Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer

space.[1] While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by

astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted both by uncrewed
robotic space probes and human spaceflight. Space exploration, like its classical
form astronomy, is one of the main sources for space science.

While the observation of objects in space, known as astronomy, predates reliable

recorded history, it was the development of large and relatively efficient rockets
during the mid-twentieth century that allowed physical space exploration to become
a reality. Common rationales for exploring space include advancing scientific
research, national prestige, uniting different nations, ensuring the future
survival of humanity, and developing military and strategic advantages against
other countries.[2]

The early era of space exploration was driven by a "Space Race" between the Soviet
Union and the United States. A driving force of the start of space exploration was
during the Cold War. After the ability to create nuclear weapons, the narrative of
defense/offense left land and the power to control the air the focus. Both the
Soviet Union and the U.S. were racing to prove their superiority in technology
through exploring space. In fact, the reason NASA was created was as a response to
Sputnik I.[3]

The launch of the first human-made object to orbit Earth, the Soviet Union's
Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957, and the first Moon landing by the American Apollo 11
mission on 20 July 1969 are often taken as landmarks for this initial period. The
Soviet space program achieved many of the first milestones, including the first
living being in orbit in 1957, the first human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin aboard
Vostok 1) in 1961, the first spacewalk (by Alexei Leonov) on 18 March 1965, the
first automatic landing on another celestial body in 1966, and the launch of the
first space station (Salyut 1) in 1971. After the first 20 years of exploration,
focus shifted from one-off flights to renewable hardware, such as the Space Shuttle
program, and from competition to cooperation as with the International Space
Station (ISS).

With the substantial completion of the ISS[4] following STS-133 in March 2011,
plans for space exploration by the U.S. remained in flux. The Constellation program
aiming for a return to the Moon by 2020[5] was judged unrealistic by an expert
review panel reporting in 2009.[6] Constellation ultimately was replaced with the
Artemis Program, of which the first mission occurred in 2022, with a planned crewed
landing to occur with Artemis III.[7] The rise of the private space industry also
began in earnest in the 2010s with the development of private launch vehicles,
space capsules and satellite manufacturing.

In the 2000s, China initiated a successful crewed spaceflight program while India
launched the Chandrayaan programme, while the European Union and Japan have also
planned future crewed space missions. The two primary global programs gaining
traction in the 2020s are the Chinese-led International Lunar Research Station and
the US-led Artemis Program, with its plan to build the Lunar Gateway and the
Artemis Base Camp, each having its own set of international partners.

History of exploration
See also: History of astronomy, Discovery and exploration of the Solar System,
Timeline of space exploration, Timeline of first orbital launches by country, and
Outer space § Discovery

V-2 Rocket in the Peenemünde Museum

First telescopes
The first telescope is said to have been invented in 1608 in the Netherlands by an
eyeglass maker named Hans Lippershey, but their first recorded use in astronomy was
by Galileo Galilei in 1609.[8] In 1668 Isaac Newton built his own reflecting
telescope, the first fully functional telescope of this kind, and a landmark for
future developments due to its superior features over the previous Galilean
telescope.[9]

A string of discoveries in the Solar System (and beyond) followed, then and in the
next centuries: the mountains of the Moon, the phases of Venus, the main satellites
of Jupiter and Saturn, the rings of Saturn, many comets, the asteroids, the new
planets Uranus and Neptune, and many more satellites.

The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 was the first space telescope launched
1968,[10] but the launching of Hubble Space Telescope in 1990[11] set a milestone.
As of 1 December 2022, there were 5,284 confirmed exoplanets discovered. The Milky
Way is estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars[12] and more than 100 billion
planets.[13] There are at least 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.[14]
[15] HD1 is the most distant known object from Earth, reported as 33.4 billion
light-years away.[16][17][18][19][20][21]

First outer space flights

Model of Vostok spacecraft

Apollo Command Service Module in lunar orbit

MW 18014 was a German V-2 rocket test launch that took place on 20 June 1944, at
the Peenemünde Army Research Center in Peenemünde. It was the first human-made
object to reach outer space, attaining an apogee of 176 kilometers,[22] which is
well above the Kármán line.[23] It was a vertical test launch. Although the rocket
reached space, it did not reach orbital velocity, and therefore returned to Earth
in an impact, becoming the first sub-orbital spaceflight.[24] In 1949, the Bumper-
WAC reached an altitude of 393 kilometres (244 mi), becoming the first human-made
object to enter space, according to NASA.[25]

First object in orbit

The first successful orbital launch was of the Soviet uncrewed Sputnik 1
("Satellite 1") mission on 4 October 1957. The satellite weighed about 83 kg (183
lb), and is believed to have orbited Earth at a height of about 250 km (160 mi). It
had two radio transmitters (20 and 40 MHz), which emitted "beeps" that could be
heard by radios around the globe. Analysis of the radio signals was used to gather
information about the electron density of the ionosphere, while temperature and
pressure data was encoded in the duration of radio beeps. The results indicated
that the satellite was not punctured by a meteoroid. Sputnik 1 was launched by an
R-7 rocket. It burned up upon re-entry on 3 January 1958.

