Exploring the Solar System: A History with 22 Activities
Starting on page 137 is a Field Guide to the Solar System This reference section features basic facts about the planets and their moons the Sun dwarf planets comets and asteroids and time lines detailing our exploration of them Astronomers and space scientists are making new discover ies about the solar system all the time At this moment space missions and astronomical observatories are further exploring the planets moons dwarf planets comets and asteroids of our solar system While this book is as up to date as possible new findings emerge every day The Web sites found on page 164 and within the Exploration Time Lines in the Field Guide to the Solar System can update you on future discoveries and help you to continue learning Keep
Time Line Prehistory Humans mark the passage of time with lunar phases and observe Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter and Saturn with the naked eye Ancient Times Chinese Babylonians Greeks and Egyptians record their observations of the night sky A D 140 Ptolemy writes that Earth is the center of the cosmos 1543 Copernicus states that the Sun is the center of the cosmos 1609 Galileo Galilei builds the first astronomical telescope and begins observations 1616 Johannes Kepler publishes his third law of planetary motion 1668 Isaac Newton builds the first reflecting telescope after defining the laws of gravity 1758 Halley's comet appears just as Edmond Halley had pre dicted 53 years earlier 1781 William Herschel discovers Uranus 1801 Giuseppe Piazzi discovers Ceres 1846 Johann Galle discovers Neptune 1926 Robert Goddard launches the world's first liquid fueled rocket 1930 Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto 1944 Wernher von Braun's V 2 rockets begin falling on England 1957 World's first satellite Sputnik 1 orbits Earth 1958 NASA is formed and launches its first spacecraft Pioneer 1 1959 Luna 2 is the first spacecraft to impact the Moon Luna 3 returns the first photographs of the Moon's far side 1961 Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1 is the first human in space and in Earth's
1962 Mariner 2 to Venus is the first successful space probe to another planet 1964 Ranger 7 is the first space probe to send back close ups of the Moon 1965 Mariner 4 is the first spacecraft to successfully fly by Mars 1966 Luna 9 is the first space probe to soft land on the Moon and photogrpah its surface 1967 Venera 4 to Venus is the first atmospheric space probe 1968 Zond 5 is the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and return to Earth 1969 Apollo 11 delivers the first humans to the Moon 1970 Venera 7 to Venus is the first spacecraft to successfully land on another planet Luna 16 is the first sample return mission bringing soil samples from the Moon's surface back to Earth Luna 17 delivers the first robotic rover Lunokhod 1 to the Moon 1971 Mariner 9 in its journey to Mars is the first planetary orbiter 1973 Pioneer 10 is the first spacecraft to pass through the aster oid belt and the first to visit Jupiter
1974 Mariner 10 is the first spacecraft to use gravity assist and the first to fly by Mercury 1975 Venera 9 is the first Venus orbiter and the first lander to send photos from the surface of another planet 1976 Viking 1 and Viking 2 are the first soft landers on Mars 1977 James Elliot discovers Uranus s rings 1979 Pioneer 11 is the first space probe to visit Saturn 1983 Venera 15 is the first radar mapping probe to Venus 1986 Vega 1 Vega 2 Sakigake Suisei and Giotto make flybys of Halley's Comet Voyager 2 is the first spacecraft to visit Uranus 1990 Hubble Space Telescope is the first orbiting telescope 1991 Galileo is the first space probe to fly by an asteroid Gaspra 1994 Hubble Space Telescope creates the first maps of Pluto and photographs the comet Shoemaker Levy 9's impact with Jupiter 1995 Galileo is the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter and releases the first atmospheric probe to Jupiter 1997 Comet Hale Bopp is visible to the naked eye Mars Pathfinder delivers the first rover Sojourner to Mars 2001 NEAR Shoemaker to Eros is the first spacecraft to orbit and land on an asteroid 2004 Cassini is the first orbiter of Saturn 2005 Huygens sets down on Titan the first probe to land in the outer solar system Mike Brown discovers Eris 2006 First spacecraft to visit Pluto New Horizons launches
