major events in space

1

MAJOR EVENTS IN SPACE

03/11/1942 - 18/03/2011

AN ILLUSTRATED BOOK ABOUT THE MAJOR EVENTS IN SPACE.

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2


THE PLANNING AND PRODUCTION OF THE ROCKET WEAPON WAS EXTENSIVE AND WIDE RANGING. IT WAS THE CULMINATION OF YEARS OF STRATEGIC THINKING.

VENUE: Peenemünde, Germany

DATE: 3rd October 1942

INVENTOR: Walter Dornberger

MACHINE: V2 Rocket

Autumn 1942. The dining table was full of revelers. In Usedom this day, the spirit of camaraderie was strong. Walter Dornberger glanced around the room. These were men that he had hand chosen and during this night of celebration at Dornberger's home the feeling of personal accomplishment was strong for each of them. They had achieved some thing togeth-er, as a team, something heretofore unimaginable to even the most celebrated scientific minds of the day. Dornberger rose to make a toast; “For the first time we have invaded space with our rocket. Mark this well, we have used space as a bridge between two points on and probably around the planet earth. We have proven rocket propulsion practicable for space travel. This third day of October, 1942, is the first of a new era of transportation: that of space travel.”But this accomplishment was born out of the necessity to build the ultimate weapon for the Führer and Nazi Germany—not space travel the speech most probably continued by exalting the creation of

this ultimate long-range artillery piece; designed to serve the Fatherland and to bring victory to the German people by striking the enemy with swiftness and invulnerability. There is no doubt that many of the men present pocessed a romance with the notion of space flight, but there is also no mistaking what their project mission was to bring victories.

The Nazi’s used the ballistic missile in the Second World War to specifically target London and later Antwerp.

In recent years the Vergeltungswaffe Zwei (Venge-ance Weapon 2) has been portrayed as the Germany’s last desperate hope. However, planning and production of the rocket weapon was extensive and wide ranging. It was the culmination of years of strategic thinking. The majority of this black-project research was conducted at a super-secret location named Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde (Army Research Center Peenemünde)—known today simply as "Peenemünde".

FIRST

MAN MADE OBJECT IN SPACE

_

_

03/11/1942

3

V2 R

OCK

ET

INDEX

GENERAL SPECIFICATION

Warhead (Explosive Charge)1 -

2 -

3 -

4 -

5 -

6 -

7 -

8 -

9 -

10 -

11 -

12 -

13 -

14 -

15 -

16 -

17 -

18 -

Automatic Gyro Control

Guidebeam

Nitrogen Bottle

Alcohol Tank

Oxygen Tank

Propellant Turbopump

Steam Exhaust from Turbine

Vaporiser for Turbine Propellant

Turbine Propellant

Combustion Chamber

Alcohol Main Valve

Rocket Motor

Oxygen Main Valve

Jet Rudders

Air Rudders

WINGSPAN: 3564mm

LENGTH: 14037mm

WING AREA: 32671sq mm

GROSS WEIGHT: 95 tonnes

WING LOADING: 2 tonnes / sq m

Nitrogen Bottle

Radio Command Receivers

TOP

REAR

65mm

124mm

213mm

80mm

SIDE

2010mm

5295mm

9625mm

11419mm

12872mm

956mm

14037mm

3564mm

1661mm

1

2

4

5

7

8

9

10

3

6

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

1818

17

3

4

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONMISSION OBJECTIVE

WINGSPAN: 12mm

LENGTH: 8mm

WING AREA: 7sq mm

GROSS WEIGHT: 600mg

WING LOADING: 14mg / sq mm

• Past both the U.S. 50-mile and

the international 100 km

definitions of the edge of space.

• Eject the Blossom capsule and

deployed parachute. Actual Size

22:1

20/02/1947

FRUIT FLIES

5

ANIMAL IN SPACETHE PURPOSE OF THE EXPERIMENT WAS TO EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF RADIATION EXPOSURE AT HIGH ALTITUDES.

