History of Space Exploration

Last Monday we had a very rare solar eclipse, in which the sun was completely blocked the moon and it was dark for over 3 minutes. While partial solar eclipses are quite common this was the first total solar eclipse in North America since 1979. We were quite lucky to be in the direct path of totality in the town of Zionsville. My parents came to witness the historical event, and the four of us (Andres included) watched the whole event unfold in my backyard. I can honestly say that the moment lived up to the hype and it was such a surreal experience. 

The only way to see the moon covering the sun was with special glasses. This began at about 2pm and the whole process took about 2 hours from the covering to the uncovering. As it approached totality there was such a unique twilight in the sky, like a mixture of evening and sunrise. Totality occurred at around 3:06 pm and it was one of the most amazing sights I had ever seen. I had anticipated the darkness but not the circular ring of light known as a "corona". It was like something out of a sci-fi movie, as the sun's glare could be seen behind the moon. For that brief moment everything seemed supernatural, and everyone (including the birds) were in sheer amazement of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. A few minutes after it ended and we were all back to our daily business.

The moment has stuck with me for some days now and has brought on a rather unexpected inspiration into space. I've always been quite fascinated with the night sky and the stars that are thousands of lightyears away. Maybe it began with Star Wars or just my creative imagination but space has always been an intriguing topic. I dove deep into space studies in 2012, watching various documentaries about galaxies, black holes, supernovas, wormholes, dark matter, and all the fascinating mystery still around it (see Study of Cosmology, Study of Astronomy, Study of Astrophysics). What's especially interesting is that this is all mostly theory and we're just barely grasping at the surface. But that's what I want to focus on here. Not our theoretical breakthroughs (such as relativity or nuclear fusion) but rather our physical breakthroughs in regards to space exploration (such as satellites, probes, moon-landings, rovers, space-stations, and beyond). 

The Space Race Begins

I had thought my Cold War phase was primarily focused on the Nuclear Arms race and I was ready to move on, that is until the eclipse happened. So once again I found myself drawn back to the 1950s where the Space Race had also begun to gain steam within this cold war. Sadly this sudden desire to explore space was not driven by a scientific urge, yet rather a political rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union. In a new booming age of technology space presented a significant tactical position in regards to communication, information, and especially weaponization. It was simply a desire for both sides to have the upper advantage in the case of war. 

There were major scientific breakthroughs as far back as the 1600s that had begun to lay the groundwork for space exploration (such as theories by Galileo and Isaac Newton) as well as constant improvements to the telescope throughout the 1700-1800s. In 1944 humanity made it's first breakthrough into outer space when Nazi Germany launched the first ever ever man-made V-2 rocket to leave the earth's atmosphere. While there were some significant rocket launches and animal experiments after this it was not until 1957 that the Space Race truly began. This was when the Soviet Union launched the first ever satellite into orbit, Sputnik. 

The Sputnik satellite was a breakthrough in space exploration, because it could now provide data from outer space and relay it back to earth. It's primary purpose was to analyze the density of the atmosphere and send radio signals back to the Soviets. This however caused a great fear among Eisenhower who felt that the Soviet Union had surpassed them scientifically and this could be used militarily if they did not catch up. Thus a year later in 1958 NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was founded not so much to explore space but to be able to compete with the Soviet Union. Some of NASA's earliest goals were to send satellites into orbit and eventually put humans in space. 

In April of 1961 however the Soviet Union once again beat the United State to another major milestone by putting the first human into outer space. The pilot Yuri Gagarin became the first ever human in outer space onboard the Vostok spacecraft which did a full 108-minute orbit around earth and then back. Yuri Gagarin became a national hero and inspired several more successful Soviet launches in their Vostok Program. In response to this NASA kicked off their Mercury program to also send humans into space. This included Alan Shepard in May of 1961 and John Glenn in Feb of 1962. 

Gemini Missions

By the early 1960s it seemed the Soviets had the clear lead in the Space Race (by putting the first man into orbit), the Nuclear Race (by creating the worlds largest hydrogen bomb), and arguably the Cold War in general (following America's humiliating failure at the Bay of Pigs Invasion). However President Kennedy brought a breath of fresh air into American ambition and sought to rewrite the script. He thus decided to put heavy funding into the NASA program and gave a famous public speech about his desire to land on the moon before 1970. Unfortunately Kennedy would not live much longer to see this dream played out, however he laid out the groundworks of this mission to the moon.

The first phase was to continue to push the barriers of human's reach into outer space (after all the moon is 238,900 miles away from our atmosphere). This brought about the Gemini Project which sought to develop a spacecraft and a crew to fly further into space. In response to this the Soviets began their Voskhod Program and once again beat the Americans to two more milestones. First by launching the first multi-person spacecraft in October of 1964, then by performing the first ever spacewalk (outside of the craft) in March of 1965. However the Soviet Voskhod Porgram only had two missions while the Gemini Project launched ten missions.    

