Space Exploration

The Space Age in the United States has run almost in tandem with the Atomic Age. Robert H. Goddard was one of the first scientists to experiment with rocket propulsion systems. In his small laboratory in Worcester, Massachusetts, Goddard worked with liquid oxygen and gasoline to propel rockets into the atmosphere. In 1926 he successfully fired the world's first liquid-fuel rocket, which reached a height of 12.5 meters. Over the next 10 years, his rockets achieved modest altitudes of nearly two kilometers, and interest in rocketry increased in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union.

Expendable rockets provided the means for launching artificial satellites, as well as manned spacecraft. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik I, and the United States followed with Explorer I in 1958. The first manned space flights were made in the spring of 1961, first by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and then by American astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. John H. Glenn, Jr. became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth in 1962. The most significant U.S. achievement during the early years involved the human exploration of the moon. President John F. Kennedy announced on May 25, 1961, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth," and it was Neil Armstrong's step onto the Moon's surface on July 20, 1969, that fulfilled President Kennedy's challenge.

In 1984, in his State of the Union Address, President Ronald Reagan directed the development of a permanently manned space station. An initial effort in this area was NASA's Skylab program. The program also served as a successful experiment in long-duration human spaceflight. By 1986, the design depicted a complex, large, and multipurpose facility. In 1991 NASA released plans for a restructured facility called Space Station Freedom.

Then Russia, which had many years of experience in long-duration human spaceflight, with its Salyut and Mir space stations, joined with the U.S. and other international partners including Japan, Canada and European Space Agency in 1993 to build a joint facility known as the International Space Station (ISS). In 1998, the U.S. participated in a series of Shuttle missions to Mir and seven American astronauts lived aboard Mir for extended stays. Permanent habitation of the ISS began with the launch of the Expedition One crew on October 31 and the docking on November 2, 2000.

On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush announced a new Vision for Space Exploration. This Vision entails sending humans back to the Moon and on to Mars by eventually retiring the Shuttle and developing a new, multipurpose Crew Exploration Vehicle. Robotic scientific exploration and technology development is also folded into this encompassing Vision.

From those first tentative steps to the 1969 moon landing to today's reusable space shuttle, the American space program has brought forth a breathtaking display of applied science. Communications satellites transmit computer data, telephone calls, and radio and television broadcasts. Weather satellites furnish the data necessary to provide early warnings of severe storms. Space technology has generated thousands of products for everyday use--everything from lightweight materials used in running shoes to respiratory monitors used in hospitals. Since 1961, more than 400 human beings have ventured into space. Now aboard the International Space Station, astronauts are working to improve life on Earth and extend life beyond our home planet.

- Abridged from State Dept. Publications and other U.S. government materials

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