History of Space
Exploration
Siddharth Rajpriye
GT 3rd Year
Ancient Rockets
Humans have dreamed about spaceflight since
antiquity.
The Chinese used rockets for ceremonial and
military purposes centuries ago, but only in the
latter half of the 20th century were rockets
developed that were powerful enough that
could open space to human exploration.
Modern Rockets
As often happens in science, the earliest
practical work on rocket engines designed
for spaceflight occurred simultaneously
during the early 20th century in three
countries by three key scientists: in Russia,
by Konstantin Tsiolkovski; in the United
States, by Robert Goddard; and in
Germany, by Hermann Oberth.
1930s-40s
During WW2, Germans had developed a surface-to-surface multiple rocket
launcher, the Nebelwerfer and the Soviets already had introduced the RS-132
air-to-ground rocket.
First Man on Space
In October 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1,
into space. Four years later on April 12, 1961, Russian Lt. Yuri Gagarin became
the first human to orbit Earth in Vostok 1. His flight lasted 108 minutes, and
Gagarin reached an altitude of 327 kilometers (about 202 miles).
Space Race
Landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth within a
decade was a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
The Space Race has left a legacy of Earth communications and weather
satellites, and continuing human space presence on the International
Space Station. It has also sparked increases in spending on education and
research and development, which led to beneficial spin-off technologies.
First Satellite-USSR
First Man on Space-USSR
First Man on Moon-USA
Apollo and other missions
On July 20, 1969, Astronaut Neil Armstrong took a giant step for
mankind as he stepped onto the moon. Six Apollo missions were made
to explore the moon between 1969 and 1972.
Mariner spacecraft was orbiting and mapping the surface of Mars.
By the end of the decade, the Voyager spacecraft had sent back detailed
images of Jupiter and Saturn, their rings, and their moons.
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system
operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
as part of the Space Shuttle program.
Five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions
from 1981 to 2011.
The Space Shuttle was retired from service upon the conclusion of Atlantis's
final flight on July 21, 2011.
ISS
The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable
artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit.
The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research
laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology,
human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields. The
station is suited for the testing of spacecraft systems and equipment
required for missions to the Moon and Mars.
The ISS programme is a joint project among five participating space
agencies: NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA.
Targets of Exploration
Mercury- Least explored, Mariner 10 and MESSENGER missions
Venus-First target of interplanetary flyby lander missions, Mariner 2
Mars- MOM etc.
Jupiter- Galileo, Juno
Saturn-Cassini, Voyager 2
Neptune-Voyager 2
Pluto-
Mars- Apollo Missions, Chandrayaan
Sun- Parker Solar Probe is a planned NASA robotic spacecraft to probe
the outer corona of the Sun. It will approach to within 8.5 solar radii
Thankyou
