History of Space Exploration

Milestones in Space Exploration

• 1610: First telescopic observation of the night sky, discovery of the Galilean moons.

  By Galileo Galilei Venice
  
• 1688: First reflecting telescope by Reflecting Telescope.

  By Isaac Newton England
  
• 1781: First telescopic discovery of planet Uranus.

  By William Herschel Great Britin
  
• 1801: First discovery of asteroid Ceres.

  By Giuseppe Piazzi Sicily
  
• 1813: First exposition of the rocket equation based on Newton's third law of motion: Treatise on the Motion of Rockets.

  By William Moore UK
• 1840: First clear telescopic photograph of another world: the Moon.

  By John William Draper United States
  
• 1845: First proper observation of other galaxies which are termed whirlpool nebulae.

  By William Parsons UK
  
• 1845: First proposal of space elevator.

  By Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Russia
  

After the 20th century, space exploration took flight with satellites, manned missions, and probes. Milestones include the Moon landing in 1969, the International Space Station, and rovers exploring Mars, revolutionizing our understanding of the universe.

• 14 February 2000: First orbit of an asteroid 433 Eros.

  By NASA & ESA
  
• 12 February 2001: First landing on an asteroid 433 Eros.

  By NASA
  
• 12 November 2001: First laser communication in space between two objects.

  By NASA & CNES(FRANCE)
• 12 February 2001: First landing on an asteroid 433 Eros.

  By NASA
  
• June 10, 2003: The (MER A) and Spirit rovers, part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover (MER) program, were launched in 2003 and landed on Mars in January 2004. Their mission was to explore the surface of Mars to search for and characterize evidence of water, study the planet’s geology, and assess its habitability.

  By NASA
  
• July 7, 2003: as part of the Mars Exploration Rover program and landed on January 25, 2004, at Meridiani Planum, a region chosen for its flat terrain and the presence of hematite, a mineral often formed in water.

  By NASA
  
• June 10, 2003: Curosity is a car-sized Mars rover exploring Gale crater and Mount Sharp on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) missions. Curiosity was launched from Cape Carnival (CCAFS) on November 26, 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17:57 UTC

  By NASA
  
• 20 November 1998: The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United States), ESA (Europe) , Roscosmos (Russia) JAXA (Japan) , and ,CSA (Canada). The ISS is the largest space station ever built. Its primary purpose is to perform microgravity and space environment experiments.