Let’s explore the most important space missions of all time that changed humans’ trajectory of space exploration and brought them a step closer to finding the existence of life outside Earth.
This was the first satellite in space and the first ever human-made object to orbit Earth. Sputnik 1 was launched from the spaceport of the USSR (now Russia), Baikonur Cosmodrome, on October 4, 1957. It stayed in orbit till January 1958.
Another USSR mission, Vostok 1 was the first spaceflight of the Vostok programme and the first ever human orbital spaceflight. It was launched on April 12, 1961, with soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin onboard.
The Apollo 11 launched on July 20, 1969, achieved the unforgettable goal of the first-ever human landing on the moon. NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent almost 3 hours in space collecting samples for observation and experimentation.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, built with contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), was launched on April 24, 1990, and is still operating today. Its observations have changed our outlook on the cosmos.
NASA’s Mars Pathfinder rover, launched on December 4, 1996, was the first rover to operate outside of the Earth-Moon system. It landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, explored the red planet and gathered evidence that suggested that Mars once had running water.
ISS (International Space Station) is a space station built and maintained in low-Earth orbit by the space agencies of the USA, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. It was launched on November 20, 1998, and is used to perform several space experiments.
SpaceShipOne, a spacecraft designed by an aerospace development company known as Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, completed its first crewed private spaceflight in 2004, opening doors for many more private space missions to come.
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