Secrets of the universe have always a fascioated man and made him to uncover, unearth and go deep in them one by one, trying to find out what really lies beneath them. The discovery of various countries, the finding of North and South Poles, the victory over Mount Everest and research into the bottom of seas, are all result of man’s spirit of adventurism. However, after conquering these various objects, on or round the earth, man has now directed his attention and efforts to reach the mysteries of the space with a view to probing the moon and other celestial bodies, From time immemorial, man has felt a mysterious attraction for dots and orbs, which appear to be suspended from the blue conpoy above. He has been fascinated by the sun, the moon, the stars, and planets and has often wondered as to how they come into existence, of what material they are made, what keeps them moving, etc. In order to find the answer to these and a thousand other questions that arise simultaneously, he has yearned to explore these resplendent worlds in person and this yearning has brought into being a whole body of space science. [the_ad id=”17141″]
In the modern time, the impulse for space flight was given by pioneers, who first thought of translating into reality man’s dream of soaring in space. The first problem against which they came up was how best man can achieve speeds which should take him beyond the gravitational attraction of the earth. They clearly saw that the only answer was rocketed. The first to draw attention to the usefulness of rockets for this purpose was a Russian mathematician, Tsiolkovsky, who transformed space exploration from fiction to space.
During World War II, the science of rocketry was further developed, which made the possible landing of artificial satellites by the Soviet Union and the U.S.A during the International Geophysical Year (1957). The Soviet Union put into orbit its first artificial satellite Sputnik I on October 4, 1957. The U.S.A. followed with Explore I in January 1958. It was, how ever, on May 25, 1961, that a definite impulse was given for the conquest of the moon. That day, late President John F. Kennedy, in special message on urgent national need to the United States Congress, formally committed America to the moon in these words, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieve the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on moon and returning him safely to earth.
The goal was set. During the following eight years, a lot of preparatory work was done. Through numerous manned and unmanned spacecraft sent into orbit during that period a whole body of information was collected about hazards in outer space, It was this painstaking research, coupled with the spirit of adventure inherent in man, which made the achievement of the goal possible.[the_ad id=”17142″]
Landing man on the moon was accompanied on July 21, 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Edwin-Aldrin stepped down on the lunar surface from Eagle, the code name of Lunar Module, in which they had left Appollo 11, a few hours earlier and explored. the surroundings. They spent nearly 2 hours on the lunar surface, setting up experiments and collecting rocks. -Their mission completed, the first men to visit the moon, lifted off in Eagle which joined the main ship Columbia, The latter returned to the earth safely on July 24, 1969. The feat was successfully repeated many times by Russian and American astronauts.
However, the man’s quest to know about other planets has not remained restricted to the moon alone. The scientists have planned various probes into the mystery of the planet Mars and various other planets. Now the next object where the Russians and the Americans plan to land man is the Mars Russia has already succeeded in a big way in this regard and the Americans are well on the way to the Mars.
The man’s space travel and exploration adds to his glory. Man’s space exploration is the unprecedented victory of man over the power of Nature. This brings a new hope for the betterment of man’s life with the help of the elements available on the on and other planets. In the times to come other rich countries would also join the race and help in the exploration of the space, this would help a man know more and more about the space.