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Did you know...

…that to date, Britain has launched only one satellite, Prospero X-3? It was launched in 1971, using a Black Arrow rocket (pictured).

Usage

Facts 1-9 have pictures, and the other ones don't.

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Did you know 1

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/1

Angara
Angara

…that the South Korean launch system Naro-1, which made its first flight on 25 August 2009, is based on the Russian Angara (pictured)?

Did you know 2

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/2

Neil Armstrong on the Moon
Neil Armstrong on the Moon

…that the original videos of the Apollo 11 astronauts walking on the Moon (pictured) were lost after the mission, and were reported to have been found in June 2009?

Did you know 3

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/3

VAB
VAB

…that the Vehicle Assembly Building is so large that rain clouds are reported to form inside it on humid days?

Did you know 4

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/4

...that the Saturn V rocket (pictured) was 365 feet (111 metres) tall?

Did you know 5

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/5

...that engineers claim the Ares I rocket (pictured) would be more aerodynamically stable if flying backwards than in the normal direction?

Did you know 6

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/6

nCube, a typical CubeSat
nCube, a typical CubeSat

…that a CubeSat (pictured) is a cube, 10 centimetres in all dimensions, weighing less than one kilogram?

Did you know 7

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/7

…that to date, Britain has launched only one satellite, Prospero X-3? It was launched in 1971, using a Black Arrow rocket (pictured).

Did you know 10

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/10 …that the Voskhod spacecraft was so cramped that the crew of Voskhod 1 were unable to wear spacesuits?

Did you know 11

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/11 …that the Vostok 4 mission was shortened because cosmonaut Pavel Romanovich Popovich accidentally told flight controllers that he was "observing thunderstorms". This was a coded signal requesting an abort because the cosmonaut was feeling ill, however Popovich was actually trying to inform ground controllers that he could see thunderstorms from space.

Did you know 12

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/12 …that when investigating the Challenger accident, Richard Feynman threatened to remove his name from the report unless it included his personal observations on the reliability of the shuttle?

Did you know 13

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/13 …that Project Juno resulted in the launch of the first British astronaut, Helen Sharman, aboard Soyuz TM-12?

Did you know 14

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/14 ...that in 1971 the USSR launched Salyut 1, the first space station?

Did you know 15

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/15 ...that STS-80, a mission flown by the Space Shuttle Columbia, lasted 17 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes and 18 seconds, making it the longest Shuttle mission to date?

Did you know 16

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/16 …that Luna 1 became the first man-made object to enter a heliocentric orbit after a guidance failure led to it missing its planned lunar impact?

Did you know 20

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/20 …that the first words from the surface of the Moon were "Contact light, okay, engine stop", spoken by Buzz Aldrin?

Did you know 21

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/21 …that the backup crew of Apollo 11 consisted of Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Fred Haise, although after Anders announced his intention to retire, Ken Mattingly was also assigned in case the mission was delayed until after Anders had left? The backup crew, with Mattingly replacing Anders, was later assigned to Apollo 13.

Did you know 22

Did you know 23

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/23 …the record for the longest crewed spaceflight stands at 437.7 days, which was set by Valeriy Polyakov aboard Mir?

Did you know 24

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/24 …that Space Shuttle Endeavour was built from spare parts left over from the construction of other Space Shuttle orbiters?

Did you know 25

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/25 ...that the last flight of the Space Shuttle program was on June 2011?

Did you know 26

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/26 …that astronauts can't burp in space? A burp would need gravity to separate the liquid from the gas in their stomach.

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Archive

Did you know...