• Gemini 1: Was the first uncrewed test flight of the Gemini spacecraft, launched on April 8th of 1964 it performed 63 orbits. 
• Gemini 2: Another unmanned test flight that launched on Jan 19th, 1965. The main purpose of this was not to orbit the earth, but rather to test the craft's return to earth thru it's heat shield. 
• Gemini 3: Was the first American multi-person spacecraft launched in March 23rd of 1965. Astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young completed three orbits around earth in almost 5 hours before returning. 
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  Gemini 4: Astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White circled the Earth 66 times and Ed White made the first American spacewalk. 
• Gemini 5: This mission was for duration and set the world record at nearly 8 days in outer space.
• Gemini 6 and 7: Were multiple spacecraft missions that were able to rendezvous in space. Both crafts were able to communicate with one another and come as close as 1 foot apart. 
• Gemini 8: Was intended to be a docking of two spacecrafts, however was aborted due to technical difficulties. This was Neil Armstrong's first flight into space.
• Gemini 9: Was another failed attempt to dock two spacecrafts and aborted.
• Gemini 10: Finally succeeded in docking two spacecrafts, and transferring an astronaut from one to another. Michael Collins became the first person to complete this transfer. 
• Gemini 11: Was continued experiments with the rendezvous and docking of two spacecrafts, as well as longer spacewalk duration.
• Gemini 12: The final Gemini mission continued to practice space rendezvous and was the debut for Buzz Aldrin.
  

Apollo Missions

By 1967 it had become quite clear that the United States had surpassed the Soviet Union in the space race. Although the Soviet Union reached major milestones first (such as first man in orbit, first multi-person spacecraft, and first spacewalk) the United States performed far more successful missions in space. Furthermore the Soviet's experienced the first human fatality in space in April of 1967 when Vladimir Komarov was killed during the descent due to a parachute failure. Although there were secretive plans, the Soviet Lunar Program never really took off after the brief Soyuz failure. Soon it became a one man show for the United States Apollo Mission to achieve Kennedy's dream of reaching the moon before 1970. 

• Apollo 1: This was planned to be the first launch of the Apollo spacecraft, however the entire crew was killed by a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal on Feb 21st, 1967. This included Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed White (the first American to walk in space).
• Apollo 4: Debuted the new Saturn 5 Launch rocket which propelled the Apollo space shuttle into it's first un-crewed space orbit for 8 hours.
• Apollo 5: Was another unmanned space launch to test the launch sequence with the Apollo Lunar Module that would transport the astronauts to the moon. 
• Apollo 6: Was the third unmanned rocket launch of the Saturn 5. While the launch was successful the trip was cut short due to some technical difficulties.
• Apollo 7: Was the first crewed flight onboard the Apollo spacecraft, launched on October 11th, 1968. Although the craft did not journey to the moon, it was a successful launch, completed 163 orbits around the earth, for 10 days, and a successful return. It also demonstrated the first ever television broadcast in space.
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  Apollo 8: Launching on Dec 21st, 1968, this was the first manned spacecraft to leave the earth's orbit and perform a flyby of the moon. It took 68 hours (approx 3 days) for the Apollo spacecraft to travel from Earth to the moon. The spacecraft then orbited the moon 3 times before successfully returning home.   
• Apollo 9: Was yet another manned flight to the moon, that began to test the necessary procedures to perform the lunar docking in the earth's orbit, and the undocking in the moon's orbit. 
• Apollo 10: This was the complete dress rehearsal of all systems and procedures without actually landing on the moon.  
  
• Apollo 11: This was finally the ultimate achievement of the space race, the first successful human landing on the moon. Launched on July 12th of 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the surface of the moon. Neil's words of "the first step of man, and a giant leap for mankind" became broadcast all across the world. The astronauts were welcomed back as heroes.    
• Apollo 12: Was the 2nd successful human landing on the moon by astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean in Nov 19th of 1969. Of which they were able to spend more time and perform more experiments on the moon's surface.
• Apollo 13: Was an infamous lunar malfunction where the crew had to abort their mission and just barely return to Earth. The malfunction was caused by a leak in the craft's oxygen tanks, which made the crew's return to earth very challenging with minimal electricity and oxygen. The mission is especially made famous by Tom Hanks film portrayal.
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  Apollo 14: Was postponed a couple years due to the system investigations of Apollo 13. Finally in Jan 1971 this became the 3rd successful landing on the moon by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell. 94 pounds of moon rocks were collected to return and study back on Earth.
• Apollo 15: Was the fourth successful landing on the moon in August of 1971. David Scott and James Irwin explored further then ever on the newly created moon rover vehicle. They spent a total of 18 hours on the moon's surface. 
  
