Space exploration

Space exploration is t he use of ast ronomy and space t echnology t o explore out er
space.[1] While t he explorat ion of space is current ly carried out mainly by ast ronomers
wit h t elescopes, it s physical explorat ion is conduct ed bot h by uncrewed robot ic
space probes and human spaceflight . Space explorat ion, like it s classical form
ast ronomy, is one of t he main sources for space science.

Buzz Aldrin taking a core sample of

the Moon during the Apollo 11
mission
 Self-portrait of Curiosity rover on
Mars's surface

While t he observat ion of object s in space, known as ast ronomy, predat es reliable
recorded hist ory, it was t he development of large and relat ively efficient rocket s
during t he mid-t went iet h cent ury t hat allowed physical space explorat ion t o become
a realit y. Common rat ionales for exploring space include advancing scient ific research,
nat ional prest ige, unit ing different nat ions, ensuring t he fut ure survival of humanit y,
and developing milit ary and st rat egic advant ages against ot her count ries.[2]

The early era of space explorat ion was driven by a "Space Race" bet ween t he Soviet
Union and t he Unit ed St at es. A driving force of t he st art of space explorat ion was
during t he Cold War. Aft er t he abilit y t o creat e nuclear weapons, t he narrat ive of
defense/offense left land and t he power t o cont rol t he air t he focus. Bot h t he Soviet
Union and t he U.S. were racing t o prove t heir superiorit y in t echnology t hrough
exploring space. In fact , t he reason NASA was creat ed was as a response t o Sput nik
I.[3]

The launch of t he first human-made object t o orbit Eart h, t he Soviet Union's Sput nik 1,
on 4 Oct ober 1957, and t he first Moon landing by t he American Apollo 11 mission on
20 July 1969 are oft en t aken as landmarks for t his init ial period. The Soviet space
program achieved many of t he first milest ones, including t he first living being in orbit in
1957, t he first human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1) in 1961, t he first
spacewalk (by Alexei Leonov) on 18 March 1965, t he first aut omat ic landing on
anot her celest ial body in 1966, and t he launch of t he first space st at ion (Salyut 1) in
1971. Aft er t he first 20 years of explorat ion, focus shift ed from one-off flight s t o
renewable hardware, such as t he Space Shut t le program, and from compet it ion t o
cooperat ion as wit h t he Int ernat ional Space St at ion (ISS).
Wit h t he subst ant ial complet ion of t he ISS [4] following STS-133 in March 2011, plans
for space explorat ion by t he U.S. remained in flux. The Const ellat ion program aiming
for a ret urn t o t he Moon by 2020[5] was judged unrealist ic by an expert review panel
report ing in 2009.[6] Const ellat ion ult imat ely was replaced wit h t he Art emis Program,
of which t he first mission occurred in 2022, wit h a planned crewed landing t o occur
wit h Art emis III.[7] The rise of t he privat e space indust ry also began in earnest in t he
2010s wit h t he development of privat e launch vehicles, space capsules and sat ellit e
manufact uring.

In t he 2000s, China init iat ed a successful crewed spaceflight program while India
launched t he Chandrayaan programme, while t he European Union and Japan have also
planned fut ure crewed space missions. The t wo primary global programs gaining
t ract ion in t he 2020s are t he Chinese-led Int ernat ional Lunar Research St at ion and t he
US-led Art emis Program, wit h it s plan t o build t he Lunar Gat eway and t he Art emis
Base Camp, each having it s own set of int ernat ional part ners.

History of exploration

V-2 Rocket in the Peenemünde

Museum
First telescopes
The first t elescope is said t o have been invent ed in 1608 in t he Net herlands by an
eyeglass maker named Hans Lippershey, but t heir first recorded use in ast ronomy was
by Galileo Galilei in 1609.[8] In 1668 Isaac Newt on built his own reflect ing t elescope,
t he first fully funct ional t elescope of t his kind, and a landmark for fut ure
development s due t o it s superior feat ures over t he previous Galilean t elescope.[9]

A st ring of discoveries in t he Solar Syst em (and beyond) followed, t hen and in t he

next cent uries: t he mount ains of t he Moon, t he phases of Venus, t he main sat ellit es
of Jupit er and Sat urn, t he rings of Sat urn, many comet s, t he ast eroids, t he new
planet s Uranus and Nept une, and many more sat ellit es.

The Orbit ing Ast ronomical Observat ory 2 was t he first space t elescope launched
1968,[10] but t he launching of Hubble Space Telescope in 1990[11] set a milest one. As
of 1 December 2022, t here were 5,284 confirmed exoplanet s discovered. The Milky
Way is est imat ed t o cont ain 100–400 billion st ars[12] and more t han 100 billion
planet s.[13] There are at least 2 t rillion galaxies in t he observable universe.[14][15] HD1 is
t he most dist ant known object from Eart h, report ed as 33.4 billion light -years
away.[16][17][18][19][20][21]

First outer space flights

Model of Vostok spacecraft

 Apollo Command Service Module in
lunar orbit

MW 18014 was a German V-2 rocket t est launch t hat t ook place on 20 June 1944, at
t he Peenemünde Army Research Cent er in Peenemünde. It was t he first human-made
object t o reach out er space, at t aining an apogee of 176 kilomet ers,[22] which is well
above t he Kármán line.[23] It was a vert ical t est launch. Alt hough t he rocket reached
space, it did not reach orbit al velocit y, and t herefore ret urned t o Eart h in an impact ,
becoming t he first sub-orbit al spaceflight .[24]

First object in orbit

The first successful orbit al launch was of t he Soviet uncrewed Sputnik 1 ("Sat ellit e
1") mission on 4 Oct ober 1957. The sat ellit e weighed about 83 kg (183 lb), and is
believed t o have orbit ed Eart h at a height of about 250 km (160 mi). It had t wo radio
t ransmit t ers (20 and 40 MHz), which emit t ed "beeps" t hat could be heard by radios
around t he globe. Analysis of t he radio signals was used t o gat her informat ion about
t he elect ron densit y of t he ionosphere, while t emperat ure and pressure dat a was
encoded in t he durat ion of radio beeps. The result s indicat ed t hat t he sat ellit e was
not punct ured by a met eoroid. Sputnik 1 was launched by an R-7 rocket . It burned up
upon re-ent ry on 3 January 1958.