United States military launches fruit flies into space utilizing a refurbished V2 rocket. These became first living organisms from Earth to enter outer space, apart from any accidental bacteria that may have been unknowingly launched into space in prior missins. Along with the fruit flies cargo contained cotton and rye seeds. The rocket did not, and was not intended to, orbit the Earth. Purpose of the experiment was to test how radiation may affect various biological samples. Fruit flies were found alive after parachuting down to Earth in a capsule, setting a stage for presence of more complex biology in space apart from any accidental bacteria. Before humans actually went into space, one of the prevailing theories of the perils of space flight was that humans might not be able to survive long periods of weightlessness. For several years, there had been a serious debate among scientists about the effects of prolonged weightlessness. American and Russian scientists utilized animals - mainly monkeys, chimps and dogs - in order to test each country’s ability to launch a living organism into

space and bring it back alive and unharmed.Animal were the first to sent to space before the manned space missions was done. The major reason was that they did not want to risk the human lives. The animal was sent to space to investigate the biological processes, the microgravity gravity and the space flight on these animals. Only 5 countries have used the animals in the space programs: The United States, The Soviet Union, France, Japan and China. The first animals that spent into the space were fruit flies along with corn seeds aboard a launched V2 rocket in space. V2 missions carried biological samples of moss.

The flies were sent to experiment the effects of exposure of radiations at high altitudes. Along with the fruit flies cargo contained cotton and rye seeds.

The rocket did not, and was not intended to, orbit the Earth. Purpose of the experiment was to test how radiation may affect various biological samples. These became first living organisms from Earth to enter outer space, apart from any accidental.

VENUE: Kennedy Space Centre, USA

DATE: 20th February 1947

OTHER ITEMS: Rye and cotton seeds

MACHINE: V2 Rocket

Fruit flies were found alive after parachuting down to Earth in a capsule, setting a stage for presence of more complex biology in space.

FIRST

_ _


6

FIRST

ORBITALLAUNCHTHE UNANTICIPATED ANNOUNCEMENT OF SPUTNIK 1’S SUCCESS PRECIPITATED THE SPUTNIK CRISIS IN THE U.S.

04/10/1957

_VENUE: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Russia

DATE: 4th October 1957

INVENTOR: M. S. Khomyakov

MACHINE: Sputnik 1

INDEX SIDE


Warhead (Explosive Charge)1 -

2 -

3 -

4 -

5 -

6 -

7 -

8 -

9 -

10 -

11 -

12 -

13 -

14 -

15 -

16 -

17 -

Automatic Gyro Control

Guidebeam

Nitrogen Bottle

Alcohol Tank

Oxygen Tank

Propellant Turbopump

Steam Exhaust from Turbine

Vaporiser for Turbine Propellant

Turbine Propellant

Combustion Chamber

Alcohol Main Valve

Rocket Motor

Oxygen Main Valve

Jet Rudders

WINGSPAN: 3564mm

LENGTH: 14037mm

WING AREA: 32671sq mm



Nitrogen Bottle

Radio Command Receivers 1

2

4

5

7

8

9

3

6

1011

12

13

7

The history of the Sputnik 1 project dates back to 17 December 1954, when Sergei Korolev addressed Dimitri Antoniou, then Minister of Defence Industries, proposing the development of an Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. Korolev also forwarded Ustinov a report by Mikhail Tikhonravov with an overview of similar projects abroad. Tikhonravov emphasized that an artificial satellite is an inevitable stage in the development of rocket equipment in 1951, after which “interplanetary communication” would be possible. On 29 July 1955 the U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced, through his press secretary, that the United States would launch an artificial satellite during the International Geophysical Year (IGY). A week later, on 8 August the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU approved the idea of creating an artificial satellite. On 30 August Vasily

They decided to develop a three stage version of the R-7 rocket for satellite launches named Peenemünde.

Ryabikov – the head of the State Commission on R-7 rocket test launches – held a meeting where Korolev presented calculation data for a spaceflight trajectory to the Moon from the planet earth. They decided to develop a three-stage version of the R-7 rocket for satellite launches named Heeres-versuchsanstalt Peenemünde (Army Research Center Peenemünde)—known today simply as "Peen-emünde". Fearing the U.S. would launch a satellite before the USSR, OKB-1 suggested the creation and launch of a satellite in April–May 1957, before the IGY began in July 1957. The new satellite would be simple, light (100 kg or 220 lb), and easy to construct, forgoing the complex, heavy scientific equipment in favour of a simple radio transmitter. Korolev also forwarded Ustinov a report by Mikhail Tikhonravov with an overview of similar projects abroad.

SPUTNIK 1213mm

213mm

213mm

213mm

213mm

TOP BOTTOM

17

16

14

15


8

ANIMALIN ORBITLAIKA WAS SELECTED BECAUSE OF HER EVEN TEMPERAMENT.

