spaceflight: Quick Facts

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Photos and Videos

Partially assembled International Space Station orbiting above Earth with its large solar arrays extended.

The Giotto space probe, developed and launched by the European Space Agency for a flyby of Halley's Comet in 1986.

U.S. Explorer 10 satellite

Diagram showing types of Earth orbit categorized by inclination (equatorial, polar, inclined), shape (circular, elliptical), and altitude (low Earth, medium Earth, geostationary), with labeled illustrations of satellite paths around the planet.

Diagram showing how different launch speeds from Earth create different flight paths: circular, elliptical, parabolic, hyperbolic, and straight, with speed thresholds labeled for each trajectory.

Earth as photographed by the Galileo space probe during its December 1990 gravity-assist flyby of the planet. Earlier, in February, Galileo had skirted Venus, and it passed near Earth again in December 1992 before heading out of the inner solar system to an encounter with Jupiter in December 1995.

Artist's rendering of the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Shoemaker spacecraft.

Watch the launch and booster separation of Gemini spacecraft as it is lifted off the ground by a Titan II rocket

Watch an Apollo mission lift off from the Moon to rendezvous with the Command and Service modules

NASA's journey to landing a man on the Moon

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Topics

gravity-assist technique 7 Accidents and Disasters in Spaceflight History Today in History—January 28: A Dark Day in Space Exploration Today in History—June 18: The First American Woman in Space 5 Unforgettable Moments in the History of Spaceflight and Space Exploration aerospace industry space exploration astronaut How long would it take to get to Mars?Laika Moon exploration 12 Questions About the History of Space Exploration Answered space law How One Shrimp Used Its Survival Skills to Become Both Best-Selling Pet and Astronaut Today in History—January 16: “Thirty-Five New Guys”—Six of Whom Were Women Who was the first cat in space?Today in History—November 3: A Dog Is Launched into Space

Key People

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John Frassanito

American industrial designer

Saturn as seen from Titan, painting by Chesley Bonestell, 1944.

Chesley Bonestell

American illustrator

Edwin E. Aldrin (Buzz Aldrin) stands on the moon, Apollo 11

Famous Astronauts and Cosmonauts

The orbits of the planets and other elements of the solar system, including asteroids, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, comet

Space Odyssey

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