First human outer space flight

The first successful human spaceflight was Vostok 1 ("East 1"), carrying t he 27-year-
old Russian cosmonaut , Yuri Gagarin, on 12 April 1961. The spacecraft complet ed one
orbit around t he globe, last ing about 1 hour and 48 minut es. Gagarin's flight resonat ed
around t he world; it was a demonst rat ion of t he advanced Soviet space program and it
opened an ent irely new era in space explorat ion: human spaceflight .

First astronomical body space

explorations
The first art ificial object t o reach anot her celest ial body was Luna 2 reaching t he
Moon in 1959.[25] The first soft landing on anot her celest ial body was performed by
Luna 9 landing on t he Moon on 3 February 1966.[26] Luna 10 became t he first art ificial
sat ellit e of t he Moon, ent ering in a lunar orbit on 3 April 1966.[27]

The first crewed landing on anot her celest ial body was performed by Apollo 11 on 20
July 1969, landing on t he Moon. There have been a t ot al of six spacecraft wit h
humans landing on t he Moon st art ing from 1969 t o t he last human landing in 1972.

The first int erplanet ary flyby was t he 1961 Venera 1 flyby of Venus, t hough t he 1962
Mariner 2 was t he first flyby of Venus t o ret urn dat a (closest approach 34,773
kilomet ers). Pioneer 6 was t he first sat ellit e t o orbit t he Sun, launched on 16
December 1965. The ot her planet s were first flown by in 1965 for Mars by Mariner 4,
1973 for Jupit er by Pioneer 10, 1974 for Mercury by Mariner 10, 1979 for Sat urn by
Pioneer 11, 1986 for Uranus by Voyager 2, 1989 for Nept une by Voyager 2. In 2015, t he
dwarf planet s Ceres and Plut o were orbit ed by Dawn and passed by New Horizons,
respect ively. This account s for flybys of each of t he eight planet s in t he Solar
Syst em, t he Sun, t he Moon, and Ceres and Plut o (t wo of t he five recognized dwarf
planet s).

The first int erplanet ary surface mission t o ret urn at least limit ed surface dat a from
anot her planet was t he 1970 landing of Venera 7, which ret urned dat a t o Eart h for 23
minut es from Venus. In 1975, Venera 9 was t he first t o ret urn images from t he surface
of anot her planet , ret urning images from Venus. In 1971, t he Mars 3 mission achieved
t he first soft landing on Mars ret urning dat a for almost 20 seconds. Lat er, much longer
durat ion surface missions were achieved, including over six years of Mars surface
operat ion by Viking 1 from 1975 t o 1982 and over t wo hours of t ransmission from t he
surface of Venus by Venera 13 in 1982, t he longest ever Soviet planet ary surface
mission. Venus and Mars are t he t wo planet s out side of Eart h on which humans have
conduct ed surface missions wit h uncrewed robot ic spacecraft .

First space station

Salyut 1 was t he first space st at ion of any kind, launched int o low Eart h orbit by t he
Soviet Union on 19 April 1971. The Int ernat ional Space St at ion (ISS) is current ly t he
largest and oldest of t he 2 current fully funct ional space st at ions, inhabit ed
cont inuously since t he year 2000. The ot her, Tiangong space st at ion built by China, is
now fully crewed and operat ional.

First interstellar space flight

Voyager 1 became t he first human-made object t o leave t he Solar Syst em int o
int erst ellar space on 25 August 2012. The probe passed t he heliopause at 121 AU t o
ent er int erst ellar space.[28]

Farthest from Earth

The Apollo 13 flight passed t he far side of t he Moon at an alt it ude of 254 kilomet ers
(158 miles; 137 naut ical miles) above t he lunar surface, and 400,171 km (248,655 mi)
from Eart h, marking t he record for t he fart hest humans have ever t raveled from Eart h
in 1970.

As of 26 November 2022 Voyager 1 was at a dist ance of 159 AU (23.8 billion km;
14.8 billion mi) from Eart h.[29] It is t he most dist ant human-made object from Eart h.[30]

Targets of exploration
St art ing in t he mid-20t h cent ury probes and t hen human missions were sent int o Eart h
orbit , and t hen on t o t he Moon. Also, probes were sent t hroughout t he known Solar
Syst em, and int o Solar orbit . Uncrewed spacecraft have been sent int o orbit around
Sat urn, Jupit er, Mars, Venus, and Mercury by t he 21st cent ury, and t he most dist ance
act ive spacecraft , Voyager 1 and 2 t raveled beyond 100 t imes t he Eart h-Sun dist ance.
The inst rument s were enough t hough t hat it is t hought t hey have left t he Sun's
heliosphere, a sort of bubble of part icles made in t he Galaxy by t he Sun's solar wind.