The first living creature (larger than a microbe) to enter orbit was a female part-Samoyed terrier originally named Kudryavka (Little Curly) but later renamed Laika (“Barker”). Laika was selected from ten candidates at the Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine, because of her even temperament. She weighed about 6 kg (13 lb). The pressurized cabin on Sputnik 2 allowed enough room for her to lie down or stand and was padded. An air regeneration system provided oxygen; food and water were dispensed in a gelatinized form. Laika was fitted with a harness, a

bag to collect waste, and electrodes to monitor vital signs. Early telemetry indicated Laika was agitated but eating her food female part-Samoyed. Sputnik 2, known to Korolev’s design bureau as””Prosteyshiy Sputnik-2” means “Simple Satel-lite 2,” was launched into a 212 × 1660 km (132 × 1031 mi) orbit with a period of 103.7 minutes on a modified ICBM R-7, similar to the one used to launch Sputnik 1. The R-7 was also known by its GURVO designation 8K71 as well as the “T-3, and M-104, and Type A the R-7 modified for the PS-2 satellite.

FIRST

The pressurized cabin on Sputnik 2 allowed enough room for her to lie down or stand and was padded.

_ _

DOG

LAI

KA

VEN

UE

: Ba

iko

nu

r C

osm

od

rom

e, R

uss

ia

DAT

E: 3

rd N

ove

mb

er

1957

DO

G B

RE

ED

: Sa

mo

yed

MAC

HIN

E: S

pu

tnik

2

03/11/1957

9

SUCCESSFUL HUMAN FLIGHTTHE FLIGHT MARKED THE FIRST TIME THAT A HUMAN ENTERED OUTER SPACE.

The first manned spaceflight, Vostok 1 in April 1961, was preceded by several preparatory flights. In the summer of 1960, the Soviets learned that the Americans could launch a sub-orbital manned spaceflight as early as January 1961. Korolev saw this as an important deadline, and was determined to launch a manned orbital mission before the Ameri-cans launched their manned suborbital mission. By April 1960, designers at Sergei Korolev’s design bureau, then known as OKB-1, had completed a draft plan for the first Vostok spacecraft, called Vostok 1K.

This design would be used for testing purposes; also in their plan was Vostok 2K, a spy satellite that would later become known as Zenit 2, and Vostok 3K, which would be used for all six manned Vostok missions. Despite the very large geographical size of the Soviet Union, there were obvious limitations to monitoring orbital spaceflights from ground sta-tions within the country. To remedy this, the Soviets stationed about 7 naval vessels, or tracking ships, around the world.For each ground station or tracking.

FIRST

Korolev saw this as an important deadline, and was determined to launch a manned orbital mission.

YURI

GAG

ARIN

__

12/04/1961

VEN

UE

: Ba

iko

nu

r C

osm

od

rom

e, R

uss

ia

DAT

E: 1

2th

Ap

ril 1

961

DE

SIG

NE

R: S

erg

ei P

avl

ovi

ch K

oro

lev

MAC

HIN

E: V

ost

ok

1


10

HER PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HORIZON FROM SPACE WERE LATER USED TO IDENTIFY AEROSOL LAYERS.

Vostok 6 (Orient 6 or East 6) was the first human spaceflight mission to carry a woman, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, into space. This also made her the first civilian in space.The spacecraft was launched on June 16, 1963. Data was collected on the female body’s reaction to spaceflight. Like other cosmonauts on Vostok missions, she maintained a flight log, took photographs, and manually oriented the spacecraft. Her photographs of the horizon from space were later used to identify aerosol layers within the atmosphere. The mission, a joint flight with Vostok 5, was originally conceived as being a joint mission with two Vostoks each

carrying a female cosmonaut, but this changed as the Vostok program experienced cutbacks as a precursor to the retooling of the program into the Voskhod program. Vostok 6 was the last flight of a Vostok 3KA spacecraft.

It was revealed in 2004 that an error in the control program made the spaceship ascend from orbit instead of descending.

Tereshkova noticed the fault on the first day of the flight and reported it to Sergey Korolev. The mistake was promptly repaired. Tereshkova entered the data that she got from the Earth into the descent.

