In the initial days, weightlessness was one important discovery but this posed a major problem because how would man explore space if he had to counter this problem. And so, the questions asked were whether human beings would be able to survive long periods of being weightless, and what the effects of having been in a situation of prolonged weightlessness would be, one of the main effects being that of stress. Thus, American and Russian scientists decided to use animal astronauts for their experiments, to see if a living being could go into space and come back alive and unharmed.

The first men and women who travelled in space in the 1960s could do so only because animal astronauts had been sent into space successfully. The Soviets sent 9 dogs, called Space Dogs, to test the efficacy of spacesuits in unpressurized cabins. For the Suborbital flights, Albina and Tsyganka, two Space Dogs were blasted to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere at an altitude of 53 miles. They were ejected and came safely down to Earth in their ejection seats. The altitude to which these Space Dogs was sent was slowly increased till in 1957, Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 were launched.

Laika, a Space Dog was launched by the Soviets in Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. Laika, meaning ‘Barker’ in Russian, was the very first living creature in Space. The way back had not yet been calculated or worked out, and Laika died in Space. Belka (meaning ‘Squirrel’) and Strelka (meaning ‘Little Arrow’), two dogs, were launched into Space in Sputnik 5 on August 19, 1960. Accompanying them were 40 mice, 2 rats and a number of plants. On March 9, 1961, Sputnik 9 carried Chernushka (‘Blackie’) for a one orbit mission. A dummy cosmonaut, some mice and a guinea pig were Chernushka’s companions. Sputnik 10 on March 25, 1961 carried Zvezdochka (‘Little Star’) into Space on a one orbit mission. Once again a dummy cosmonaut was sent. Gordo was sent to space by the American army. This flight was an information flight as it provided useful data to the Army and Navy in their medical research on manned Space flights and this little squirrel monkey made it possible.

Gordo’s flight was successful, and there were no adverse effects, but there was a flight malfunction and Gordo did not return to Earth. A rhesus monkey, Sam was launched into Space on December 4 1959. This mission was to test equipment that would be used in the manned flights of the future. It was also to test the effects of high acceleration. This was an extremely successful launch and Sam returned to Earth happily to be reunited with Miss Sam.
On January 21 1960, Miss Sam, a 6 pound rhesus monkey went into Space. The flight was used to test the escape system that would be used in manned flights. She too returned to Earth after a successful flight. Ham, the Chimp, went into Space on MERCURY-REDSTONE 2, on 31st January, 1961. This flight was primarily to test the operational capabilities of the Mercury capsule’s systems in Space.

The Mayan calendar brings back memories of a particular civilization that belongs to the pre-Columbian era’s Mesoamerica. This particular Mayan calendar by also dates back to a few modern Maya communities that is located in the highlands of Guatemala. These are special calendars that can be both synchronized as well as interlocked and calculations can be brought out from them. These calendars have a few particular combinations and these combinations are responsible for giving rise to more extensive cycles that needlessly to say are more complicated than the last cycle. The essence of all these Mayan systems including calendars are all firmly based on a particular system that has been in use all throughout the region where the Mayans resided. According to calculations all these particular systems date back at least to the 6th century BCE.

The informative Mayan calendar shares several aspects of typical calendars that were previously used by the other earlier civilizations of the Mesoamerican race like the Zapotec and the Olmec. The Mayan Calendar also bears a certain likeness to several later formed calendric systems like the Mixtec as well as the Aztec calendars. However it is quite interesting to know that Mesoamerican calendar wasn’t originated with the advent of the Mayan culture or with the Mayan progress. The later extensions as well as the refinements of this calendric system were termed to be the most sophisticated as well as most complex too. The Maya calendars along with their Aztec counterparts have the best-documentation and also are the most completely comprehensible ones.

According to the tradition of the Mayan mythology which reportedly are documented in the accounts of the Colonial Yucatec cultures and are re-made from the inscriptions found from the late Classic as well as Postclassical era. According to these facts the deity by the name of Itzamna is usually credited as the bringer of knowledge of these systems of calendar to the Mayan ancestors. This deity also brought in writings as well as many other basic aspects of the Mayan culture.

There is one calendar that comprises of a period of a total of 260 days and this is the one that is considered to be the most important calendar of the two. This 260-day calendar was in use all across every Mesoamerican societies and is considered to have a great antiquity. This is one calendar that is used even now in some of the regions of Oaxaca. This 260 day calendar is also used by communities of the Mayas residing in the highlands of Guatemala. The Mayan version of the calendar is usually known to all the scholars of the world as the Tzolkin and this is a perfect combination of another conventional 365-day calendar that is called the Haab and forms a much synchronized cycle that lasts for a total of 52 Haabs and this is called the Calendar Round.  There are several smaller cycles consisting of a total of 13 days that is also known as the trecena and a total of 20 days that is called the veintena. These two were very important and absolutely indispensable components of both the Tzolk’in and Haab’ cycles.

There is a buzz all over that the world as we know it is going to end. This very morbid and shocking prediction has been doing the rounds for a while and almost everyone in the world is confused with one question and one question only “Is the World going to end?” There is a large percentage of people of the world who believe that Mayans very much ahead of their own time and their calendar or the Mayan calendar is one of the most perfect examples strongly testifying to this fact. The Mayan calendar supposedly has been predicting every happening of the world accurately and it stops on 2012 thus experts, researchers and people alike are considering it to be the end of the world.

The Mayan Calendar as we might know is a fine amalgamation of several distinct calendars as well as almanacs that were used by the Mayan people. It has predicted several predictions that actually have taken place in the real world as we all know it.

The Mayan Calendar is a combination of a couple of actual calendars and both are different from each other. These two calendars are called the Tzolk’in and the Haab respectively. Both of these work in tandem and function collectively. The Tzolk’in is one such calendar that consists of a total of 260 days and the latter one or the Haab is one calendar that comprises of the usual 365 days like most other common calendars. These two together create a cycle of a total of 52 years. The years that these two calendars namely the Tzolk’in and the Habb create together is known as a Calendar Round.

It has been found out that this is one calendar that is stunningly accurate. Both the dates as well as the time for natural phenomenon like the sunrises and sunsets are perfect as well as accurate to the core and these calculations are perfect as well as down to the minute. The place from where the Mayan calendar was discovered stands as ample proof to the fact that the Mayan people were well versed and had immense knowledge of both space and time. This is what their culture shows.

The Mayan Calendar as has been mentioned before has been predicting everything with sharp accuracy and perfection. Now comes the supposedly scary and creepy part, the Calendar stops and there’s no further calculation available any more. 2012 is the year when the Mayan Calendar ceases its function of recording the time. This according to many marks the date for the End of the World as we all know it. The end of the world has been found out through several researches. However nothing’s been proven yet and there is still a lack of concrete proof as to the end of the world theory. A great shadow of doubt hangs over all these predictions and this is gradually becoming one of the biggest and one of the most exciting questions of this era. However there’s still hope and there’s still time for these researches to be absolutely proven so you can relax for a while!