Spaceflight has taken humans to the moon and propelled a probe past the limits of the solar system It has enabled people to maintain space stations and place thousands of artificial man-made satellites in Earth’s orbit But what do human beings gain by venturing into space Considering all the opportunities and mysteries to be investigated on Earth not to mention problems to be solved what’s the point of dedicating resources to spaceflight To begin with space exploration satisfies a basic curiosity about worlds beyond our own It’s human nature to want to explore the unknown Spaceflight has yielded dis coveries and wonders that have inspired writers and artists and that have answered some religious and philosophical questions while raising new ones On a more practical level space exploration has helped to foster enthusiasm for sci ence in general Landmark space missions have captured the public imagination and educational programs related to space exploration have engaged students in science Along with its ability to inspire space exploration has more tangible or concrete benefits Of course it has greatly advanced scientific knowledge of Earth and the rest of the universe Beyond that however space explora tion has also provided technologies and products that most people take for granted Today’s advances in space explo ration may yield tomorrow’s benefits from space tourism to the diversion of asteroids that would otherwise collide with Earth 4 IntroduCtIon
IntroduCtIon Crew members aboard the ISS celebrate Christmas in 2016 More than two hundred people from eighteen different countries have visited the ISS which has been occupied continuously since 2000 5
Spaceflight fosters international cooperation among government agencies scientific bodies industries and organizations Some large-scale projects such as the Inter national Space Station ISS would not have been possible without collaboration Space exploration and research serves as an arena in which countries work together peacefully toward shared goals even when they may be at odds con cerning other issues The space race between the Soviet Union and the United States during the twentieth century contributed to many milestones in space exploration Today the United States and Russia cooperate on many missions especially those involving the ISS The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 established that nations cannot claim outer space as sovereign territory and forbade installing weapons in space Spaceflight isn’t a sure thing Successful missions will be countered by occasional failures and even tragedies But the unexpected setbacks will be matched by unexpected benefits As long as human beings set their eyes and ambi tions toward space the resulting discoveries and break throughs will make the effort worthwhile 6 the BenefIts of spaCeflIght and spaCe exploratIon
Keeping the World ConneCted The space age began on October 4 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth Sputnik 1 weighed 184 pounds 84 kilo grams Its maximum distance from Earth was 584 miles 940 kilometers It circled Earth every ninety-six minutes and remained in orbit until early 1958 when it fell back and burned in Earth’s atmosphere Today nearly 1,500 operational artificial satellites orbit Earth Many more satellites now dead are classified As this model of Sputnik 1 shows the first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball It was launched into Earth orbit by the Soviet Union in 1957 7 Chapter tItle runnIng head goes here Chapter 1