The Sun
The Sun is a major focus of space explorat ion. Being above t he at mosphere in
part icular and Eart h's magnet ic field gives access t o t he solar wind and infrared and
ult raviolet radiat ions t hat cannot reach Eart h's surface. The Sun generat es most
space weat her, which can affect power generat ion and t ransmission syst ems on Eart h
and int erfere wit h, and even damage, sat ellit es and space probes. Numerous
spacecraft dedicat ed t o observing t he Sun, beginning wit h t he Apollo Telescope
Mount , have been launched and st ill ot hers have had solar observat ion as a secondary
object ive. Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, will approach t he Sun t o wit hin 1/9t h
t he orbit of Mercury.
Mercury

A MESSENGER image from 18,000 km

showing a region about 500 km
across (2008)

Mercury remains t he least explored of t he Terrest rial planet s. As of May 2013, t he

Mariner 10 and MESSENGER missions have been t he only missions t hat have made
close observat ions of Mercury. MESSENGER ent ered orbit around Mercury in March
2011, t o furt her invest igat e t he observat ions made by Mariner 10 in 1975 (Munsell,
2006b). A t hird mission t o Mercury, scheduled t o arrive in 2025, BepiColombo is t o
include t wo probes. BepiColombo is a joint mission bet ween Japan and t he European
Space Agency. MESSENGER and BepiColombo are int ended t o gat her complement ary
dat a t o help scient ist s underst and many of t he myst eries discovered by Mariner 10's
flybys.

Flight s t o ot her planet s wit hin t he Solar Syst em are accomplished at a cost in energy,
which is described by t he net change in velocit y of t he spacecraft , or delt a-v. Due t o
t he relat ively high delt a-v t o reach Mercury and it s proximit y t o t he Sun, it is difficult
t o explore and orbit s around it are rat her unst able.

Venus
Venus was t he first t arget of int erplanet ary flyby and lander missions and, despit e one
of t he most host ile surface environment s in t he Solar Syst em, has had more landers
sent t o it (nearly all from t he Soviet Union) t han any ot her planet in t he Solar Syst em.
The first flyby was t he 1961 Venera 1, t hough t he 1962 Mariner 2 was t he first flyby t o
successfully ret urn dat a. Mariner 2 has been followed by several ot her flybys by
mult iple space agencies oft en as part of missions using a Venus flyby t o provide a
gravit at ional assist en rout e t o ot her celest ial bodies. In 1967, Venera 4 became t he
first probe t o ent er and direct ly examine t he at mosphere of Venus. In 1970, Venera 7
became t he first successful lander t o reach t he surface of Venus and by 1985 it had
been followed by eight addit ional successful Soviet Venus landers which provided
images and ot her direct surface dat a. St art ing in 1975, wit h t he Soviet orbit er Venera
9, some t en successful orbit er missions have been sent t o Venus, including lat er
missions which were able t o map t he surface of Venus using radar t o pierce t he
obscuring at mosphere.

Earth

First television image of Earth from

space, taken by TIROS-1 (1960)

Space explorat ion has been used as a t ool t o underst and Eart h as a celest ial object .
Orbit al missions can provide dat a for Eart h t hat can be difficult or impossible t o obt ain
from a purely ground-based point of reference.
For example, t he exist ence of t he Van Allen radiat ion belt s was unknown unt il t heir
discovery by t he Unit ed St at es' first art ificial sat ellit e, Explorer 1. These belt s cont ain
radiat ion t rapped by Eart h's magnet ic fields, which current ly renders const ruct ion of
habit able space st at ions above 1000 km impract ical. Following t his early unexpect ed
discovery, a large number of Eart h observat ion sat ellit es have been deployed
specifically t o explore Eart h from a space-based perspect ive. These sat ellit es have
significant ly cont ribut ed t o t he underst anding of a variet y of Eart h-based phenomena.
For inst ance, t he hole in t he ozone layer was found by an art ificial sat ellit e t hat was
exploring Eart h's at mosphere, and sat ellit es have allowed for t he discovery of
archeological sit es or geological format ions t hat were difficult or impossible t o
ot herwise ident ify.

Moon

Apollo 16 LEM Orion, the Lunar Roving

Vehicle and astronaut John Young
(1972)

The Moon was t he first celest ial body t o be t he object of space explorat ion. It holds
t he dist inct ions of being t he first remot e celest ial object t o be flown by, orbit ed, and
landed upon by spacecraft , and t he only remot e celest ial object ever t o be visit ed by
humans.

In 1959, t he Soviet s obt ained t he first images of t he far side of t he Moon, never
previously visible t o humans. The U.S. explorat ion of t he Moon began wit h t he Ranger
4 impact or in 1962. St art ing in 1966, t he Soviet s successfully deployed a number of
landers t o t he Moon which were able t o obt ain dat a direct ly from t he Moon's surface;
just four mont hs lat er, Surveyor 1 marked t he debut of a successful series of U.S.
landers. The Soviet uncrewed missions culminat ed in t he Lunokhod program in t he
early 1970s, which included t he first uncrewed rovers and also successfully brought
lunar soil samples t o Eart h for st udy. This marked t he first (and t o dat e t he only)
aut omat ed ret urn of ext rat errest rial soil samples t o Eart h. Uncrewed explorat ion of
t he Moon cont inues wit h various nat ions periodically deploying lunar orbit ers. China's
Chang'e 4 in 2019 and Chang'e 6 in 2024 achieved t he world's first landing and sample
ret urn on t he far side of t he Moon. India's Chandrayaan-3 in 2023 achieved t he world's
first landing on t he lunar sout h pole region.

Crewed explorat ion of t he Moon began in 1968 wit h t he Apollo 8 mission t hat
successfully orbit ed t he Moon, t he first t ime any ext rat errest rial object was orbit ed
by humans. In 1969, t he Apollo 11 mission marked t he first t ime humans set foot upon
anot her world. Crewed explorat ion of t he Moon did not cont inue for long. The Apollo
17 mission in 1972 marked t he sixt h landing and t he most recent human visit . Art emis
II is scheduled t o complet e a crewed flyby of t he Moon in 2025, and Art emis III will
perform t he first lunar landing since Apollo 17 wit h it scheduled for launch no earlier
t han 2026. Robot ic missions are st ill pursued vigorously.

