Tag: Launches

  • Space Shuttle Columbia Launches for Final Time

    January 16, 2003 Famous for being the first Space Shuttle ever to be launched (mission STS-1), the Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107. This mission would prove to be its final one as Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry. The post Space Shuttle Columbia Launches for Final Time appeared first on This Day in…

  • Atari Launches Home Video Gaming

    October 14, 1977 Atari releases their Video Computer System (known as the VCS and later as the Atari 2600). It took two years for the VCS to gain traction, but by 1979 it was the best selling gift of the Christmas season. Once it was established, the Atari VCS took the market by storm, popularized home video…

  • Sputnik Launches the Space Age

    October 4, 1957 The first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth, Sputnik 1, is launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, marking what is now considered the beginning of the Space Age. Surprising the world with its successful launch, Sputnik triggered the Space Race between the Soviet Union and United States ushering in an era of rapid advancement…

  • CompuServe Launches MicroNET

    September 24, 1979 CompuServe launches the first consumer-oriented online information service, which they called MicroNET. This marked the first time a consumer had access to services such as e-mail. The service was not favored internally within the business-oriented CompuServe, but as the service became a hit, they renamed the service CompuServe Information Service, or CIS.…

  • The Last Surveyor Launches

    January 7, 1968 Surveyor 7 lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral. Surveyor 7 was the seventh and last lunar lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by This Day in Tech History.com

  • Yahoo! Officially Launches

    March 5, 1995 The Yahoo! search engine officially launches on the Internet. 13 months later, Yahoo! will hold its IPO at a price of $ 13 per share. Yahoo!’s stock will peak at $ 475 in January 2000, and fall to $ 8.02 in September 2001. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by…

  • First Modern GPS Satellite Launches

    February 14, 1989 The first of 24 Block-II GPS satellites was launched. Block-II were the first modern GPS satellites that form the modern GPS system we know today. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by This Day in Tech History.com

  • Discovery Launches to Service Hubble

    February 11, 1997 The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. This was the second of five missions necessary to fix the flawed telescope. In most states, the entire thing could have been replaced as a lemon. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by This Day in…

  • The Last Surveyor Launches

    January 7, 1968 Surveyor 7 lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral. Surveyor 7 was the seventh and last lunar lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program sent to explore the surface of the Moon. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by This Day in Tech History.com

  • AltaVista Launches

    December 15, 1995 Developed by researchers at Digital Equipment Research Laboratories, the AltaVista search engine is launched. It was the first world wide web search service to gain significant popularity. One of the most popular search engines in the early world wide web, Google didn’t overtake AltaVista until 2001. AltaVista was eventually purchased by Yahoo!…