First human outer space flight

The first successful human spaceflight was Vostok 1 ("East 1"), carrying the 27-
year-old Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, on 12 April 1961. The spacecraft
completed one orbit around the globe, lasting about 1 hour and 48 minutes.
Gagarin's flight resonated around the world; it was a demonstration of the advanced
Soviet space program and it opened an entirely new era in space exploration: human
spaceflight.

First astronomical body space explorations

The first artificial object to reach another celestial body was Luna 2 reaching the
Moon in 1959.[26] The first soft landing on another celestial body was performed by
Luna 9 landing on the Moon on 3 February 1966.[27] Luna 10 became the first
artificial satellite of the Moon, entering in a lunar orbit on 3 April 1966.[28]

The first crewed landing on another celestial body was performed by Apollo 11 on 20
July 1969, landing on the Moon. There have been a total of six spacecraft with
humans landing on the Moon starting from 1969 to the last human landing in 1972.

The first interplanetary flyby was the 1961 Venera 1 flyby of Venus, though the
1962 Mariner 2 was the first flyby of Venus to return data (closest approach 34,773
kilometers). Pioneer 6 was the first satellite to orbit the Sun, launched on 16
December 1965. The other planets were first flown by in 1965 for Mars by Mariner 4,
1973 for Jupiter by Pioneer 10, 1974 for Mercury by Mariner 10, 1979 for Saturn by
Pioneer 11, 1986 for Uranus by Voyager 2, 1989 for Neptune by Voyager 2. In 2015,
the dwarf planets Ceres and Pluto were orbited by Dawn and passed by New Horizons,
respectively. This accounts for flybys of each of the eight planets in the Solar
System, the Sun, the Moon, and Ceres and Pluto (two of the five recognized dwarf
planets).

The first interplanetary surface mission to return at least limited surface data
from another planet was the 1970 landing of Venera 7, which returned data to Earth
for 23 minutes from Venus. In 1975, Venera 9 was the first to return images from
the surface of another planet, returning images from Venus. In 1971, the Mars 3
mission achieved the first soft landing on Mars returning data for almost 20
seconds. Later, much longer duration surface missions were achieved, including over
six years of Mars surface operation by Viking 1 from 1975 to 1982 and over two
hours of transmission from the surface of Venus by Venera 13 in 1982, the longest
ever Soviet planetary surface mission. Venus and Mars are the two planets outside
of Earth on which humans have conducted surface missions with uncrewed robotic
spacecraft.

First space station

Salyut 1 was the first space station of any kind, launched into low Earth orbit by
the Soviet Union on 19 April 1971. The International Space Station (ISS) is
currently the largest and oldest of the 2 current fully functional space stations,
inhabited continuously since the year 2000. The other, Tiangong space station built
by China, is now fully crewed and operational.

First interstellar space flight

Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to leave the Solar System into
interstellar space on 25 August 2012. The probe passed the heliopause at 121 AU to
enter interstellar space.[29]

Farthest from Earth

The Apollo 13 flight passed the far side of the Moon at an altitude of 254
kilometers (158 miles; 137 nautical miles) above the lunar surface, and 400,171 km
(248,655 mi) from Earth, marking the record for the farthest humans have ever
traveled from Earth in 1970.

As of 26 November 2022 Voyager 1 was at a distance of 159 AU (23.8 billion km; 14.8
billion mi) from Earth.[30] It is the most distant human-made object from Earth.
[31]

Targets of exploration
Starting in the mid-20th century probes and then human missions were sent into
Earth orbit, and then on to the Moon. Also, probes were sent throughout the known
Solar System, and into Solar orbit. Uncrewed spacecraft have been sent into orbit
around Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury by the 21st century, and the most
distance active spacecraft, Voyager 1 and 2 traveled beyond 100 times the Earth-Sun
distance. The instruments were enough though that it is thought they have left the
Sun's heliosphere, a sort of bubble of particles made in the Galaxy by the Sun's
solar wind.

The Sun
The Sun is a major focus of space exploration. Being above the atmosphere in
particular and Earth's magnetic field gives access to the solar wind and infrared
and ultraviolet radiations that cannot reach Earth's surface. The Sun generates
most space weather, which can affect power generation and transmission systems on
Earth and interfere with, and even damage, satellites and space probes. Numerous
spacecraft dedicated to observing the Sun, beginning with the Apollo Telescope
Mount, have been launched and still others have had solar observation as a
secondary objective. Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, will approach the Sun to
within 1/9th the orbit of Mercury.

