What was the first great ape in space?
A chimpanzee named Ham became the first great ape in space in 1961, helping NASA prove that humans could perform tasks during spaceflight.
When did humans first land on the Moon?
Humans first landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down while Michael Collins orbited above in the command module.
How close did Apollo 11 come to running out of fuel?
Neil Armstrong had to steer the lunar module past a boulder-filled crater by hand, and Apollo 11 landed with less than a minute of descent fuel to spare.
Has a piece of the Wright Flyer been to other worlds?
Pieces of the original Wright Flyer have traveled to the Moon on Apollo 11 and to Mars on NASA's Ingenuity helicopter.
What did the word "computer" originally mean?
"Computer" originally meant a person who did calculations, and NASA relied on human computers like Katherine Johnson.
Why was "Houston" the first word spoken from the Moon?
"Houston" was the first word spoken from the Moon because Mission Control was at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Where do most US rocket launches happen?
Florida's Space Coast, home to Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, is where most US crewed space missions have launched.
Do chrysanthemums clean the air?
A NASA study found that chrysanthemums can remove some pollutants from indoor air.
What was the Galileo spacecraft?
NASA's Galileo spacecraft studied Jupiter from 1995 to 2003.
When will the International Space Station be retired?
NASA plans to retire the International Space Station and bring it down around 2030.
Did the Three Gorges Dam slow Earth's rotation?
NASA calculated that the water held by the Three Gorges Dam lengthened Earth's day by about 0.06 microseconds.
What is the fastest human-made object?
NASA's Parker Solar Probe became the fastest human-made object and flew closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before it, passing about 3.8 million miles from the surface in December 2024.
Is there ice on Mercury?
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft found water ice in shadowed craters at Mercury's poles.
What was the first powered flight on another planet?
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter made the first powered flight on another planet, on Mars in 2021.
Why was the Mars Climate Orbiter lost?
NASA lost the Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999 because one team used imperial units and another used metric units.
Does Europa have an ocean?
Jupiter's moon Europa likely has an ocean beneath its icy surface, and NASA launched the Europa Clipper mission in 2024 to study it.
Were LEGO figures sent to Jupiter?
NASA's Juno spacecraft carried three LEGO figures to Jupiter.
How did the Cassini mission end?
NASA's Cassini spacecraft ended its mission in 2017 by diving into Saturn.
What is Dragonfly?
NASA's Dragonfly mission will send a drone to Saturn's moon Titan.
Does Pluto have a heart?
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft revealed a heart-shaped region on Pluto in 2015.
Has a piece of the Wright Flyer been to space?
A piece of the original Wright Flyer went to the Moon on Apollo 11 in 1969, and another flew to Mars on NASA's Ingenuity helicopter in 2021.
Did astronauts train near Bend?
Apollo astronauts trained near Bend because the volcanic landscape resembles the Moon.