"Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space."
The study of the scientific and technological achievements in space since the early days of space exploration.
Sputnik 1: The first artificial satellite to be launched into space by the Soviet Union in 1957, marking the beginning of the Space Race.
Apollo missions: A series of manned missions by NASA in the 1960s and 1970s that culminated in the first human landing on the moon with Apollo 11.
International Space Station: A habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit, jointly managed by NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, and other international partners.
Space Shuttle Program: A NASA program that launched reusable spacecraft in Low Earth orbit between 1981 and 2011.
Voyager missions: Two NASA spacecraft launched in 1977 to study the outer Solar System, including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Mars exploration: A series of missions by various space agencies to explore the planet Mars and its environment, including rovers, landers, and orbiters.
Space probes: Unmanned spacecraft designed to explore space and gather data on planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.
Space telescopes: Observatories that are placed in orbit to study astronomy and cosmology beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
Human spaceflight: The act of sending humans into space for scientific, commercial, or exploration purposes.
Commercial spaceflight: The private sector's involvement in space exploration, including space tourism, satellite launching, and cargo transportation.
"While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted both by uncrewed robotic space probes and human spaceflight."
"The development of large and relatively efficient rockets during the mid-twentieth century allowed physical space exploration to become a reality."
"The world's first large-scale experimental rocket program was Opel-RAK under the leadership of Fritz von Opel and Max Valier during the late 1920s."
"Common rationales for exploring space include advancing scientific research, national prestige, uniting different nations, ensuring the future survival of humanity, and developing military and strategic advantages against other countries."
"The early era of space exploration was driven by a 'Space Race' between the Soviet Union and the United States. A driving force of the start of space exploration was during the Cold War."
"The Soviet space program achieved many of the first milestones, including the first living being in orbit in 1957, the first human spaceflight in 1961, the first spacewalk in 1965, the first automatic landing on another celestial body in 1966, and the launch of the first space station in 1971."
"After the first 20 years of exploration, the focus shifted from one-off flights to renewable hardware, such as the Space Shuttle program, and from competition to cooperation as with the International Space Station (ISS)."
"Constellation, a Bush administration program for a return to the Moon by 2020 was judged inadequately funded and unrealistic by an expert review panel reporting in 2009."
"The Obama administration proposed a revision of Constellation in 2010 to focus on the development of the capability for crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), envisioning extending the operation of the ISS beyond 2020, transferring the development of launch vehicles for human crews from NASA to the private sector, and developing technology to enable missions to beyond LEO."
"In the 2000s, China initiated a successful crewed spaceflight program while India launched Chandraayan 1."
"The European Union and Japan have also planned future crewed space missions."
"China, Russia, and Japan have advocated crewed missions to the Moon during the 21st century."
"The European Union has advocated crewed missions to both the Moon and Mars during the 20th and 21st century."
"The launch of the first human-made object to orbit Earth, the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1, was on 4 October 1957."
"The first Moon landing by the American Apollo 11 mission was on 20 July 1969."
"The Opel-RAK program and the spectacular public demonstrations of ground and air vehicles drew large crowds, as well as caused global public excitement as so-called 'Rocket Rumble'."
"The Opel-RAK program paved the way for the Nazi era V2 program and US and Soviet activities from 1950 onwards."
"The reason NASA was made was due to the response of Sputnik I."
"The Space Shuttle program focused on renewable hardware and the cooperation with the International Space Station (ISS)."