space exploration

Introduction
Overview of recent space achievements
- Motivations for space activity
- Major milestones
- Significant milestones in space exploration
History of space exploration
- Prelude to spaceflight
  - Precursors in fiction and fact
    - Tsiolkovsky
    - Goddard
    - Oberth
    - Other space pioneers
  - Early rocket development
    - Germany
    - United States
    - Soviet Union
  - Preparing for spaceflight
- From Sputnik to Apollo
  - The first satellites
  - Development of space organizations
    - United States
    - Soviet Union
    - Europe
    - Japan
    - China
    - International participation
    - Involvement of industry
  - The first human spaceflights
    - Vostok
    - Mercury
    - Gemini and Voskhod
    - Soyuz
  - The race to the Moon
    - The American commitment
    - The Soviet response
    - Interim developments
    - The Apollo lunar landings and Apollo-Soyuz
- Orbiting space platforms
  - Space stations
  - International space endurance records
  - Summary of space stations launched since 1971
  - The space shuttle
Human beings in space: debate and consequences
- Risks and benefits
- Selecting people for spaceflights
- Biomedical, psychological, and sociological aspects
Science in space
- Solar and space physics
- Solar system exploration
- Exploring the universe
- Microgravity research
- Observing Earth
Space applications
- Meteorology
- Positioning, navigation, and timing
- Military and national security uses of space
- Satellite telecommunications
- Remote sensing
- Commercial space transportation
- New commercial applications
Issues for the future
Chronology of crewed spaceflights
- Crewed spaceflights, 1960–69
- Crewed spaceflights, 1970–79
- Crewed spaceflights, 1980–89
- Crewed spaceflights, 1990–99
- Crewed spaceflights, 2000–09
- Crewed spaceflights, 2010–2019
- Crewed spaceflights, 2020–

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Astronaut outside the International Space Station

Top five milestones in space exploration history

Hurricane Irene

Cassini-Huygens spacecraft

Mars exploration: Opportunity and Curiosity rovers

International Space Station, 2000

Sojourner rover examining a boulder on Mars

For Students

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon

space exploration summary

space exploration: Related Content

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Last Updated: Nov 13, 2025

Photos and Videos

Astronaut outside the International Space Station

Hurricane Irene

Cassini-Huygens spacecraft

International Space Station, 2000

Sojourner rover examining a boulder on Mars

The War of the Worlds

Top five milestones in space exploration history

Mars exploration: Opportunity and Curiosity rovers

launch of an X-15

Witness the first extravehicular activity in space: a space walk performed by astronaut Edward White on the Gemini 4 mission

Watch the launch and booster separation of Gemini spacecraft as it is lifted off the ground by a Titan II rocket

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Topics

recovery reentry docking rendezvous interplanetary exploration Ansari X Prize space suit space program staging Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center multimessenger astronomy cosmology celestial mechanics 10 Women Scientists Who Should Be More Famous radio and radar astronomy planetarium infrared astronomy astrobiology astronomical unit meteoritics

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Key People

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Russell Louis Schweickart

American astronaut

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Ellison Onizuka

American astronaut

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Paul J. Weitz

American astronaut

Jonny Kim

Jonny Kim

Korean-American Navy SEAL, doctor, aviator, and astronaut

Photograph of Satish Dhawan

Satish Dhawan

Indian aerospace engineer and space scientist

Peggy Whitson

Peggy Whitson

American biochemist and astronaut

Sally Ride

Sally Ride

American astronaut

Sunita Williams

Sunita Williams

American astronaut

Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong

American astronaut

Stephanie Wilson

Stephanie Wilson

American astronaut

John Glenn

John Glenn

American astronaut and United States senator

Susan Helms, 2001.

Susan Helms

American astronaut and Air Force officer

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Michael Griffin

American aerospace engineer

Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla

Indian-born American astronaut

Peake, Tim

Tim Peake

British astronaut and military officer

Nicollier, Claude

Claude Nicollier

Swiss test pilot and astronaut

Ellen Ochoa

Ellen Ochoa

American astronaut and administrator

Bill Nelson

Bill Nelson

United States senator

Anne McClain after her first spaceflight

Anne McClain

American astronaut

Mark Kelly and Scott Kelly

Mark Kelly

American astronaut and United States senator

The orbits of the planets and other elements of the solar system, including asteroids, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, comet

Space Odyssey

The Space Shuttle Columbia soars from Launch Pad 39A on July 1 1997 to begin the 16-day STS-94 Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1) mission.

Space Records

Edwin E. Aldrin (Buzz Aldrin) stands on the moon, Apollo 11

Famous Astronauts and Cosmonauts

Soil cohesiveness demonstrated in bootprint of Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11. footprint; foot print; moon

Space Exploration

Earth from space. Full-hemisphere views of the Earth showing Hurricane Linda at its peak approaching Baja California on 1997 September 11.

Human Exploration: From Earth to Space

Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.

All About Astronomy

View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).

Astronomy and Space Quiz

Buzz Aldrin. Apollo 11. Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Aldrin, photographed July 20, 1969, during the first manned mission to the Moon's surface. Reflected in Aldrin's faceplate is the Lunar Module and astronaut Neil Armstrong, who took the picture.

Exploration and Discovery