FIRST

WOMAN IN SPACE_

_VE

NU

E: B

aik

on

ur

Co

smo

dro

me

, Ru

ssia

DAT

E: 1

6th

Ju

ne

19

63

INVE

NTO

R: S

erg

ei P

avl

ovi

ch K

oro

lev

MAC

HIN

E: V

ost

ok

6VALE

NTIN

A

TERE

SHKO

VA16/06/1963

11

SURV

EYO

R 1

LANDING ON THE MOONTHE SUCCESSFUL SOFT LANDING OF SURVEYOR 1 WAS THE FIRST ONE BY AN AMERICAN SPACE PROBE.

Surveyor 1 was the first lunar soft-lander in the unmanned Surveyor program of the National Aero-nautics and Space Administration (NASA, United States). This lunar soft-lander gathered data about the lunar surface that would be needed for the manned Apollo Moon landings that began in 1969. The successful soft landing of Surveyor 1 on the Ocean of Storms was the first one by an American space probe onto any extraterrestrial body, and it occurred just four months after the first Moon landing by the Soviet Union’s Luna 9 probe. This was also a success on NASA’s first attempt at a soft landing on any astronomical object.

Surveyor 1 was launched May 30, 1966, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and it landed on the Moon

Surveyor 1 transmitted 11,237 still photos of the lunar surface to the Earth by using a television camera and a sophisticated radio-telemetry system.

The Surveyor series of space probes was designed to carry out the first soft landings on the Moon by any American spacecraft. No instrumentation was carried specifically for scientific experiments by Surveyor 1, but considerable scientific data was collected by its TV camera.

FIRST

02/06/1966

_VE

NU

E: K

en

ne

dy

Spa

ce C

en

tre

, USA

DAT

E: 2

nd

Ju

ne

19

66

DE

SIG

NE

D B

Y: H

ug

he

s A

ircra

ft C

om

pa

ny

MAC

HIN

E: S

urv

eyo

r 1


12

ARMSTRONG AND ALDRIN LANDED IN THE SEA OF TRANQUILLITY AND BECAME THE FIRST HUMANS TO WALK ON THE MOON.

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight which landed the first humans, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr, on Earth’s Moon on July 20, 1969, at 20:17:39 UTC. The United States mission is considered the major accomplishment in the history of space exploration. Launched from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 in Merritt Island, Florida on July 16, Apollo 11 was the fifth manned mission, and the third lunar mission, of NASA’s Apollo program. The crew consisted of Armstrong as Commander and Aldrin as Lunar Module Pilot, with Command Module Pilot. Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tran-quillity and became the first humans to walk on the Moon on July 21. Their Lunar Module, Eagle, spent 21 hours 31 minutes on the lunar surface, while Collins remained in orbit in the Command/Service Module, Columbia. The three astronauts returned to Earth on July 24, landing in the Pacific Ocean. They brought back 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar rocks. Apollo 11 fulfilled U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s goal of reaching the Moon before the Soviet Union by the end of the 1960s, which he had expressed during a 1961

mission statement before the United States Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”. Each crewman of Apollo 11 had made a spaceflight before this mission, making it only the second all-veteran crew (the other being Apollo 10) in human spaceflight history.

Collins was originally slated to be the Command Module Pilot (CMP) on Apollo 8 but was removed when he required surgery on his back and was replaced by Jim Lovell, his backup for that flight.

After Collins was medically cleared, he took what would have been Lovell’s spot on Apollo 11; as a vet-eran of Apollo 8, Lovell was transferred to Apollo 11’s backup crew, but promoted to backup commander. In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot.


DATE: 20th July 1969

INVENTOR: Wernher von Braun

MACHINE: Apollo 11

HUMANS ON THE MOON

__

FIRST

20/07/1969

13

INDEX

SIDE

BOTTOM TOP GENERAL SPECIFICATION

WIDTH: 3876 mm

LENGTH: 3876 mm

HEIGHT: 2492 mm


APOLLO 11

Docking Tunnel1 -

2 -

3 -

4 -

5 -

6 -

7 -

8 -

9 -

10 -

11 -

12 -

13 -

14 -

15 -

16 -

17 -

Aft Equipment Bay

S-Band Inflight Antennas

Ascent Engine Cover

Fuel Tanks

Descent Engine

Oxidizer Tanks

Egress Platform

Landing Pad

Lunar Surface Sensing Probe

Reaction Control Thrusters

Crewmen in Flight Position

Crewman on Engine Cover

Red Docking Light

Optical Telescope

VHF Antenna

Gaseous Oxygen Tanks

1

2

4

5

7

3

6

17

1613

14

15

9

10

11

12


14

THE MARS 2 ORBITER SENT BACK A LARGE VOLUME OF DATA COVERING THE PERIOD FROM DECEMBER 1971 TO MARCH 1972.

