NASA records 14 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of space exploration

NASA is turning 60 in 2018, while next year marks the 50th anniversary of the first human mission to the moon.

To commemorate these two landmark events, Guinness World Records is building on some of the Space Agency's most important recording achievements.

1966: First mooring between two spaceships

On March 16, 1966, the Gemini VIII The capsule, piloted by David Scott and Neil Armstrong, was successfully moored to an unmanned spacecraft called the Agena Target Vehicle. The two machines had traveled thousands of kilometers to find themselves in this tiny space, 270 km above the Earth.

Before the two astronauts had time to celebrate their feat, one of the Gemini capsule propellants malfunctioned, causing the probe to rotate. Armstrong was able to regain control of the vessel, but with almost all of its fuel exhausted, NASA decided to interrupt the rest of the mission and bring it home earlier.

1967: Largest rocket

the Saturn V The rocket, designed to take astronauts to the moon, measured 110.6 meters (363 feet) in height and weighed up to 2,965 tons (3,268 tons) when it was completely full. It's bigger than the Statue of Liberty and five times heavier than a modern Falcon 9 rocket.

the Saturn V (which has been recreated in LEGO® for Guinness World Record 2019) Made his first flight on November 6, 1967 aboard which was the Apollo 4 capsule, and continued to play a role in many record achievements.

1969: First men on the moon

Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon, taken on July 21, 1969, was the culmination of years of planning and hard work.

Dozens of records had been broken during the process, including, shortly before, the The smallest amount of fuel remaining on a moon landing. Armstrong and his teammate Buzz Aldrin spent 21 hours on the moon, planting an American flag and preparing various scientific experiments.

1972: Lunar speed record

At the end of the Apollo program, NASA was determined to make the most of its last visit to the moon.

Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt completed 22 hours of ground excursions that covered approximately 35.9 km in their Lunar Rover (LRV) vehicle.

On the penultimate day, as they descended a hill near the block of "Sherlock" blocks, Schmitt and Cernan announced that their VLR was reaching a record speed of 18 km / h (11.18 mph).

1973: The largest room in space

At launch – at the top of the last operation Saturn V rocket – May 14, 1973, Skylab was the largest space station ever built. Although he has since lost this title in favor of International Space Station, its basic module "Orbital Workshop" remains the largest single piece ever placed in orbit.

The workshop was built inside a reserve Saturn V fuel tank of the third floor and measured 14.7 m long and 6.6 m wide.

1976: First successful lander of Mars

It is very difficult to place a spaceship on the surface of Mars safely, even according to the standards of rocket science. The first soft landing was done by the Soviet Union March 3 lander in 1971, but an unknown technical foul knocked out the lander's transmissions after just 20 seconds.

The first lander to carry out his mission was NASA Viking 1 lander, who landed on July 20, 1976 and transmitted images and scientific data from Mars for the next six years.

nineteen eighty one: First reusable spacecraft

The Space Shuttle Columbia He made his maiden flight on April 12, 1981 with John Young, veteran of the Apollo program, and rookie astronaut Robert Crippen at the helm.

He completed a two-day test mission before desorbing and descending for a conventional runway landing at Edwards Air Force Base. The orbiter was repaired and flew again later in the year.

1985 Most people in a single spaceship

The Space Shuttle was larger than any previous spacecraft and was able to hold a huge crew.

On October 30, 1985, shuttle mission STS-61-A took off with a crew of eight, including six American and German and Dutch astronauts from the European Space Agency (ESA). This record for most people in a single spacecraft was maintained until 1995, when 13 people ended up together on the Russian Space Station Mir.

This number includes the crew of the station, the crew of a moored shuttle and the crew of a moored Soyuz. This record was matched in similar circumstances on July 17, 2009 at International Space Station.

1990: The largest space telescope

After years of delays and development problems, the Hubble Space Telescope was finally launched on April 24, 1990 aboard the Space Shuttle. Discovery.

Weighing 11.1 tonnes (24,490 pounds) and measuring approximately 13 meters (43 feet) long, the The Hubble Space Telescope is the largest observatory ever created in space – a title it will retain until the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope in a few years.

Hubble has made many discoveries and should remain in service for at least 10 years.

1997: First rover of Mars

The Mars Pathfinder mission stopped (it landed in a parachute airbag) in an area of ​​Mars called Ares Vallis on July 4, 1997. The next day, after the LG had deployed its solar panels, it rover-sized called Sojourner.

Designed for a mission of 7 Sols (days of March), he then explored the planet for 83 sols.

2005: The furthest planetary landing

January 14, 2005, the NASA / ESA unmanned probe Cassini has deployed a small lander, called Huygens, on Titan, the moon of Saturn, some 1.4 billion kilometers from the Sun.

The small probe transmitted images and data to Cassini, who sent them to Earth, showing a strange and strange landscape of methane seas and ice volcanoes. Cassini remained in orbit around Saturn for a total of 13 years and 76 days, leading the longest orbital sounding on the planet.

2011: The largest space station

Construction of International Space Station started with the launch of Russia Zarya module in November 1998. He was joined by the US government Unit login module later this year.

With the addition of Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module as of March 1, 2011, the ISS reached a total pressure of 916 m 3 (32,333 cubic feet) fed by a solar panel the size of a football field.

2015: Most applications for an astronaut selection process

The recruitment process for Astronaut Group 22, which began in December 2015, allowed NASA to receive 18,300 applications from the public. This breaks the record of 8,000 set by the 1978 1978 group of 1978 astronauts. These 18,300 candidates were subjected to a rigorous selection process of only 12 people, whose names were announced on June 8, 2017.

After completing their training (learning to fly supersonic jets, using robots and speaking Russian), they will fly missions. ISS and possibly beyond as part of NASA's Orion program.

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