spacecraft: Quick Facts

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Photos

Telstar 1 communications satellite with a spherical, panel-covered top and cylindrical base, displayed indoors.

Infographic detailing the Apollo program, featuring labeled diagrams of the Apollo Saturn V rocket, command and service modules, lunar module, and the Apollo mission flight path from Earth to the Moon and back. Key components such as engines, hatches, antennas, and fuel tanks are identified, with callouts explaining each module's role and functions. The lower section illustrates each stage of the Apollo flight path, showing the sequence of launch, lunar landing, and return to Earth.

Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle, 1969

Apollo 15 Command and Service modules, 1971

Discovery liftoff, 1985

Galileo spacecraft

The two GRAIL spacecraft, Ebb (right) and Flow (left).

Diagram showing the Apollo Saturn V rocket with labeled stages and spacecraft modules, including the command, service, and lunar modules, at launch and during their journey to the Moon. Insets explain each module's function and configuration changes from launch to lunar travel.

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Topics

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Key People

Theodore von Kármán

Theodore von Kármán

American engineer

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John Frassanito

American industrial designer

Yuri Gagarin and Sergei Korolev

Sergei Korolev

Soviet scientist

Konstantin Feoktistov

Konstantin Feoktistov

Russian cosmonaut

Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.

All About Astronomy

View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).

Astronomy and Space Quiz