The Most Important Space Missions in History

The most important space missions in history have taken place in many different ways. Some of these missions have been more successful than others. Some of these missions, such as Project Mercury, Voyagers 1 and 2 and Apollo 8, have been called the most important in history. Others were largely unsuccessful.

Apollo 8

The Apollo 8 mission is one of the most important space missions in the history of mankind. It is the first human-manned spacecraft to reach the Moon and orbit it. But it wasn’t without tragedy. The crew died in a fire on the launchpad. The flammable materials in the capsule and high oxygen levels in the cabin caused the fire to spread rapidly.

The manned mission took off on a rocket called the Saturn V, which was a multi-stage rocket. This rocket weighed over three million pounds and was taller than a 36-story building. It had more power than 85 Hoover Dams. But, after only two test launches, the rocket failed miserably. That’s why Apollo 8 is one of the most important space missions in history.

Pioneer 10

Pioneer 10 was the first American spacecraft to orbit the Earth. The spacecraft’s instrument suite consists of eleven instruments, including the Flux-Gate Magnetometer. Pioneer 10’s scientific instruments were powered by four radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which were installed on board the spacecraft during launch. The spacecraft also had six Hydrazine thrusters to control its speed and attitude.

The Pioneer spacecraft has now been in orbit for almost a decade. It’s orbit has taken it through the outer solar system, where it studied cosmic rays entering our galaxy. It completed its science mission on March 31, 1997, and its weak radio signal has been monitored by DSN since then. The signal is also being used to study radio communications for NASA’s future interstellar probe mission.

Voyagers 1 and 2

Voyagers 1 and 2 are two spacecraft that have lasted far longer than anyone could have imagined. The probes were launched in 1977 and continue to collect data from interstellar space. Their findings have helped scientists learn more about the heliosphere.

Voyagers 1 and 2 were launched with the goal of exploring the outer solar system. They were designed to study Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The Voyagers also aimed to fly by Titan, an icy world in the outer solar system with a thick nitrogen atmosphere.

Kepler

In its lifetime, Kepler has already made discoveries that are important to our understanding of the universe. It is currently orbiting the Sun in a slightly behind-the-Earth orbit, and is expected to fall further behind us over time. Kepler was the brainchild of NASA’s Ames Research Center. It was designed to detect planets in our solar system by observing the stars’ faint dimming. It has already confirmed the existence of planets, including Earth-sized planets.

Kepler’s primary goal is to find planets around stars that are at least half the mass of Earth. It was designed to look for planets that would be habitable for life. These planets would be in the habitable zone, which is the area in and around a star where liquid water may exist on the planet’s surface. Kepler’s observations will help scientists learn more about the star systems in our galaxy.

Galileo

During the 14-year mission to Jupiter, the Galileo spacecraft achieved many firsts, including discovering a massive radiation belt above Jupiter’s cloud tops and the presence of helium in the same concentration as the Sun. It also found that Jupiter’s moon Io has a strong magnetic field. The probe also carried a small probe for sampling the planet’s atmosphere. Despite being small in size, it was destroyed by the intense pressure and temperature of Jupiter’s atmosphere.

In addition to discovering Jupiter’s moons, the mission also discovered the presence of EM induction signatures on Europa and Callisto. These signatures were caused by Jupiter’s massive magnetic moment and oscillate over synodic periods of 10-13 hours.