because the scientists needed to know wether if it was safe to space travel.
NASA never used dogs to test their capsules, only the Russians did. The Americans used chimpanzees. however the first dog to orbit the earth (Laika) did died. Reports revielled that the capsule had no heat shield, allowing Laika to burn during re-entry.
NASA's Viking 1 and Viking 2 landed on Mars in 1976.
Assuming by spaceship you mean a spacecraft that leaves Earth carrying people. This excludes unmanned spacecraft and space stations. Soviet/Russian -- Vostok & Soyuz US -- Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Shuttle The Lunar Module was a spacecraft the carried men, but it did not leave Earth carrying people.
NASA used a combination of velocity measurements, trajectory data, and communications with the spacecraft to calculate the reentry angle and timing needed to bring the astronauts safely back to Earth. These measurements were crucial in ensuring a precise and controlled reentry into the Earth's atmosphere for a successful splashdown.
NASA named a spacecraft after Galileo to honor his contributions to astronomy and science. Galileo was a pioneering astronomer who made significant discoveries such as the moons of Jupiter, which paved the way for our understanding of the solar system. Naming a spacecraft after him symbolizes NASA's commitment to exploration and discovery.
NASA never used dogs to test their capsules, only the Russians did. The Americans used chimpanzees. however the first dog to orbit the earth (Laika) did died. Reports revielled that the capsule had no heat shield, allowing Laika to burn during re-entry.
NASA
NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft.
NASA's Viking 1 and Viking 2 landed on Mars in 1976.
Assuming by spaceship you mean a spacecraft that leaves Earth carrying people. This excludes unmanned spacecraft and space stations. Soviet/Russian -- Vostok & Soyuz US -- Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Shuttle The Lunar Module was a spacecraft the carried men, but it did not leave Earth carrying people.
Redstone.
Orion capsule
NASA
Nope, it returned to NASA
The space shuttle.
On February 20, 1962, NASA astronaut John Glenn flew the Friendship 7 spacecraft becoming the third American in space and the first American to orbit the Earth circling the earth three times.
As of 2021, spacecraft have studied five comets up close: Halley's Comet (by the European Space Agency's Giotto spacecraft), Comet Borrelly (by NASA's Deep Space 1), Comet Wild 2 (by NASA's Stardust spacecraft), Comet Tempel 1 (by NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft), and Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft).