Enos the Chimp launched in Mercury-Atlas 5, 1961

Although the Soviets had already put two cosmonauts (Yuri Gagarin being the first) into orbit by November 1961, NASA was still debating putting a man into orbit.  On November 29, 1961, Enos, a chimpanzee, was launched in the Mercury-Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral.  He made two orbits of Earth and splashed down off the coast of Puerto Rico a little over three hours from lift-off.  Enos carried out a series of tests and came through unharmed.

The Mercury spacecraft was deemed ready for human occupants.

Cassini spacecraft taking hi-resolution pics of Saturn's moons

Atlas

 

This small moon is only 30 kilometers, or 19 miles across.  Atlas orbits Saturn in a region called the Roche Division, between the planet's A and F rings, at the outer edge of the main ring system. The outer A ring is seen at the bottom of this view.

 

 

Epimetheus

 

A little larger than Atlas, Epimetheus is 116 kilometers, or 72 miles across.

 

Prometheus

 

Prometheus, 86 kilometers, or 53 miles across, orbits Saturn just inside the F ring, seen at the top of the picture.

 

Tethys

 

Tethys (531km or 319 miles) is dwarfed by Saturn and its rings.  A crescent view like this is impossible to see from Earth.  Reflected light from the rings illuminate Tethys' northern hemisphere.

 

nasa.gov

 

 

 

Voyager 1 flies by Saturn in 1980

Voyager 1, the second spacecraft sent to study Saturn (the first being Pioneer 11), passed by the gas giant on November 12, 1980.  Launched on September 5, 1977 (my birthday!), it took advantage of a rare planetary alignment and used gravity to swing by one planet (Jupiter) to the next without a large propulsion system.

Voyager 1 found three new Saturnine moons (Prometheus, Pandora and Atlas), hundreds of new rings and a thick atmosphere on Titan.

In August 2012, Voyager entered interstellar space, making it the most distant human-made object in space.  It carries a gold record that contains 115 analog images, greetings in 55 languages, 35 natural and man-made sounds and portions of 27 musical pieces. 

Voyager 1 should operate until 2020 and send back data to Earth periodically.