Mercury
Main article: Exploration of Mercury

A MESSENGER image from 18,000 km showing a region about 500 km across (2008)
Mercury remains the least explored of the Terrestrial planets. As of May 2013, the
Mariner 10 and MESSENGER missions have been the only missions that have made close
observations of Mercury. MESSENGER entered orbit around Mercury in March 2011, to
further investigate the observations made by Mariner 10 in 1975 (Munsell, 2006b). A
third mission to Mercury, scheduled to arrive in 2025, BepiColombo is to include
two probes. BepiColombo is a joint mission between Japan and the European Space
Agency. MESSENGER and BepiColombo are intended to gather complementary data to help
scientists understand many of the mysteries discovered by Mariner 10's flybys.

Flights to other planets within the Solar System are accomplished at a cost in
energy, which is described by the net change in velocity of the spacecraft, or
delta-v. Due to the relatively high delta-v to reach Mercury and its proximity to
the Sun, it is difficult to explore and orbits around it are rather unstable.

Venus
Main article: Observations and explorations of Venus
Venus was the first target of interplanetary flyby and lander missions and, despite
one of the most hostile surface environments in the Solar System, has had more
landers sent to it (nearly all from the Soviet Union) than any other planet in the
Solar System. The first flyby was the 1961 Venera 1, though the 1962 Mariner 2 was
the first flyby to successfully return data. Mariner 2 has been followed by several
other flybys by multiple space agencies often as part of missions using a Venus
flyby to provide a gravitational assist en route to other celestial bodies. In
1967, Venera 4 became the first probe to enter and directly examine the atmosphere
of Venus. In 1970, Venera 7 became the first successful lander to reach the surface
of Venus and by 1985 it had been followed by eight additional successful Soviet
Venus landers which provided images and other direct surface data. Starting in
1975, with the Soviet orbiter Venera 9, some ten successful orbiter missions have
been sent to Venus, including later missions which were able to map the surface of
Venus using radar to pierce the obscuring atmosphere.

Earth
Main article: Earth observation satellite

First television image of Earth from space, taken by TIROS-1 (1960)

Space exploration has been used as a tool to understand Earth as a celestial
object. Orbital missions can provide data for Earth that can be difficult or
impossible to obtain from a purely ground-based point of reference.

For example, the existence of the Van Allen radiation belts was unknown until their
discovery by the United States' first artificial satellite, Explorer 1. These belts
contain radiation trapped by Earth's magnetic fields, which currently renders
construction of habitable space stations above 1000 km impractical. Following this
early unexpected discovery, a large number of Earth observation satellites have
been deployed specifically to explore Earth from a space-based perspective. These
satellites have significantly contributed to the understanding of a variety of
Earth-based phenomena. For instance, the hole in the ozone layer was found by an
artificial satellite that was exploring Earth's atmosphere, and satellites have
allowed for the discovery of archeological sites or geological formations that were
difficult or impossible to otherwise identify.

Moon
Main article: Exploration of the Moon

Apollo 16 LEM Orion, the Lunar Roving Vehicle and astronaut John Young (1972)
The Moon was the first celestial body to be the object of space exploration. It
holds the distinctions of being the first remote celestial object to be flown by,
orbited, and landed upon by spacecraft, and the only remote celestial object ever
to be visited by humans.

In 1959, the Soviets obtained the first images of the far side of the Moon, never
previously visible to humans. The U.S. exploration of the Moon began with the
Ranger 4 impactor in 1962. Starting in 1966, the Soviets successfully deployed a
number of landers to the Moon which were able to obtain data directly from the
Moon's surface; just four months later, Surveyor 1 marked the debut of a successful
series of U.S. landers. The Soviet uncrewed missions culminated in the Lunokhod
program in the early 1970s, which included the first uncrewed rovers and also
successfully brought lunar soil samples to Earth for study. This marked the first
(and to date the only) automated return of extraterrestrial soil samples to Earth.
Uncrewed exploration of the Moon continues with various nations periodically
deploying lunar orbiters. China's Chang'e 4 in 2019 and Chang'e 6 in 2024 achieved
the world's first landing and sample return on the far side of the Moon. India's
Chandrayaan-3 in 2023 achieved the world's first landing on the lunar south pole
region.

Crewed exploration of the Moon began in 1968 with the Apollo 8 mission that
successfully orbited the Moon, the first time any extraterrestrial object was
orbited by humans. In 1969, the Apollo 11 mission marked the first time humans set
foot upon another world. Crewed exploration of the Moon did not continue for long.
The Apollo 17 mission in 1972 marked the sixth landing and the most recent human
visit. Artemis II is scheduled to complete a crewed flyby of the Moon in 2025, and
Artemis III will perform the first lunar landing since Apollo 17 with it scheduled
for launch no earlier than 2026. Robotic missions are still pursued vigorously.

