This document provides a summary of notable early space exploration achievements by the United States and Soviet Union/Russia from 1958 to 1986. It describes some of the firsts in space exploration, including the first artificial satellites, first images of Earth from space, first flybys and landings on other planets such as Venus and Mars, and first encounters with outer planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It also covers some of the first human missions including the first person in space, first woman in space, and the first space station.
This document provides a summary of notable early space exploration achievements by the United States and Soviet Union/Russia from 1958 to 1986. It describes some of the firsts in space exploration, including the first artificial satellites, first images of Earth from space, first flybys and landings on other planets such as Venus and Mars, and first encounters with outer planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It also covers some of the first human missions including the first person in space, first woman in space, and the first space station.
This document provides a summary of notable early space exploration achievements by the United States and Soviet Union/Russia from 1958 to 1986. It describes some of the firsts in space exploration, including the first artificial satellites, first images of Earth from space, first flybys and landings on other planets such as Venus and Mars, and first encounters with outer planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It also covers some of the first human missions including the first person in space, first woman in space, and the first space station.
This document provides a summary of notable early space exploration achievements by the United States and Soviet Union/Russia from 1958 to 1986. It describes some of the firsts in space exploration, including the first artificial satellites, first images of Earth from space, first flybys and landings on other planets such as Venus and Mars, and first encounters with outer planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It also covers some of the first human missions including the first person in space, first woman in space, and the first space station.
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1/ 3
CARL SAGAN
PALE BLUE DOT
AVISIONOFTHE H U M A N F U T UR E I N S PA C E FORSAM Another wanderer, May your generation see Wonders undreamt. 2 SPACECRAFT EXPLORATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM NOTABLE EARLY ACHIEVEMENTS UNITED STATES 1958 First scientific discovery in space-Van Allen radiation belt (Explorer 1) 1959 First television images of the Earth from space (Explorer 6) 1962 First scientific discovery in interplanetary space -direct observation of the solar wind (Mariner 2) 1962 First scientifically successful planetary mission (Mariner 2 to Venus) 1962 First astronomical observatory in space (OSO-1) 1968 First manned orbit of another world (Apollo 8 to the Moon) 1969 First landing of humans on another world (Apollo 11 to the Moon) 1969 First samples returned to Earth from another world (Apollo 11 to the Moon) 1971 First manned roving vehicle on another world (Apollo 15 to the Moon) 1971 First spacecraft to orbit another planet (Mariner 9 to Mars) 1973 First flyby of Jupiter (Pioneer 10) 1974 First dual-planet mission (Mariner 10 to Venus and Mercury) 1974 First flyby of Mercury (Mariner 10) 1976 First successful Mars landing; first spacecraft to search for life on another planet (Viking 1) 1977 First flybys of Saturn (Pioneer 11) 1981 First manned reusable spacecraft (STS-1) 1980- First satellite to be retrieved, repaired, 1984 and redeployed in space (Solar Maximum Mission) 1985 First distant cometary encounter (International Cometary Explorer to Comet Giacobini-Zimmer) 1986 First flyby of Uranus (Voyager 2) 1989 First flyby of Neptune (Voyager 2) 1992 First detection of the heliopause (Voyager) 1992 First encounter with a main-belt asteroid (Galileo to Gaspra) 3 1994 First detection of a moon of an asteroid (Galileo to Ida) SOVIET UNION/RUSSIA 1957 First artificial satellite of the Earth (Sputnik 1) 1957 First animal in space (Sputnik 2) 1959 First spacecraft to escape the Earth's gravity (Luna 1) 1959 First artificial planet of the Sun (Luna 1) 1959 First spacecraft to impact another world (Luna 2 to the Moon) 1959 First view of the far side of the moon (Luna 3) 1961 First human in space (Vostok 1) 1961 First human to orbit the Earth (Vostok 1) 1961 First spacecraft to fly by other planets (Venera 1 to Venus; 1962 Mars 1 to Mars) 1963 First woman in space (Vostok 6) 1964 First multi-person space mission (Voskhod 1) 1965 First space "walk" (Voskhod 2) 1966 First spacecraft to enter the atmosphere of another planet (Venera 3 to Venus) 1966 First spacecraft to orbit another world (Luna 10 to the Moon) 1966 First successful soft landing on another world (Luna 9 to the Moon) 1970 First robot mission to return a sample from another world (Luna 16 to the Moon) 1970 First roving vehicle on another world (Luna 17 to the Moon) 1971 First soft landing on another planet (Mars 3 to Mars) 1972 First scientifically successful landing on another planet (Venera 8 to Venus) 1980 First approximately year-long manned spaceflight 1981 (comparable to Mars flight time) (Soyuz 35) 1983 First full orbital radar mapping of another planet (Venera 15 to Venus) 1985 First balloon station deployed in the atmosphere of another planet (Vega 1 to Venus) 1986 First close cometary encounter (Vega 1 to Halley's Comet) 1986 First space station inhabited by rotating crews (Mir) 4
CONTENTS WANDERERS: AN INTRODUCTION 5 1. YOU ARE HERE 10 2. ABERRATIONS OF LIGHT 14 3. THE GREAT DEMOTIONS 20 4. A UNIVERSE NOT MADE FOR US 29 5. IS THERE INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH? 39 6. THE TRIUMPH OF VOYAGER 46 7. AMONG THE MOONS OF SATURN 54 8. THE FIRST NEW PLANET 62 9. AN AMERICAN SHIP AT THE FRONTIERS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM 69 10. SACRED BLACK 78 11. EVENING AND MORNING STAR 84 12. THE GROUND MELTS 90 13. THE GIFT OF APOLLO 98 14. EXPLORING OTHER WORLDS AND PROTECTING THIS ONE 103 15. THE GATES OF THE WONDER WORLD OPEN 109 16. SCALING HEAVEN 122 17. ROUTINE INTERPLANETARY VIOLENCE 134 18. THE MARSH OF CAMARINA 143 19. REMAKING THE PLANETS 152 20. DARKNESS 162 21. TO THE SKY! 171 22. TIPTOEING THROUGH THE MILKY WAY 177 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 189 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 189 REFERENCES 191