02/12/1971

SUCCESSFUL LANDINGON MARS

__

FIRST

VENUE: Baikonur Cosmodrome

DATE: 2nd December 1971

DESIGNED BY: NASA

MACHINE: Mars 2

INDEX

Cold Chopper1 -

2 -

3 -

4 -

5 -

6 -

7 -

8 -

9 -

10 -

11 -

12 -

13 -

14 -

15 -

Hg Ge Detector

Beam Splitter

Primary Mirror

Hysteresis Motor

Alcohol Tank

Pre-Amp

Secondary Mirror

Cold Aperture

Pb Se Detector

Combustion Chamber

Rocket Motor

Power Supply

Blocking Filter

Calibrator

BACK


WINGSPAN: 6891 mm

WIDTH: 3791 mm

HEIGHT: 5672 mm



6

1

4

9

3

2

5

7

810

15

The Mars 2 was an unmanned space probe of the Mars program, a series of unmanned Mars landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of iden-tical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander, they were launched by Proton K heavy launch vehicle with a Blok D upper stage. The lander of Mars 2 became the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars. The orbiter engine performed a burn to put the spacecraft into a 1380 x 24,940 km, 18 hour orbit about Mars with an inclination of 48.9 degrees. Scientific instruments were generally turned on for about 30 minutes near periapsis. The orbiter primary scientific objectives were to image the Martian surface and clouds, determine the temperature on Mars, study the topography, composition and physical properties of the surface, measure properties of the atmosphere, monitor the solar wind and the interplanetary and Martian

magnetic fields, and act as communications relays to send signals from the landers to Earth. The Mars 2 orbiter sent back a large volume of data covering the period from December 1971 to March 1972, although transmissions continued through August. It was announced that Mars 2 had completed their mission by 22 August 1972, after 362 orbits. The probe, combined with Mars 3, sent back a total of 60 pictures. The images and data revealed mountains as high as 22 km, atomic hydrogen and oxygen in the upper atmosphere, surface temperatures ranging from -110 °C to +13 °C, surface pressures of 5.5 to 6 mbar (0.55 to 0.6 kPa), water vapor concentrations 5000 times less than in Earth’s atmosphere, the base of the ionosphere starting at 80 to 110 km altitude, and grains from dust storms as high as 7 km in the atmosphere. The images and data enabled creation of surface relief maps. The orbiter engine performed a burn to put the spacecraft into a 1380.

The orbiter primary scientific objectives were to image the Martian surface and clouds determine the temperature on Mars, study the topography.

15

FRONT TOP BOTTOM

11

12

13

14


MARS 2

16

1

2

2

4

5

7

8

9

3

6

INDEX

Mercury1 -

2 -

3 -

4 -

5 -

6 -

7 -

8 -

9 -

Earth

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

Venus

Mars


DIAMETRE: 15,000 million km / 100 AUPLANETS: 9TOTAL MASS: 332,900 Earth MassesTOTAL MOONS (KNOWN): 178

SOLAR SYSTEM14/02/1990

17

THE PORTRAIT WAS CONSTRUCTED USING 34 INDIVIDUAL FRAMES ACQUIRED BY THE MERCURY DUAL IMAGING SYSTEM.

The Family Portrait, or sometimes Portrait of the Planets, is an image of the Solar System acquired by Voyager 1 on February 14, 1990 from a distance of approximately 6 billion kilometers. The picture is a mosaic of 60 individual frames. They were the last pictures taken by either Voyager spacecraft. It is the source of the famous “Pale Blue Dot” image of the Earth. Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was part of the Voyager imaging team, campaigned for many years to have the pictures taken and was successful. Six planets are visible in the mosaic. From left to right: Jupiter, Earth, Venus, Saturn, Uranus, Nep-tune. The Sun, a small point of light at this distance, is centered in the image while Mercury is too close to the Sun to be seen, Mars was not detectable by the Voyager cameras due to scattered sunlight in the optics, and dwarf planet Pluto was not included in the mosaic because of its small size and distance from the Sun. The image does not have a “natural look”. This is because the individual images were acquired

using various filters at varying exposures to bring out as much detail as possible. The Sun was imaged with the darkest filter and shortest exposure available.

