The History of Space Exploration for Kids
You have probably seen the Space Shuttle on television, but have you ever wondered when people first started to travel outside of Earth's atmosphere? Both Russia and the USA began space exploration programs in 1955 and Russia was the first country to put a rocket into orbit when it launched the Sputnik I in October, 1957.
The first earthling in space was not a human or a chimpanzee, but a dog from Russia whose name was Laika. On November 3, 1957, Laika was placed in the Sputnik II rocket and launched into orbit. The launch was successful, but this was during the early years of space exploration and there was no way to bring Laika home.
The race to the moon began in 1961 and the United States landed the first manned spacecraft on the moon. This historic date was July 20, 1969 and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the moon.
During the past 50 years Russia and the US have both sent many rockets and probes into space. There have been robotically controlled machines that have landed on both the Moon and Mars that have sent back valuable information. During the 1980s 5 unmanned spacecraft were sent to study comets and these included the Suisei and Sakigake from Japan; the Vega 2 from Russia and the Giotto from the European Space Agency. The Magellan, the Galileo and the Voyager are also orbiting spacecraft that have helped scientists learn about Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus.
Space Stations
There have been two space stations and the first of these was the Mir which was launched by Russia and remained in orbit from 1986 until 2001. In 1998 the International Space Station’s first module was sent into space and since this time the USA, Canada, Japan, Russia and ten European countries have collaborated and worked together to make this a large, usable habitat for scientists and astronauts. Italy has contributed the Harmony space station module and Europe has established the Columbus Laboratory which is one of the finest research centres ever built. The ISS will be used by these countries as a shared base of operations for exploring the universe.
This is an original news article © The Kids Window
We have some fun space design bedroom decoration ideas inside.
| Products available to buy at the Kids Window |
|
|
|
|
