Luna 9 performed the first ever soft landing on the Moon, in 1966. The lander was carefully designed to right itself upon landing, standing upright no matter what rocky surface it landed on. Four protective ‘leaves’ then unfolded, exposing the … Continue reading
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This is a ground testing set for the very first Soviet solar cells flown in space. They generated electricity from sunlight to power one of Sputnik 3’s scientific instruments and the radio transmitter. Continue reading
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Sputnik 1 passed over all the inhabited areas of Earth during its 22 days in orbit. Its famous beep… beep… beep radio signal relayed the change in temperature and pressure inside the satellite as it cirlcled the globe. This gave … Continue reading
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky sketched his visions of space flight for Vasilii Zhuravlev’s film Cosmic Journey. They foretold today’s space missions with recognisable scenes of spacewalks and items tied down in the spacecraft to stop them floating away. Continue reading
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There is still time to catch a glimse of pioneering space history at the Science Museum, but you need to hurry. The exhibition finishes on 1 March 2016. I was pleased to have made the trip as it triggered memories … Continue reading