CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE 4 Landing on a Comet CHAPTER FIVE 48 To the Solar System s Outskirts CHAPTER TWO 16 Entering Space CHAPTER SIX 62 Humans in Space CHAPTER THREE 26 Visiting Nearby Worlds CHAPTER SEVEN 78 Private Companies Go to Space CHAPTER FOUR 36 Hunting for Life on Mars CHAPTER EIGHT 86 Where Humans Are Going 100 Essential Facts 102 Glossary 104 Additional Resources 106 Source Notes 110 Index 112 About the Author
ONE LANDING ON A COMET n November 12 2014 space scientists nervously waited in the European Space Agency ESA Space Operations Center in Germany News would be arriving soon from their distant spacecraft Rosetta It was the first artificial object in history to orbit a comet Seven hours prior the spacecraft released a lander to touch down on the comet below If everything worked as planned that lander Philae would be the first human made machine to land on a comet It would add immensely to scientists knowledge about these icy dusty space rocks Finally the scientists got the news Philae was on the surface of comet 67PI Churyumov Gerasimenko known as 67P for short Flight Director Andrea Accomazzo wiped tears from his eyes following the good news In November 2014 after a ten year voyage through space Rosetta finally arrived at Comet
