Human beings have always gazed up at the night sky, dreaming of space.
Rockets that were strong enough to withstand the force of gravity to achieve orbital velocities were built in the latter half of the 20th century, paving the way for space exploration to become a possibility.
Nazi Germany saw the prospect of using long-distance rockets as weapons in the 1930s and 1940s. London was targeted by 200-mile-range V-2 missiles late in World War II, arching 60 miles high over the English Channel at over 3,500 miles per hour. The United States and the Soviet Union developed its missile programs after World War II.
The Soviets launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit on Oct. 4, 1957. On April 12, 1961, four years later, Russian Lt. Yuri Gagarin became Vostok’s first human to orbit Earth 1. It took him 108 minutes to fly, and Gagarin reached an altitude of 327 kilometers (about 202 miles).
On Jan. 31, 1958, the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, went into orbit. Alan Shepard became the first American to fly into space back in 1961. The historic flight of John Glenn made him the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962.
LANDING ON THE MOON
A national target set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 was to “land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth within a decade.” Astronaut Neil Armstrong took “one giant leap for mankind” on July 20, 1969, when he walked onto the moon. During the years 1969 and 1972, 6 Apollo missions were conducted out to examine the moon.
Before astronauts ever landed, robotic spacecraft photographed and probed the moon during the 1960s. By the early 1970s, there was regular use of orbiting communications and navigation satellites, and the Mariner spacecraft orbited and surveyed Mars’ surface.
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By the end of the decade, accurate images of Jupiter and Saturn, their rings, and their moons, had been sent back by the Voyager spacecraft.
The Apollo Soyuz Test Project, the world’s first internationally crewed (American and Russian) space mission, was a human-spaceflight highlight of the 1970s, as was Skylab, America’s first space station. Satellite communications grew to carry TV programs in the 1980s, and individuals were able to pick up the satellite signals on their home dish antennas. Satellites found an ozone hole over the Antarctic, observed forest fires, and sent us images of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. Astronomical satellites have detected new stars and given us a new view of our galaxy’s core.
SPACE SHUTTLE
The launch of the Columbia space shuttle in April 1981 ushered in an era of dependency on the reusable shuttle for the majority of civilian and military space missions. Until Jan. 28, 1986, when the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff, twenty-four successful shuttle launches fulfilled many scientific and military requirements. The seven-man crew was killed, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire instructor who would have become the first civilian in space.
The first of the three operational space shuttles to be retired was Discovery, which completed its final flight on March 9, 2011; Endeavour did so on June 1. With the landing of Atlantis on July 21, 2011, the last shuttle flight was completed, closing the 30-year program for space shuttles.
In modern wars, the Gulf War showed the importance of satellites. Allied forces were able to use their dominance of the “high ground” of space during this war to attain a decisive advantage.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
Satellites were used to provide information on the formations and movements of enemy forces, early warning of enemy missile attacks, and accurate navigation in the desert terrain without features. The benefits of satellites allowed the coalition forces to bring the war to a swift end, saving many lives.
Homeland protection, weather observation, connectivity, navigation, imaging, and remote sensing for chemicals, explosions, and other hazards continue to become more and more integral to space systems.
The International Space Station is a Low Earth Orbit research laboratory. This high-flying laboratory has become a symbol of space exploration collaboration, with several different partners contributing to its design and construction, with former rivals now working together.
Since the arrival of Expedition 1 in November of 2000, the station has been continuously occupied. Several visiting spacecraft represent the station: the Russian Soyuz and Progress; the American Dragon and Cygnus; the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle; and the former Space Shuttle and Automated European Transfer Vehicle.
Astronauts, cosmonauts, and space tourists from 17 different nations have visited it.
To reduce costs and increase reliability, protection, and reliability, space launch systems have been developed. A family of expendable launch vehicles designed for a range of missions is launched into space by most U.S. military and scientific satellites. Other nations have their launch systems and, in the commercial launch industry, there is heavy competition to create the next generation of launch systems.
THE FUTURE OF SPACE EXPLORATION
Once only dreamed of, modern space exploration is hitting regions. Mars is the focal point of modern exploration of space, and manned exploration of Mars is a long-term priority.
The United States. U.S. NASA is on a mission to Mars to take humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s.
NASA and its collaborators have dispatched orbiters, landers, and rovers to increase our awareness of the earth. To protect astronauts, the Curiosity Rover has collected radiation data, and the MARS 2020 Rover will research the availability of oxygen and other Martian resources.