• Apollo 16: Was the fifth successful landing on the moon in April of 1972 by astronauts John Young and Charles Duke. Both astronauts explored the moon's surface for a duration of 71 hours before returning home successfully.
• Apollo 17: Was the sixth and final human landing on the moon to occur in December of 1972. Astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the last humans to walk on the moon and set several records including the largest lunar sample and the longest orbit around the moon at 6 days. 

Space Stations

Once the United States had landed on the moon the Space Race was essentially over. Funding for both Soviet and American space programs were significantly reduced. Knowing they had lost the race to the moon, the Soviets began to focus more on space stations and exploring Mars. They initiated their Salyut program in 1971 to develop space stations that could orbit the earth for long durations which was ideal for space research. They deployed 7 space stations from 1971 to 1982 that broke all sorts of duration records. The United States also had a space station program in the 1970s known as Skylab but it was eventually merged into the Soviet's model. 

By the 1980s the Soviets expanded their Salyut model into a modular craft with various arms and segments. This offered more space for logistics, experimentations, as well as docking and fueling operations. The first modular station known as Mir was sent into orbit in 1986. It's purpose was to collect scientific data vital for colonizing space. It stayed in space for nearly 15 years, and was later replaced by the International Space Station in 1998. The ISS still functions to this day as a collaboration of five major space organizations; NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).

Space Probes and Telescopes

By early 1960s solar probes had been developed as a similar concept to satellites however with the intention to leave the earth's orbit and explore further into space. The first successful solar probe was the Pioneer 5, deployed in 1960 it journeyed for 22.6 million miles for 107 days before it lost contact with earth. In 1971 the Mariner 9 became the first probe to reach Mars. In 1973 the Pioneer 10 became the first probe to reach Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury. In 1977 the famous Voyager 1 satellite was launched to reach Saturn, and has continued to journey deep into space ever since. It has recorded data, photos and flybys of far off planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, and the exploration of the moon Titan (the only object in space with water other than Earth). The voyager remains the most distant human spacecraft in space at approx 15 billion miles away from Earth. The voyager 2 has achieved similar depths by reaching Uranus and Neptune.      

Space telescopes gather a cleaner image of space, outside the earth's atmosphere, by using mirrors to collect far off lights. The first successful space telescope was the OAO-2 launched from America in 1968. Perhaps the most iconic and powerful telescope in space is the Hubble launched into earth's orbit in 1990. It has provided many famous photos of deep space. This has recently been surpassed however by the more modern James Webb Space Telescope launched in 2021. It allows for high resolution views with the use of mirrors that are able to collect light as far back as 13 billion years ago (which dates back to the Big Bang). The images are quite breathtaking and truly demonstrate the vastness of space.  

Space Shuttle Program

After closing the book on Moon explorations NASA focused primarily on research missions during it's Space Shuttle Program (from 1972 to 2011). They developed a newer and stronger spacecraft known as the orbiter that could hold up to eight astronauts, heavier cargo loads, and re-enter the earth's atmosphere. The purpose of these missions were usually for experimental, logistical, or technical repairs within the International Space Station, the Hubble Telescope, or various other satellites. There were six designs created during the tenure of it's program which completed 135 missions. Two of the space shuttles ended in terrible tragic explosions.

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  Enterprise: Completed in 1976, it was the first prototype design of the orbiter space shuttle. It was built primarily for testing purposes, using parts from a Boeing Airplane. The designed craft never left space however it opened the door for it's predecessor.
• Colombia: Made it's first flight in 1981 and completed 28 missions during it's tenure mostly. It is however most known for it's tragic disaster in 2003 that killed all 7 astronauts onboard. The failure occurred during reentry into the atmosphere when the heat shields were penetrated causing a fatal explosion.  
• Challenger: Made it's debut flight in 1983 and completed a total of 10 missions. It too however is most known for it's tragic disaster in 1986 that killed all 7 astronauts onboard. The error occurred during launch when the sealed gaskets were breached which began an instant explosive reaction. Of the astronauts was a teacher, who had trained to fly as a tourist. For this reason the flight had significant media attention, and it's abrupt explosion shocked the world. 
• Discovery: Made it's debut flight in 1984 and became the primary shuttle after a 3 year hiatus following the Challenger disaster. It performed a total of 39 flights before being retired.
• Atlantis: Made it's debut flight in 1985 and completed a total of 33 flights before being retired. 
• Endeavor: Made it's debut flight in 1992 and completed a total of 25 missions in space before being retired. It made it's last space shuttle flight in 2011, bringing an end to the space shuttle program. 

