Timeline of space exploration

Pre-20th Century Space Exploration
– 1610: Galileo Galilei makes the first telescopic observation of the night sky
– 1668: Isaac Newton invents the first reflecting telescope
– 1781: William Herschel discovers Uranus using a telescope
– 1801: Giuseppe Piazzi discovers the first asteroid, Ceres
– 1813: William Moore presents the rocket equation based on Newton’s third law of motion

Early 20th Century Space Exploration
– 1903: Konstantin Tsiolkovsky publishes ‘Exploration of the Universe with Rocket-Propelled Vehicles’
– 1914: Robert H. Goddard receives U.S. patents for multistage and liquid-fueled rockets
– 1923: Hermann Oberth publishes ‘Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen’
– 1926: Robert H. Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket in the U.S.

Major Space Achievements (1957-2009)
– 1957: USSR launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite
– 1961: Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space with Vostok 1
– 1980: Voyager 1 is launched, reaching interstellar space
– 1990: Hubble Space Telescope is deployed, revolutionizing space observation
– 2004: Cassini-Huygens enters orbit around Saturn and sends back valuable data

Recent Space Exploration Milestones
– 2015: LIGO and Virgo detect gravitational waves for the first time
– 2021: NASA’s Ingenuity achieves the first powered flight on Mars
– 2021: MOXIE produces oxygen on Mars for the first time
– 2007: Genesis I and Genesis II demonstrate technology for space habitation
– 2016: BEAM module is attached to the ISS for human habitation experiments

Space Missions and Discoveries by Decades
– 1960s: Vostok 6, X-15 Flight 90, Gemini 3, and Luna 9 are launched
– 1970s: Salyut 1, Apollo 15, and Lunokhod 1 missions take place
– 1980s: Voyager 1, STS-1, and IRAS missions mark significant achievements
– 1990s: Hubble Space Telescope, Galileo, and Cassini-Huygens missions are launched
– 2000s: ISS, Mars Odyssey, and Hayabusa missions mark the early 21st-century space exploration efforts