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Galileo Galilei
Galileo was a math professor in Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries. He created the first telescope in the summer of 1609 which he used to make many discoveries that supported a sun-centered solar system. He wrote a book on his ideas and was accused by the church for his beliefs about science. He is often called the father of modern science for his discoveries and his inventions, such as the telescope, -
Sputnik
Sputnik was the first artificial satellite to ever go into orbit around the earth. It was launched by the Soviet Union and it began the Space Race. This event encouraged the United States to add funding to their own program directly leading to the creation of NASA. This funding helped to develop America's space technology field, giving us what we have today. -
John Glenn
John Glenn was the first man to orbit the earth as of February 20, 1962. He has been awarded six distinguished flying crosses and the Air Medal for his service in Korea and World War Two. Glenn also holds many other awards for his service in the U.S military and his space career. He has been on many missions in space, and has 218 hours in space. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was launched with a goal in mind: land men on the moon and return to Earth. The goal was accomplished as Neil Armstrong took "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," being the first man to step on the moon. The mission had other goals too. Some of these were to deploy a television camera to broadcast signals to Earth, gather samples of the moon, and extensively photograph the moon's surface. -
Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the surface of the moon, and he is very well known for that. However, he also held many other accolades. He was and aerospace engineer, a naval aviator, a test pilot, and a university professor. He served in the Korean War as an officer and joined the NASA Astronaut Corp in 1962. -
Skylab
Skylab was a space station put into orbit by NASA in 1973. It orbited Earth for six years, serving many purposes. It included a workshop, a solar observatory, and a multiple docking adapter. This station allowed three crews to spend up to 84 days in the station. -
Hubble Telescope
Hubble was the first major telescope to be placed in space. It doesn't travel throughout the solar system, as it has no thrusters. Rather, it orbits the earth and takes pictures while moving approximately 17,000 mph. It is the most significant astronomy advancement since Galileo's telescope. -
Space X
SpaceX is a company founded in June 2002 that manufactures and launces rockets. Their eventual goal is to enable people to live on other planets. It has three main projects: the Dragon, the Falcon 9, and the Falcon Heavy. The Dragon was designed to get people and cargo to orbiting destinations. The Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy are rockets, designed to carry humans into space using propulsion. -
Mars Rover
Two Mars Rovers were sent to Mars on June 10 and July 7, 2003, in search for answers about the history of water on Mars. They landed approxiamately 5 months later and began their mission. Their main goal is to find and characterize a wide range of soils and rocks that could prove hold clues to the past water patterns of Mars. -
Boeing Space Taxi
The Boeing Space Taxi was created as part of a NASA contract. NASA needed a spacecraft to take astronauts into space, and contracted two companies to attempt to create it. This is part of an initiative to create systems that are American, so we don't have to rely on Russian technology to get astronauts to the international space station. Boeing beat Space X in the contest, and won the multibillion dollar competition. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2017 with Congress's approval.