Mars

Surface of Mars by the Spirit rover

(2004)

The explorat ion of Mars has been an import ant part of t he space explorat ion
programs of t he Soviet Union (lat er Russia), t he Unit ed St at es, Europe, Japan and
India. Dozens of robot ic spacecraft , including orbit ers, landers, and rovers, have been
launched t oward Mars since t he 1960s. These missions were aimed at gat hering dat a
about current condit ions and answering quest ions about t he hist ory of Mars. The
quest ions raised by t he scient ific communit y are expect ed t o not only give a bet t er
appreciat ion of t he Red Planet but also yield furt her insight int o t he past , and
possible fut ure, of Eart h.

The explorat ion of Mars has come at a considerable financial cost wit h roughly t wo-
t hirds of all spacecraft dest ined for Mars failing before complet ing t heir missions,
wit h some failing before t hey even began. Such a high failure rat e can be at t ribut ed t o
t he complexit y and large number of variables involved in an int erplanet ary journey, and
has led researchers t o jokingly speak of The Great Galactic Ghoul[31] which subsist s on
a diet of Mars probes. This phenomenon is also informally known as t he "Mars
Curse".[32] In cont rast t o overall high failure rat es in t he explorat ion of Mars, India has
become t he first count ry t o achieve success of it s maiden at t empt . India's Mars
Orbit er Mission (MOM)[33][34][35] is one of t he least expensive int erplanet ary missions
ever undert aken wit h an approximat e t ot al cost of ₹ 450 Crore (US$73 million).[36][37]
The first mission t o Mars by any Arab count ry has been t aken up by t he Unit ed Arab
Emirat es. Called t he Emirat es Mars Mission, it was launched on 19 July 2020 and went
int o orbit around Mars on 9 February 2021. The uncrewed explorat ory probe was
named "Hope Probe" and was sent t o Mars t o st udy it s at mosphere in det ail.[38]

Phobos
The Russian space mission Fobos-Grunt , which launched on 9 November 2011,
experienced a failure leaving it st randed in low Eart h orbit .[39] It was t o begin
explorat ion of t he Phobos and Mart ian circumt errest rial orbit , and st udy whet her t he
moons of Mars, or at least Phobos, could be a "t rans-shipment point " for spaceships
t raveling t o Mars.[40]

Asteroids
 Asteroid 4 Vesta, imaged by the Dawn
spacecraft (2011)

Unt il t he advent of space t ravel, object s in t he ast eroid belt were merely pinpricks of
light in even t he largest t elescopes, t heir shapes and t errain remaining a myst ery.
Several ast eroids have now been visit ed by probes, t he first of which was Galileo,
which flew past t wo: 951 Gaspra in 1991, followed by 243 Ida in 1993. Bot h of t hese
lay near enough t o Galileo's planned t raject ory t o Jupit er t hat t hey could be visit ed at
accept able cost . The first landing on an ast eroid was performed by t he NEAR
Shoemaker probe in 2000, following an orbit al survey of t he object , 433 Eros. The
dwarf planet Ceres and t he ast eroid 4 Vest a, t wo of t he t hree largest ast eroids, were
visit ed by NASA's Dawn spacecraft , launched in 2007.

Hayabusa was a robot ic spacecraft developed by t he Japan Aerospace Explorat ion

Agency t o ret urn a sample of mat erial from t he small near-Eart h ast eroid 25143
It okawa t o Eart h for furt her analysis. Hayabusa was launched on 9 May 2003 and
rendezvoused wit h It okawa in mid-Sept ember 2005. Aft er arriving at It okawa,
Hayabusa st udied t he ast eroid's shape, spin, t opography, color, composit ion, densit y,
and hist ory. In November 2005, it landed on t he ast eroid t wice t o collect samples.
The spacecraft ret urned t o Eart h on 13 June 2010.

Jupiter
 Tupan Patera on Jupiter's moon Io

The explorat ion of Jupit er has consist ed solely of a number of aut omat ed NASA
spacecraft visit ing t he planet since 1973. A large majorit y of t he missions have been
"flybys", in which det ailed observat ions are t aken wit hout t he probe landing or ent ering
orbit ; such as in Pioneer and Voyager programs. The Galileo and Juno spacecraft are
t he only spacecraft t o have ent ered t he planet 's orbit . As Jupit er is believed t o have
only a relat ively small rocky core and no real solid surface, a landing mission is
precluded.

Reaching Jupit er from Eart h requires a delt a-v of 9.2 km/s,[41] which is comparable t o
t he 9.7 km/s delt a-v needed t o reach low Eart h orbit .[42] Fort unat ely, gravit y assist s
t hrough planet ary flybys can be used t o reduce t he energy required at launch t o reach
Jupit er, albeit at t he cost of a significant ly longer flight durat ion.[41]

Jupit er has 95 known moons, many of which have relat ively lit t le known informat ion
about t hem.

Saturn
Sat urn has been explored only t hrough uncrewed spacecraft launched by NASA,
including one mission (Cassini–Huygens) planned and execut ed in cooperat ion wit h
ot her space agencies. These missions consist of flybys in 1979 by Pioneer 11, in 1980
by Voyager 1, in 1982 by Voyager 2 and an orbit al mission by t he Cassini spacecraft ,
which last ed from 2004 unt il 2017.
Sat urn has at least 62 known moons, alt hough t he exact number is debat able since
Sat urn's rings are made up of vast numbers of independent ly orbit ing object s of
varying sizes. The largest of t he moons is Tit an, which holds t he dist inct ion of being
t he only moon in t he Solar Syst em wit h an at mosphere denser and t hicker t han t hat of
Eart h. Tit an holds t he dist inct ion of being t he only object in t he Out er Solar Syst em
t hat has been explored wit h a lander, t he Huygens probe deployed by t he Cassini
spacecraft .