Mars
Main article: Exploration of Mars

Surface of Mars by the Spirit rover (2004)

The exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration
programs of the Soviet Union (later Russia), the United States, Europe, Japan and
India. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have
been launched toward Mars since the 1960s. These missions were aimed at gathering
data about current conditions and answering questions about the history of Mars.
The questions raised by the scientific community are expected to not only give a
better appreciation of the Red Planet but also yield further insight into the past,
and possible future, of Earth.

The exploration of Mars has come at a considerable financial cost with roughly two-
thirds of all spacecraft destined for Mars failing before completing their
missions, with some failing before they even began. Such a high failure rate can be
attributed to the complexity and large number of variables involved in an
interplanetary journey, and has led researchers to jokingly speak of The Great
Galactic Ghoul[32] which subsists on a diet of Mars probes. This phenomenon is also
informally known as the "Mars Curse".[33] In contrast to overall high failure rates
in the exploration of Mars, India has become the first country to achieve success
of its maiden attempt. India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)[34][35][36] is one of the
least expensive interplanetary missions ever undertaken with an approximate total
cost of ₹ 450 Crore (US$73 million).[37][38] The first mission to Mars by any Arab
country has been taken up by the United Arab Emirates. Called the Emirates Mars
Mission, it was launched on 19 July 2020 and went into orbit around Mars on 9
February 2021. The uncrewed exploratory probe was named "Hope Probe" and was sent
to Mars to study its atmosphere in detail.[39]

Phobos
Main article: Exploration of Phobos
The Russian space mission Fobos-Grunt, which launched on 9 November 2011,
experienced a failure leaving it stranded in low Earth orbit.[40] It was to begin
exploration of the Phobos and Martian circumterrestrial orbit, and study whether
the moons of Mars, or at least Phobos, could be a "trans-shipment point" for
spaceships traveling to Mars.[41]

Asteroids
Main article: Exploration of the asteroids

Asteroid 4 Vesta, imaged by the Dawn spacecraft (2011)

Until the advent of space travel, objects in the asteroid belt were merely
pinpricks of light in even the largest telescopes, their shapes and terrain
remaining a mystery. Several asteroids have now been visited by probes, the first
of which was Galileo, which flew past two: 951 Gaspra in 1991, followed by 243 Ida
in 1993. Both of these lay near enough to Galileo's planned trajectory to Jupiter
that they could be visited at acceptable cost. The first landing on an asteroid was
performed by the NEAR Shoemaker probe in 2000, following an orbital survey of the
object, 433 Eros. The dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid 4 Vesta, two of the three
largest asteroids, were visited by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, launched in 2007.

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration

Agency to return a sample of material from the small near-Earth asteroid 25143
Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. Hayabusa was launched on 9 May 2003 and
rendezvoused with Itokawa in mid-September 2005. After arriving at Itokawa,
Hayabusa studied the asteroid's shape, spin, topography, color, composition,
density, and history. In November 2005, it landed on the asteroid twice to collect
samples. The spacecraft returned to Earth on 13 June 2010.

Jupiter
Main article: Exploration of Jupiter

Tupan Patera on Jupiter's moon Io

The exploration of Jupiter has consisted solely of a number of automated NASA
spacecraft visiting the planet since 1973. A large majority of the missions have
been "flybys", in which detailed observations are taken without the probe landing
or entering orbit; such as in Pioneer and Voyager programs. The Galileo and Juno
spacecraft are the only spacecraft to have entered the planet's orbit. As Jupiter
is believed to have only a relatively small rocky core and no real solid surface, a
landing mission is precluded.

Reaching Jupiter from Earth requires a delta-v of 9.2 km/s,[42] which is comparable
to the 9.7 km/s delta-v needed to reach low Earth orbit.[43] Fortunately, gravity
assists through planetary flybys can be used to reduce the energy required at
launch to reach Jupiter, albeit at the cost of a significantly longer flight
duration.[42]

Jupiter has 95 known moons, many of which have relatively little known information
about them.
Saturn
Main article: Exploration of Saturn
Saturn has been explored only through uncrewed spacecraft launched by NASA,
including one mission (Cassini–Huygens) planned and executed in cooperation with
other space agencies. These missions consist of flybys in 1979 by Pioneer 11, in
1980 by Voyager 1, in 1982 by Voyager 2 and an orbital mission by the Cassini
spacecraft, which lasted from 2004 until 2017.

