Main space missions and projects in the last 70 years

Throughout history, more than a hundred projects have been carried out by several space agencies worldwide, working hand in hand to explore the unknown. Some of these projects have been simpler than others, if we can call it that way. However, there are some top missions which have stood out above others for the complexity and importance of the research they intend to do; from taking animals to space, passing by the arrival of the human at the moon surface to landing a robot on a comet. All these missions are supposed to do pieces of research which in one way or another intend to find benefit for all Earth inhabitants.

Below you will find some of the most remarkable projects of all time in chronological order.

1957:

(Image taken from http://www.nasaspaceflight.com) (Image taken from: http://mx.tuhistory.com/)

Sputnik 1: The Soviet Union launches on October 4 what would become the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth; Sputnik, whose construction and development would begin the space race. Its history dates back to 1954 as a result of the frequent competitiveness between The Soviet Union and their opponents, The United States to conquer Space.

Sputnik 2: Over one month later, The Soviets hit again and launched Sputnik 2, this time with an important change,:it was crewed. Laika, a three year old soviet street dog performed this mission which let it have the recognizement it has nowadays and which helped testing the conditions of space for living beings.

1961:

The Vostok: On April 12, 1961 was launched The Vostok, the historical very first manned spacecraft whose only crewmember was Yuri Gagarin. This was one of the most successful, biggest and most ambitious projects in history. Built by The Soviet Union, The Vostok orbited Earth for 108 minutes with Gagarin on board and returned to Earth satisfactorily; this event is known nowadays as “the first human spaceflight in history” and “the first human in space”.

Venera 4: Numerous projects were led to explore the surrounding of Earth but Venera 4 was the project the planet Venus would be studied the very first time with, It was to inform about the atmosphere of Venus. Almost immediately after its arrival, it started sending data about the gases of the atmosphere of the planet which was such a success for The Soviet Union. this was not made for surviving the entry, but it was doubtless a huge impact project for the next researches .

Apollo 11: Launched on July 16, 1969 from Cape Kennedy, Apollo 11 was the living example of the advances of space exploration. A complex mission to land on the moon surface taking Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin inside a Lunar Module (LM) called Eagle, accomplishing that way the goal set by President President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961 of performing a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth.

Image taken from: http://www.space.com/16758-apollo-11-first-moon-landing.html

1971:

Mariner 9: Mars has always been one of the desirest planets for studies in space exploration. Initially intended to consist of two spacecrafts, Mariner 9 was a spacecraft whose objectives (combined after Mariner 8 failure) were mapping 70% of the martian surface and studying temporal changes in the atmosphere of Mars.

The Apollo-Soyuz Mission: The apollo-soyuz mission was a mission which involved the union of the Soviets and the Americans. Both spacecrafts were launched on July 15, not simultaneously, Soyuz landed first and Apollo did three days later. The purpose of the mission was to dock successfully, event that occurred two days later. Hours after the docking, the hatches of both spacecrafts were open and the crewmembers of each vehicle greeted warmly, shared some meal and exchanged gifts. After a second docking, the spacecrafts returned to Earth safely bringing higher hopes of advance to the two directly involved nations and to the rest of the world.

1983:

(taken from http://hsfeatures.com/)

Orbiter Challenger: A new mission raised on August 3, 1983 with the launching of the space shuttle Orbiter Challenger. A successful mission which involved the operation of a canadian-built robot arm to conduct biophysiological experiments. Guion Bluford, who was one of the members of the voyage, would be recognized after this mission as the first afro-american man in space.

1991-1993:

Deployment of the Hubble space telescope and its first servicing mission: Deployed on April 24, 1990, the Hubble space telescope began the mission that would help next generations - ours included - understand our planet better. A 7 member crew orbits Earth with Hubble since 1990 being responsible of the clear idea we have today of space.

Image taken from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/about/

1995:

The Galileo probe: It was launched in 1989, but it was released on July 13, 1993. A two spacecraft mission that included the help of two planets to be accomplished. Jupiter was the target, aimed to study its atmosphere and moons. However, before it could arrive at Jupiter, it had to visit Venus and Earth first. After its arrival, Galileo started to send data about Jupiter, scoring a new victory for space exploration.

(taken from http://www.space.com/)

2005:

Cassini - Hyugens: An ambitious project which includes an arrow of cameras and powerful instrument capable of taking accurate measurements and images of an atmosphere. Cassini orbited Saturn in 2004 and thanks to it, the understanding of the ringed planet has been clearer.

(taken from http://www.esa.int/)

2007:

Phoenix: launched in 2004, Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft up to explore Mars, its biggest objective: research the history of water in the planet. This has been one of the closest attempts of humans to visit Mars. The pictures received from the robot were a huge victory and a new opportunity to understand the red planet.

(taken from http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/)

2011:

The Curiosity: A new try for the human being to conquer other planets. Curiosity is a robot spacecraft launched to Mars to research about the possible extinct life, its geology and prepare the planet for a human explration.

(Taken from http://abc.es/ )

2013-2014:

Ladee (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer): Ladee was a mission in order to study the tiny atmosphere of the moon and its composition and the impact the lunar dust causes in the environment. This mission was to bring important data to try understand other satellites and to adequate the land for humans missions.

(taken from http://madsen-pirie.com/)

To be continued...

Along this line, it is also worth to mention the Hubble Space Telescope. A long-term, space-based observatory launched into low Earth orbit in collaboration between NASA and ESA in 1990 that has revolutionised modern astronomy by making salient astronomical discoveries, as well as driving standout research in general in terms of space exploration. But even before any human could see the space personally, animals had already achieved that goal; Laika for example, a three year old soviet dog which became the first animal orbiting Earth or Juan the monkey whose homeland (Argentina) still remembers it as their first astronaut.