Anastatia Mayers, an 18-year-old philosophy and physics student from Aberdeen University, made history as the youngest person to travel to space. Her extraordinary journey aboard Virgin Galactic’s Galactic 02 (G02) flight on August 10, 2023, not only set a record for youth but also marked a significant milestone in space tourism.
In 1967, as space-age fantasies ignited imaginations across the globe, the then Philco-Ford, now Ford Motor Company, attempted to capture the future’s heart and soul in a brief cinematic journey. The film titled “1999 AD” catapulted its audience three decades into the future, offering a tantalizing glimpse of everyday life for a quintessential American family, the Shores. Viewing this projection of the future now, the film emerges as a treasure trove of intriguing insights – a harmonious blend of eerily accurate predictions and glaring blind spots, seasoned with the unmistakable charm of the 1960s.
The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), often referred to simply as the “moon buggy,” was used on the Moon in the last three missions of the American Apollo program (15, 16, and 17) between 1971 and 1972. Its first use was during the Apollo 15 mission, driven by astronauts David Scott and Jim Irwin on July 31, 1971.
In order to go to the moon, we use complex (and somewhat risky) Lunar Orbit Rendezvous. But, can’t we land a spacecraft on the moon directly? Wouldn’t it be easier? Here’s why we use Lunar Orbit Rendezvous instead of sending a spacecraft to directly land on the lunar surface.
The human narrative is punctuated by milestones – the moments in time that significantly alter the course of history. The 20th century, in particular, was a period of unprecedented innovation and groundbreaking discoveries. This era birthed remarkable accomplishments like the structure of DNA, the mass production of penicillin, the inception of the computer, and the creation of the microchip. These achievements have undeniably transformed civilization as we know it, and it might be tempting to rank them among the top events of the last century. However, when projecting into the distant future, one event may shine brighter than the others: the first moon landing by Apollo 11.
The narrative surrounding NASA’s Apollo program often paints it as a high point that soon descended into unfulfilled potential. Critics point out the lack of moon bases, Mars landings, or a network of orbital outposts and label the program as more or less aimless following the landmark 1969 moon landing. However, to see Apollo only through this lens is to overlook its most enduring achievement: the ushering in of the digital age.
United Arab Emirates’ Hope Probe (Arabic: Misbar Al-Amal, al-amal means “hope” in English), which entered Mars’ orbit in February 2021, has captured a breathtaking photo of Mars and its tiny moon Deimos.
Japan’s ispace Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander captured this stunning photo in orbit around our Moon while a solar eclipse was occurring on Earth last week (September). You can see the Moon’s dark shadow passing above Australia as a dark smudge.
The first orbiting satellite to be repaired in space was NASA’s Solar Maximum Mission, which launched on February 14, 1980, to observe solar flares. Just a few months later, in November 1980, one of the satellite’s altitude control fuses failed. It was put in standby mode, and it remained so until Space Shuttle Challenger [STS-41-C] eventually rendezvoused with it on April 11, 1984. The crew of the STS-41-C mission successfully performed the first in-space satellite repair.
On April 1, 1960, the world’s first weather observation satellite (TIROS-1) was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It became operational for 78 days, despite the mission duration being 90 days.