Saturn has at least 62 known moons, although the exact number is debatable since
Saturn's rings are made up of vast numbers of independently orbiting objects of
varying sizes. The largest of the moons is Titan, which holds the distinction of
being the only moon in the Solar System with an atmosphere denser and thicker than
that of Earth. Titan holds the distinction of being the only object in the Outer
Solar System that has been explored with a lander, the Huygens probe deployed by
the Cassini spacecraft.

Uranus
Main article: Exploration of Uranus
The exploration of Uranus has been entirely through the Voyager 2 spacecraft, with
no other visits currently planned. Given its axial tilt of 97.77°, with its polar
regions exposed to sunlight or darkness for long periods, scientists were not sure
what to expect at Uranus. The closest approach to Uranus occurred on 24 January
1986. Voyager 2 studied the planet's unique atmosphere and magnetosphere. Voyager 2
also examined its ring system and the moons of Uranus including all five of the
previously known moons, while discovering an additional ten previously unknown
moons.

Images of Uranus proved to have a uniform appearance, with no evidence of the

dramatic storms or atmospheric banding evident on Jupiter and Saturn. Great effort
was required to even identify a few clouds in the images of the planet. The
magnetosphere of Uranus, however, proved to be unique, being profoundly affected by
the planet's unusual axial tilt. In contrast to the bland appearance of Uranus
itself, striking images were obtained of the Moons of Uranus, including evidence
that Miranda had been unusually geologically active.

Neptune
Main article: Exploration of Neptune
The exploration of Neptune began with the 25 August 1989 Voyager 2 flyby, the sole
visit to the system as of 2025. The possibility of a Neptune Orbiter has been
discussed, but no other missions have been given serious thought.

Although the extremely uniform appearance of Uranus during Voyager 2's visit in
1986 had led to expectations that Neptune would also have few visible atmospheric
phenomena, the spacecraft found that Neptune had obvious banding, visible clouds,
auroras, and even a conspicuous anticyclone storm system rivaled in size only by
Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Neptune also proved to have the fastest winds of any
planet in the Solar System, measured as high as 2,100 km/h.[44] Voyager 2 also
examined Neptune's ring and moon system. It discovered 900 complete rings and
additional partial ring "arcs" around Neptune. In addition to examining Neptune's
three previously known moons, Voyager 2 also discovered five previously unknown
moons, one of which, Proteus, proved to be the last largest moon in the system.
Data from Voyager 2 supported the view that Neptune's largest moon, Triton, is a
captured Kuiper belt object.[45]

Pluto
Main article: Pluto § Exploration
The dwarf planet Pluto presents significant challenges for spacecraft because of
its great distance from Earth (requiring high velocity for reasonable trip times)
and small mass (making capture into orbit difficult at present). Voyager 1 could
have visited Pluto, but controllers opted instead for a close flyby of Saturn's
moon Titan, resulting in a trajectory incompatible with a Pluto flyby. Voyager 2
never had a plausible trajectory for reaching Pluto.[46]

After an intense political battle, a mission to Pluto dubbed New Horizons was
granted funding from the United States government in 2003.[47] New Horizons was
launched successfully on 19 January 2006. In early 2007 the craft made use of a
gravity assist from Jupiter. Its closest approach to Pluto was on 14 July 2015;
scientific observations of Pluto began five months prior to closest approach and
continued for 16 days after the encounter.

Kuiper Belt Objects

The New Horizons mission also performed a flyby of the small planetesimal Arrokoth,
in the Kuiper belt, in 2019. This was its first extended mission.[48]

Comets
Main article: List of missions to comets

Comet 103P/Hartley (2010)

Although many comets have been studied from Earth sometimes with centuries-worth of
observations, only a few comets have been closely visited. In 1985, the
International Cometary Explorer conducted the first comet fly-by (21P/Giacobini-
Zinner) before joining the Halley Armada studying the famous comet. The Deep Impact
probe smashed into 9P/Tempel to learn more about its structure and composition and
the Stardust mission returned samples of another comet's tail. The Philae lander
successfully landed on Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014 as part of the broader
Rosetta mission.

Deep space exploration

Main article: Deep space exploration

This high-resolution image of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field includes galaxies of
various ages, sizes, shapes, and colors. The smallest, reddest galaxies, are some
of the most distant galaxies to have been imaged by an optical telescope.
Deep space exploration is the branch of astronomy, astronautics and space
technology that is involved with the exploration of distant regions of outer space.
[49] Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights (deep-
space astronautics) and by robotic spacecraft.

