[Points: Introduction—man's earlier knowledge about space—invention of rockets—Sputnik—race between America and Russia—landing on the moon—new possibilities—conclusion.]
From time immemorial mankind has been trying to fly. Evidence in support of this theory could be have from different mytho logies. Invention of aeroplane in 1903 was the first step towards the fulfilment of this long cherished ambition. Still his knowledge about the universe and the space was limited.
The knowledge of space was known to the people of the era of Aryabhat. Much later, Copernecus and then Gallelio added new theories about space. The physical laws controlling the flights of artificial satellites were first propounded by Sir Issac Newton. Gradually man's curiosity and inventive nature prompted him to probe further into the mystery of the. universe. Though war rockets propelled by charcoal were first introduced by China far back in 1042 A.D., the first liquid fuelled rocket was launched by Dr. Goddard of the U.S.A. in 1926. This reached an altitude of only 46 feet. Since the Second World War, encouraged by the success of V2 rockets, the U.S.A. and Soviet Russia started working secretly and made innumerable experiments to send rockets for exploration of the universe. The first artificial satellite Sputnik I (Fellow traveller) was successfully put into orbit by Russia on 4th October 1957. It heralded a new era of man's mastery over nature. On November 3rd 1957, Sputnik II orbitted round the earth with dog Leica. America did not lag behind, and soon she was successful in launching Pioneer IB on 11th October, 1958. A neck and neck race followed between these two giant nations; and Russia was first to sent cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space on 12th April, 1961, soon followed by Allan Shepherd of the U.S.A. However, some of the flights proved disastrous and fatal but it did not deter the scientists from going ahead. More rockets were launched to find out the effect of weight-lessness on human body from prolonged space travel. The greatest drama in the history of mankind was enacted by Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, when on 21st July 1969, their Lunar Module landed on moon's surface. Armstrong became the first man to set foot on moon's surface. They collected samples of lunar soil and rocks and many important data. Just four months later commander Charles of Apollo 2 revisited the moon. He moved about for four hours on moon's surface and placed scientific instru ments there. These achievements on moon project completed the first chapter in the peaceful exploration and conquest of space.
After being successful on moon landing, scientists took another leap. Special nuclear fuel, still more powerful to pull away rockets from all sorts of gravitational forces of the interplanetary system, was invented. Now the scientists looked beyond Moon to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Soon Mariner, Skylab, Soyuj were on the way to these planets for further explorations. Pictures from Mars were trans mitted to the earth from these spacecrafts giving some vital clues about the non-existence of any life in that planet. Pioneer II and Viking II were also soon launched to send back innumerable data of space. New lights were thrown about the origin of the universe from these data and many age-old theories and superstition were eliminated. Man can now hope to make frequent voyages to moon probably: by the end of this century. At the present rate of advancement we may also foresee man's landing on Jupiter or Mars within the next decade.
Space research has opened up a new dimension to man's know ledge. Astrophysics, astrochemistry and many other new branches in science have cropped up as a result of extensive space research. However, these experiments are extremely costly. Both Russia and the U.S.A. have already spent over $ 8,00,000 billion in space research till 1972.
With population explosion on the earth and gradual diminish ing source of food and space, we can now plan to live in other planets for more space and minerals. Mankind stands to gain immensely from space exploration.
