1600 1960

It was Sir Isaac Newton's publication of Principia that laid the

foundation for space exploration. In the following centuries, much
progress was made toward the development of the first rockets.
1961 1970
The decade of the sixties was in many ways the golden age of
space exploration, featuring the first manned space missions, the
American Mercury and Gemini programs, and the first Moon landing
in 1969.
1971 1980
This decade saw the Apollo program come to a close. The next few
years were dominated by the first orbiting space stations and the
first space probes sent to explore the mysteries of the Solar
System.
1981 1990
The decade of the eighties saw the beginning of the Space Shuttle
program with all of its triumphs and its tragedies. Many amazing
discoveries were also made throughout the Solar System.
1991 2000
The nineties saw the continuation of the Space Shuttle program and
many new missions to explore the Solar System. It also saw the
early beginnings of the commercial space program.
2001 2010
After the turn of the century, another disaster plagued the Space
Shuttle program. The Shuttle was eventually retired and commercial
space companies began to take the initiative for exploring space.
Ever since human beings first looked at the lights in the night sky, they have
wanted to know what was out
there. The renaissance brought many new advances like the telescope which made
more precise astronomical
observations possible. But the real advances came in the twentieth century. Early
experiments with rockets
eventually led to the first satellites and the first manned space missions. Soon,
mankind would use these
machines to walk on the surface of another world. The Space Shuttle program made
space travel more
routine. Orbiting space stations make scientific experiments possible. And the
future brings the promise of
commercial space travel and manned missions to Mars and beyond. In this section of
Sea and Sky, you can
explore the major milestones that led to the development of our manned space
programs and learn about the
history of space exploration.

2011 2020
The second decade of the new century sees commercial companies
gearing up to take over low Earth orbit space travel. Many new deep
space programs are currently under development for the future.
People in Space

In 1961, Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union was sent into

space, and he orbited the earth. In the following year, John
Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth.

Within a few years, the Americans had developed rockets

powerful enough to lift two or three astronauts into orbit.
Then, in 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins
reached the moon’s surface in a smaller craft.

In the 1970’s NASA developed space shuttles. These

spacecraft can orbit the earth for a week, return, and be
reused. Space shuttles are launched with rockets that fall back
to earth. The space shuttles can be used to launched and
maintain satellites.

In 1986, Soviet Union launched a space station. This

station is a home in space where astronauts can live for years.
NASA has plans to build a space station in the 1990s.