Some of the best candidates for future deep space engine technologies include anti-
matter, nuclear power and beamed propulsion.[50] Beamed propulsion, appears to be
the best candidate for deep space exploration presently available, since it uses
known physics and known technology that is being developed for other purposes.[51]

Future of space exploration

Main article: Future of space exploration

Concept art for a NASA Vision mission

Artistic image of a rocket lifting from a Saturn moon

Breakthrough Starshot
Main article: Breakthrough Starshot
Breakthrough Starshot is a research and engineering project by the Breakthrough
Initiatives to develop a proof-of-concept fleet of light sail spacecraft named
StarChip,[52] to be capable of making the journey to the Alpha Centauri star system
4.37 light-years away. It was founded in 2016 by Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking, and
Mark Zuckerberg.[53][54]

Asteroids
Main article: Exploration of the asteroids
An article in the science magazine Nature suggested the use of asteroids as a
gateway for space exploration, with the ultimate destination being Mars. In order
to make such an approach viable, three requirements need to be fulfilled: first, "a
thorough asteroid survey to find thousands of nearby bodies suitable for astronauts
to visit"; second, "extending flight duration and distance capability to ever-
increasing ranges out to Mars"; and finally, "developing better robotic vehicles
and tools to enable astronauts to explore an asteroid regardless of its size, shape
or spin". Furthermore, using asteroids would provide astronauts with protection
from galactic cosmic rays, with mission crews being able to land on them without
great risk to radiation exposure.

Artemis program
Main article: Artemis program
The Artemis program is an ongoing crewed spaceflight program carried out by NASA,
U.S. commercial spaceflight companies, and international partners such as ESA,[55]
with the goal of landing "the first woman and the next man" on the Moon,
specifically at the lunar south pole region. Artemis would be the next step towards
the long-term goal of establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon, laying the
foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy, and eventually sending
humans to Mars.

In 2017, the lunar campaign was authorized by Space Policy Directive 1, using
various ongoing spacecraft programs such as Orion, the Lunar Gateway, Commercial
Lunar Payload Services, and adding an undeveloped crewed lander. The Space Launch
System will serve as the primary launch vehicle for Orion, while commercial launch
vehicles are planned for use to launch other elements of the campaign.[56] NASA
requested $1.6 billion in additional funding for Artemis for fiscal year 2020,[57]
while the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee requested from NASA a five-year
budget profile[58] which is needed for evaluation and approval by the U.S.
Congress.[59][60] As of 2024, the first Artemis mission was launched in 2022 with
the second mission, a crewed lunar flyby planned for 2025.[61] Construction on the
Lunar Gateway is underway with initial capabilities set for the 2025–2027
timeframe.[62] The first CLPS lander landed in 2024, marking the first US
spacecraft to land since Apollo 17.[63]

Rationales
Main article: Space advocacy

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin had a personal Communion service when he first arrived on the
surface of the Moon.
The research that is conducted by national space exploration agencies, such as NASA
and Roscosmos, is one of the reasons supporters cite to justify government
expenses. Economic analyses of the NASA programs often showed ongoing economic
benefits (such as NASA spin-offs), generating many times the revenue of the cost of
the program.[64] It is also argued that space exploration would lead to the
extraction of resources on other planets and especially asteroids, which contain
billions of dollars worth of minerals and metals. Such expeditions could generate
substantial revenue.[65] In addition, it has been argued that space exploration
programs help inspire youth to study in science and engineering.[66] Space
exploration also gives scientists the ability to perform experiments in other
settings and expand humanity's knowledge.[67]

Another claim is that space exploration is a necessity to humankind and that

staying on Earth will eventually lead to extinction. Some of the reasons are lack
of natural resources, comets, nuclear war, and worldwide epidemic. Stephen Hawking,
renowned British theoretical physicist, said, "I don't think the human race will
survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many
accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will
reach out to the stars."[68] Author Arthur C. Clarke (1950) presented a summary of
motivations for the human exploration of space in his non-fiction semi-technical
monograph Interplanetary Flight.[69] He argued that humanity's choice is
essentially between expansion off Earth into space, versus cultural (and eventually
biological) stagnation and death.

These motivations could be attributed to one of the first rocket scientists in

NASA, Wernher von Braun, and his vision of humans moving beyond Earth. The basis of
this plan was to:

Develop multi-stage rockets capable of placing satellites, animals, and humans in

space.

Development of large, winged reusable spacecraft capable of carrying humans and

equipment into Earth orbit in a way that made space access routine and cost-
effective.

Construction of a large, permanently occupied space station to be used as a

platform both to observe Earth and from which to launch deep space expeditions.

Launching the first human flights around the Moon, leading to the first landings of
humans on the Moon, with the intent of exploring that body and establishing
permanent lunar bases.

