Tech & Science · 1962
Satellites, Space Orbits, and Semiconductor Breakthroughs
In 1962, the Space Race reached thrilling new heights as satellites beamed live TV across oceans and probes journeyed toward Venus. Meanwhile, breakthroughs in computing and optoelectronics laid the foundations for the modern digital world.
- July 10, 1962 | Telecommunications
Telstar 1 Satellite Launch
AT&T and NASA launched Telstar 1, enabling the world's first live transatlantic television broadcast and satellite phone calls.
- February 20, 1962 | Space Exploration
Friendship 7 Mission
Astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, completing three orbits aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft.
- December 14, 1962 | Planetary Science
Mariner 2 Reaches Venus
NASA's Mariner 2 completed humanity's first successful planetary flyby, recording critical temperature data from Venus's extreme atmosphere.
- Fall 1962 | Optoelectronics
Invention of the Visible LED
Nick Holonyak Jr. developed the first visible-spectrum light-emitting diode at General Electric, pioneering modern LED technology.
- February 1962 | Software & Gaming
Spacewar! Computer Game
Steve Russell and his team at MIT finished Spacewar!, creating one of the earliest digital video games for the PDP-1 computer.
- September 29, 1962 | Aerospace
Launch of Alouette 1
Canada launched Alouette 1 to study the ionosphere, becoming the third nation to design and build its own satellite.
- December 7, 1962 | Computing
Inauguration of the Atlas Supercomputer
The University of Manchester commissioned the Atlas, considered the world's most powerful supercomputer at the time.
- September 1962 | Applied Physics
Semiconductor Injection Laser
Robert N. Hall invented the first semiconductor laser at General Electric, enabling fiber-optic communications and optical media.
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