HISTORY 

History of Space Exploration

The space exploration history seems to start during the 1990s. The 90's seemed to be the time when space exploration became successful. It was when the Hubble Space Telescope was launched. Other important events include: the first orbit of Jupiter (1995), The first landing on an asteriod (2001), The first landing on Titan (2005).

Evolution of Manned Space Vehicles 

The first aircraft to reach space was the X-15 (1959). The craft could touch the edge of space and it went no further. 

Next was Project Mercury (1965), the spaceflight program. This program conducted six successful manned flights.

Then came Project Gemini (1961-1966), this spacecraft helped to develop flight techniques for Apollo's mission. Instead of only one man on the mission, this spacecraft carried two men!

The famous Apollo mission (1961-1972) was after Project Gemini. The first manned spacecraft to orbit a planet was Apollo 8. It is amazing thinking that a aircraft that touched only the edge of space, started all of this!

Evolution of Unmanned Space Vehicles

Many unmanned spacecrafts have been sent into space, but Explorer 1 was the first. Unlike recent spacecrafts; Explorer 1 did not have a camera.

The Viking 1 was the first spacecraft to land on Mars successfully. The purpose of the spacecraft was to search for life.

Compare both of these to the Hubble Space Telescope, and you will find that spacecrafts have improved. The Hubble Telescope was the first spacecraft to take a picture of space, and it is a vital source of space research. The telescope's mission has been going on for 26 years.