launch Surveyor 1 to land on moon
1967 : Two soft landings (safe landings) by Surveyors 3 and 5
April 23 1967 : Russia launch new spacecraft - Soyuz 1. It crashed returning to Earth
October 1968 : US have first manned Apollo flight
October 1968 : Soyuz 3 launched
December 1968 : Apollo 8 orbits the moon
July 16th 1969 : The dream is fulfilled when Apollo 11 lands on the moon and the astronauts take a walk on the surface. Neil Armstrong and Buz Aldrin are watched live by the world
July 24th 1969 : Apollo 11 returned to Earth after an historic journey to the moon
October 1969 : Russia launch Soyuz 6, 7 and 8 a day apart. They dock (meet up) in space
November 14th 1969 : Apollo 12 launched on 10 day mission
April 11th 1970 : Apollo 13 launched. Shortly into its mission the craft malfunctioned. The astronauts had to abort their mission and try to return to Earth. They landed safely on April 17th
August 1970 : Venera 7 launced by Russia. Sent to Venus
September 12th 1970 : Luna 16 landed on the moon
November 10th 1970 : Luna 17 landed on moon and released an automated roving vehicle
January 1971 : Apollo 14 launched
April 19 1971 : Russia launches the first space station - Salyut 1.It could let 3 people live and work on it
May 1971 : US launch Mariner 9. It orbited Mars
May 1971 : Mars 2 and 3 launched by Russia. Probes sent to land on Mars
July 26th 1971 : Apollo 15 launched. Left a lunar rover on the moon
1972 : Venera 8 launched to Venus
1972 : US launch Pioneer 10 to go through the asteroid belt and onto Mars and Jupiter
April 16th 1972 : Apollo 16 launched
December 17th 1972 : Final Apollo mission - Apollo 17 - launched
1973 : Pioner 11 launched towards Saturn
May 1973 : US space station - Skylab - launched
April 1973 : Russia launches Salyut 2 - second space station. It went out of control in orbit
August 1973 : Mars 4, 5, 6 and 7 launched
October 1973 : Mariner 10 launced towards Mecury
June 1974 : Salyut 3 space station launched
December 1974 : Salyut 4 space station launched
September 1975 : Viking 1 and Viking 2 began journey to Mars
October 1975 : Venera 13 and Venera 14 launched to Venus, landing on the planet
June 1976 : Salyut 5 space station launched
1977 : Voyager 1 and 2 launched to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
September 1977 : Salyut 7 space station launched
May 20th 1978 : Pioneer Venus 1 launched by US
August 8th 1978 : Pioneer Venus 2 launched
July 11th 1979 : US space station Skylab plunges back to Earth and crashes into Indian Ocean and Australia
April 12th 1981 : First Space shuttle mission - the US new space vehicle. Shuttle Colombia flew a test mission
November 11th 1982 : The first true shuttle mission. Shuttle Colombia released 2 satellites
October 1983 : Venera 15 and 16 orbit around Venus
June 1985 : On the way to view Halley’s Comet, Vegas 1 and Vegas 2 drop probes onto Venus
January 28th 1986 : Shuttle Challenger exploded one minute into its flight. All seven astronauts were killed. All shuttle missions were stopped
Febraury 19th 1986 : Russia launches Mir. A space station
1988 : Russia launches Phobos 1 and 2 to visit Phobos ( moon of mars)
September 1988 : Shuttle missions begin again. Shuttle Discovery launched
1989 : Space shuttle launches Magellan towards Venus
1990 : Space shuttle launches the Hubble Space telescope
Recent developments have seen space agencies from all across the world designing parts for an international space station. When built the new space station will be so large, it will be visible from earth.