Mars Missions

After conquering the moon another objective for space exploration was to reach the nearest planet of Mars. It is approximately 140 million miles from earth which takes a spacecraft about 7 months. Of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars shares the most similar characteristics with Earth due to it's distance from the sun. The Soviets first attempted to reach Mars in the early 60s to no avail. In July of 1965 NASA launched the first successful flyby of Mars, on the probe Mariner 4. A few years later in 1971 they launched the Mariner 9 to become the first probe in orbit. The Soviets finally achieved some success and yet another major milestone when they launched the first successful probe to reach the surface of Mars in May of 1971. 

In the 1970s NASA launched several more successful probes to perform flybys and even orbit the planet of Mars. The probe Viking 1, became the first successful lander on the surface of Mars and provided the first ever photos. Unlike the moon surrounded by the darkness of space, Mars actually has an atmosphere which portrays it's red rocky geography. It looks like a giant red barren desert of rocks, craters, and mountains with no indication of life, water, or plants. But there is belief that there once might have been life, and may still be possible to inhabit due to the vapor within it's atmosphere, and its large rocks of ice. The planet also has a similar climate to Earth with clouds, wind, seasons, and temperatures ranging from 70 degrees to negative 225 degrees Fahrenheit (at certain locations, seasons, and time of day). While the planet looks like a warm desert it is actually quite colder then earth due to it's further distance from the sun. 

By the mid 1990s NASA was able to collect even better data from Mars, when it launched it's successful Pathfinder missions. The Sojourner robotic rover was able to explore and communicate with Earth for 85 days. In 2004 NASA sent twin rovers the Spirt and Opportunity to further explore the topography of the planet. Both crafts significantly outlasted their predecessor and provided substantial data back to Earth. The Spirit broke down in a sand dune in 2010, while the Opportunity explored Mars for nearly 15 years until it broke down due to a sandstorm in 2018. In 2011 NASA launched it's largest rover to date, the car-sized Opportunity which is still operational to this day. The Perseverance was launched in 2020, also as a car-sized rover that still operates on the surface of Mars today.     

Artemis and Future Missions

In 2017 NASA kicked off a new project to return to the moon with an intent to colonize it. The Artemis Program marked a 50 year gap from which mankind had last explored the moon's surface. It debuted a newly designed space launch system as well as a fairly new space capsule known as the Orion. This program is especially of interest to me as my brother has helped design some mechanical parts for the spacecraft. The goal is to establish a long term base on the moon which can be used to further examine outer space as well as continued expeditions to the planet Mars. 

• Artemis 1: The first phase successfully launched and performed a crewless flyby in 2022. This was the debut of the new Space Launch System. 
• Artemis 2: The next mission will launch on September of 2025 as a 4-person flyby of the moon. 
• Artemis 3: Scheduled for September 2026 as a 4-person landing on the moon (the first since 1972)
• Artemis 4: Scheduled for September 2028 as a 4-person landing on the moon to deliver a Habitation Module that will be a part of the Lunar Gateway station.
• Artemis 5: Scheduled for March 2030 as a lunar landing that will deliver the lunar vehicle as well as the ESPRIT (European System Providing Refueling, Infrastructure, and Telecommunications) module that will connect to the Lunar Gateway. 
• Artemis 6: Scheduled for March 2031 as a lunar landing that will deliver the Crew and Science Airlock.
• Artemis 7: Scheduled for March 2032 this lunar landing will begin the lunar outpost assembly and the delivery of the Lunar Cruiser.  
• Artemis 8: Scheduled for 2033, this lunar landing will deploy the foundation of the Surface Habitat and it's logistics
• Artemis 9: Scheduled for 2034, this lunar landing will deploy more items and logistics to the Surface Habitat.
• Artemis 10: Scheduled for 2035, this lunar landing will deploy more supplies to the habitat as well as a long-term stay within the base.
• Artemis 11: Scheduled for 2036, this lunar landing will deliver more supplies as well as a personnel shift change

Other future exploration initiatives range from civilian flights, further space research, and even colonization (such as on the Moon or in Mars). There is still much to discover about our neighbor planets in the Solar System, such as Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Uranus, and Pluto. Our furthest dwarf planet of Pluto would take approx 10 years to reach onboard our current spacecraft designs. The options are quite limited for deep space exploration, considering the nearest star of Proxima Centauri is 4.5 light years away (which would take approx 63,000 years to reach with our current technology). I think our best bet of truly reaching outer space is only by sight, thru impressive telescopes such as the James Webb and beyond.