Assembly and fueling of spaceships in Earth orbit for the purpose of sending humans
to Mars with the intent of eventually colonizing that planet.[70]

Known as the Von Braun Paradigm, the plan was formulated to lead humans in the
exploration of space. Von Braun's vision of human space exploration served as the
model for efforts in space exploration well into the twenty-first century, with
NASA incorporating this approach into the majority of their projects.[70] The steps
were followed out of order, as seen by the Apollo program reaching the moon before
the space shuttle program was started, which in turn was used to complete the
International Space Station. Von Braun's Paradigm formed NASA's drive for human
exploration, in the hopes that humans discover the far reaches of the universe.

NASA has produced a series of public service announcement videos supporting the
concept of space exploration.[71]

Overall, the U.S. public remains largely supportive of both crewed and uncrewed
space exploration. According to an Associated Press Poll conducted in July 2003,
71% of U.S. citizens agreed with the statement that the space program is "a good
investment", compared to 21% who did not.[72]

Human nature
Space advocacy and space policy[73] regularly invokes exploration as a human
nature.[74]

Topics
Main articles: Space science and Human presence in space
Spaceflight
Main articles: Spaceflight and Astronautics

Delta-v's in km/s for various orbital maneuvers

Spaceflight is the use of space technology to achieve the flight of spacecraft into
and through outer space.

Spaceflight is used in space exploration, and also in commercial activities like

space tourism and satellite telecommunications. Additional non-commercial uses of
spaceflight include space observatories, reconnaissance satellites and other Earth
observation satellites.

A spaceflight typically begins with a rocket launch, which provides the initial
thrust to overcome the force of gravity and propels the spacecraft from the surface
of Earth. Once in space, the motion of a spacecraft—both when unpropelled and when
under propulsion—is covered by the area of study called astrodynamics. Some
spacecraft remain in space indefinitely, some disintegrate during atmospheric
reentry, and others reach a planetary or lunar surface for landing or impact.

Satellites
Main article: Satellite
Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Common types include military
(spy) and civilian Earth observation satellites, communication satellites,
navigation satellites, weather satellites, and research satellites. Space stations
and human spacecraft in orbit are also satellites.

Commercialization of space
Main article: Commercialization of space
The commercialization of space first started out with the launching of private
satellites by NASA or other space agencies. Current examples of the commercial
satellite use of space include satellite navigation systems, satellite television,
satellite communications (such as internet services) and satellite radio. The next
step of commercialization of space was seen as human spaceflight. Flying humans
safely to and from space had become routine to NASA and Russia.[75] Reusable
spacecraft were an entirely new engineering challenge, something only seen in
novels and films like Star Trek and War of the Worlds. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin
supported the use of making a reusable vehicle like the space shuttle. Aldrin held
that reusable spacecraft were the key in making space travel affordable, stating
that the use of "passenger space travel is a huge potential market big enough to
justify the creation of reusable launch vehicles".[76] Space tourism is a next step
in the use of reusable vehicles in the commercialization of space. The purpose of
this form of space travel is personal pleasure.

Private spaceflight companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, and commercial space
stations such as the Axiom Space and the Bigelow Commercial Space Station have
changed the cost and overall landscape of space exploration, and are expected to
continue to do so in the near future.

Alien life
Main articles: Astrobiology and Extraterrestrial life
Astrobiology is the interdisciplinary study of life in the universe, combining
aspects of astronomy, biology and geology.[77] It is focused primarily on the study
of the origin, distribution and evolution of life. It is also known as exobiology
(from Greek: έξω, exo, "outside").[78][79][80] The term "Xenobiology" has been used
as well, but this is technically incorrect because its terminology means "biology
of the foreigners".[81] Astrobiologists must also consider the possibility of life
that is chemically entirely distinct from any life found on Earth.[82] In the Solar
System, some of the prime locations for current or past astrobiology are on
Enceladus, Europa, Mars, and Titan.[83]

Human spaceflight and habitation

Main articles: Human spaceflight, Bioastronautics, Effect of spaceflight on the
human body, Space medicine, Space architecture, Space station, Space habitat
(facility), and Space habitat (settlement)

