Introduction to Space Exploration
Mankind will migrate into space, and will cross the airless Saharas which separate planet from planet and sun from sun.
—Winwood Reade, 1872
Humans have always been explorers. When ancient peoples stumbled upon unknown lands or seas they were compelled to explore them. They were driven by a desire to dare and conquer new frontiers and a thirst for knowledge, wealth, and prestige. These are the same motivations that drove people of the twentieth century to venture into space.
By definition space begins at the edge of Earth's atmosphere, just beyond the protective blanket of air and heat that surrounds our planet. This blanket is thick and dense near the Earth's surface and light and wispy farther away from the planet. About sixty-two miles above Earth the atmosphere becomes quite porous. This altitude is considered the first feathery edge of outer space.
The very idea of space exploration has a sense of mystery and excitement about it. Americans call their space explorers astronauts. Astronaut is a combination of two Greek words, astron (meaning star) and nautes (meaning sailor). Thus, astronauts are those that sail amongst the stars. This romantic imagery adds to the allure of space travel.
This page contains 201 words.
Introduction to Space Exploration article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 10,877 words
(approx. 36 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Space exploration Article
