.

Aardvark Communications:

A Practical Guide to Astronomy


Rockets & Probes


Escape Velocity= 25,000 mph. to escape the Earth's gravity. The German's used V2 Rockets to bomb London during the latter part of WWII. After the war, rockets were then used to focus on travelling off the Earth. Laika, a dog, was the first animal in space when it was launched, aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. The rocket orbited the Earth for a week.

In 1961, the Russians put the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet cosmonaut that went up in a rocket called Vostok 1. It was a 108 minute flight.
The same year, John F. Kennedy announced plans by the US to send a man to the Moon before the end of the decade. That dream came true on July 20, 1969.

All Aboard!

If we are to establish a base on Mars, we would have to stockpile supplies before we could send people up there. Since the planets are aligned at an optimum of every two years, and the trip would take 6 months to travel 50 million miles, we must plan carefully. It is likely that a base is established in our life time.

Space Sations

Mir-Launched by the Russians in 1986, this base has been manned since its launch.

Skylab-Launched in 1972 by the US, this space station circled 270 miles above the Earth. It fell from the sky in 1979.

Major Space Probes

LinkExchange
LinkExchange Member


Copyright 1997-Aardvark Communications