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50 YEARS AGO TODAY, the United States launched its very first satellite, Explorer 1, into Earth orbit. It was in response to the Soviet Union launching its Sputnik 1 satellite three months earlier, thus touching off the Space Race. Just thought I’d give you a bit of history as we are now living in the fifth decade of the Space Age. Awesome.


NASA JPL

Below is an image of the planet Mercury taken by NASA’S MESSENGER spacecraft, which this month became the first spacecraft in more than 30 years to visit our solar system’s innermost planet. The first spacecraft to do so was Mariner 10, when it flew past Mercury three times in 1974 and ’75. Like Mariner 10, MESSENGER will fly past Mercury two more times before it finally settles into orbit around that world on March 18, 2011. The second flyby will take place on October 6 of this year, and the third and final rendezvous before orbit insertion will be September 29 of next year. That’s all.


NASA / JHUAPL / CIW / The Planetary Society / Eric Landrenau