2008: A Momentous Year in Spaceflight
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20081224/sc_space/2008amomentousyearinspaceflight
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10 big things in space exploration this year:
10. The first second-generation space travelers launch
9. The most shuttle missions to fly in one year since 2002
8. Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope launches
7. Europe's first cargo ship flies
6. The International Space Station turns 10
5. Privately-developed Falcon 1 rocket finally reaches orbit
4. Indian probe orbits the moon
3. China conducts its first spacewalk
2. Robot safely lands farther north on Mars than ever before
1. NASA's 50th anniversary
On Oct. 1 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration turned 50 years old, marking a half century of achievements in space exploration that many would have doubted were possible before its founding in 1958. While some people are still smarting over the continued absence of flying cars, most can recognize that NASA has come a long way since the days when Americans watched with envy as Sputnik flew overhead. We won the moon (and may be racing back to it all over again), built a fleet of reusable space shuttles, and worked with other nations to construct a continuously-occupied floating space station for scientific research. There have also been horrific tragedies along the way: the lives of the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia astronauts attest to the fact that those great achievements weren't attained without a price. But for all the heartbreaks, setbacks and even public boredom with NASA, Americans can't seem to give up the dream of space. Who knows what the next 50 years will bring?
10. The first second-generation space travelers launch
9. The most shuttle missions to fly in one year since 2002
8. Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope launches
7. Europe's first cargo ship flies
6. The International Space Station turns 10
5. Privately-developed Falcon 1 rocket finally reaches orbit
4. Indian probe orbits the moon
3. China conducts its first spacewalk
2. Robot safely lands farther north on Mars than ever before
1. NASA's 50th anniversary
On Oct. 1 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration turned 50 years old, marking a half century of achievements in space exploration that many would have doubted were possible before its founding in 1958. While some people are still smarting over the continued absence of flying cars, most can recognize that NASA has come a long way since the days when Americans watched with envy as Sputnik flew overhead. We won the moon (and may be racing back to it all over again), built a fleet of reusable space shuttles, and worked with other nations to construct a continuously-occupied floating space station for scientific research. There have also been horrific tragedies along the way: the lives of the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia astronauts attest to the fact that those great achievements weren't attained without a price. But for all the heartbreaks, setbacks and even public boredom with NASA, Americans can't seem to give up the dream of space. Who knows what the next 50 years will bring?
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DistantPlanet
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One of these days Alice...
- 4 years ago
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DistantPlanet
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unimatrix0
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space, the final frontier...
- 4 years ago
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unimatrix0
