SPACE, AN UNCERTAIN FRONTIER. If we at once admit the foolishness of these perennially suggested “impediments” to star flight, we will be on our way to understanding that interstellar space does not need a bridge too far. Interstellar travel may still be in its infancy, but adulthood is fast approaching, and our descendants will someday see childhood’s end - Dr. Eugene Mallove and Dr. Gregory Matloff, The Starflight Handbook, 1989.
The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, on which cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin of the USSR made one orbit around the Earth. In official Soviet documents, there is no mention of the fact that Gagarin parachuted the final seven miles. The international rules for aviation records stated that “The pilot remains in his craft from launch to landing”.
Shooting for the stars will first require a lot of down-to-Earth elbow grease, as NASA’s new 100-Year Starship project illustrates. The effort, to journey between stars in the 2100s, began with a workshop and now is in the study phase.
needed to enable long-haul human space treks a century from now. Kick-started by a strategic planning workshop in January, the project has brought together more than two dozen farsighted futurists, NASA specialists, science fiction writers, foundation aficionados and educators. NASA’s Ames Research Center But for the moment, put aside and the Defense Advanced Re- all those Vulcan mind melds search Projects Agency (DAR- and get a grip. Launching a truly PA) are collaborating on the interstellar human voyage is a $1 million 100-Year Starship goal that will require sustained Study, -an effort to take the first investments of intellectual and step in the next era of space ex- financial capital from a variety ploration. of sources. The study will scrutinize the “The year-long study aims to business model needed to de- develop a construct that will invelop and mature technologies centivize and facilitate private co-investment to ensure continuity of the lengthy technological time horizon needed,” according to DARPA thinkers.
WASHINGTON -- In 2011, NASA began developing a heavy-lift rocket for the human exploration of deep space, helped foster a new era of commercial spaceflight and technology breakthroughs, fully utilized a newly complete space station, and made major discoveries about the universe we live in, many of which will benefit life on Earth. “The year truly marks the beginning of a new era in the human exploration of our solar system,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. “Just as important are the ground-breaking discoveries about Earth and the universe, as well as our work to inspire and educate a new generation of scientists and engineers, and our efforts to keep the agency on a firm financial footing with its first clean audit in nine years. It’s been a landmark year for the entire NASA team.”
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DISTANCE I N B E T W E E N
LIGHTS 1957: The Soviet Union
launches the first artificial satelite Sputnik 1 into space
1961: Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is the first human to orbit the earth.
1962: John Glenn
is the first American to orbit the earth.
1969: The first six american apollo missions land on the moon.
1970: Skylab, the first american
space station is launched and used for space travel assitance and experiments.
E = mc
2
C= Light
299,792,458 metres per second 186,282 miles per second