The History of Space Exploration: a Timeline

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Let us to take you back through the timeline of space exploration and its rich, fascinating history.
Starting in 1946, with a rudimentary German military rocket, we will explore world firsts and milestones, broken frontiers and heart-breaking tragedy, canine astronauts, sophisticated robots, alien landscapes and everything in between!

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My teacher told me to make a timeline on this. This is really big!

flork

The first man made object in space was V2, that’s correct, but it happened on 1944, and than in 1946 first photographs were taken from space by another V2 rocket. But the video is really great! I like it

santaclaus

is Youtube messin with me? theres no way this video only has 2, 244 views

kitsune

Early Rocket Experiments:
The history of space exploration begins with the development of rocket technology in the early 20th century. In the 1920s and 1930s, pioneers such as Robert Goddard in the United States and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in the Soviet Union began to experiment with rocket engines, developing the foundations of modern rocketry.

In 1944, the German V-2 rocket became the first human-made object to enter space, reaching an altitude of 189 kilometers. The V-2 rocket was used by the Germans during World War II and was later captured and studied by the United States and the Soviet Union.

The Space Race:
The Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union was one of the defining moments of the 20th century. Beginning in the late 1950s, both nations competed to be the first to achieve milestones in space exploration, including the first human in space, the first woman in space, and the first lunar landing.

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth. In 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon, uttering the famous words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

The Space Shuttle Era:
In 1981, the United States launched the first Space Shuttle mission, marking the beginning of a new era in space exploration. The Space Shuttle was designed to be a reusable spacecraft, capable of carrying both humans and cargo into space.

Over the course of 30 years, the Space Shuttle program completed 135 missions, including the launch and repair of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station.

Private Space Exploration:
In recent years, private companies have begun to play an increasingly important role in space exploration. Companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin have developed reusable rockets and spacecraft, with the goal of making space travel more affordable and accessible.

In 2021, SpaceX launched the first all-civilian mission into space, marking a new era of space tourism. The mission, called Inspiration4, carried four civilians into orbit for three days.

Future of Space Exploration:
The future of space exploration is filled with possibilities and challenges. Some of the key areas of focus for space exploration in the coming years include the search for extraterrestrial life, the development of new technologies to enable human settlement on other planets, and the continued exploration of our solar system and beyond.

Conclusion:
The history of space exploration is a testament to human ambition and innovation. From the early rocket experiments of the 20th century to the current era of private space exploration, humans have pushed the boundaries of what is possible in the pursuit of knowledge and discovery. As we continue to explore the universe, we will undoubtedly face new challenges and obstacles, but our determination and creativity will ensure that we continue to push forward into the unknown.

ashley

My English teacher told my to research on space.This really big and very very very very interesting. A big hats off to you and please do keep it up!

seshuprasad

thank this saved my grade a help me score second in my class ❤❤❤👍

younesmellouk

gee, looks FLAT to me, thanks von braun!

guy

The main driving force behind space exploration was the space race between the USSR and the USA. Let's look at her results.

Rating of countries by the first launches of artificial Earth satellites:

1. USSR - 1957
2. USA - 1958
3. UK - 1962
4. Canada - 1962
5. Italy - 1964

Rating of countries by the first launches of space satellites with their own launch vehicles:

1. USSR - October 4, 1957
2. USA - February 1, 1958
3. France - November 26, 1965
4. Italy - April 26, 1967
5. Japan - February 11, 1970

Rating of countries by the first flights of astronauts:

1. USSR - April 12, 1961
2. USA - May 5, 1961
3. Czechoslovakia - March 2, 1978
4. Poland - June 27, 1978
5. GDR - 26 August 1978

Ranking of countries by the number of first-of-its-kind spacecraft (remarkable, of historical significance, with achievements that were made for the first time by one of the countries) until 1992:

1. USSR - 21
2. USA - 15
3. EU - 1

Ranking of countries by the number of spacecraft launched to explore the solar system, as well as first-of-its-kind or noteworthy vehicles launched into low Earth orbit before 1992:

1. USSR - 115
2. USA - 84
3. EU - 4
4. Japan - 4
5. Germany - 2

Ranking of countries by the number of successful orbital launches (not including emergency and partially emergency) until 1992:

1. USSR - 2278
2. USA - 903
3. Japan - 42
4. France - 39
5. China - 27

Ranking of countries by the lowest proportion of emergency orbital launches for countries with more than 10 launches before 1992:

1. USSR - 5.54%
2. EU - 7.14%
3. USA - 11.25%
4. Japan - 12.24%
5. France - 14.89%

As you can see, in all the above ratings, the USSR took first place. The United States achieved the landing of a man on the moon, so I will dwell on this in more detail.

A manned flight to the moon was not practical. In view of the fact that the USA lost to the USSR all the events of the race in space and had hopeless chances of winning when competing with the USSR in those places that had practical expediency, the Americans decided to deliver a man to the moon, due to the fact that the USSR was not going to send a man to the moon ( Of the given hopeless chances of winning in rivalry with the USSR and a great chance to beat the Soviets in the implementation of the first landing of the crew on the moon, Wernher von Braun wrote in a note to Vice President L. Johnson, in which he tried to answer the questions posed by President Kennedy in a memorandum dated April 20, 1961). For a man to fly to the moon, a tenfold jump in carrier power was needed compared to the rockets existing at that time, and for the reason that the USSR did not plan to fly to the moon, the USSR did not have such a rocket, and he did not try to develop it. But due to large financial expenses and due to the lack of practical expediency, the US leadership refused to finance the delivery of a man to the moon.

