The History of Space Exploration

The History of Space Exploration

Since the time of the ancient Egyptians, humans have showed an interest in the vast night sky.  Although space exploration really did not begin until the 1960s, progress towards exploring our solar system began as early as the 1910s.  In 1912, a balloon was sent high into our atmosphere over a region in Europe.  The flight of this balloon helped scientists discover cosmic rays.  In 1957, the USSR launched the first satellite into orbit around the earth.  The satellite was known as Sputnik 1.

The Cold War drove early Space Exploration

By the late 1950s, the Cold War between Communist Russia and the US was well underway.  Both of these countries were fighting for the title of "#1 World Power."  Advancements in technology during this time period proved to both the US and the USSR that space travel was not out of the question any longer.  The USSR obviously developed their space programs more rapidly than we did in the beginning since they launched the first successful satellite into an orbit around the earth. Sputnik set the stage for a Space Race between the two nations fighting for supremacy.  Several historic achievements made by both the Soviets and the Americans include:

• Lunar orbits launched by both the US and the USSR.  Many missions were executed due to several failures during the early missions.
• The infamous Apollo 11 mission in which America became the first country to send a man to the moon.  In July 1969, Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins set foot on the moon.  They took home with them 21.7 kg of rock samples.  Apollo 11 was viewed by many as the mission that won the Space Race for the Americans.
•  In 1970, the Soviets successfully landed a ship on the surface of the moon in the mission known as Luna 16.

There were many more missions and fly-by's executed by the US and the USSR in the 70s, 80s, and even 90s.  The Soviet Union ended in 1991, and with it ended the Cold War.  Space missions seemed to decline after the end of the Cold War.  Many Americans began to realize that the competition with the Soviet Union was really their only motivation for exploring space.

NASA ends its Space Shuttle Program

Earlier this year, NASA officially ended their shuttle program that has been functioning for about thirty years.  They were forced to shut down under the Obama Administration, although there is hope of the program returning by the end of the decade. The program officially ended when NASA sent their space shuttle known as Endeavour to California via Aircraft Carrier.  I can only imagine what an incredible sight it must have been.


Works Cited:

Hamilton, Calvin J. "Chronology of Space Exploration." solarviews.com. Views of
     the Solar System, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://www.solarviews.com/eng/
     craft1.htm#moon>. 

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Is There More Than E.T. Out There?

Is There More Than E.T. Out There?

          Do you ever find yourself gazing up at the stars on a clear night, wondering what could be up there?  If your answer to that question is yes, then you probably would be interested in astronomy.  Astronomy is the study of space, and our entire physical universe.  If Astronomy sounds bland and uninteresting to you, here are some interesting facts that just might motivate you to finish reading this blog!

Astronomical Facts

• Our Sun contains 99% of all of the mass in our Solar System!
• Black Holes are so dense, and have a gravitational pull so strong, that even light can not escape.
• Every second, our Sun releases the amount of energy equivalent to the energy released in 100 billion nuclear bombs!
• Light from distant galaxies takes so long to reach us, that when you look up at the stars, you are seeing light that can be millions of years old. (You are essentially looking back in time!)
• If you were to place Saturn in water, it would float.

        Advancements in the sciences have made it possible for us to observe deep space.  As technology continues to advance, so will advancements in space travel.  But what really lies beyond the tiny blue dot that we call earth?  Could there be intelligent life on other planets?  Many scientists believe that the answer is yes.  Look at it this way...There are almost 500 billion galaxies, and 10 thousand billion planets in our observable universe. Most scientists find it highly unlikely that earth is the only planet with intelligent life.  So what would these lifeforms look like?  The media has portrayed aliens as little green men with flying saucers.  However, there might be life out there that our minds could not even fathom.  Until we have the technology and money to explore distant planets, we will never know for sure what kind of life could exist out there.

Life on Mars

NASA launched a Rover the size of a truck to Mars in November 2011.  The NASA team named the Rover "Curiosity."  Curiosity did not touch down on Mars until August 6, 2012.  (Not bad for a 354 million mile journey!)  There is a common misconception that Curiosity is looking for life on Mars.  In all actuality, Curiosity is basically acting like a big camera!  Its main objective is to look for evidence that life may have existed in the past.  Curiosity carries around some top notch equipment! It has...

• A powerful jackhammer to dig through Martian rock.
• High quality laser cameras.
• A Carbon detector. (Essential in order to find evidence of life.)
• Two Lithium ion powered batteries that power Curiosity.
• A small lump of the radioisotope Plutonium-238 which gives of a significant amount of heat as it decays.  This heat powers an electric generator which recharges Curiosity's batteries. 

Who cares if there used to be life on Mars?

 Does it really matter if Curiosity finds evidence of life on Mars?  Why should we care if life used to be present on the Red planet?  First of all, if scientists can prove that there was once life on Mars, we would confirm that earth is not the only planet in our universe which has ever sustained life.  This discovery could influence more trips to Mars, which might eventually lead to people being able to live on Mars.  Many scientists believe that the earth will not be able to support us for too much longer meaning that Mars has the potential to save the human race!

 Works Cited

Garber, Megan. "Curiosity Lands on Mars: Know What You're Watching When You're Watching '7 Minutes of Terror'." the Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/08/curiosity-lands-on-mars-know-what-youre-watching-when-youre-watching-7-minutes-of-terror/260725/>.

Hanlon, Michael. "Did NASA discover life on Mars... 36 years ago?" dailymail.co.uk. Associated Newspapers Ltd, Aug. 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2191650/Curiosity-Did-NASA-discover-life-Mars--36-years-ago.html>.

Millis, John P. "10 Strange and Amazing Astronomy Facts." About.com. About.com, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <http://space.about.com/od/humor/a/AstronomyFacts.htm>.