1963 Syncom communications satellites launched On February 14 NASA launches the first of a series of Syncom communications satellites into near-geosynchronous orbit, following procedures developed by Harold Rosen of Hughes Aircraft. In July, Syncom 2 is placed over the Atlantic Ocean and Brazil at 55 degrees longitude to demonstrate the feasibility of geosynchronous satellite communications. It successfully transmits voice, teletype, facsimile, and data between a ground station in Lakehurst, New Jersey, and the USNS Kingsport while the ship is off the coast of Africa. It also relays television transmissions from Lakehurst to a ground station in Andover, Maine. Forerunners of the Intelsat series of satellites, the Syncom satellites are cylinders covered with silicon solar cells that provide 29 watts of direct power when the craft is in sunlight (99 percent of the time). Nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries provide power when the spacecraft is in Earth’s shadow. 1963 Syncom communications satellites launched On February 14 NASA launches the first of a series of Syncom communications satellites into near-geosynchronous orbit, following procedures developed by Harold Rosen of Hughes Aircraft. In July, Syncom 2 is placed over the Atlantic Ocean and Brazil at 55 degrees longitude to demonstrate the feasibility of geosynchronous satellite communications. It successfully transmits voice, teletype, facsimile, and data between a ground station in Lakehurst, New Jersey, and the USNS Kingsport while the ship is off the coast of Africa. It also relays television transmissions from Lakehurst to a ground station in Andover, Maine. Forerunners of the Intelsat series of satellites, the Syncom satellites are cylinders covered with silicon solar cells that provide 29 watts of direct power when the craft is in sunlight (99 percent of the time). Nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries provide power when the spacecraft is in Earth’s shadow. 1965 Edward H. White, Jr. is the first American to perform a spacewalk The second piloted Gemini mission, Gemini IV, stays aloft for four days, (June 3-7), and astronaut Edward H. White, Jr. performs the first extravehicular activity (EVA)—or spacewalk—by an American. This critical task will have to be mastered before a landing on the Moon. 1968 Apollo 8 flight to the Moon views Earth from lunar orbit. Humans first escape Earth’s gravity on the Apollo 8 flight to the Moon and view Earth from lunar orbit. Apollo 8 takes off from the Kennedy Space Center on December 21 with three astronauts aboard—Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders. As their ship travels outward, the crew focuses a portable television camera on Earth and for the first time humanity sees its home from afar, a tiny "blue marble" hanging in the blackness of space. When they arrive at the Moon on Christmas Eve, the crew sends back more images of the planet along with Christmas greetings to humanity. The next day they fire the boosters for a return flight and splash down in the Pacific Ocean on December 27. 1969 Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon. The first lunar landing mission, Apollo 11 lifts off on July 16 to begin the 3-day trip. At 4:18 p.m. EST on July 20, the lunar module—with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin—lands on the Moon’s surface while Michael Collins orbits overhead in the command module. After more than 21 hours on the lunar surface, they return to the command module with 20.87 kilograms of lunar samples, leaving behind scientific instruments, an American flag, and other mementos, including a plaque bearing the inscription: "Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in Peace For All Mankind."
1971 First space station, Salyut 1 The Soviet Union launches the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, in 1971. Two years later the United States sends its first space station, Skylab, into orbit, where it hosts three crews before being abandoned in 1974. Russia continues to focus on long-duration space missions, launching the first modules of the Mir space station in 1986. 1971 First space station, Salyut 1 The Soviet Union launches the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, in 1971. Two years later the United States sends its first space station, Skylab, into orbit, where it hosts three crews before being abandoned in 1974. Russia continues to focus on long-duration space missions, launching the first modules of the Mir space station in 1986. 1972 Pioneer 10 sent to the outer solar system Pioneer 10, the first mission to be sent to the outer solar system, is launched on March 2 by an Atlas-Centaur rocket. The spacecraft makes its closest approach to Jupiter on December 3, 1973, after which it is on an escape trajectory from the Solar System. NASA launches Pioneer 11 on April 5, 1973, and in December 1974 the spacecraft gives scientists their closest view of Jupiter, from 26,600 miles above the cloud tops. Five years later Pioneer 11 makes its closest approach to Saturn, sending back images of the planet’s rings, and then heads out of the solar system in the opposite direction from Pioneer 10. The last successful data acquisitions from Pioneer 10 occur on March 3, 2002, the 30th anniversary of its launch date, and on April 27, 2002. Its signal is last detected on January 23, 2003, after an uplink is transmitted to turn off the last operational experiment. 1975 NASA launches two Mars space probes NASA launches two Mars space probes, Viking 1 on August 20 and Viking 2 on November 9, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander. The first probe lands on July 20, 1976, the second one on September 3. The Viking project’s primary mission ends on November 15, 11 days before Mars’s superior conjunction (its passage behind the Sun), although the two spacecraft continue to operate for several more years. The last transmission reaches Earth on November 11, 1982. After repeated efforts to regain contact, controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory close down the overall mission on May 21, 1983.
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