For example, this is what the head of the task force, Donald Horniga, wrote about this in his conclusion when analyzing NASA's plan for the Apollo program: “Emotional arguments and national ambition are put in the rationale for manned programs. This is not a subject that can be discussed from an engineering standpoint.”

US President Eisenhower found the requested spending to be beyond reasonable. On December 20, 1960, the issue was considered at a meeting of the US National Security Council. Eisenhower's reaction was indifferent: "I don't care if man of the moon. Someone compared the situation to the one when the Spanish monarchy decided to finance the expensive expedition of Christopher Columbus, who discovered America as a result. Eisenhower, recalling the method used by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, replied that he "is not going to pawn his jewels to send a man to the moon."

But with the change of the President of the United States, the situation has changed. On May 25, 1961, American President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech to Congress in which he proclaimed the goal for the United States to carry out space flight with an astronaut landing on the surface of the Moon before the end of the decade. To this, former President Dwight Eisenhower wrote in the widely read Sunday Evening Post that "the race to the moon, the inevitable spending of huge sums and the increase in public debt is the wrong way."

But despite this, the Apollo program was adopted in 1961. Kennedy was able to convince Kennedy to accept this program by a consultant from his campaign headquarters, Richard Neustadt, writing in a note that the Apollo program, or rather, its key and most expensive part of it - the projected Saturn rocket, is a project of prestige, and that the United States is lagging behind the USSR and, most likely, will be left behind in rivalry with the USSR, therefore, it is necessary to withdraw from the race and redirect resources to getting a man to the moon.

On October 26, 1963, N. S. Khrushchev, answering journalists' questions, said that the Soviet Union did not plan to send a man to the moon. At that time, Korolev had a multi-launch scheme that involved assembling a lunar spacecraft in near-Earth orbit from separately launched modules. But it was not approved at the government level and therefore was not funded. Also, even before the launch of the lunar flight and lunar landing programs in the USSR, technical proposals were developed for the creation of a manned lunar orbital station L4.

The main initiator of the idea of manned flight to the Moon and even to Mars was Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.

But Korolev's views on the need for manned space exploration were opposed by the view of G. N. Babakin that only the exploration of outer space by robots would give real and quick benefits to mankind. And the decisive word in this rivalry was for V. Chelomey, who, being one of the key creators of the USSR nuclear missile shield and the head of the second of the main organizations for the creation of space technology (including manned), considered Babakin's view as more promising. Chelomey was the direct superior of Sergei Khrushchev, who was his deputy and was the son of N. S. Khrushchev. But after the removal of N. S. Khrushchev from power, Chelomey fell into disgrace, which gave Korolev the opportunity to implement his ideas. Therefore, only a few years later, with a great delay in relation to the United States, on August 3, 1964, the lunar manned program of the USSR was approved by a government decree.

Korolev originally planned a flight to Mars as more valuable than a flight to the Moon, but due to the launch of the US lunar program and the complex technical implementation "Martian" version, the project was revised towards the Moon.

But even further, Korolev ran into problems due to the fact that many did not share his idea of flying to the moon. The most experienced space propulsion design bureau Glushko refused to make powerful engines for spacecraft necessary for flight to the moon. Glushko was a principled opponent of flights to the Moon and advocated the creation of orbital near-Earth stations for defense purposes. Also, experienced Gosplan economists, with whom Korolev usually consulted, warned that the real figures for the necessary costs through the Ministry of Finance and the State Planning Commission will not be approved. Pashkov, highly knowledgeable in the politics of the State Planning Commission, advised to underestimate real costs, and in the future we will issue more than one decree, hardly anyone dares close the work of such a scale and then the money will be found! Therefore, the calculations that were submitted to the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers were underestimated. And when it came to allocating the necessary funds for it, the leaders of the country demanded that the designers observe the regime
savings, and this only led to "raw" design solutions and a sharp decrease reliability of new space technology.

On January 14, 1966, Sergei Korolev dies during a medical operation. Further, in view of the fact that there were no more such supporters of the flight to the moon as Korolev, after the appointment of Glushko as the head and chief designer of NPO Energia, he closed the lunar program.

As you can see, landing a man on the moon had no practical significance, so the governments of the countries refused to allocate money for this. But when the leadership changed, this problem was resolved. The lack of practical significance led to the fact that the lunar program of the USSR was adopted much later than the United States. Even despite the fact that the lunar program was approved in the USSR, there were still frictions within the USSR between Korolev (a supporter of flights to the moon) and those who believed that sending a man to the moon was economically unreasonable and pointless, which hindered this goal. Before the Americans reached the moon, Korolyov died, and later his opponents of a manned flight to the moon closed the lunar program of the USSR. The US put a man on the moon. Unlike the USSR, the US had a motive to reach the moon. They were served by the fact that the Americans had previously lost to the USSR all phases of the space race and thus wanted to rehabilitate themselves. But it was much more economically feasible to send interplanetary spacecraft to the Moon, which the USSR did. The USSR was already on the moon 10 years before the US landed a man on it.

In general, looking at the above facts, we can say that the space race was won by the USSR, and the USA won the lunar race.

luckyea

When referencing Voyager I's 2012 departure from the solar system, it mentioned "The Pale Blue Dot" was taken 12 years earlier, but it was actually taken in 1990. I knew Carl Sagan asked for that picture, and I knew he died in the 90's so I checked.

joshuakarlowicz