We human beings have been venturing into space since October 4, 1957, when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. This happened during the period of political hostility between the Soviet Union and the United States known as the Cold War. For several years, the two superpowers had been competing to develop missiles, called intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), to carry nuclear weapons between continents. In the U.S.S.R., the rocket designer Sergei Korolev had developed the first ICBM, a rocket called the R7, which would begin the space race.
This competition came to a head with the launch of Sputnik. Carried atop an R7 rocket, the Sputnik satellite was able to send out beeps from a radio transmitter. After reaching space, Sputnik orbited Earth once every 96 minutes. The radio beeps could be detected on the ground as the satellite passed overhead, so people all around the world knew that it was really in orbit. Realizing that the U.S.S.R. had capabilities that exceeded U.S. technologies that could endanger Americans, the United States grew worried. Then, a month later, on November 3, 1957, the Soviets achieved an even more impressive space venture. This was Sputnik II, a satellite that carried a living creature, a dog named Laika.
Prior to the launch of Sputnik, the United States had been working on its own capability to launch a satellite. The United States made two failed attempts to launch a satellite into space before succeeding with a rocket that carried a satellite called Explorer on January 31, 1958. The team that achieved this first U.S. satellite launch consisted largely of German rocket engineers who had once developed ballistic missiles for Nazi Germany. Working for the U.S. Army at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, the German rocket engineers were led by Wernher von Braun and had developed the German V2 rocket into a more powerful rocket, called the Jupiter C, or Juno. Explorer carried several instruments into space for conducting science experiments. One instrument was a Geiger counter for detecting cosmic rays. This was for an experiment operated by researcher James Van Allen, which, together with measurements from later satellites, proved the existence of what are now called the Van Allen radiation belts around Earth.
In 1958, space exploration activities in the United States were consolidated into a new government agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). When it began operations in October of 1958, NASA absorbed what had been called the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and several other research and military facilities, including the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (the Redstone Arsenal) in Huntsville.
The first human in space was the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who made one orbit around Earth on April 12, 1961, on a flight that lasted 108 minutes. A little more than three weeks later, NASA launched astronaut Alan Shepard into space, not on an orbital flight, but on a suborbital trajectorya flight that goes into space but does not go all the way around Earth. Shepards suborbital flight lasted just over 15 minutes. Three weeks later, on May 25, President John F. Kennedy challenged the United States to an ambitious goal, declaring: I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth."
In addition to launching the first artificial satellite, the first dog in space, and the first human in space, the Soviet Union achieved other space milestones ahead of the United States. These milestones included Luna 2, which became the first human-made object to hit the Moon in 1959. Soon after that, the U.S.S.R. launched Luna 3. Less than four months after Gagarins flight in 1961, a second Soviet human mission orbited a cosmonaut around Earth for a full day. The U.S.S.R. also achieved the first spacewalk and launched the Vostok 6 mission, which made Valentina Tereshkova the first woman to travel to space.
During the 1960s, NASA made progress toward President Kennedys goal of landing a human on the moon with a program called Project Gemini, in which astronauts tested technology needed for future flights to the moon, and tested their own ability to endure many days in spaceflight. Project Gemini was followed by Project Apollo, which took astronauts into orbit around the moon and to the lunar surface between 1968 and 1972. In 1969, on Apollo 11, the United States sent the first astronauts to the Moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on its surface. During the landed missions, astronauts collected samples of rocks and lunar dust that scientists still study to learn about the moon. During the 1960s and 1970s, NASA also launched a series of space probes called Mariner, which studied Venus, Mars, and Mercury.
Space stations marked the next phase of space exploration. The first space station in Earth orbit was the Soviet Salyut 1 station, which was launched in 1971. This was followed by NASAs Skylab space station, the first orbital laboratory in which astronauts and scientists studied Earth and the effects of spaceflight on the human body. During the 1970s, NASA also carried out Project Viking in which two probes landed on Mars, took numerous photographs, examined the chemistry of the Martian surface environment, and tested the Martian dirt (called regolith) for the presence of microorganisms.
