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> History
> Space Craft
> Unmanned Space Programs
> Animals in Space
> Human in Space
> Human in Moon
> Manned Space Programs
> Space Station
> Voyager 1
> Voyager 2
> Hubble Space Telescope
> Recent & Future Developments
   
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Space Exploration,
science and engineering of manned and unmanned space travel. Space
exploration, or astronautics, is interdisciplinary in that it draws upon
the findings of such fields as physics, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry,
biology, medicine, electronic
s, and meteorology.
Manned and unmanned space probes have provided a vast new source of
scientific data on the nature and origin of the solar system and the
universe; Earth-orbiting satellites have improved global communications,
weather forecasting, navigational aids, and reconnaissance of the Earth’s
surface for the location of mineral resources and for military purposes.
The space age and practical astronautics commenced with the launching of
Sputnik 1 by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in October
1957 and of Explorer 1 by the United States in January 1958. In October
1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created
in the United States. Since then, there have been over 3,000 launches of
spacecraft of all varieties, mostly into Earth orbit. Twelve men have
walked on the Moon’s surface and returned to Earth. Several thousand
objects—mostly spent, upper stages of space-launch vehicles and inert
spacecraft—are circling the Earth.
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Saturn 5 Rocket
A Saturn 5 rocket rises slowly from its launch
pad in the early stages of the Apollo 17 mission. More than 110 m
(363 ft) tall, the multi-stage rockets are fuelled by liquid
hydrogen. In addition to being used extensively in the Apollo
programme, one of the massive Saturn 5 rockets was used to launch
NASA’s Skylab in 1973. |
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