Of the two Voyager spacecraft, Voyager 1 was chosen for the mosaic because its trajectory had taken it above the plane of the Solar System and unlike Voyager 2, was in a position to view Jupiter free of light disturbances by the Sun’s glare.

To avoid damaging the Imaging Science System vidicon tubes. The majority of the images were acquired with the Wide-Angle Camera, while the close-up views of the planets were acquired using the Narrow-Angle Camera. The images were acquired at a distance of approximately 40.11 AU from Earth and approximately 32° above the ecliptic plane. The portrait was constructed using 34 individual frames acquired using the Mercury Dual Imaging System, targeting areas. The Sun, a small point of light at this distance, is centered in the image.

PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WHOLE SOLAR SYSTEM

__

_FIRST


DATE: 14th February 1990

IMAGE EDITOR: Carl Sagan

MACHINE: Voyager 1


18

THE SPACECRAFT’S MISSION WAS TO STUDY THE SUN AT ALL LATITUDES.

Ulysses is a decommissioned robotic space probe that was designed to study the Sun as a joint venture of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). The spacecraft was originally named Odysseus, because of its lengthy and indirect trajectory to near Solar. It was renamed Ulysses, the Latin translation of “Odysseus” at ESA’s request in honour not only of Homer’s mythological hero but also with reference to Dante’s description in Dante’s Inferno. Originally scheduled for launch in May 1986 aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. Due to the loss of Challenger, the

launch of Ulysses was delayed until October 6, 1990 aboard Discovery (mission STS-41). The spacecraft’s mission was to study the Sun at all latitudes.

To do this required a major orbital plane shift. Due to velocity change limitations of the Shuttle and the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS)

This was accomplished by using an encounter with Jupiter to effect the plane change instead of an engine burn. The need for a Jupiter encounter meant that Ulysses could not be powered by solar cells.

POLAR ORBIT AROUND THE SUN

__

FIRST

VEN

UE

: Ke

nn

ed

y Sp

ace

Ce

ntr

e, U

SA

DAT

E: 8

th F

eb

rua

ry 1

99

2

DE

SIG

NE

D B

Y: N

ASA

MAC

HIN

E: U

lyss

es

ULYS

SES08/02/1992

19

THE PRIMARY SCIENCE OBJECTIVES INCLUDE DETERMINING ACCURATELY THE SURFACE COMPOSITION OF MERCURY.

The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEo-chemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) space probe is a robotic NASA spacecraft orbiting the planet Mercury, the first spacecraft ever to do so. The 485 kg (1,070 lb) spacecraft was launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004 to study Mercury’s chemical composition, its geology, and its magnetic field. It became the second mission after 1975’s Mariner 10 to reach Mercury successfully when it made a flyby in January 2008, followed by a second flyby in October 2008, and a third flyby in

September 2009. The instruments carried by MES-SENGER were tested on a complex series of flybys – the spacecraft flew by Earth once, Venus twice, and Mercury itself three times, allowing it to decelerate relative to Mercury with minimal fuel.

MESSENGER successfully entered Mercury’s orbit on March 18, 2011, and reactivated its science.

Instruments on March 24, returning the first photo from Mercury orbit on March 29. MESSENGER’s formal data collection mission began on April 4, 2011.

ORBIT OF MERCURY_

_FIRST

VEN

UE

: Ke

nn

ed

y Sp

ace

Ce

ntr

e, U

SA

DAT

E: 1

8th

Ma

rch

201

1

DE

SIG

NE

D B

Y: N

ASA

MAC

HIN

E: M

ess

en

ge

r

MES

SENG

ER18/03/2011 MAJOR EVENTS IN SPACE

FIRST MAN MADE OBJECT IN SPACE

FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE

FIRST ANIMAL IN SPACE

FIRST LANDING ON THE MOON

FIRST POLAR ORBIT AROUND THE SUN

FIRST ORBITAL LAUNCH

FIRST HUMANS ON THE MOON

FIRST ORBIT OF MERCURY

FIRST ANIMAL IN ORBIT

FIRST SUCCESSFUL LANDING ON MARS

FIRST SUCCESSFUL HUMAN FLIGHT

FIRST SUCCESSFUL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WHOLE SOLAR SYSTEM


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major events in space

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space travel

edge of space

rocket weapon

nazi germanynot space

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ultimate weapon

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