Uranus
The explorat ion of Uranus has been ent irely t hrough t he Voyager 2 spacecraft , wit h no
ot her visit s current ly planned. Given it s axial t ilt of 97.77°, wit h it s polar regions
exposed t o sunlight or darkness for long periods, scient ist s were not sure what t o
expect at Uranus. The closest approach t o Uranus occurred on 24 January 1986.
Voyager 2 st udied t he planet 's unique at mosphere and magnet osphere. Voyager 2 also
examined it s ring syst em and t he moons of Uranus including all five of t he previously
known moons, while discovering an addit ional t en previously unknown moons.

Images of Uranus proved t o have a uniform appearance, wit h no evidence of t he

dramat ic st orms or at mospheric banding evident on Jupit er and Sat urn. Great effort
was required t o even ident ify a few clouds in t he images of t he planet . The
magnet osphere of Uranus, however, proved t o be unique, being profoundly affect ed
by t he planet 's unusual axial t ilt . In cont rast t o t he bland appearance of Uranus it self,
st riking images were obt ained of t he Moons of Uranus, including evidence t hat
Miranda had been unusually geologically act ive.

Neptune
The explorat ion of Nept une began wit h t he 25 August 1989 Voyager 2 flyby, t he sole
visit t o t he syst em as of 2024 The possibilit y of a Nept une Orbit er has been
discussed, but no ot her missions have been given serious t hought .

Alt hough t he ext remely uniform appearance of Uranus during Voyager 2's visit in 1986
had led t o expect at ions t hat Nept une would also have few visible at mospheric
phenomena, t he spacecraft found t hat Nept une had obvious banding, visible clouds,
auroras, and even a conspicuous ant icyclone st orm syst em rivaled in size only by
Jupit er's Great Red Spot . Nept une also proved t o have t he fast est winds of any
planet in t he Solar Syst em, measured as high as 2,100 km/h.[43] Voyager 2 also
examined Nept une's ring and moon syst em. It discovered 900 complet e rings and
addit ional part ial ring "arcs" around Nept une. In addit ion t o examining Nept une's t hree
previously known moons, Voyager 2 also discovered five previously unknown moons,
one of which, Prot eus, proved t o be t he last largest moon in t he syst em. Dat a from
Voyager 2 support ed t he view t hat Nept une's largest moon, Trit on, is a capt ured
Kuiper belt object .[44]

Pluto
The dwarf planet Plut o present s significant challenges for spacecraft because of it s
great dist ance from Eart h (requiring high velocit y for reasonable t rip t imes) and small
mass (making capt ure int o orbit difficult at present ). Voyager 1 could have visit ed
Plut o, but cont rollers opt ed inst ead for a close flyby of Sat urn's moon Tit an, result ing
in a t raject ory incompat ible wit h a Plut o flyby. Voyager 2 never had a plausible
t raject ory for reaching Plut o.[45]

Aft er an int ense polit ical bat t le, a mission t o Plut o dubbed New Horizons was grant ed
funding from t he Unit ed St at es government in 2003.[46] New Horizons was launched
successfully on 19 January 2006. In early 2007 t he craft made use of a gravit y assist
from Jupit er. It s closest approach t o Plut o was on 14 July 2015; scient ific
observat ions of Plut o began five mont hs prior t o closest approach and cont inued for
16 days aft er t he encount er.
Kuiper Belt Objects
The New Horizons mission also performed a flyby of t he small planet esimal Arrokot h,
in t he Kuiper belt , in 2019. This was it s first ext ended mission.[47]

Comets

Comet 103P/Hartley (2010)

Alt hough many comet s have been st udied from Eart h somet imes wit h cent uries-
wort h of observat ions, only a few comet s have been closely visit ed. In 1985, t he
International Cometary Explorer conduct ed t he first comet fly-by (21P/Giacobini-
Zinner) before joining t he Halley Armada st udying t he famous comet . The Deep Impact
probe smashed int o 9P/Tempel t o learn more about it s st ruct ure and composit ion and
t he Stardust mission ret urned samples of anot her comet 's t ail. The Philae lander
successfully landed on Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014 as part of t he
broader Rosetta mission.

Deep space exploration

 This high-resolution image of the
Hubble Ultra Deep Field includes
galaxies of various ages, sizes,
shapes, and colors. The smallest,
reddest galaxies, are some of the
most distant galaxies to have been
imaged by an optical telescope.

Deep space explorat ion is t he branch of ast ronomy, ast ronaut ics and space
t echnology t hat is involved wit h t he explorat ion of dist ant regions of out er space.[48]
Physical explorat ion of space is conduct ed bot h by human spaceflight s (deep-space
ast ronaut ics) and by robot ic spacecraft .

Some of t he best candidat es for fut ure deep space engine t echnologies include ant i-
mat t er, nuclear power and beamed propulsion.[49] Beamed propulsion, appears t o be
t he best candidat e for deep space explorat ion present ly available, since it uses
known physics and known t echnology t hat is being developed for ot her purposes.[50]

Future of space
exploration
 Concept art for a NASA Vision
mission

Artistic image of a rocket lifting from

a Saturn moon

Breakthrough Starshot
Breakt hrough St arshot is a research and engineering project by t he Breakt hrough
Init iat ives t o develop a proof-of-concept fleet of light sail spacecraft named
StarChip,[51] t o be capable of making t he journey t o t he Alpha Cent auri st ar syst em
4.37 light -years away. It was founded in 2016 by Yuri Milner, St ephen Hawking, and
Mark Zuckerberg.[52][53]
Asteroids
An art icle in t he science magazine Nature suggest ed t he use of ast eroids as a
gat eway for space explorat ion, wit h t he ult imat e dest inat ion being Mars. In order t o
make such an approach viable, t hree requirement s need t o be fulfilled: first , "a
t horough ast eroid survey t o find t housands of nearby bodies suit able for ast ronaut s
t o visit "; second, "ext ending flight durat ion and dist ance capabilit y t o ever-increasing
ranges out t o Mars"; and finally, "developing bet t er robot ic vehicles and t ools t o
enable ast ronaut s t o explore an ast eroid regardless of it s size, shape or spin".
Furt hermore, using ast eroids would provide ast ronaut s wit h prot ect ion from galact ic
cosmic rays, wit h mission crews being able t o land on t hem wit hout great risk t o
radiat ion exposure.

