I am a software developer and a science enthusiast. I was graduated from the Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Computer Engineering. In the past, I worked at the Istanbul Technical University Science Center as a science instructor. I write about the planet Earth and science on this website, ourplnt.com. I am also an animal lover! I take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!
On August 12, 1977, NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise successfully made its first free flight test, as part of NASA’s Orbiter Approach and Landing Tests (ALT). The ALT program allowed shuttle pilots to explore the orbiter’s low-speed flight and landing characteristics.
On August 9, 1991, two STS-43 astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, Shannon W. Lucid and James C. Adamson sent the first e-mail from space. The astronauts used an Apple Macintosh portable computer and AppleLink, a popular service for Mac and Apple IIGS users before the commercialization of the Internet, offered from 1986 to 1994.
The recipient of the first e-mail from space was addressed to fellow NASA astronaut Marsha S. Ivins at Johnson Space Center. The message text read:
“Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,…send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby,…we’ll be back!”
On August 6, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov took the first photo of Earth from space taken by a person. It was also the first color image of Earth from space. Titov became the first photographer from space.
This spaceflight was the first crewed spaceflight lasting over 24 hours. Titov was also the first to suffer from space sickness.
On July 28, 1981, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) revealed its first desktop computer, System/23 Datamaster, a demonstration of IBM’s efforts to shrink the size and cost of computing.
On July 26, 1963, Syncom 2 (for Synchronous Communication Satellite) was launched on top of a Delta B #20 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral.
On July 24, 1950, Bumper 8, a two-stage rocket, combining German (V-2) and American technology, was launched. It was the first rocket launch from a place on the Atlantic coast of central Florida called Cape Canaveral.
Much of the technology common today that we take for granted originates from the moon landing. Here are 10 moon-landing innovations that changed life on Earth.
Give yourself a break and learn about the important figures in the field of flight and space exploration in this educational solitaire game. Discover some space and flight pioneers who paved the way and learn while you play!
Identifying the largest dinosaurs ever lived isn’t an easy task, because it’s very rare to unearth a complete fossil. Furthermore, only a tiny percentage of these amazing animals were ever fossilized, and most of these “lucky” bodies will remain buried underground forever. So, we may never know exactly what dinosaur was the biggest (or the tiniest) ever.
Despite this fact, size always has been one of the most interesting aspects of these prehistoric animals. There are extreme variations in their size, from the tiny hummingbirds, which can weigh as little as three grams, to the titanosaurs, which could weigh as much as 70 tonnes, or even more.
Here are the largest dinosaurs ever lived.
On July 10, 1962, Telstar 1, the satellite that allowed the first live broadcast of television images was launched from Cape Canaveral. It was the first privately sponsored space mission. Two days after the launch, on July 12, it relayed the world’s first transatlantic television signal, from Andover Earth Station, Maine, United States, to the Pleumeur-Bodou Telecom Center, Brittany, France.