The early days of the space race

In my previous post I talked about two significant successes for the Soviet Union in 1957: the first artificial satellite in orbit in October and the first living creature, a dog named Laika, in orbit in November. In December of that year the Americans had a humiliating failure when the Vanguard spacecraft exploded in a… Continue reading The early days of the space race

Soyuz 50 years on

On 23 April 1967, six years after Yuri Gagarin had became the first man to go into space, a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft was launched carrying cosmonaut Vladimir Komorov. It completed 18 orbits and then returned to Earth. Mission patch for the first Soyuz mission Sadly, during its reentry the parachute failed to open properly and the… Continue reading Soyuz 50 years on

20 July 1969 The First Men on the Moon

It has been a very exciting week for space exploration with the pictures sent from New Horizons as it flew past Pluto on Tuesday. Monday next week  (20-th July) marks the 46-th anniversary of the first landing on men on the Moon, which was one of the iconic events of the last century. To celebrate this anniversary… Continue reading 20 July 1969 The First Men on the Moon

45th Anniversary of first Men on the Moon

Welcome On Sunday (20th July) it is the 45th anniversary of the first manned Moon landing. To commemorate this. I thought that I'd re-post my article from 4th June which discussed the first Moon landings. I hope you enjoy reading or re-reading it. My next article, which I will post next week, will be on… Continue reading 45th Anniversary of first Men on the Moon

Manned Missions to the Moon

Welcome Welcome to the latest post from the Science Geek. This post, which is part of a series on the Moon, discusses manned exploration of the Moon.  I hope you enjoy reading it and, as always, please let me know if you have any comments. I would also like, once again, to thank Mrs Geek… Continue reading Manned Missions to the Moon