Fortnight Did you know…
5 January 2006 - 2 January 2008
And 2008 Fortnight 1
2008 Fortnight 2
  • ...that less than half of missions sent to Mars have failed, leading some people to think that Mars is cursed?
  • ...that Galileo probe (pictured) discovered the first binary asteroid, 243 Ida/Dactyl?
  • ...that the New Horizons probe will pass within 10,000 kilometres of Pluto in 2015?
2008 Fortnight 3
VAB
VAB
2008 Fortnight 4
Saturn INT-21
Saturn INT-21
  • …that the rocket that launched Skylab was a Saturn INT-21 (pictured), not a Saturn V, as is commonly believed.
  • …that the N1 rocket had 30 engines just to power its first stage.
  • …that Space Shuttle mission STS-8 was the first night launch and night landing in 1983 for the shuttle program.
2008 Fortnight 5
Space Shuttle Enterprise
Space Shuttle Enterprise
  • …that Space Shuttle Enterprise (pictured) was originally to be called Constitution, but was renamed after the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek.
  • …that Explorer 1, the first American satellite, was launched just 84 days after the programme was started.
  • …that the Vostok 4 mission was shortened because cosmonaut Pavel Romanovich Popovich accidentally told flight controllers that he was "observing thunderstorms". This was a coded signal requesting an abort because the cosmonaut was feeling ill, however Popovich was actually trying to inform ground controllers that he could see thunderstorms from space.
2008 Fortnight 6
2008 Fortnight 7
2008 Fortnight 8
Ares I rocket
Ares I rocket
  • ...that engineers claim the Ares I rocket (pictured) would be more aerodynamically stable if flying backwards than in the normal direction?
  • ...that STS-80, a mission flown by the Space Shuttle Columbia, lasted 17 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes and 18 seconds, making it the longest Shuttle mission to date?
  • ...that the Ocean Odyssey launch platform, used by Sea Launch, was originally built as an oil rig?
2008 Fortnight 9
John Glenn (NASA)
John Glenn (NASA)
  • …and that the youngest person to fly in space was Gherman Titov, on Vostok 2 (6 -7 August 1961), aged 25.
  • …that Soyuz TMA-13, currently scheduled to launch on 12 October 2008, will be the 100th manned Soyuz flight.
2008 Fortnight 10
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour
2008 Fortnight 11
nCube, a typical CubeSat
nCube, a typical CubeSat
  • …that a CubeSat (pictured) is a cube, 10 centimetres in all dimensions, weighing less than one kilogram?
  • …that to date 90 Explorer satellites have been launched, the most recent being AIM in 2007?
  • …that Luna 1 became the first object to enter a heliocentric orbit after a guidance failure led to it missing its planned lunar impact?
2008 Fortnight 12
2008 Fortnight 13
Mir
Mir
2008 Fortnight 14
Delta II
Delta II
2008 Fortnight 15
2008 Fortnight 16
The Challenger accident
The Challenger accident
2008 Fortnight 17
Polyot rocket
Polyot rocket
2008 Fortnight 18
Pedro Duque
Pedro Duque
  • …that Pedro Duque (pictured) became the first Spaniard in space, in November 1998?
  • …that the Moon Treaty was intended to restrict and regulate exploration of the Moon and other planets, but was not signed by any country with significant involvement in space exploration?
  • …that Luna 2 was the first spacecraft to land on the Moon?
2008 Fortnight 19
N-II
N-II
2008 Fortnight 20
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour
2008 Fortnight 21
nCube, a typical CubeSat
nCube, a typical CubeSat
  • …that a CubeSat (pictured) is a cube, 10 centimetres in all dimensions, weighing less than one kilogram?
  • …that to date 90 Explorer satellites have been launched, the most recent being AIM in 2007?
  • …that Luna 1 became the first object to enter a heliocentric orbit after a guidance failure led to it missing its planned lunar impact?
2008 Fortnight 22
Mockup of the Prospero satellite
Mockup of the Prospero satellite
  • …that the X-3 satellite (mockup pictured) was originally to be called Puck, but was renamed Prospero when the British Government announced that it would not attempt any more launches after it?
  • …that since 1957, orbital launches have been conducted on every day of the year except 31 December?
  • …that the Juno I rocket was a derived from the Jupiter-C, but added an extra stage to allow it to reach orbit?
2008 Fortnight 23
VAB
VAB
2008 Fortnight 24
Polyot rocket
Polyot rocket
2008 Fortnight 25
Delta II
Delta II
2008 Fortnight 26

2009

Month Did you know…
January 2009
Angara
Angara
  • …that 2008 in spaceflight saw an increase in orbital launch rates for the third year in a row?
  • …that Iran intends to conduct its first indigenous launch in 2009, with a Safir and the Omid spacecraft?
  • …that the South Korean KSLV-I rocket, scheduled to make its maiden flight this year, is based on the Russian Angara (pictured)?
February 2009
N-II
N-II
March 2009
Mockup of the Prospero satellite
Mockup of the Prospero satellite
  • …that the X-3 satellite (mockup pictured) was originally to be called Puck, but was renamed Prospero when the British Government announced that it would not attempt any more launches after it?
  • …that since 1957, orbital launches have been conducted on every day of the year except 31 December?
  • …that the Juno I rocket was a derived from the Jupiter-C, but added an extra stage to allow it to reach orbit?
April 2009
Saturn V
Saturn V
  • ... that the Saturn V rocket which carried astronauts to the Moon develops power equivalent to fifty Boeing 747 jumbo jets?
  • ... that astronauts can't burp in space? A burp would need gravity to separate the liquid from the gas in their stomach.
  • ... that a total of 5,000,000,000,000 bits of scientific data were returned to Earth by both Voyager spacecraft after the completion of the Neptune encounter? This represents enough bits to encode more than 6,000 complete sets of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
  • ... that the energy released by three of Rocketdyne's Space Shuttle Main Engines is equivalent to the output of 37 Hoover Dams?
May 2009
Space Shuttle Enterprise
Space Shuttle Enterprise
  • …that Space Shuttle Enterprise (pictured) was originally to be called Constitution, but was renamed after the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek.
  • …that Explorer 1, the first American satellite, was launched just 84 days after the programme was started.
  • …that the Vostok 4 mission was shortened because cosmonaut Pavel Romanovich Popovich accidentally told flight controllers that he was "observing thunderstorms". This was a coded signal requesting an abort because the cosmonaut was feeling ill, however Popovich was actually trying to inform ground controllers that he could see thunderstorms from space.
June 2009
July 2009
Neil Armstrong on the Moon
Neil Armstrong on the Moon
  • …that the original videos of the Apollo 11 astronauts walking on the Moon (pictured) were lost after the mission, and were reported to have been found in June 2009?
  • …that the first words from the surface of the Moon were "Contact light, okay, engine stop", spoken by Buzz Aldrin?
  • …that the backup crew of Apollo 11 consisted of Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Fred Haise, although after Anders announced his intention to retire, Ken Mattingly was also assigned in case the mission was delayed until after Anders had left? The backup crew, with Mattingly replacing Anders, was later assigned to Apollo 13.
August 2009
Mir
Mir
September 2009
Angara
Angara
  • …that 2008 in spaceflight saw an increase in orbital launch rates for the third year in a row?
  • …that Iran conducted its first indigenous launch on 2 February 2009, with a Safir and the Omid spacecraft?
  • …that the South Korean launch system Naro-1, which made its first flight on 25 August 2009, is based on the Russian Angara (pictured)?
October 2009
N-II
N-II
November 2009
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour
December 2009
Polyot rocket
Polyot rocket

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