Nasa’s out of this world successes

let’s take a look at some of NASA’s biggest achievements over the years

February 23, 2017

Calvyn van Wyk 1 minute read

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.

This image shows an artist’s impression of the ESA/NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in its orbit 600 km above the Earth.

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.