Since the Apollo lunar program ended in 1972, human space exploration has been limited to low-Earth orbit, where many countries participate and conduct research on the International Space Station. However, unpiloted probes have traveled throughout our solar system. In recent years, probes have made a range of discoveries, including that a moon of Jupiter, called Europa, and a moon of Saturn, called Enceladus, have oceans under their surface ice that scientists think may harbor life. Meanwhile, instruments in space, such as the Kepler Space Telescope, and instruments on the ground have discovered thousands of exoplanets, planets orbiting other stars. This era of exoplanet discovery began in 1995, and advanced technology now allows instruments in space to characterize the atmospheres of some of these exoplanets.
Read this article:
The History of Space Exploration | National Geographic Society
- Startups have taken big strides this year to bring back space travel - Fortune - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Isolation and annoying co-workers: Solving the stress of a trip to Mars - Astronomy Magazine - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- SPACE PERSPECTIVE UNVEILS THE FUTURE OF HUMAN SPACE TRAVEL - PR Newswire - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Space Perspective Unveils The Future Of Human Space Travel - Space Daily - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Brokaw: 'Constellation' is an unsettling story of space travel - Daily Herald - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- The New Companies Developing Tech on the Space Coast - SpaceCoastDaily.com - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- A space tourism milestone has been reached. Now, testing begins. - Travel Weekly - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Space Perspective Unveils Test Capsule, Marks Milestone in Titusville's Spaceflight Journey | TalkOfTitusville.com - Talk of Titusville - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Former West High student now heads tech startup making pharmaceuticals in space - Salt Lake Tribune - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Space travel: How does it feel to live and work on Mars? - Mint Lounge - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- NASA's Vision for the Future: A New Space Station by 2030 - Medriva - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- How antimatter engines could fly humans to other stars in just a few years - Business Insider Nederland - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Kam Ghaffarian's Moonshots - The New York Times - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- Tiny robot's successful first surgery could have huge implications for space travel - ReadWrite - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- Space Health Challenges and Innovations in Deep Space Travel - Medriva - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- NASA is Done Setting Fires Inside its Doomed Cargo Spacecraft - Universe Today - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- 'The Space Race' Review: Why Was NASA So White? - The New York Times - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- The New Corporate Frontier: Implications of the Space Race on Ground-Based Telescopes and Astronomical Research - Medriva - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- This Remotely Controlled Robot Will Conduct a Simulated Surgery on the International Space Station - Smithsonian Magazine - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- Canadian Astronaut Jeremy Hansen: Reflecting on Canada's Role in Space Exploration and Preparing for Artemis II ... - Medriva - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- Axiom Space's Ax-3 Mission: A Revolutionary Step in Commercial Space Travel - Medriva - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- MBRSC to begin second Mars simulation mission on January 26 - SatelliteProME.com - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Starfield players outraged over missing space exploration feature - Dexerto - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- This Alternate Method of Space Travel in Starfield is Way More Immersive Than Menus - GameRant - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Starfield: How to space travel and scan planets - App Trigger - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Why Do Almost Half of Moon Missions Fail? Here's Why Space Is ... - Inverse - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Researchers Discover Yet Another Way That Space Travel Kills You - The Debrief - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Moon landing rekindles interest in space exploration - New Zealand Herald - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- What's it like to win a trip to space? - BBC - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- UNLV Earns NASA Awards to Bolster Space-Related Research ... - UNLV NewsCenter - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- 7 Best Ships To Unlock In Starfield - Screen Rant - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Starfield players agree that its first dozen hours are its weakest: 'OK ... - PC Gamer - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Buddhists Do Not Want Space Junk to Fall on Your Head - E-International Relations - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Will humans ever go to Mars? | Astronomy.com - Astronomy Magazine - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Unleashing Power of Tether Space Transport - Jammu Kashmir ... - Daily Excelsior - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Frustrated Starfield players say controversial low review scores are ... - Dexerto - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Saudi