Nasa’s out of this world successes
let’s take a look at some of NASA’s biggest achievements over the years
POLOKWANE – After their great discovery of seven new planets revealed by a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) telescope, let’s take a look at some of NASA’s biggest achievements over the years:
- Moon landing:
In July 1969, NASA made history by being the first space administration to put a man on the moon. Apollo 11 touched down on the moon on 20 July, with the historical event being broadcast directly to the living rooms of people across the world.
- Hubble Space Telescope (HST):
On 24 April, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope (named after astronomer Edwin Hubble) was sent to hover above Earth’s atmosphere which allowed it to take high-resolution images which no telescope on Earth could match. The telescope gave the first clear view of the universe beyond our galaxy and is still operating today.
- Pathfinder Sojourner Rover:
The NASA Pathfinder Sojourner Rover made history in in 1997 as it was the first robot to ever land on Mars. The robot returned a total of 2.3 billion pieces of data to NASA, as well as 17 000 photographs.
- Kepler Telescope:
The Kepler telescope launched in 2009 and currently orbits the sun where it is scanning the skies for exo-planets which can potentially host life. Since its launch, the telescope has discovered over 1 200 exo-planets creating valuable data for NASA.
- Trappist 1:
NASA’s latest discovery includes the very exciting news of seven Earth-sized planets approximately 39 lightyears away from Earth. The seven planets are currently orbiting a cool dwarf star known as Trappist-1 which astronomers have detected in the newly discovered solar system.
Story and photos sourced from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk
