Rocket Man

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The Early Astronomers:
Nobody really knows who was the first to discover the stars, planets, constellations, etc. What we do know is that early human civilizations did notice the patterns in the night sky and named these patterns according to the popular mythology of the time. We do know that there was a respect and connection of the stars to everyday life. Some Ancient Temples were built for the purpose of making astronomical observations and using these observations for making predictions. It was not unusual to have the duties of priests and astronomers overlapping. Astrology became a very important way of life. Astronomers in China were charting the positions of stars as early as 1300 B.C. Regardless of the observations of the day, people believed that the Earth was the center of the universe right up to the early 17^th century.

Below lists some of the well known astronomers and their contribution to the science of astronomy in chronological order.

	3000 B.C.: the earliest records of astronomical observations by the Babylonians.
	2900 B.C.: the construction of Stonehenge in what is now known as England.
	2137 B.C.: two Chinese astronomers had their heads cut off for failing to predict the next solar eclipse.
	280 B.C.: Aristarchus first suggests that the Earth orbits the Sun.
	270 B.C.: Eratosthenes makes the first accurate measure of the size of the Earth's.
	130 B.C.: Hipparchus draws up the first naked-eye catalogue of observations.
	Ptolemy (100-170 A.D.) was an Egyptian astronomer who proposed the belief that the Earth was the center of the Universe in 140 A.D. He created a model showing how each planet revolved in a small circle while orbiting the Earth. This theory was accepted as true for 1500 years.
	903 A.D.: Al-Sufi makes accurate measurements of star positions using the naked-eye.
	1053 A.D.: Chinese observers identify a supernova in the constellation of Taurus.
	1433 A.D.: Ulugh Beigh publishes the most complete star catalogue yet.
	Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), a Polish priest, believed that the Sun was the center of the universe. His belief questioned the evidence from the Bible, making it difficult for his theory to be accepted. He was wrong in his belief that all other stars revolved around the Sun, but he did make people question Ptolemy's theory of the Earth-centered universe.
	1572 A.D.: Tycho Brahe studies the supernova in daylight in the constellation of Cassiopeia.
	Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), a German mathematician, observed the planet Mars and came up with the conclusion that the planets orbit the Sun in elliptical orbits.

Astronomy After the Invention of the Telescope:

	The first refracting telescope was made by Hans Lippershey in 1608, a Dutch citizen.
	The first reflecting telescope is built by Sir Isaac Newton in 1688.
	The first radio telescope wasn't built until 1937.

Some Notable Discoveries Included:

	In 1609, Galileo was the first to use the telescope to make observations about the night sky. His observations of the phases of the planet Venus help to confirm Copernicus' theory that the Earth was not the center of the universe.
	Uranus was the first planet to be discovered by telescope in 1781. This discovery helped extend our knowledge of our solar system.
	F. W. Bessel measured the distance to a star using a telescope in Germany.
	In 1920, Edwin Hubble used his observations with a 2.4m reflecting telescope to prove that the universe was expanding. In 1923, he observes Ceheids in the Andromeda Galaxy and uses this to measure the first distance between galaxies. In 1929, Hubble proves that galaxies are moving away from each other and that the universe is expanding.
	In 1961, the discovery of the Quasar 3C 273 is made by radio astronomers at Cambridge, England.
	In 1965, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discover the Big Bang background radiation at Holmdel, New Jersey.
	In 1967, Jocelyn Bell and Anthony Hewish discover Pulsars at Cambridge, England.
	In 1990, the Hubble space telescope is launched. Imperfections in the mirror of the telescope had to be corrected in 1993 by the crew in the space shuttle Endeavor while the telescope was in orbit. This telescope uses a mirror with a diameter of 2.4m. It is the largest telescope ever to be put into orbit and is able to see objects 100 times fainter than Earth bound telescopes. Its observations are beamed down to radio telescopes around the Earth.

