50 years of Nasa
Tuesday, 12 Aug 2008 17:27
The Hubble space telescope is one of Nasa's most important achievements
50 years ago on July 29th, 1958, US president Dwight Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, leading to the birth of Nasa on October 1st, 1958.
Since then the agency has completed a number of breathtaking missions, including putting man on the moon and exploring the far reaches of our solar system.
inthenews.co.uk takes a look at some of the highs and lows of the past five decades of Nasa.
October 4th, 1957 - First artificial satellite, Sputnik (USSR) launches
The launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union brought in a new scientific era but also marked the start of the US-USSR space race. The launch caught people off guard and raised fears the USSR could be able to fire missiles into space.
On January 31st, 1958, the tide changed when the US successfully launched Explorer I. This satellite carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth.
January 2nd, 1959 - Luna 1 becomes first spacecraft to reach escape velocity and orbit the Sun.
March 18th, 1965 - Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov becomes the first person to spacewalk
July 20th, 1969 - First manned landing on moon
The US achieved the first manned landing on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission commanded by Neil Armstrong.
On July 20th, 1969, Armstrong, accompanied by Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, landed the lunar module Eagle on the surface of the moon. Armstrong and Aldrin spent a day on the surface of the Moon before returning to Earth. A total of six such manned moon landings were carried out between 1969 and 1972.
March 2nd, 1972 - Pioneer 10 launch. First spacecraft to visit outer planet and leave solar system
November 3rd, 1973 - Mariner 10 launch; first spacecraft to explore Mercury
February 7th, 1984 - astronauts onboard STS-41B mission conduct first untethered spacewalks
January 28th, 1986 - space shuttle Challenger accident
Seventy-three seconds after take-off Challenger broke apart, causing the deaths of all seven crew members. Onboard was Christa McAuliffe, the first member of the Teacher in Space Project.
The tragedy led to a 32-month break in Nasa's shuttle programme and an investigation into processes at Nasa. This resulted in nine recommendations that had to be implemented before shuttle flights resumed.
January 25th, 1988 - president Ronald Reagan announces plans to build a space station.
Construction on the orbiting outpost began ten years after this agreement and is still ongoing, with numerous shuttle missions planned in the coming years to complete it.
Continuous occupation of the International Space Station began in November 2000 following the arrival of Expedition 1.
April 24th, 1990 - Hubble space telescope deploy launch
Named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, the Hubble space telescope (HST) is a large, space-based observatory which Nasa says has revolutionised astronomy by providing unprecedented deep and clear views of the universe, ranging from our own solar system to extremely remote galaxies forming not long after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago.
On August 11th 2008 HST completed its 100,000th orbit and a servicing mission is due to take place in October to provide Hubble with new scientific instruments, new batteries and new gyroscopes.
November 7th, 1996 - Mars Global Surveyor launched
The Mars Global Surveyor spent nine years orbiting Mars, undertaking three extensions of its original two-year mission. Its pictures suggested liquid water could be present on the Red Planet and unveiled views of craters not seen before.
Its long life also allowed Mars Global Surveyor to track changes through repeated annual cycles. The spacecraft last communicated with Earth on November 2nd, 2006.
February 1st, 2003 - space shuttle Columbia accident
As the space shuttle Columbia returned to Earth it disintegrated upon re-entry above Texas, killing all seven crew members onboard.
The cause of the accident was sustained during launch when a piece of foam insulation the size of a small briefcase broke off the space shuttle external tank.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board's recommendations addressed both technical and organisational issues and the space shuttle programme was set back by two years.
May 25th, 2008 - Phoenix Mars Lander touches down on the Red Planet.
The Phoenix mission is one of Nasa's most exciting ongoing projects. Since landing on Mars, the lander has confirmed the presence of water on the planet, taken new images and collected samples of the earth for analysis by onboard equipment.
With Phoenix returning a wealth of information about Mars, officials have decided to add an extra five weeks to the mission.
The lander was originally due to end prime operations in late August but will now finish on September 30th.