Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know

Did you know...

• ... that Iran's first three-stage satellite carrier, Qaem 100, successfully passed its suborbital test?
• ... that astronaut James McDivitt saw a UFO during his first spaceflight?
• ... that astrophysicist Suzanna Randall continued her research at the European Southern Observatory while training for the spaceflight programme Die Astronautin?

• 

  VAB

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

• …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?
• ...that the USSR had its own Space Shuttle, Buran?

Usage

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

Did you know 1

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/1

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

…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

…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

…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

Portal:Spaceflight/Did you know/22 ...that the USSR had its own Space Shuttle, Buran?

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.

Archive

Did you know...

Fortnight	Did you know…
5 January 2006 - 2 January 2008 And 2008 Fortnight 1	...that the Saturn V rocket (pictured) was 365 feet (111 metres) tall? ...that the USSR had its own Space Shuttle, Buran? ...that Pluto has 3 known natural satellites: Hydra, Nix, and Charon?
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 …that the Vehicle Assembly Building is so large that rain clouds are reported to form inside it on humid days? …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? …that the Cassini spacecraft has discovered four new moons of Saturn?
2008 Fortnight 4	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 …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	…that the Phoenix spacecraft (pictured) will investigate water ice at the North Pole of Mars. …that the Kennedy Space Center is built on the site of a nature reserve. …that there were 68 orbital launches in 2007, an increase of two from 2006.
2008 Fortnight 7	...that an Atlas V rocket (pictured) is 58.3 m (191 ft) tall? ...that in 1971 the USSR launched Salyut 1, the first space station? ...that 2060 Chiron, the first centaur planetoid, was discovered in 1977?
2008 Fortnight 8	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) …that the oldest person to fly in space was John Glenn (pictured), aboard Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-95 (29 October-7 November 1998), at the age of 77. …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 …that Space Shuttle Endeavour (pictured) was built from spare parts left over from the construction of other Space Shuttle orbiters? …that the Little Joe was a rocket built to conduct boilerplate tests of Mercury spacecraft? …that the 100th Long March rocket was launched on 1 June 2007?
2008 Fortnight 11	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	…that to date, Britain has launched only one satellite, Prospero X-3, using a Black Arrow rocket (pictured)? …that the crew of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Apollo spacecraft nearly died during re-entry due to a nitrogen tetroxide leak? …that SpaceShipOne was the first manned spacecraft to be powered by a hybrid rocket motor?
2008 Fortnight 13	Mir …the record for the longest manned spaceflight stands at 437.7 days, which was set by Valeriy Polyakov aboard Mir (pictured)? …the Voskhod spacecraft was so cramped that the crew of Voskhod 1 were unable to wear spacesuits? …the upper stage of the GX rocket will be fuelled by liquid natural gas?
2008 Fortnight 14	Delta II …That it can take up to twenty minutes for communications from spacecraft on Mars to reach Earth? …That the Delta II rocket (pictured) is the most reliable carrier rocket currently in service? …That the Soviet Union ran two different space programmes with the name Prognoz, a scientific research programme, and a missile defence programme?
2008 Fortnight 15	…that the US National Reconnaissance Office includes clues to the identity of their classified satellites in their mission patches (pictured)? …that the record for the most people on a single spacecraft for the duration of its flight is eight, aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on STS-61-A in 1985? …that the first two SpaceShipTwo spacecraft will be named VSS Enterprise and VSS Voyager, reportedly after spacecraft in Star Trek?
2008 Fortnight 16	The Challenger accident …that the Challenger accident (pictured) was caused by an o-ring failure? …that all Mercury spacecraft had names ending with the number seven, after the Mercury Seven? …that the controls on Vostok spacecraft were locked except in emergencies, to the annoyance of Soviet cosmonauts?
2008 Fortnight 17	Polyot rocket …that the Polyot rocket (pictured) was an interim carrier rocket, designed for only two launches? …that the Outer Space Treaty forbids the storage of weapons of mass destruction in space? …that Charles Duke was the spacecraft communicator during the Apollo 11 landing?
2008 Fortnight 18	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 …that twelve Space Shuttle missions were flown as part of the Shuttle-Mir programme? …that communication between the International Space Station and ground controllers is provided mainly by Russian Luch and US TDRS satellites? …that the N-I and N-II (pictured) were Japanese licence-produced versions of the US Delta rocket?
2008 Fortnight 20	Space Shuttle Endeavour …that Space Shuttle Endeavour (pictured) was built from spare parts left over from the construction of other Space Shuttle orbiters? …that the Little Joe was a rocket built to conduct boilerplate tests of Mercury spacecraft? …that the 100th Long March rocket was launched on 1 June 2007?
2008 Fortnight 21	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 …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 …that the Vehicle Assembly Building is so large that rain clouds are reported to form inside it on humid days? …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? …that the Cassini spacecraft has discovered four new moons of Saturn?
2008 Fortnight 24	Polyot rocket …that the Polyot rocket (pictured) was an interim carrier rocket, designed for only two launches? …that the Outer Space Treaty forbids the storage of weapons of mass destruction in space? …that Charles Duke was the spacecraft communicator during the Apollo 11 landing?
2008 Fortnight 25	Delta II …That it can take up to twenty minutes for communications from spacecraft on Mars to reach Earth? …That the Delta II rocket (pictured) is the most reliable carrier rocket currently in service? …That the Soviet Union ran two different space programmes with the name Prognoz, a scientific research programme, and a missile defence programme?
2008 Fortnight 26	…that Project Juno resulted in the launch of the first British cosmonaut, Helen Sharman, aboard Soyuz TM-12 (patch pictured)? …that a Lissajous orbit is a type of orbit around a Lagrangian point? …that Site 45/2 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome was destroyed due to a launch failure less than six months after it was completed?

2009

Month	Did you know…
January 2009	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 …that twelve Space Shuttle missions were flown as part of the Shuttle-Mir programme? …that communication between the International Space Station and ground controllers is provided mainly by Russian Luch and US TDRS satellites? …that the N-I and N-II (pictured) were Japanese licence-produced versions of the US Delta rocket?
March 2009	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 ... 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 …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	…that Phoenix (pictured) was a lander spacecraft that conducted NASA's sixth successful landing on Mars. …that the Kennedy Space Center is built on the site of a nature reserve. …that there were 67 catalogued orbital launches in 2008, compared with 65 in 2007.
July 2009	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 …that the satellite GPS IIR-1, intended to become part of the United States Air Force Global Positioning System, was destroyed 13 seconds after launch? …that the Progress M1-5 spacecraft was used to deorbit Mir (pictured)? …that there were six expeditions to Salyut 6, and a seventh failed to dock?
September 2009	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 …that twelve Space Shuttle missions were flown as part of the Shuttle-Mir programme? …that communication between the International Space Station and ground controllers is provided mainly by Russian Luch and US TDRS satellites? …that the N-I and N-II (pictured) were Japanese licence-produced versions of the US Delta rocket?
November 2009	Space Shuttle Endeavour …that Space Shuttle Endeavour (pictured) was built from spare parts left over from the construction of other Space Shuttle orbiters? …that the Little Joe was a rocket built to conduct boilerplate tests of Mercury spacecraft? …that the 100th Long March rocket was launched on 1 June 2007?
December 2009	Polyot rocket …that the Polyot rocket (pictured) was an interim carrier rocket, designed for only two launches? …that the Outer Space Treaty forbids the storage of weapons of mass destruction in space? …that Charles Duke was the spacecraft communicator during the Apollo 11 landing?

Nominations

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