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These satellites were the first celestial objects that were confirmed to orbit an object other than the Sun or Earth. Galileo saw Io and Europa as a single point of light on 7 January 1610; they were seen as separate bodies the following night. [11] Callisto: Jupiter IV o: 8 January 1610 p: 13 March 1610 Io: Jupiter I Europa: Jupiter II 1650s
The first artificial object sent into space was the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1, launched on 4 October 1957, which successfully orbited Earth until 4 January the following year. [65] The American probe Explorer 6, launched in 1959, was the first satellite to image Earth from space.
Mission name Launch date Description Ref(s) Sputnik 1: 4 October 1957 First Earth orbiter [1] [2]Sputnik 2: 3 November 1957 Earth orbiter, first animal in orbit, a dog named Laika
Other models suggest that Galilean satellites formed in a proto-satellite disk, in which formation timescales were comparable to or shorter than orbital migration timescales. [21] Io is anhydrous and likely has an interior of rock and metal. [19] Europa is thought to contain 8% ice and water by mass with the remainder rock. [19]
first probe to cross the asteroid belt; first Jupiter probe; first man-made object on an interstellar trajectory; now in the outer regions of the Solar System but no longer contactable 1972-012A: Pioneer 11: NASA: 4 December 1974 flyby success went on to visit Saturn 1973-019A: Voyager 1: NASA: 5 March 1979 flyby success went on to visit Saturn ...
Counting them among the planets became increasingly cumbersome. Eventually, they were dropped from the planet list (as first suggested by Alexander von Humboldt in the early 1850s) and Herschel's coinage, "asteroids", gradually came into common use. [139] Since then, the region they occupy between Mars and Jupiter is known as the asteroid belt.
First Canadian satellite (on American rocket), first satellite not constructed by the US or USSR October 2 US: Explorer 14 (EPE-B) Thor-Delta A: Earth Success NASA spacecraft instrumented to measure cosmic-ray particles, trapped particles, solar wind protons, and magnetospheric and interplanetary magnetic fields. October 18 US: Ranger 5: Atlas ...
The first known natural satellite was the Moon, but it was considered a "planet" until Copernicus' introduction of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in 1543. Until the discovery of the Galilean satellites in 1610 there was no opportunity for referring to such objects as a class.