Seven Wonders?
Published on Jul 8, 2007 at 1:04 am.
11 Comments.
Filed under space exploration, wonders.
For the last few months, there has been an internet poll going to decide the New 7 Wonders of the world. Now, the votes are in, and the new seven wonders have been picked. There is general agreement on the original seven wonders of the world — the seven wonders of the ancient world. Only the Great Pyramids of Giza survive from the ancient world. However, for some reason, we seem to feel a need to have an updated list of the current seven wonders of the world. There have been lists, of course, but no agreement as to what should be on the list. So, Swiss businessman Bernard Weber came up with the idea of an internet vote. So, the New 7 Wonders campaign was started. And, now the results are in. But, there is still controversy. For one thing, only people who heard about the campaign and had internet access voted. Second, the only things on the list were tourist attractions. The original seven wonders would likely have been tourist attractions, but that wasn’t what got them on the list. They were on the list for being such spectacular engineering achievements. At any rate, I looked at the new list, and I don’t think much of it. So, I decided to come up with one of my own.
Rather than making a list of seven wonders to go see, I decided to make a list of the Seven Wonders of Space Exploration. Over the next week or so, I’ll be blogging about things on my list. Now, this list isn’t official, by any means. It is just something that I came up with myself. And, if I were to keep thinking about it, I might change it. But here goes:
1) Sputnik 1: The first artificial Earth orbiting satellite.
2) Vostok 1: The first human in space, Yuri Gagarin.
3) Mariner 2: The first spacecraft to visit another planet (Venus).
4) Apollo 11: The first manned landing on another world (the Moon).
5) Voyager 2: The first spacecraft to visit all four of the Solar System’s gas giants.
6) Mir: Not the first space station, but still a very important one.
7) The Space Shuttle: The first viable reusable spaceship.
As I said, though, the more I think about this list, the less certain I am about it. After all, are these the right seven? Why limit it to seven, anyway, other than just for historical reasons? There are several other things that I wanted to put on the list. For example, the Kennedy Space Center is a wonder itself, with the massive Launch Complex 39 and the Vehicle Assembly Building — a true wonder of construction. So, maybe the Apollo 11 entry can represent the entire Apollo program. And, I put Mariner 2 on the list because it was the first interplanetary spacecraft, but in a sense so was Luna 1, which flew past the Moon three years earlier. But, Mariner 2 was actually aimed at Venus. And, I debated whether Mir should be on the list, or perhaps it should have been Skylab, or a Salyut, or even the ISS, but I eventually decided on Mir, and I’ll explain that when I blog about it. And, Voyager 2 was a tossup with Voyager 1 and Pioneers 10 and 11. So, maybe Voyager 2 can represent all four of those pioneering spacecraft.
So, that’s my list. I’d be happy to listen to any suggestions as to things that might ought to have gone on the list. Or, if anyone makes their own lists, you can leave a comment here linking to your list.
-Astroprof
A Ler…-- Rastos de Luz on July 9, 2007 at 8:52 am: 1
[…] “The Seven Wonder of the Universe”, no The Spacewriter’s Ramblings. Nem a propósito Ainda sobre este tema, “Seven Wonders“, no Astroprof’s Page; […]
Andrew on July 9, 2007 at 3:48 pm: 2
I can’t help but to think that Arecibo should be thrown into the mix.Actually,it covers both sets of seven wonders.Then perhaps the Deep impact mission might also be a possibility for the list?.Heh,the list goes on.How about the lunar rover?.
Astroprof on July 9, 2007 at 4:36 pm: 3
Yeah, Arecibo, Yerkes, Mt. Palomar, VLA, HST, etc. are all wonders in their own right. So, I thought that I’d do the 7 wonders of space exploration (defining that to be space missions), and then perhaps do 7 wonders of astronomy. Arecibo would definitely have to be on that list! Now, I’d be delighted to have suggestions for my astronomy list! And, then there could be the 7 wonders of the universe. Hmm. Crab Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, Eta Carinae, etc?
Global Voices Online » World Ponders the 7 New Wonders on July 16, 2007 at 5:39 am: 4
[…] Astroprof also had a say: But, there is still controversy. For one thing, only people who heard about the campaign and had internet access voted. Second, the only things on the list were tourist attractions. The original seven wonders would likely have been tourist attractions, but that wasn’t what got them on the list. […]
Astroprof’s Page » Seven Wonders of Astronomy on July 22, 2007 at 8:14 pm: 5
[…] A couple weeks ago, I posted about the New Seven Wonders of the World, and I offered my suggestions for Seven Wonders of Space Exploration. That series seemed well received, so but a couple of comments led me to think that I should probably have a follow-up series on the Seven Wonders of Astronomy. Entries in my earlier series were space missions. Entries in this series are observatories. But, what makes for a world wonder of an observatory? Would that simply be a list of the seven largest telescopes? No, I don’t think so. Rather, it would need to be seven observatories that are well known from their uniqueness, wealth of scientific discoveries, and public image. I wanted observatories that are well known for what they’ve done. Well, there are some obvious choices in that category, like the HST and Mt. Palomar. But, there are others as well, known to almost every astronomer (amateur and professional alike) such as Cerro Tololo or McDonald Observatory. There are space based telescopes other than HST, too. And, of course there are radio observatories. So, the choices wind up being pretty huge. In keeping with tradition, I settled on seven. […]
Solomon2 on September 30, 2007 at 6:55 pm: 6
You forgot Telstar, the first comsat. Scratch out Mariner 2, because it was really a stripped-down Ranger and substitute Luna 2, the first spacecraft to hit the surface of another world. Pioneer 10, as the first probe to hit solar escape velocity and enter interstellar space, may be a better candidate than Voyager 2. And very few spacecraft were as important to maintaining peace during the cold war as the Vela and other military spy satellites. (I think Discoverer 1 was the first.)
I think it’s an open question which “space station” should be on the list. The ASTP was a milestone in U.S.-Soviet cooperation, not the ISS, Skylab did more science, and Salyut 7’s record is really more impressive than Mir’s. Because the ASTP was the seed and the ISS the flower, that mission would be my choice.
So what to kick out to maintain the list at seven? Can’t kick out Sputnik, because that led to everything else. Can’t kick out Apollo, because of its milestone technological complexity and the huge trickle-down effect of its R&D effort. So drop the space shuttle, which seems to be a dead end as NASA will replace it with an Apollo-type spacecraft, and drop - what? Let’s make it eight wonders, OK?
Astroprof on September 30, 2007 at 11:15 pm: 7
It was hard to pick just a few missions to represent the wonders. Actually, Echo was the first comsat (if not too successful). One of the early Sputnik’s was the first spy satellite, but I’d have picked the Corona series as having the biggest impact of the early ones. I had thought of the Luna probes instead of Mariner 2, but I decided on the first actual interplanetary probe (not counting the Moon as a planet). So, this list of mine may not be the best, but at least it gets people to thinking, and that is what is important.
Solomon2 on October 6, 2007 at 10:29 pm: 8
And we both forgot weather satellites. You’re an interesting man, prof, so I’m sticking you on my blogroll.
Monika Hande on November 5, 2007 at 11:54 pm: 9
It is excellent
planet facts on November 10, 2008 at 1:55 am: 10
The germans are making a new 7 wonders in 2015… just little fyi
Giza on November 12, 2008 at 2:35 am: 11
Thanks for the post. Never heard about the Voyager before.
p.s. You have a WP database error in the right sidebar right under the AdSense block.