Artemis program
The Art emis program is an ongoing crewed spaceflight program carried out by NASA,
U.S. commercial spaceflight companies, and int ernat ional part ners such as ESA,[54]
wit h t he goal of landing "t he first woman and t he next man" on t he Moon, specifically
at t he lunar sout h pole region. Art emis would be t he next st ep t owards t he long-t erm
goal of est ablishing a sust ainable presence on t he Moon, laying t he foundat ion for
privat e companies t o build a lunar economy, and event ually sending humans t o Mars.

In 2017, t he lunar campaign was aut horized by Space Policy Direct ive 1, using various
ongoing spacecraft programs such as Orion, t he Lunar Gat eway, Commercial Lunar
Payload Services, and adding an undeveloped crewed lander. The Space Launch
Syst em will serve as t he primary launch vehicle for Orion, while commercial launch
vehicles are planned for use t o launch ot her element s of t he campaign.[55] NASA
request ed $1.6 billion in addit ional funding for Art emis for fiscal year 2020,[56] while
t he U.S. Senat e Appropriat ions Commit t ee request ed from NASA a five-year budget
profile [57] which is needed for evaluat ion and approval by t he U.S. Congress.[58][59] As of
2024, t he first Art emis mission was launched in 2022 wit h t he second mission, a
[60]
fl f
underway wit h init ial capabilit ies set for t he 2025–2027 t imeframe.[61] The first CLPS
lander landed in 2024, marking t he first US spacecraft t o land since Apollo 17.[62]

Rationales

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin had a personal

Communion service when he first
arrived on the surface of the Moon.

The research t hat is conduct ed by nat ional space explorat ion agencies, such as NASA
and Roscosmos, is one of t he reasons support ers cit e t o just ify government
expenses. Economic analyses of t he NASA programs oft en showed ongoing economic
benefit s (such as NASA spin-offs), generat ing many t imes t he revenue of t he cost of
t he program.[63] It is also argued t hat space explorat ion would lead t o t he ext ract ion
of resources on ot her planet s and especially ast eroids, which cont ain billions of
dollars wort h of minerals and met als. Such expedit ions could generat e subst ant ial
revenue.[64] In addit ion, it has been argued t hat space explorat ion programs help inspire
yout h t o st udy in science and engineering.[65] Space explorat ion also gives scient ist s
t he abilit y t o perform experiment s in ot her set t ings and expand humanit y's
knowledge.[66]

Anot her claim is t hat space explorat ion is a necessit y t o humankind and t hat st aying
on Eart h will event ually lead t o ext inct ion. Some of t he reasons are lack of nat ural
resources, comet s, nuclear war, and worldwide epidemic. St ephen Hawking, renowned
Brit ish t heoret ical physicist , said, "I don't t hink t he human race will survive t he next
t housand years, unless we spread int o space. There are t oo many accident s t hat can
befall life on a single planet . But I'm an opt imist . We will reach out t o t he st ars."[67]
Aut hor Art hur C. Clarke (1950) present ed a summary of mot ivat ions for t he human
explorat ion of space in his non-fict ion semi-t echnical monograph Interplanetary
Flight.[68] He argued t hat humanit y's choice is essent ially bet ween expansion off Eart h
int o space, versus cult ural (and event ually biological) st agnat ion and deat h.

These mot ivat ions could be at t ribut ed t o one of t he first rocket scient ist s in NASA,
Wernher von Braun, and his vision of humans moving beyond Eart h. The basis of t his
plan was t o:

Develop multi-stage rockets capable of placing satellites,

animals, and humans in space.

Development of large, winged reusable spacecraft capable of

carrying humans and equipment into Earth orbit in a way
that made space access routine and cost-effective.

Construction of a large, permanently occupied space station

to be used as a platform both to observe Earth and from
which to launch deep space expeditions.

Launching the first human flights around the Moon, leading

to the first landings of humans on the Moon, with the intent
of exploring that body and establishing permanent lunar
bases.

Assembly and fueling of spaceships in Earth orbit for the

purpose of sending humans to Mars with the intent of
eventually colonizing that planet.[69]

Known as t he Von Braun Paradigm, t he plan was formulat ed t o lead humans in t he

explorat ion of space. Von Braun's vision of human space explorat ion served as t he
model for effort s in space explorat ion well int o t he t went y-first cent ury, wit h NASA
incorporat ing t his approach int o t he majorit y of t heir project s.[69] The st eps were
followed out of order, as seen by t he Apollo program reaching t he moon before t he
space shut t le program was st art ed, which in t urn was used t o complet e t he
Int ernat ional Space St at ion. Von Braun's Paradigm formed NASA's drive for human
explorat ion, in t he hopes t hat humans discover t he far reaches of t he universe.
NASA has produced a series of public service announcement videos support ing t he
concept of space explorat ion.[70]

Overall, t he U.S. public remains largely support ive of bot h crewed and uncrewed space
explorat ion. According t o an Associat ed Press Poll conduct ed in July 2003, 71% of
U.S. cit izens agreed wit h t he st at ement t hat t he space program is "a good
invest ment ", compared t o 21% who did not .[71]

Human nature
Space advocacy and space policy[72] regularly invokes explorat ion as a human
nat ure.[73]

Topics

Spaceflight
 Delta-v's in km/s for various orbital
maneuvers

Spaceflight is t he use of space t echnology t o achieve t he flight of spacecraft int o

and t hrough out er space.

