Past, Present, and Future: Space Exploration
Written by: Feyola Anamori
Space exploration has come a long way since the first person stepped foot on the moon. But what really is space exploration? How can we define it? Britannica's definition of space exploration is the investigation, by means of crewed and uncrewed spacecraft, of the reaches of the universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere and the use of the information gained to increase knowledge of the cosmos and benefit humanity. With our recent emerging technological society, it has become usual for the space industry to send various human beings and animals into space for many different purposes. Including photography, scientific research, etc.
In the past century, space exploration has achieved many milestones. The first one being the launch of Sputnik and R7 by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the year 1957. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth, whereas R7 was a rocket made to carry nuclear weapons. Designer Sergei Korolev aimed to begin the space race during a time of political hostility, The Cold War. Prior to the space evolution by the USSR, the United States launched Explorer, a rocket used to carry a satellite on January 31, 1958. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was established as the first human in space. Soon after, Alan Shepard followed, but on a suborbital trajectory. The list continued with unthinkable projects such as sending the first dog to space and the first woman to space, up until President John F. Kennedy declared: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." Following the president's challenge, Project Apollo 11 sent Neil Armstrong to the moon to conduct research on the planets around us. Finally, advanced technology emerged in 1995, which allowed instruments in space to characterize the atmospheres of some of these exoplanets.
Current trends of space exploration have brought many benefits to today's world. One of which is increased commercial involvement. Commercial companies such as SpaceX are launching satellites and planning projects that expand the commercial space industry, resulting in more affordable and frequent access to space. Robotic exploration has also been evident in today's world; for example, missions to asteroids like OSIRIS-REX and research of icy moons like Europa are growing people's knowledge about our solar system. In addition, space tourism is becoming highly accessible to citizens by collaborating with corporate firms like Virgin Galactic and offering suborbital space flights. Current trends have also reduced the threats of asteroids by researching methods to detect and mitigate the impact of hazardous asteroids. Moreover, NASA has developed a program called Artemis that aims to send humans to the moon again, but by 2020, the program focused on sustainable lunar missions and served as a stepping stone for future projects surrounding Mars.
At the moment, there are over 70 government space agencies including NASA and the American, as well as European, agencies. We also must not forget commercial agencies like SpaceX. They are the future of space exploration, and they have plans for the next milestones of space. Following the Artemis mission, NASA and ESA launched a flight with the purpose of orbiting around the moon and returning back to Earth; this flight is expected to land on the moon by 2024. SpaceX also plans to send a tourist mission around the moon shortly after. NASA and SpaceX are already working to send the first humans to Mars in hopes of starting a human colony there. Aside from plans to establish history, the space industry also looks forward to boosting the economy. They plan to replace space flight with reusable rockets and workers with automated robots in order to make space exploration more accessible and cheaper for the average human being, boosting the current market trends in the space industry. The future of space exploration also expects a high number of skilled workers in the labor market.
Space exploration has emerged from historical milestones to current trends involving commercial involvement, space tourism, and robotic missions. The future holds ambitious plans, including lunar sustainability, Martian missions, and economic growth. Space exploration from the past, present, and future truly is an exciting and dynamic field of scientific exploration.