Rockets:
For many years, humans have dreamed about traveling into space. This dream finally came true with the invention of rockets. The rockets were the first devices to overcome the forces of the Earth's gravity. To do so, the rockets had to travel at least 11 km/s. The invention of liquid fuel made rocket travel possible. The first rocket to travel to space was in 1957 from the U.S.S.R. This event began what was known as the space race where the Americans felt that they had to come up with a better form of space travel. Space was seen as the final frontier. Whomever made it there first would certainly have some form of world power.

The Space Race Begins!
Below is a list of space related travel inventions and the names of the people and/or nations responsible for these contributions in chronological order.

	Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935): first to seriously study the possibility of rocket propelled spacecraft.
	Herman Oberth (1894-1989): first to experiment in Germany with small solid fuel rockets.
	Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945): In 1926, developed the first liquid-fuelled rocket.
	U.S.S.R. (1957): the first artificial earth satellite launched, Sputnik 1. It orbited the Earth in 90 minutes and lasted in space for 6 months.
	U.S.S.R. (1957): the first living creature, a dog called Laika, launched into space spent a week in orbit.
	U.S.A. (1958): the first successful U.S. satellite. It detected belts of radiation around the Earth.
	U.S.S.R. (1959): the first successful probe, Luna, hit the moon. This led to other probes launched over the years by both the U.S.S.R. and U.S.A.
	U.S.S.R. (April 12, 1961): Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.
	U.S.S.R. (June 16, 1963): Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
	U.S.S.R. (March 18, 1965): Alexei Leonov was the first person to experience a space walk.
	U.S.A. (December, 1968): the first manned flight around the moon by Apollo 8.
	U.S.A. (July 20, 1969): first moon landing by Apollo 11.

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	U.S.S.R. (1971): Salyut 1 was the first operational space station. One cosmonaut spent 23 days aboard it. Six more Salyut space stations were launched after that.
	U.S.A. (1973-74): Skylab was launched and became the first orbiting laboratory. It was used by three crews, the last which were able to last in space for 84 days.
	U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. (July, 1975): the first docking of 2 spacecrafts, Apollo 18 and Soyuz 19.
	U.S.A. (1980): Solar Max was launched and used to study the Sun. It took x-ray photos of the Sun's solar flares. It became the first satellite to be repaired in space by a space shuttle in 1984.
	U.S.A. (1981): The first space shuttle Columbia, was launched. This signaled the advent of reusable spacecraft. The use of these types of space crafts also made it possible for the more ambitious project of the building of a larger space station called Freedom. This would involve the collaboration of several interested nations, thus reducing the overall cost for one nation. There are currently four space shuttles in operation. They are the Columbia, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor.
	U.S.A. (January 28, 1986): space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after launch killing all 7 crew members including school teacher Christa McAuliffe.
	U.S.S.R.(1986): the space station Mir was launched. New compartments were added to it over the years. Cosmonauts had spent up to one year living in this space station.

More Facts About the Space Shuttles:
Each of the four shuttles, Columbia, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor, is designed to make up to 100 launches and last at least 20 years. On re-entry to Earth, the shuttles can endure temperatures up to 1 600 degrees Celsius. For this reason, 70% of the shuttles' surface is covered with heat resistant tiles. It relies on the air resistance to slow it down as it glides back to the Earth's surface. The shuttles are able to orbit 220 km above the Earth. To launch the Hubble Space Telescope however, the shuttle had to travel to a height of 614 km above the Earth's surface.

More Facts about the Space Station, Freedom:

International Space Station

A number of nations are involved in the construction of different parts of this space station. It will consist of a number of small cylinder-like units that will house such areas as laboratories, logistics centers, habitation areas, etc. Research will include the possibility of life in space, the effects of life in space without gravity on the human body as well as other living organisms.

Right now, the biggest obstacle facing Space exploration and the like is cost. Nations are looking at other means to reduce the costs associated with sending the shuttles into space and the building of the space station. Presently, scientists are looking at the possibility of building a research base on the moon. This would make it easier to observe celestial phenomena without dealing with the Earth's turbulent air masses and radio noise.