SPACE EXPLORATION

 "...we shall one day travel to the moon, the planets, and the stars, with the same facility, rapidity, and certainty as we now make the voyage from Liverpool to New York." -- Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon, 1865

"Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards." -- Fred Hoyle, English astrophysicist, 1979

Since the time of ancient civilisations, space has been central to the understanding of our place in the world. Early astronomers devised grandiose, if naive, models of the Universe with the Earth at the centre. Astrologers created an elaborate metaphysics in the belief that the movement of stars and planets governed our daily lives.

But space has also drawn humans as the great unknown waiting to be explored. From the story of Icarus to countless volumes of science fiction, space travel has long been seen as humanity's ultimate challenge and the ultimate dream.

Our understanding of the Universe has come a long way over the past century, but our footprint in space remains in its infancy. This venture began in 1957 when Sputnik 1, the first orbital satellite to circle the Earth, was launched. When we consider how far we've travelled from Earth, Voyager 1, launched in 1977, has only flown the equivalent of 0.02% of the distance to the closest star, Proxima Centauri. In contrast to Jules Verne's optimism, travel to the Solar system's edge and beyond remains a significant challenge. That said, it remains a challenge worth taking because our pursuit of space has already revolutionised our lives. Global positioning systems, wireless technology, solar panels, and even medical imaging are all technological innovations spun off from the study and exploration of space. Most of this technology could not have been foreseen when space exploration began. Likewise, there is little doubt that interplanetary and even interstellar travel of the future will bring about more unexpected breakthroughs in science and technology. In this Grand Challenge you will learn about the science behind space exploration and how it may change our lives again in the future.

Early morning view on November 9, 1967 of Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, showing Apollo 4 Saturn V (Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501) prior to launch later that day. This was the first launch of the Saturn V.

(This file is in the public domain because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted".)