Pioneers in Space

The beginning of the space age

            Although scientists in many countries had worked on developing rockets, German scientists launched the first successful high-altitude rocket in 1942. When the rocket, the V-2, reached the edge of space, the next step was the beginning of the space age.
            Many of the planets have natural satellites in orbit around them. In 1957, the Soviet Union sent the first satellite made by people into orbit around the earth. It was called Sputnik I. A month later, Sputnik II carried the first passenger into space, a dog named Laika. About three months later, the United States sent its first satellite, Explorer I, into orbit.
            Since then many satellites have been launched. Some of these satellites are used to study the weather, while others are used to explore space. Certain satellites are used to relay television programs from other continents. Even telephone communication throughout the world has been improved by the use of satellites.

Space Probes

            Unlike satellites, space probes do not remain in orbit around the earth. They are spacecraft guided solely from the earth as they explore some part of the solar system. Space probes can photograph other planets and even send back data about their atmosphere.
            In 1959 the first space probe, Luna 1, reached the moon. Later probes landed on the moon and sent back photos and data about the surface of the moon. Probes have landed on Venus and Mars. Other space probes have flown past Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn on the way to Uranus and beyond the solar system. So much information has been gathered in this way about the solar system that it will take years to study what it all means.

People in Space

            The first person to orbit the earth was the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961. A month later the first American astronaut, Alan Shepard, was sent into space. Many other cosmonauts and astronauts followed these pioneers in space.
            On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin from the United States became the first people to set foot on the moon. They traveled to the moon aboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Several other Apollo flights followed, until the last one in 1972.
            The United States and the Soviet Union have also placed space stations in orbit around the earth. Skylab (U.S.) and Salyut (U.S.S.R.) are space stations on which various scientific teams have experimented with the problems of living in space for long periods of time. Scientists on Skylab have also learned a great deal about the sun.