Crew quarters on Zvezda, the base ISS crew module

To date, the longest human occupation of space is the International Space Station
which has been in continuous use for 24 years, 90 days. Valeri Polyakov's record
single spaceflight of almost 438 days aboard the Mir space station has not been
surpassed. The health effects of space have been well documented through years of
research conducted in the field of aerospace medicine. Analog environments similar
to those experienced in space travel (like deep sea submarines), have been used in
this research to further explore the relationship between isolation and extreme
environments.[84] It is imperative that the health of the crew be maintained as any
deviation from baseline may compromise the integrity of the mission as well as the
safety of the crew, hence the astronauts must endure rigorous medical screenings
and tests prior to embarking on any missions. However, it does not take long for
the environmental dynamics of spaceflight to commence its toll on the human body;
for example, space motion sickness (SMS) – a condition which affects the
neurovestibular system and culminates in mild to severe signs and symptoms such as
vertigo, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and disorientation – plagues almost all space
travelers within their first few days in orbit.[84] Space travel can also have an
impact on the psyche of the crew members as delineated in anecdotal writings
composed after their retirement. Space travel can adversely affect the body's
natural biological clock (circadian rhythm); sleep patterns causing sleep
deprivation and fatigue; and social interaction; consequently, residing in a Low
Earth Orbit (LEO) environment for a prolonged amount of time can result in both
mental and physical exhaustion.[84] Long-term stays in space reveal issues with
bone and muscle loss in low gravity, immune system suppression, problems with
eyesight, and radiation exposure. The lack of gravity causes fluid to rise upward
which can cause pressure to build up in the eye, resulting in vision problems; the
loss of bone minerals and densities; cardiovascular deconditioning; and decreased
endurance and muscle mass.[85]

Radiation is an insidious health hazard to space travelers as it is invisible and

can cause cancer. When above the Earth's magnetic field, spacecraft are no longer
protected from the sun's radiation; the danger of radiation is even more potent in
deep space. The hazards of radiation can be ameliorated through protective
shielding on the spacecraft, alerts, and dosimetry.[86]

Fortunately, with new and rapidly evolving technological advancements, those in

Mission Control are able to monitor the health of their astronauts more closely
using telemedicine. One may not be able to completely evade the physiological
effects of space flight, but those effects can be mitigated. For example, medical
systems aboard space vessels such as the International Space Station (ISS) are well
equipped and designed to counteract the effects of lack of gravity and
weightlessness; on-board treadmills can help prevent muscle loss and reduce the
risk of developing premature osteoporosis.[84][86] Additionally, a crew medical
officer is appointed for each ISS mission and a flight surgeon is available 24/7
via the ISS Mission Control Center located in Houston, Texas.[86] Although the
interactions are intended to take place in real time, communications between the
space and terrestrial crew may become delayed – sometimes by as much as 20
minutes[86] – as their distance from each other increases when the spacecraft moves
further out of low Earth orbit; because of this the crew are trained and need to be
prepared to respond to any medical emergencies that may arise on the vessel as the
ground crew are hundreds of miles away.

Many past and current concepts for the continued exploration and colonization of
space focus on a return to the Moon as a "steppingstone" to the other planets,
especially Mars. At the end of 2006, NASA announced they were planning to build a
permanent Moon base with continual presence by 2024.[87]

Beyond the technical factors that could make living in space more widespread, it
has been suggested that the lack of private property, the inability or difficulty
in establishing property rights in space, has been an impediment to the development
of space for human habitation. Since the advent of space technology in the latter
half of the twentieth century, the ownership of property in space has been murky,
with strong arguments both for and against. In particular, the making of national
territorial claims in outer space and on celestial bodies has been specifically
proscribed by the Outer Space Treaty, which had been, as of 2012, ratified by all
spacefaring nations.[88] Space colonization, also called space settlement and space
humanization, would be the permanent autonomous (self-sufficient) human habitation
of locations outside Earth, especially of natural satellites or planets such as the
Moon or Mars, using significant amounts of in-situ resource utilization.

Human representation and participation

See also: Space law
Participation and representation of humanity in space is an issue ever since the
first phase of space exploration.[89] Some rights of non-spacefaring countries have
been mostly secured through international space law, declaring space the "province
of all mankind", understanding spaceflight as its resource, though sharing of space
for all humanity is still criticized as imperialist and lacking.[89] Additionally
to international inclusion, the inclusion of women and people of colour has also
been lacking. To reach a more inclusive spaceflight, some organizations like the
Justspace Alliance[89] and IAU featured Inclusive Astronomy[90] have been formed in
recent years.

Women
Main article: Women in space
The first woman to go to space was Valentina Tereshkova. She flew in 1963 but it
was not until the 1980s that another woman entered space again. All astronauts were
required to be military test pilots at the time and women were not able to join
this career. This is one reason for the delay in allowing women to join space
crews.[citation needed] After the rule changed, Svetlana Savitskaya became the
second woman to go to space, she was also from the Soviet Union. Sally Ride became
the next woman in space and the first woman to fly to space through the United
States program.

Since then, eleven other countries have allowed women astronauts. The first all-
female space walk occurred in 2018, including Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. They
had both previously participated in space walks with NASA. The first woman to go to
the Moon is planned for 2026.

Despite these developments, women are underrepresented among astronauts and

especially cosmonauts. Issues that block potential applicants from the programs,
and limit the space missions they are able to go on, include:

agencies limiting women to half as much time in space than men, arguing that there
may be unresearched additional risks for cancer.[91]
a lack of space suits sized appropriately for female astronauts.[92]