What did they know in the 1960's about space and what discoveries have been made since then?

Answer 1

We went to the moon in 1969

Answer 2

1) The Universe has a flat geometry.
2) No black holes where known to exist in 1970. Now many are.
3) Gamma-ray bursters.
4) Voids between galaxy clusters.
5) Dark matter and Dark Energy.
6) Interstellar Molecular Clouds and the nature of star formation.
7) Extinction of dinosaurs by meteor impact.
8) Rings around planets other than Saturn
9) Many of the moons in the Solar System
10) Planets around other stars
11) The rotation of Mercury and Venus
12) Essentially all Martian geography, except for a few large features that were known before.
13) The mechanism of spiral structure in galaxies
14) The mechanism of galaxy collisions and growth
15) Any detail whatsoever about the moons of other planets: volcanos on Io, oceans of Europa, the atmosphere of Titan, the cratered surfaces of Phobos and Diemos.

Answer 3

They knew a lot then. Most of what we know today was known then.

In the 1970s it was discovered that Mars has craters and a very thin, almost pure carbon dioxide atmosphere. Everyone was surprised by how Moon like Mars appeared in the first pictures from the Viking space craft. People were really expecting to see canals and living plants. Really! That was how little we knew about Mars before any space craft went there!

Answer 4

First...go to a library and see if you can find a set of encylopedias for 1965. Read it.

Then find a set of encyclopedias from 2007. Read it.

Now you have your answer.

The corollary: Why do people ask questions that require the citing of entire textbooks to answer?