Space exploration is the human enterprise of attempting to reach and understand the frontiers of our solar system, the Milky Way galaxy and beyond. Its history dates back to the dawn of humanity when humans looked upward and wondered about the objects they saw (see astronomy). With the development of rockets, electronics and other technologies in the 20th century, it became possible to send machines, animals and eventually people above Earth’s atmosphere into outer space.
The exploration of space has been carried out by unmanned space probes, human space flights and by living for extended periods in orbiting space stations. In addition, manned space missions have been conducted to the Moon, and uncrewed probes have landed on celestial bodies including Venus and Mars. Some have even ventured outside the solar system, reaching interstellar space and flying close to Halley’s comet.
Space is a very hostile environment for humans and their machines, with temperatures far colder than those on Earth, and a surrounding swarm of charged particles, both ions and electrons. It takes great ingenuity to permit people and machines to survive there.
Until recently, it was only national governments that could afford the enormous costs of launching people and equipment into space. As a result, most exploration of space has been motivated by utilitarian purposes like increasing knowledge and enhancing national prestige or power. Increasingly, however, private industry has become involved in activities that serve utilitarian and commercial interests, such as satellites for telecommunications and weather observation.
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