space mission to launch on May 21, first Arab woman astronaut to embark on historic journey to ISS - wknd. - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Saudi astronauts to launch space mission on May 21 - Saudi Gazette - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- First Saudi space mission to launch on May 21 with Kingdoms first astronauts - Al Arabiya English - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Flying in space would slash Sydney to London journey time to just two hours - 9News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Flights from Sydney to London take two hours with outer space ... - Innovation News Network - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The Final Frontier for the Faithful: Islamic Rulings on Space - E-International Relations - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Twitter is still vital for the space community. A former NASA astronaut ... - Space.com - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- CNL Aims to Better Protect Canadian Astronauts Through New Project Funded by the Canadian Space Agency - Yahoo Finance - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- SpaceX Announces Seat Reservations For Space Station Travel - Traveling Lifestyle - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Axiom-2 Mission Set to Launch with Diverse Crew of Private ... - Transcontinental Times - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- New Mexico has surreal sand dunes, snowy mountains, space alien ... - Knoxville News Sentinel - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- To Space and Back: Students Conduct Plant Science Research on ... - ISS National Lab - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- NASA Tests Robot Snakes to Send to Other Planets - Newsweek - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- HAL 9000 Is the Most Terrifying Movie A.I. - Collider - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Space Travel Market 2023 to 2029 Industry Analysis, Growth ... - Cottonwood Holladay Journal - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Virgin Galactic: Revolutionizing Space Travel and the Future of ... - Best Stocks - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Virgin Galactics first private space tourism flight to take off in June - Travel Tomorrow - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- NASA PC-12 to conduct aerial flights over Cleveland roadways - AviationSource News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Florida's 'Space Coast' Has Incredible Beaches, Food, and Dolphins Here's How to Plan a Trip - Yahoo Life - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Fast X adds Jason Momoa to the Vin Diesel-driven franchise for the first instalment of a series finale that already feels like its spinning its wheels... - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Airstreams new travel trailer fits a swanky studio apartment into less than 17 feet of living space - The Manual - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Steven Wright, Master of the One-Liner, Tries His Hand at a Novel - The New York Times - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Poop falling from the sky: Here's how often that happens - CBS News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- How will we react when the aliens arrive? - The Irish Times - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Luxury stores with the most beautiful interiors - Luxebook - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Is it really possible to travel back in time? - BBC Sky at Night Magazine - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The pros and cons of space colonization - Yahoo News - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- In space, failure is an option often the only one - Nature.com - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- Virgin Galactic Announces Return to Space, Crew | - Santa Fe Reporter - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- A tour inside the Thailand's first space themed hotel - Manila Bulletin - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- Buzz Aldrin named Brigadier General by Space Force - We Are The Mighty - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- Virgin Orbit Failure Casts Cloud Over Space Voyages - Kiplinger's Personal Finance - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- OPINION: A Return to Profitability for Commercial Aviation - Avionics ... - Aviation Today - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- 12 Realistic Films About Space Travel and Making Contact With Aliens - Wealth Of Geeks - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- Dont be fooled: 10 of the biggest travel myths, busted - Sydney Morning Herald - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- 20 of the Worst Disasters in Space Flight History - 24/7 Wall St. - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- This Day in History: Astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space - WESH 2 Orlando - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- 10 Wildest Science Fiction Movies That Could Actually Happen - Screen Rant - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- Harry Styles new road trip music video Satellite is full of US travel ... - New Zealand Herald - May 10th, 2023 [May 10th, 2023]
- What is the future of space travel? | Royal Museums Greenwich - Cutty Sark - March 31st, 2023 [March 31st, 2023]
- Timeline: 50 Years of Spaceflight | Space - January 6th, 2023 [January 6th, 2023]
- Scientists Propose New, Faster Method of Interstellar Space Travel - January 6th, 2023 [January 6th, 2023]
- Home | Virgin Galactic - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- Space Program | JFK Library - December 14th, 2022 [December 14th, 2022]