The document summarizes several key technological advancements in space exploration, beginning with Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. It then discusses Sputnik 2, which carried the first animal (a dog named Laika) into space, and Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite. Subsequent sections outline early Soviet and American manned spaceflights including Vostok, Gemini 5, and Apollo 11, which landed the first humans on the Moon. The document concludes with descriptions of the Galileo and James Webb Space Telescope missions.

1. Key Technological Advancements By Sam K.

2. Sputnik 1 Sputnik 1 was launched into earths orbit on October 4th 1957. It was the first man made satellite and was made by the Soviet Union. It's primary purpose was to send back temperatures of space. It did so in the form of beeps. Sputnik weighed 405 lbs, and It's diameter is 23 inches across. Sputnik was in orbit around the earth for 3 months after it's launch in 1957. It was a very big step that launched the space race.

3. Sputnik 2 On November 3, 1957 Russia launched sputnik 2, it was the first satellite to carry a passenger into space. The passenger was a female dog called Laika. Laika weighed 25 pounds, and was 8 inches tall. The satellite she went into space with weighed a whopping 1,120 Lbs! Unfortunately the rocket carried life support for only a few days so Laika died. Her flight proved that humans could go into space. She paved the way for astronauts today.

4. Explorer 1 Explorer 1 was the first U.S. satellite and the first satellite to carry science instruments. The satellite was launched on Jan. 31, 1958, from Cape Canaveral , Fla. . Explorer 1 followed a looping flight path that orbited Earth once every 114 minutes. The satellite went as high as 2,565 kilometers (1,594 miles) and as low as 362 kilometers (225 miles) above Earth.

5. Vostok 3KA The Vostok 3KA was the spacecraft used for the first human spaceflights. They were launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome using Vostok 8K72K launch vehicles. The first flight of a Vostok 3KA occurred on March 9, 1961. The first flight with a crew -- Vostok 1 carrying Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, took place on April 12, 1961. A total of 8 Vostok 3KA spacecraft were flown, 6 of them with a human crew.

6. Gemini 5 Gemini 5 (officially Gemini V) was a 1965 manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the 3rd manned Gemini flight, the 11th manned American flight and the 19th spaceflight of all time. Launch of Gemini 5, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad on an eight-day mission to test rendezvous guidance and navigation systems, as well as study how humans could handle long-term exposure to a space environment. Gemini would be the critical link between the early Mercury Project and the Apollo missions.

7. Apollo 11 First men on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. First return of samples from another planetary body. The prime mission objective of Apollo 11 is stated simply: "Perform a manned lunar landing and return". First return of samples from another planetary body. These first samples were basalts, dark-colored igneous rocks, and they were about 3.7 billion years old.

8. Galileo Galileo plunged into Jupiter's crushing atmosphere on Sept. 21, 2003. The spacecraft was deliberately destroyed to protect one of its own discoveries - a possible ocean beneath the icy crust of the moon Europa. The spacecraft was the first to fly past an asteroid and the first to discover a moon of an asteroid. Galileo was the first to measure Jupiter's atmosphere with a descent probe and the first to conduct long-term observations of the Jovian system from orbit. It found evidence of subsurface saltwater on Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and revealed the intensity of volcanic activity Galileo changed the way we look at our solar system.

9. New Technology

10. James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2014. Webb will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Webb will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own Solar System. Webb's instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range.

11. Conclusion Through out time, America has never stopped advancing. From a Motorola GSM 3200 Brick to an Iphone 4, to Sega Genesis to PS3; our great country has always have been improving the old. I believe that NASA will follow this trend as well; I believe with future generations will create new ideas to make traveling through space safer and more advanced. Never again will we ever here “Huston We Have A Problem,” for that with the knowledge found from the past technology we can excel in the future. With this, I confide that what we believe to be science fiction will become reality.

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