Spaceflight is used in space explorat ion, and also in commercial act ivit ies like space
t ourism and sat ellit e t elecommunicat ions. Addit ional non-commercial uses of
spaceflight include space observat ories, reconnaissance sat ellit es and ot her Eart h
observat ion sat ellit es.

A spaceflight t ypically begins wit h a rocket launch, which provides t he init ial t hrust t o
overcome t he force of gravit y and propels t he spacecraft from t he surface of Eart h.
Once in space, t he mot ion of a spacecraft —bot h when unpropelled and when under
propulsion—is covered by t he area of st udy called ast rodynamics. Some spacecraft
remain in space indefinit ely, some disint egrat e during at mospheric reent ry, and ot hers
reach a planet ary or lunar surface for landing or impact .

Satellites
Sat ellit es are used for a large number of purposes. Common t ypes include milit ary
sat ellit es, weat her sat ellit es, and research sat ellit es. Space st at ions and human
spacecraft in orbit are also sat ellit es.

Commercialization of space
The commercializat ion of space first st art ed out wit h t he launching of privat e
sat ellit es by NASA or ot her space agencies. Current examples of t he commercial
sat ellit e use of space include sat ellit e navigat ion syst ems, sat ellit e t elevision,
sat ellit e communicat ions (such as int ernet services) and sat ellit e radio. The next st ep
of commercializat ion of space was seen as human spaceflight . Flying humans safely
t o and from space had become rout ine t o NASA and Russia.[74] Reusable spacecraft
were an ent irely new engineering challenge, somet hing only seen in novels and films
like St ar Trek and War of t he Worlds. Ast ronaut Buzz Aldrin support ed t he use of
making a reusable vehicle like t he space shut t le. Aldrin held t hat reusable spacecraft
were t he key in making space t ravel affordable, st at ing t hat t he use of "passenger
space t ravel is a huge pot ent ial market big enough t o just ify t he creat ion of reusable
launch vehicles".[75] Space t ourism is a next st ep in t he use of reusable vehicles in t he
commercializat ion of space. The purpose of t his form of space t ravel is personal
pleasure.

Privat e spaceflight companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, and commercial space
st at ions such as t he Axiom Space and t he Bigelow Commercial Space St at ion have
changed t he cost and overall landscape of space explorat ion, and are expect ed t o
cont inue t o do so in t he near fut ure.

Alien life
Ast robiology is t he int erdisciplinary st udy of life in t he universe, combining aspect s of
ast ronomy, biology and geology.[76] It is focused primarily on t he st udy of t he origin,
dist ribut ion and evolut ion of life It is also known as exobiology (from Greek: έξω exo
"out side").[77][78][79] The t erm "Xenobiology" has been used as well, but t his is
t echnically incorrect because it s t erminology means "biology of t he foreigners".[80]
Ast robiologist s must also consider t he possibilit y of life t hat is chemically ent irely
dist inct from any life found on Eart h.[81] In t he Solar Syst em, some of t he prime
locat ions for current or past ast robiology are on Enceladus, Europa, Mars, and Tit an.[82]

Human spaceflight and habitation

Crew quarters on Zvezda, the base

ISS crew module

To dat e, t he longest human occupat ion of space is t he Int ernat ional Space St at ion
which has been in cont inuous use for 24 years, 15 days. Valeri Polyakov's record single
spaceflight of almost 438 days aboard t he Mir space st at ion has not been surpassed.
The healt h effect s of space have been well document ed t hrough years of research
conduct ed in t he field of aerospace medicine. Analog environment s similar t o t hose
experienced in space t ravel (like deep sea submarines), have been used in t his
research t o furt her explore t he relat ionship bet ween isolat ion and ext reme
environment s.[83] It is imperat ive t hat t he healt h of t he crew be maint ained as any
deviat ion from baseline may compromise t he int egrit y of t he mission as well as t he
safet y of t he crew, hence t he ast ronaut s must endure rigorous medical screenings
and t est s prior t o embarking on any missions. However, it does not t ake long for t he
i t ld i f fli ht t it t ll th h b d f
example, space mot ion sickness (SMS) – a condit ion which affect s t he
neurovest ibular syst em and culminat es in mild t o severe signs and sympt oms such as
vert igo, dizziness, fat igue, nausea, and disorient at ion – plagues almost all space
t ravelers wit hin t heir first few days in orbit .[83] Space t ravel can also have an impact on
t he psyche of t he crew members as delineat ed in anecdot al writ ings composed aft er
t heir ret irement . Space t ravel can adversely affect t he body's nat ural biological clock
(circadian rhyt hm); sleep pat t erns causing sleep deprivat ion and fat igue; and social
int eract ion; consequent ly, residing in a Low Eart h Orbit (LEO) environment for a
prolonged amount of t ime can result in bot h ment al and physical exhaust ion.[83] Long-
t erm st ays in space reveal issues wit h bone and muscle loss in low gravit y, immune
syst em suppression, problems wit h eyesight , and radiat ion exposure. The lack of
gravit y causes fluid t o rise upward which can cause pressure t o build up in t he eye,
result ing in vision problems; t he loss of bone minerals and densit ies; cardiovascular
decondit ioning; and decreased endurance and muscle mass.[84]

Radiat ion is an insidious healt h hazard t o space t ravelers as it is invisible and can cause
cancer. When above t he Eart h's magnet ic field, spacecraft are no longer prot ect ed
from t he sun's radiat ion; t he danger of radiat ion is even more pot ent in deep space.
The hazards of radiat ion can be ameliorat ed t hrough prot ect ive shielding on t he
spacecraft , alert s, and dosimet ry.[85]

Fort unat ely, wit h new and rapidly evolving t echnological advancement s, t hose in
Mission Cont rol are able t o monit or t he healt h of t heir ast ronaut s more closely using
t elemedicine. One may not be able t o complet ely evade t he physiological effect s of
space flight , but t hose effect s can be mit igat ed. For example, medical syst ems
aboard space vessels such as t he Int ernat ional Space St at ion (ISS) are well equipped
and designed t o count eract t he effect s of lack of gravit y and weight lessness; on-
board t readmills can help prevent muscle loss and reduce t he risk of developing
premat ure ost eoporosis.[83][85] Addit ionally, a crew medical officer is appoint ed for
each ISS mission and a flight surgeon is available 24/7 via t he ISS Mission Cont rol
Cent er locat ed in Houst on, Texas.[85] Alt hough t he int eract ions are int ended t o t ake
place in real t ime, communicat ions bet ween t he space and t errest rial crew may
become delayed – somet imes by as much as 20 minut es[85] – as t heir dist ance from
each ot her increases when t he spacecraft moves furt her out of low Eart h orbit ;
because of t his t he crew are t rained and need t o be prepared t o respond t o any
medical emergencies t hat may arise on t he vessel as t he ground crew are hundreds of
miles away.
Many past and current concept s for t he cont inued explorat ion and colonizat ion of
space focus on a ret urn t o t he Moon as a "st eppingst one" t o t he ot her planet s,
especially Mars. At t he end of 2006, NASA announced t hey were planning t o build a
permanent Moon base wit h cont inual presence by 2024.[86]

Beyond t he t echnical fact ors t hat could make living in space more widespread, it has
been suggest ed t hat t he lack of privat e propert y, t he inabilit y or difficult y in
est ablishing propert y right s in space, has been an impediment t o t he development of
space for human habit at ion. Since t he advent of space t echnology in t he lat t er half of
t he t went iet h cent ury, t he ownership of propert y in space has been murky, wit h st rong
argument s bot h for and against . In part icular, t he making of nat ional t errit orial claims in
out er space and on celest ial bodies has been specifically proscribed by t he Out er
Space Treat y, which had been, as of 2012, rat ified by all spacefaring nat ions.[87] Space
colonizat ion, also called space set t lement and space humanizat ion, would be t he
permanent aut onomous (self-sufficient ) human habit at ion of locat ions out side Eart h,
especially of nat ural sat ellit es or planet s such as t he Moon or Mars, using significant
amount s of in-sit u resource ut ilizat ion.

Human representation and

participation
Part icipat ion and represent at ion of humanit y in space is an issue ever since t he first
phase of space explorat ion.[88] Some right s of non-spacefaring count ries have been
most ly secured t hrough int ernat ional space law, declaring space t he "province of all
mankind", underst anding spaceflight as it s resource, t hough sharing of space for all
humanit y is st ill crit icized as imperialist and lacking.[88] Addit ionally t o int ernat ional
inclusion, t he inclusion of women and people of colour has also been lacking. To reach
a more inclusive spaceflight , some organizat ions like t he Justspace Alliance[88] and IAU
feat ured Inclusive Astronomy[89] have been formed in recent years.

Women
The first woman t o go t o space was Valent ina Tereshkova. She flew in 1963 but it was
not unt il t he 1980s t hat anot her woman ent ered space again. All ast ronaut s were
career. This is one reason for t he delay in allowing women t o join space crews. Aft er
t he rule changed, Svet lana Savit skaya became t he second woman t o go t o space, she
was also from t he Soviet Union. Sally Ride became t he next woman in space and t he
first woman t o fly t o space t hrough t he Unit ed St at es program.

Since t hen, eleven ot her count ries have allowed women ast ronaut s. The first all-
female space walk occurred in 2018, including Christ ina Koch and Jessica Meir. They
had bot h previously part icipat ed in space walks wit h NASA. The first woman t o go t o
t he Moon is planned for 2026.

Despit e t hese development s, women are underrepresent ed among ast ronaut s and
especially cosmonaut s. Issues t hat block pot ent ial applicant s from t he programs, and
limit t he space missions t hey are able t o go on, include:

agencies limiting women to half as

much time in space than men,
arguing that there may be
unresearched additional risks for
cancer.[90]
a lack of space suits sized
appropriately for female
astronauts.[91]

Art
Art ist ry in and from space ranges from signals, capt uring and arranging mat erial like
Yuri Gagarin's selfie in space or t he image The Blue Marble over drawings like t he first
one in space by cosmonaut and art ist Alexei Leonov, music videos like Chris Hadfield's
cover of Space Oddit y on board t he ISS, t o permanent inst allat ions on celest ial
bodies like on t he Moon.

See also

Spaceflight
portal

Discovery and exploration of the

Solar System
Spacecraft propulsion
List of crewed spacecraft
List of missions to Mars
List of missions to the outer
planets
List of landings on extraterrestrial
bodies
List of spaceflight records
90. Kramer, Miriam (27 August 2013).
"Female Astronauts Face
Discrimination from Space
Radiation Concerns, Astronauts
Say" (http://www.space.com/222
52-women-astronauts-radiation-ri
sk.html) . Space.com. Purch.
Retrieved 7 January 2017.
 Launius, R.D.; et al. (2012).
"Spaceflight: The Development of
Science, Surveillance, and
Commerce in Space" (https://doi.or
g/10.1109%2FJPROC.2012.21871
43) . Proceedings of the IEEE. 100
(special centennial issue): 1785–
1818.
doi:10.1109/JPROC.2012.2187143
(https://doi.org/10.1109%2FJPROC.
2012.2187143) . An overview of the
history of space exploration and
predictions for the future.

External links