SPACE
A V ISUAL HISTORY OF SPACE EXPLORATION A VISUAL history of space exploration
By Noah Eades
1942 1947
In 1942 ,the German V2 was the 1st rocket to reach 100km from the Earth’s surface[the boundary of space]. The rocket designed by Wernher Von Braun ,who later worked with NASA as the creator of the rockets that went to the Moon.
In 1947, the first animals were launched into space. Fruit flies were used to see what the effects on humans would be in space because they are very similar to us. The flies had corn to eat on the flight so they didn’t die.
1949
The first monkey to be sent into space was Albert II. He was a Rhesus monkey, a type of monkey that originally comes from Asia. Albert went into space on 14th June, 1949 in a specially adapted American V2 rockett hat flew to a height of 83 miles from earth.
On 4th October 1957, Russia launched the first satellite into space; Sputnik 1, and the space age which was an excting time for space exlporation.
1957
Sputnik was the first satellite in orbit around the earth. Today there are more than 500 working satellites flying above us in space. Sputnik means Satellite in Russian.
1957 1959
In November 1957 , the Russian space dog Laika became the 1st animal to go and orbit the Earth . Laika travelled in a spacecraft known as Sputnik 2. Laika means barker in Russian, and on her mission helped scientists discover whether we can survive in space
By 1959,both American and Russian scientists were in a rush to get a space mobile onto the moon, but the Russians made it 1st. Space -probe Luna 2 crash-landed into the moon at a speed that would kill a human if somebody had been in it. It was 10 years until a human visited the moon again.
1961 On 12th of April 1961, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the 1st man in space. Gagarin spacecraft vostock 1, sucesfully completed 1 orbit around the Earth, and landed after about 2 hours after launch. Gagarin had to bail out and land using a parachute because the vostok was designed to crash land.
1963
The first woman in space was Russian Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. After her 1963 mission, Valentina became a valued member of the Russian Government, and has been awarded many honours and prizes for her achievements. A crater on the far side of the moon is named after her.
1966 In 1963 US President John F. Kennedy promised the world that the US would land men on the moon before 1970. Before risking people’s lives, NASA sent a robot spaceship, to make sure they could land safely. It was called Surveyor 1, and it made the second soft landing on the Moon on 30th May 1966, a few months after THE Russian probe Luna 9 landed successfully. It was starting to get very busy up there.
1966 Once it landed on the moon, the robotic ship Surveyor1 started taking pictures of the moons surface, which it transmitted back to the American scientists and scientists all over the world. The scientists used this vital information about the terrain to work out if they can land people on the moon without any injuries..
1969
On 20th July 1969, Neil Armstrong, and then Buzz Aldrin took “one small step” and became the first men on the moon. The first words said on the moon were “the Eagle has landed”. Their spaceship, Apollo 11 worked perfectly, flying them 250,000 miles to the moon, and bringing them all the way back safely to earth.
1970 1971
Two days into its journey to the moon, on 13th April 1970, Apollo 13 suffered an explosion caused by a wiring fault. Using only whatever was on board, NASA scientists and the astronauts on board improvised repairs to bring the crippled spaceship home. The mission was a successful failure as although the crew never walked on the moon they did make it home alive.
From 1971 American astronauts on the fourth, fifth and sixth Apollo missions enjoyed use of a moon car to explore the moon. Known as the Lunar Rover, it was electric powered, and had a top speed of 8mph. It was designed and developed in only 17 months, by Boeing, the aeroplane company famous for making the Jumbo Jet
1981
Until 12th April 1981 all spacecraft were designed to be used only once. The Space Shuttle, was designed to be reused for up to 100 visits to space, in an attempt to make space travel less expensive. With five hugely powerful rocket motors, it can fly at more than 17,000 miles per hour.
1973
In 1973, Russian space probe Mars 2 explored Mars, the fourth planet of the solar system. The probe was made of two parts. One part stayed in orbit for a year, sending pictures of Mars back to earth. The other was to land and explore the surface of Mars, but it was destroyed when its parachute failed to open.
1986 1986
On January 28th 1986, tragedy struck. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch, because of a fuel system failure. All seven astronauts on board were killed, and space travel stopped fpr nearly three years. This horrible accident reminded the world of the dangers of space travel, and the incredible bravery of all astronauts.
The Russian MIR space station was built in sections, each piece launched by a rocket and then joined together in orbit. Construction started in 1986, with the last piece being fitted ten years later! MIR was the first consistently inhabited long-term space station. MIR was destroyed in 2001 when it burned up as it crashed back to earth.
1991 In 1989, Helen Sharman entered a competition to become the first British female astronaut in space. After 18 months of intensive training, Helen was part of a Russian mission to the MIR space station. She spent eight days in space conducting scientific experiments. She used to work for the sweet company that makes Mars bars.
1997
NASA’s Mars Pathfinder landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, and continued operating until Sept. 27 of that year. There have been lots of Mars Rover missions but last year Mars Curiosity landed to try and see if Mars is, or was, suitable for life. While it is not designed to find life itself, the rover carries a number of instruments on board that can bring back information about the surrounding environment - you can follow its mission on Twitter and Facebook.
2000 2001
In 2000 the first permanent crew moved into the International Space Station (ISS), where crews of astronauts have been living ever since. The ISS is a huge space station for research and space exploration that began construction in 1986. You can see the ISS without a telescope. When we saw it close to Christmas last year it looked just like a fast moving shooting star
On the 28th April 2001 American millionaire Dennis Tito became the first space tourist when he paid around 20 million dollars for a ride in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Dennis spent a week in orbit, most of the time visiting the International Space Station. He had to train for 900 hours just to be a passenger.
2004 On June 21st, 2004, SpaceShipOne made the first ever privately funded manned space flight. A new Airline, Virgin Galactic has been set up to offer private tourist flights into space, using a new version of this space plane. Lots of famous people, including WILL.I.AM have bought tickets but its not yet clear when missions will be able to blast off.
2020
It was 46 years ago that Neil Armstrong took the small step onto the surface of the moon that made history. The years that followed saw a Space Age of research and now more exciting things are happening. The next leap could be for humans to live on the moon, for more exploration deeper into the solar system and perhaps they might still find LIFE!!
I hope You have enjoyed reading my research about space history as much as i have doing it.
All work completed by Noah Eades February 2015