What is space exploration?

What is space exploration? 

Humans have always searched into the night sky and dreamed about space.

In the latter half the 20th century, rockets were developed that were powerful enough to beat the force of gravity to succeed in orbital velocities, paving the way for space exploration to become a reality.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Third Reich saw the chances of using long-distance rockets as weapons. Late in war II, London was attacked by 200-mile-range V-2 missiles, which arched 60 miles high over English Channel at quite 3,500 miles per hour. After war II, the us and therefore the Soviet Union created their own missile programs.

On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the primary satellite , Sputnik 1, into space. Four years afterward April 12, 1961, Russian Lt. Gagarin became the primary human to orbit Earth in Vostok 1. His flight lasted 108 minutes, and Gagarin reached an altitude of 327 kilometers (about 202 miles).

The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, went into orbit on Jan. 31, 1958. In 1961, Shepard became the primary American to fly into space. On Feb. 20, 1962, John Glenn’s historic flight made him the primary American to orbit Earth.

Landing On The Moon

Landing on the moon: Apollo 12 launches for second moon landing Nov. 14, 1969.

“Landing a person on the moon and returning him safely to Earth within a decade” was a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. On July 20, 1969, astronaut Armstrong took “one giant leap for mankind” as he stepped onto the moon. Six Apollo missions were made to explore the moon between 1969 and 1972.

During the 1960s, unmanned spacecraft photographed and probed the moon before astronauts ever landed. By the primary 1970s, orbiting communications and navigation satellites were in everyday use, and thus the Mariner spacecraft was orbiting and mapping the surface of Mars. By the top of the last decade , the Voyager spacecraft had sent back detailed images of Jupiter and Saturn, their rings, and their moons.

Skylab, America’s first space station , was a human-spaceflight highlight of the 1970s, as was the Apollo Soyuz Test Project, the world’s first internationally crewed (American and Russian) space mission.

In the 1980s, satellite communications expanded to hold television programs, and other people were ready to devour the satellite signals on their home dish antennas. Satellites discovered an hole over Antarctica, pinpointed forest fires, and gave us photographs of the nuclear power plant disaster at Chernobyl in 1986. Astronomical satellites found new stars and gave us a replacement view of the middle of our galaxy.

Space Shuttle

In April 1981, the launch of the spacecraft Columbia ushered during a period of reliance on the reusable shuttle for many civilian and military space missions. Twenty-four successful shuttle launches fulfilled many scientific and military requirements until Jan. 28,1986, when just 73 seconds after liftoff, the spacecraft Challenger exploded. The crew of seven was killed, including Christa McAuliffe, an educator from New Hampshire who would are the primary civilian in space.

Shuttle launch

The spacecraft was the primary reusable spacecraft to hold people into orbit; launch, recover, and repair satellites; conduct cutting-edge research; and help build the International space platform .
The Columbia disaster was the second shuttle tragedy. On Feb. 1, 2003, the shuttle broke apart while reentering the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. The disaster occurred over Texas, and only minutes before it had been scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center. An investigation determined the catastrophe was caused by a bit of froth insulation that broke off the shuttle’s propellant tank and damaged the sting of the shuttle’s left . it had been the second loss of a shuttle in 113 shuttle flights. After each of the disasters, spacecraft flight operations were suspended for quite two years.

Discovery was the primary of the three active space shuttles to be retired, completing its final mission on March 9, 2011; Endeavour did so on June 1. the ultimate shuttle mission was completed with the landing of Atlantis on July 21, 2011, closing the 30-year spacecraft program.

The Gulf War proved the worth of satellites in modern conflicts. During this war, allied forces were ready to use their control of the “high ground” of space to realize a decisive advantage. Satellites were used to provide information on enemy troop formations and movements, early warning of enemy missile attacks, and precise navigation within the featureless desert terrain. the benefits of satellites allowed the coalition forces to quickly bring the war to a conclusion, saving many lives.

Space systems still become more and more integral to homeland defense, weather surveillance, communication, navigation, imaging, and remote sensing for chemicals, fires, and other disasters.



International space station

The International space platform may be a lab in low Earth orbit. With many different partners contributing to its design and construction, this high-flying laboratory has become a logo of cooperation in space exploration, with former competitors now working together.

The station has been continuously occupied since the arrival of Expedition 1 in November of 2000. The station is serviced by a selection of visiting spacecraft: the Russian Soyuz and Progress; the American Dragon and Cygnus; the japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle; and formerly the spacecraft and therefore the European Automated Transfer Vehicle. it's been visited by astronauts, cosmonauts, and space tourists from 17 different nations.

Space launch systems are designed to scale back costs and improve dependability, safety, and reliability. Most U.S. military and scientific satellites are embarked on orbit by a family of expendable launch vehicles designed for a spread of missions. Other nations have their own launch systems, and there is strong competition within the commercial launch market to develop subsequent generation of launch systems