FIRST PRIMATE IN SPACE
January 31, 1961 - U.S. launched a 4-year-old male chimpanzee
The U.S. launched a 4-year-old male chimpanzee named Ham on a Mercury-Redstone 2 rocket into suborbital flight to test the capabilities of the Mercury capsule. During his 16.5 minute suborbital flight, Ham experienced about 7 minutes of weightlessness, reached an altitude of 108 miles and a speed of 13,000 mph. He was wired to medical sensors to monitor his vital signs. During flight, Ham performed some simple tasks such as pulling levers when a light came on for a reward of banana pellets. Ham was recovered safely 1,425 miles downrange. This was a test flight before risking the lives of human beings. Now, after Ham's successful flight, NASA was ready to launch the first Mercury astronaut, Alan Shepard, into sub-orbital flight three months later.
FIRST AMERICAN SATELLITE
January 31, 1958 - United States
The United States entered the space age by launching the first successful orbiting satellite, Explorer-I, four months after the Soviet launch of Sputnik on 4 Oct 1957. Explorer-I measured cosmic radiation, and led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. Its instrumentation included temperature sensors, a micrometeorite impact microphone, and a ring of micrometeorite erosion gauges. Data from these instruments were returned by a 60-mW transmitter operating on 108.03 MHz and a 10-milliwatt transmitter operating on 108.00 MHz. Explorer-I was 80-inch long, 6-in diam, weighed 31-lb with 18-lb of payload and was delivered into orbit using a Jupiter-C rocket. The orbit had a period of 114.9 minutes.
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RANDOM QUOTES
All of us have a God in us
by Earth Day, Kenya
"...All of us have a God in us, and that God is the spirit that unites all life, everything that is on this planet. It must be this voice that is telling me to do something, and I am sure it'as the same voice that is speaking to everybody on this planet at least everybody who seems to be concerned about the fate of the world, the fate of this planet. Wangari Maathai-Noble Peace prize winner, Deputy Minister of Environment, founder Green Belt movement in Kenya...."
A Change is Gonna Come
by Meredith Grey
"...Change; we don't like it, we fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change, or we get left behind. It hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn't is lying. But here's the truth: Sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is everything...."
RANDOM FACTS
More vehicles
about Stolen On New Year's
More vehicles are stolen on New Year's Day than any other holiday throughout the year. (So does that mean thieves are having their last fling before changing their ways or are they trying for a big score to start the New Year?)
Cancer Facts & Figures
about Besides Lung Cancer
Besides lung cancer, tobacco use also increases the risk for cancers of the mouth, lips, nasal cavity (nose) and sinuses, larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), esophagus (swallowing tube), stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, uterus, cervix, colon/rectum, ovary (mucinous), and acute myeloid leukemia.
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Category Information : Spacecraft
This is our Spacecraft category. If you are interested in Spacecraft, feel free to browse these listings. If you have a site that fits within this category, Submit it for inclusion.
NASA'S vision: To reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind. To do that, thousands of people have been working around the world -- and off...
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