In 1937, the first radio telescopes
were built and were used to detect
radio emissions from natural and man-
made celestial objects. This allowed
astronomers to identify seemingly
invisible radiation from all over the
galaxy.
October 24, 1946: The first photo of
the Earth is taken from space.
October 4, 1957: Russia launches the
first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into
orbit, beginning the space age. The US
launches its first satellite, Explorer 1,
four months later.
November 3, 1957: Laika, a dog from
the USSR, becomes first living creature
to orbit the Earth.
In 1961, the first gamma-ray
telescope was launched which enabled
the study of supernovae and pulsars.
The 1960’s also saw the use of balloon-
borne telescopes to collect information
about stars based on their heat
emissions.
April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagarin
becomes the first human in outer space.
June 16, 1963: Valentina Tereshkova
becomes the first woman in outer
space.