History

This week's Extreme Explorer Hall of Fame celebrates the 45th anniversary-- from October 4, 1957 to today--of Sputnik.

"It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than the distant [Voyager] image of our tiny

On July 20, 1976, NASA's Viking 1 lander touched down safely on the surface of Mars, revealing an alien world that continues to puzzle scientists and tempt explorers.

NASA Scientist Dr. Gerald Soffen, who led the Viking science team that performed the first experiments on the surface of the planet Mars and a key architect of the Astrobiology Institute, is fondly remembered.