Image via Complex Original
Back on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before the world that America would put a man on the moon by the decade's end. By the middle of 1969, the Americans had completed their mission. Since then, America, and a series of other countries, have pushed space exploration's bar farther and farther, helping expand our understanding of the universe. There have been many triumphs—and tragedies—along the way. Here are 15 of the most important moments in space exploration history. As you read them, remember these words:
“Not only do we live among the stars, the stars live within us.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
Sputnik I Skims the Sky
America has been known as the leader in space exploration for decades, but it was Russia who first pulled the trigger way back when. When the Sputnik I satellite was launched into space on October 4, 1957, everything changed. Sputnik was about the size of a beach ball, but the tiny space craft prompted the entire world to begin looking at the sky as a new frontier to explore, and it single-handedly started the space age.
Back in the states, American public was in fear that Russia's technology would mean they would be able to launch nukes toward any target on the planet. Of course, under this supposed threat, Americans responded by placing money in their own satellite program, and NASA was formed a year later. Then, three years later, President Kennedy delivered his famous speech which set America's sights on the moon within a decade. Nothin' better than competition to get the juices (and money) flowing in the right direction.
Man Reaches Space for the First Time
April 12, 1961—Russia strikes first again by sending Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space. With his successful mission, Gagarin became the first human to enter space and return to Earth safely. He made a 108-minute flight around the planet's orbit in the Vostok 1 spacecraft. With the space race heating up, America sent their first person to space, Astronaut Alan Shepard, just one month later. But, as it is with any race, it's about who gets there first.
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 was the second manned space mission of NASA's Apollo program, launched on December 21, 1968. It became the first manned spacecraft to leave Earth's orbit, orbit the moon, and return safely home. The three astronauts aboard, Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders, became the first humans to see Earth as a whole planet, and see the far side of the moon that isn't visible from our planet's surface. The crew orbited the moon 10 times in 20 hours, and made a Christmas Eve television broadcast where they recited the first 10 verses of the Book of Genesis—which, at the time, was the most watched TV program ever.
During the mission, Anders took this now famous photograph of Earth, known as Earthrise:
Their successful mission paved the way for Apollo 11 the following year.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Walk on the Moon
It was America's shining moment: after being beaten by the Russians in almost every aspect of the space race, the Americans made good on President Kennedy's promise to reach the moon. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on another celestial body—the moon—on July 21, 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. After saying his famous quote, "One small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong spent about two and a half hours on the surface. He and Aldrin returned to Earth by landing in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.
Humans have never gone to another planet or celestial object other than the moon, and no other country has independently reached the moon in the decades following America's achievement. As Armstrong's quote suggests, this was, and will forever remain, one of America's humanity's greatest achievements.
"Houston, we've had a problem."
Getting out of sticky situations is something humans are good at, and this is ever apparent in NASA's aborted Apollo 13 mission in 1970. Apollo 13 was meant to be the third manned trip to the moon, but was quickly canceled when an oxygen tank exploded two days into the mission, and the astronauts alerted NASA with the words, "Houston, we've had a problem." Astronauts James Lovell (of Apollo 8), John Swigert and Fred Haise, overcame a loss of power, loss of cabin heat, and a shortage of water, using their ingenuity and knowledge of physics to get their spacecraft back into trajectory toward Earth.
The mission was made into a film featuring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard in 1995.
Voyager Probes Send Photographs
The Voyager probes were launched into orbit in 1977 to study Jupiter and Saturn (the outer planets were lined up that year, making it a perfect time to send probes their way). The probes both carried plates called "The Golden Record," which contained inscribed messages detailing our civilization, in case they were ever intercepted by aliens, or perhaps humans in the distant future (imagine that moment). "This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings," President Jimmy Carter said in a message placed in the record. "We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours."
Voyager I and Voyager II completed their missions by sending back information about Jupiter and Saturn, like the active volcanoes on Jupiter's moons, and the intricacies of Saturn's rings. As Voyager II drifted off into space, it expanded its mission by exploring Uranus and Neptune; and now, both space probes are the farthest traveling manmade objects ever, and are on the verge of being the first manmade objects to leave our solar system and reach interstellar space.
Voyager I is more than 11 billion miles away from the sun.
Hubble Space Telescope Goes Operational
The Hubble space telecope became the first observatory to be placed in space after lauching in 1990. It's operation has helped us reach some of our greatest understandings of the universe: with such a powerful telescope far above Earth's atmosphere, far away from clouds or light pollution, the Hubble was free to look deep and wide. It marked the biggest advancement in astronomy since Galileo invented the telescope in the 1600s, and has brought us hundreds of beautiful pictures of galaxies and stars far, far away.
International Space Station Completed
The first pieces of the International Space Station were launched in 1998, and has been a huge part of American and Russian space missions since. Since 2001, there has been a crew of two or six aboard the space station at all times throughout the decade. It's the largest artificial body in orbit, and can be seen by the naked eye from Earth when viewed at the right time.
NEAR-Shoemaker Lands on an Asteroid
The NEAR-Shoemaker NASA mission was the first ever to feature a spacecraft designed to orbit an asteroid. The asteroid in question, Eros, was one of the largest near Earth asteroids, and NEAR's mission was to return data on the composition, mineralogy, morphology and magnetic field of the asteroid, to help answer questions about the nature and origin of other asteroids around Earth.
NEAR launched Feb. 17, 1996, and entered into Eros' orbit on Valentine's Day 2000. As its mission winded down, a decision was made by engineers to land on Eros—something NEAR was not designed to do. But, hey, why the hell not? When in Rome...
As NEAR descended onto the surface of Eros, it sent back dozens of pictures, the highest resolution images ever of an asteroid. It touched down and sent back a ton of data, with it's last signal coming on Feb. 28, 2001. Somewhere, out there, NEAR is still zipping through space on the face of Eros.
Deep Impact Strikes Comet
Deep Impact (yes, named after the movie) was a space probe launched on July 4, 2005. Its mission was to hit Comet Tempel 1, and study its composition after releasing an impactor into the comet. Once the impactor hit the comet, it sent material upwards toward the probe that it could then study. Previous missions were only fly-by, and Deep Impact was the first space probe to eject material from a comet.
Destruction of the Columbia and Challenger Space Shuttles
On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds after its launch, killing all seven of its members. The O-ring seal on a rocket booster had failed, which sent hot gas from a rocket motor to the surface, and subsequently broke apart the spacecraft. Some of the crew members are known to have survived the shuttles disintegration, but they died upon impacting the ocean. An investigation revealed that the accident was likely preventable: NASA organizational and decision-making processes were flawed, which led to the shuttle being labeled as certified to fly on a morning that was deemed too cold for it to handle by some engineers. The disaster started a three year hiatus in the shuttle program.
Space Shuttle Columbia exploded upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003, killing seven crew members. When debris from a suitcase-sized piece of foam insulation broke off from the shuttle's external tank, it slammed into the left wing, which damaged the shuttle's thermal protection system (the system that protects th shuttle from heat during re-entry). Sadly, an investigation concluded that NASA engineers had suspected damage, but NASA managers limited the investigation after they decided the astronauts aboard couldn't fix the problem. Later, investigators concluded that a rescue mission may have been possible. The shuttle program was suspended for two years after the disaster.
Mars Rover Landing
During the biggest space mission in the social media era, the Mars rover, Curiosity, survived the "Seven Minutes of Terror" as it descended into the Martian atmosphere. NASA's control room broadcasted a live-feed of the event, which was watched by millions on tablets, computers, smartphones and televisions. In its first year, Curiousity has sent back the most detailed photographs of the martian landscape ever, and concluded what scientists long suspected: Mars likely had an environment suitable for life, long ago.
Check out Curiosity's Twitter feed at @MarsCuriosity.
First Private Ship Reaches Space
After NASA announced that its space shuttle program would end after 30 years and 135 flights with Space Shuttle Atlantis' final flight, it opened the door for other private companies to find ways to reach space without the government's help. That door was wedged open on September 29, 2004, when SpaceShipOne became the first privately built ship to reach outer space. That same year, Mojave Aerospace Ventures, the craft's developers, won the $10 million Ansari X Prize.
Now, space travel is getting closer to becoming an option for everybody—meaning, those who are rich enough to afford it. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to space tourists in the near future. Justin Bieber recently purchased one of the first tickets for $250,000.
Farthest Ever Picture Into the Universe
The Hubble Space Telescope recently captured the farthest glimpse ever into the universe. The picture, dubbed eXtreme Deep Field, is the composite of a decade's worth of Hubble telescopic images, revealing thousands of galaxies that are light-years away—many of which may no longer exist.
Though this is a picture of somewhere we haven't yet explored, it's a glimpse of places that—thousands of generations into the future—your very own descendants may go.
And that's something very cool to think about.
Clear here for the full image.
Social Media Meets Space
Though there are many important moments in space exploration that were played out publically or behind the scenes, all of them happened because someone, at some point in their life, became inspired when they looked at the stars.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield knows this. Space exploration is fun, and by showing others the beauty of space, someone else will become inspired as well, and the next generation of space explorers will be born.
So, we leave you with this: the first music video filmed in space.
