Earth's only natural satellite
What is the Moon?
A natural or artificial object in space that orbits another celestial body; the term comes from a French word meaning guard or attendant
What is a satellite?
in 1963, she became the first woman in space; she spent three days in space before successfully returning to earth
Who was Valentina Tereshkova?
The world's first weather satellite; was launched on April 1, 1960
What is Tiros 1?
The largest satellite in space; can be seen from Earth with the naked eye; the largest international scientific project in history
What is the ISS?
Earth's first artificial satellite; launched by the Soviet Union in 1857
What is Sputnik?
Spacecraft that either fly by, orbit, or land on a celestial body other than Earth
What are space probes?
A USAF Colonel and the first woman to command a Space Shuttle Mission
Who was Col Eileen Collins?
The first probes to take close-up pictures of the Moon in preparation for the Apollo landings
What were the Ranger probes?
America's military space plane; designed to transport astronauts to and from the ISS
What is the X-37?
These two probes have left the solar system and are traveling through interstellar space
What are Voyager 1 and Voyager 2?
The lowest point of an orbit
What is perigee?
An Air Force colonel and former Spaatz cadet, he piloted STS-133, the final flight of the Discovery orbiter
Who is Col Eric Boe?
On the same day that the world's first satellite was launched, it sent Earth an image of this
What is a hurricane?
The first US space station and first crewed research laboratory in space
What is Skylab?
The first experimental communciation satellite; it was launched in 1958
What is Score?
A regular, repeating path that one object in space follows around another
What is an orbit?
These two astronauts conducted the longest spacewalk in history
Who were Susan Helms and Jim Voss?
These include command and control, environment, people, and launch
What are satellite subsystems?
The world's first space station
What is Salyut 1?
This series of satellites measures and records radiant energy, monitors agricultural conditions, aid urban planners in future development, and manage coastal resources
What is LANDSAT?
The highest point of the orbit of a satellite, or the highest point in the path of any projectile
What is the apogee?
China's first astronaut (taikonaut)
Who is Yang Liwei?
This space probe flew to Mercury in January of 2008; it has since crashed
What is MESSENGER?
This project, which occurred in June 1975, involved a space linkup and handshake between the two powers that had been engaged in the Space Race; it was the first international manned spaceflight mission
What was the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project?
The world's largest commercial satellite communications provider; once known as ITSO (International Telecommunications Satellite Organization), it has by now undergone a change of name
What is INTELSAT?
This principle states that the orbit of each planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus
What is Kepler's First Law?
In 1994, she became the first Japanese woman to fly in space; she served as the Payload Specialist on STS-65
Who was Chiaki Mukai?
The pictures we see on TV weather reports come from this weather satellite system
What is GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites)?
The first American woman in space
Who was Dr. Sally Ride?