EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE

FIRST PLANETARY MOONS TO BE DISCOVERED:

1. MOON          :- EARTH ; ANCIENT 

2. LO                :- JUPITER; GALILEO GALILEI (ITALIAN); 1610  

3. EUROPA      :- JUPITER; GALILEO GALIGEI; 1610   

4. GANYMEDE :- JUPITER; GALILEO GALIGEI; 1610    

5. CALLISTO   :- JUPITER; GALILEO GALILEI; 1610    

6. TITAN          :- SATURN; CHRISTIAN HUGYGENS (DUTCH); 1655   

7. LAPETUS     :- SATURN; GIOVANNI CASSINI; 1671   

8. RHEA           :- SATURN; GIOVANNI CASSINI; 1672   

9. TETHYS      :- SATURN; GIOVANNI CASSINI; 1684   

10. DIONE      :- SATURN; CIOVANNI CASSINI; 1684

FIRST PLANETARY PROBES:-

VENERA 4

1. VENERA 4              :- VENUS; ARRIVAL - 18 OCTOBER 1967
2. VENERA 5              :- VENUS; ARRIVAL - 16 MAY 1969
3. VENERA 6               :- VENUS; ARRIVAL - 17 MAY 1969
4. VENERA 7              :- VENUS; ARRIVAL - 15 DECEMBER 1970
5. MARINER 9 (USA):-  ARRIVAL -MARS; ARRIVAL - 13 NOVEMBER 1971
6. MARS 2                   :- MARS;  ARRIVAL -27 NOVEMBER 1971
7. MARS 3                   :- MARS;  ARRIVAL -2 DECEMBER 1971
8. VENERA 8               :- VENUS;  ARRIVAL - 22 JULY 1972
9. VENERA 9               :- VENUS;  ARRIVAL -22 OCTOBER 1975
10. VENERA 10             :- VENUS: ARRIVAL - 25 OCTOBER 1975

• Probes to Venus have to be sturdily built to withstand Venu's dense atmosphere. 
• This list excludes "FLYBYS" - probes that passed by but did not land on the surface of another planet. Pioneer 10, for example, launched on 2 March 1972, flew past Jupiter on 3 DEcember 1973, but did not land. 
• Venera 4 was the first unmanned probe to land on a planet and Venera 9 the first to transmit pictures from a planet's surface.

FIRST ANIMALS IN SPACE:-

LAIKA,the first dog in space, went up in SPUTNIK 2 on 3 November 1957, with no hope of coming down alive. Two monkeys, Able and Baker, launched in a Jupiter missile on 28 May 1959, were the first animals to be recovered (although Able died a few days later). On 29 November 1961 Enos, a male chimpanzee, successfully completed two orbits and survived.