Sputnik: A Brief History Of Space Exploration

1922 Words8 Pages

Braving Space
Introduction
History of Space Exploration
In order to understand how space has the potential to help develop new understandings of our galaxy, it’s important to know what space exploration has already achieved. A lot of people’s everyday lives can be greatly connected to space in one way or another. So… what is the history of space exploration? The first satellite ever sent into space was called Sputnik. Sputnik was created by the Soviet Union and was launched on October 4, 1957. This was just the beginning of human space exploration. The soviets once again developed a deeper knowledge of space, and sent the first man into space on April 12, 1961. After this feat, people decided that space exploration needed to go deeper into our solar system. On July 16, 1969, America sent the first manned mission to the moon, Apollo 11, and it was a success. These missions are great examples of how space exploration was born. However, John F. Kennedy had said “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,” during the birth of the Apollo missions, this sparked a fire that made people want to explore even further. Mariner 9 was launched on May 30, 1971. Set out to orbit Mars, it became the first satellite that …show more content…

The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) stated that the “excitement generated by space exploration attracts young people to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, helping to build global capacity for scientific and technological innovation.” meaning that space exploration sparks developing minds, which in turn will improve the STEM aspect of jobs in the future (Benefits Stemming from Space Exploration). This creates a healthy foundation to continue to develop the space programs in order to really tackle the demanding requirements of space