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space exploration

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
the investigation of physical conditions in space and on stars, planets, and other celestial bodies through the use of artificial satellites (spacecraft that orbit the earth), space probes (spacecraft that pass through the solar system and that may or may not orbit another celestial body), and spacecraft with human crews. Although studies from earth using optical and radio telescopes had accumulated much data on the nature of celestial bodies, it was not until after World War II that the development of powerful rockets made direct space exploration a technological possibility. The first artificial satellite, Sputnik I , was launched by the USSR (now Russia) on Oct. 4, 1957, and spurred the dormant U.S. program into action, leading to an international competition popularly known as the “space race.” Explorer I , the first American satellite, was launched on Jan. 31, 1958. Although earth-orbiting satellites have by far accounted for the great majority of launches in the space program, …
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Full text Article space exploration

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Using spacecraft to investigate outer space and heavenly bodies. The early stages of space exploration were dominated by competition between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 , into Earth orbit on October 4, 1957, the first…
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Full text Article SPACE EXPLORATION

From National Geographic Answer Book: 10,001 Fast Facts About Our World Full text Article THE UNIVERSE
MILESTONES IN SPACE EXPLORATION 1957 First Soviet satellite, Sputnik I 1958 First U.S. satellite, Explorer I 1961 First men in space 1963 First woman in space 1969 First people on moon 1969 First Soyuz space station 1972 Apollo 17, last moon mission Centuries of scientific breakthroughs—from Chinese…
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Humankind's exploration of space began in the 1950s, with the first satellite, the Russian Sputnik , launched by rocket on October 4, 1957. It was followed on November 3 by another, carrying a dog named Laika. The United States moved into space exploration on February 1, 1958, with Explorer I . A…
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Full text Article space exploration

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Aldrin, photographed...
Investigation of the universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere by means of manned and unmanned spacecraft . Study of the use of rocket s for spaceflight began early in the 20th century. Germany’s research on rocket propulsion in the 1930s led to development of the V-2 missile . After World War II, the U.S. …
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Full text Article space exploration

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
the investigation of physical conditions in space and on stars, planets, and other celestial bodies through the use of artificial satellites (spacecraft that orbit the earth), space probes (spacecraft that pass through the solar system and that may or may not orbit another celestial body), and…
| 3,577 words
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Full text Article SPACE EXPLORATION

From The Visual Guides: Understanding The Universe
Description Time Total Time From the first Sputnik placed in Earth's orbit in the late 1950s, to robots rolling on the surface of Mars and the advent of the International Space Station, developments in aeronautic technology have enabled us to send many spacecraft off to encounters with celestial…
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Flying past a target in space is one of the oldest and cheapest means of space exploration and is still the method engineers choose for first investigations in space. It returns often surprisingly good science with a simple mission profile. At the beginning of space flight, rockets were too weak, …
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Full text Article space exploration and computers

From Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology
It might have been barely possible to put a satellite (or person) in orbit without the use of computers, but any more extensive exploration of space requires many types of computer applications. The need to function reliably, sometimes for many years, in the harsh environment of space challenges…
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Ed White, first American spacewalker, June 3,...
The idea of lunar exploration goes back at least as far as 1638, when the protagonist of Francis Godwin’s Man in the Moon rode a flock of 25 geese from the earth to the lunar surface. Animals played a rather less fanciful role in man’s actual first steps into space, with the dog Laïka riding aloft…
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Manned space exploration receives most of the glory and the attention, but unpiloted spacecraft have been used as tools longer and for a greater variety of reasons. Some even believe that humankind should cease piloted space exploration in favor of the much less expensive unpiloted probes when we…
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