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In 1919, Robert Goddard published his best work. It was a paper entitled "A Method for Reaching _______ Altitudes".

Extreme. Goddard was the first person in the world to launch a liquid-fueled rocket. He did this in 1926, but was so nervous about someone stealing his ideas that he did not even reveal this fact for 10 years! In his paper, "A Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes", he was able to pen down just about all of the needed information on math and physical theory that the science of Rocketry would ever need.

The 1543 work of Nicolas Copernicus, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres", refutes the much earlier work of Ptolemy of Alexandria.

T. "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres" claimed that the bodies in our solar system revolved around the Sun. Ptolemy had stated MUCH earlier (in the second century A.D.) that the Sun and planets all revolved around the Earth. In my opinion, I would say that attests to the arrogance of mankind. Copernicus was so afraid to challenge that theory that he withheld publication of the book for 30 years. He died shortly after it was released, on May 24, 1543, of a brain hemorrhage.

In what year did John Glenn become the first American to orbit Earth?

1962. The exact date was February 20, 1962. He was aboard the Mercury 6, and while he WAS the first American to orbit the Earth, he was the 5th person in space. John Glenn went on to become a Senator for Ohio in 1974, and set a record in 1992 when he was elected for the 4th time in a row.

The first woman in space was __________ Tereshkova.

Valentina. It was on June 16, 1963 aboard the space vehicle Vostok 6. She was almost killed in 1969, when she and two fellow Cosmonauts were in a limousine procession with General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. An Army officer opened fire on them, trying to assassinate Brezhnev, and did succeed in killing Valentina's limo driver.

Did Sir Fred Hoyle coin the term "Big Bang" theory?

Y. He came up with this terminology during a radio debate about the nature of the way our universe began. An Astrophysicist named Gamow had published a paper in 1946 stating that he believed the reason the universe was always expanding was due to a huge explosion at the beginning of time. It was this paper to which Hoyle was referring in his 1950 radio broadcast debate, thus calling that explosion the "big bang". Hoyle went on to publish a few Science Fiction novels, including "The Black Cloud", "Diseases From Space", "October The First is Too Late", and "Fifth Planet".

In 1947 ______ _______ became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound when he reached 700 mph (Mach 1.07).

Chuck Yeager & Charles Yeager & Yeager. He did it in a Bell X-1 42,000 feet above the ground in California. He was only 24 years old at the time, and less than a year later in May 1948 he took the X-1 to a record altitude of 64,000 feet.

Charles Messier was nicknamed what by the King of France, Louis XVI?

The Comet Ferret. He is best known in our time for a catalog of nebulous objects. In fact, it was the Crab Nebula that inspired Messier to start the catalog. He believed that it so resembled a comet that he wanted to make sure he formed a catalog for future astronomers to differentiate between true comets and nebulae. This catalog was first published in 1771. He made his last sole discovery of a comet in 1798.

In 1970 ____ ______ became the first astronaut to travel to the Moon twice and never land on it.

Jim Lovell & James Lovell & Lovell. Jim Lovell was the Commander of the Apollo 13 lunar mission. He was portrayed by actor Tom Hanks in the movie "Apollo 13". The movie was based on Lovell's book "Lost Moon". Jim had his first turn as Commander on Gemini 12 in 1966. Buzz Aldrin was also aboard Gemini 12.

It was in 1961 that Frank Drake help organize the very first SETI conference. Twenty-three years later Frank was named President of SETI. What does SETI stand for?

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. It was in 1960 that he lead a project known as Project Ozma. Ozma was the very first radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Drake united with Carl Sagan in 1971 to create a message for alien life. It turned out to be a plaque and they had it placed on the side of the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft.

Upon examination of Albert Einstein's brain, after his death, it was found to be the same as any average brain.

F. Albert died in 1955, but years later in 1999, it was borrowed for a study at McMaster University. The team discovered that the area believed to be used for mathematical processing was actually 15% larger than the average. This area of the brain is known as the Inferior Parietal Region. Einstein first published his "Special Theory of Relativity" in one of four articles in 1905.