Space exploration
Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer-earth objects and generally anything that involves the technologies, science, and politics regarding space endeavors.
The idea of sending an object to space was conceived in the minds of many science fiction authors hundreds of years before it was actually feasible. Some of these works even included various descriptions of exactly how that would be done. During the 20th century, with the development of adequate propulsion technologies, stronger and lighter materials and other technological and scientific breakthroughs, the idea of outer-earth missions was no longer a dream, but a viable practice.
From a spaceflight persepctive, the definition of space usually used is that space begin 100 km (62 miles) above Earth's surface. The United States sometimes uses a 50 mile definition.
One can distinguish the sub-orbital flight and the orbital flight. Achieving orbit is a prerequisite for going anywhere else, such as to the Moon or Mars. On October 3, 1942 an A4 rocket, a prototype for the German V2 rocket bomb, became the first successful launch of an object into space.
The first successful orbital launch was of the Soviet unmanned Sputnik I mission on October 4, 1957. The first orbital flight made by a human being was Vostok 1, carrying Yuri Gagarin on April 12 1961.
See also: