Spaceflight, both manned and unmanned, has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union (later Russia), the United States, Europe, and China. The first human spaceflight was launched by the Soviets on April 12, 1961, with Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space. The U.S. followed with its first manned spaceflight on May 5, 1961, with Alan Shepard making a suborbital flight. Following these milestones, there were numerous achievements by both countries throughout the Cold War period as they vied for supremacy in what became known as the Space Race. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and subsequent end of the Cold War tensions between East and West abated somewhat, leading to increased international cooperation in space endeavors. However nationalism and competition still play significant roles in contemporary space exploration programs.
Since 1961 there have been over 550 people from 38 countries who have flown in space representing their respective nations; this includes more than 530 men and women from Russia (including those from former Soviet Republics) and more than 20 each from France, China, Italy, Canada, Japan and Germany. As of 2017 , there have been only three female cosmonauts who have made solo trips into orbit: Valentina Tereshkova, Svetlana Savitskaya – bothSoviet cosmonauts – and Peggy Whitson, an American astronaut. In addition to solo missions cosmonauts often fly together on crews typically consisting of two or three people but occasionally larger crews have flown including up to thirteen Russians at one time. Manned spacecraft used for orbital flights include single-module vehicles such as Vostok (flown by Gagarin), Soyuz TMA/M, Shenzhou, Orion MPCV, Dragon 2, Endeavour, CST-100 Starliner, Crew Dragon Demo-1. These are typically used for transport to various orbiting stations such as Mir, Salyut 7, Skylab 3, ISS Expedition 1 & 2,’Almaz’ OPSEK 3 & 4 Station,’Zvezda’ Service Module 2 & 6,’Pirs’ Docking Compartment 1 & 5,’Rassvet’ Minus Eighty Laboratory Module 1B,-USOS Unity Node 1,’Node 2 Harmony’,-‘Node 3 Tranquility’,Columbus Laboratory,-Kibo Japanese Experiment Module,-Cupola Robotic Workstation.’Destiny’-US Lab Operations Facility.’Quest’-Joint Airlock.’Nadir’-Russian Segment Airlock.’Pirs’-Docking Compartment’.Truss Spacer System.-Solar Array Wings.-Main Bus Switching Unit.-Battery Charge/Discharge Units.-External Thermal Control System Radiators.-Power Data Grapple Fixture assembly points.’Tranquility’-Tank Pressure Control Equipment Group assembly location.’Unity’-Pressurized Mating Adapter PMA-2 grapple fixture location.”Harmony”-Pressurized Mating Adapter PMA-3 grapple fixture location.”Columbus”-European Robot Arm Mobile Transporter grapple fixture locations.’Japanese Experiment Module Airlock Assembly’-Grapple Fixture Location”Mobile Servicing System”-Canadarm2 Latching End Effector grapple fixtures,’Dextre’-Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator latching end effectors,”Remote Manipulator System”-Robotic Arm Extension Mechanism arm segments 1&2 latching end effectors”Dragon”-SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 1+ docked at Nadir port of Harmony module
In addition to these piloted craft various robotic spacecraft have also been sent into orbit around Earth including early probes such as Sputnik 1 as well as later ones like Voyager 1 & 2.’Viking’ landers touched down on Mars surface returning images and data about Martian environment while rovers ‘Spirit’, ‘Opportunity’, ‘Curiosity’,ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter currently investigate Mars from orbit or surface.”Cassini”-Saturn Orbiter Huygens Probe observed Saturn system for 13 years before plunging into Titan’s atmosphere.'”Juno”‘is currently exploring Jupiter.'”New Horizons”‘ flew past Pluto returning images and data about dwarf planet and its moons.”Rosetta””Philae””Chandra X-ray Observatory””Hubble Space Telescope”XMM Newton””Gaia”(spacecraft)”Parker Solar Probe”Sun observing spacecraft will approach within 8 solar radii(0.08 AU) of Sun’s photosphere in 2024-“BepiColombo”(joint ESA/JAXA mission) will study Mercury-“Solar Orbiter”(ESA mission)-will observe Sun from 0.28 AU distance,”Spektr-RG””Artemis Program”to return humans to Moon by 2024,-Gateway Lunar Orbital Platform station near Moon,-Lunar Surface Exploration Vehicles rovers/landers,”James Webb Space Telescope”,set to launch March 2021 will be largest infrared telescope ever placed in orbit,”Plankton Planet Mission”.
As humanity looks outward toward exploration of our Solar System we find that our nearest planetary neighbor is Mars which holds a special fascination due perhaps because it is most similar to Earth yet different enough that it challenges us with its potential habitability or lack thereof.,The Red Planet has long enticed us with its promise Of possibilities,.From early telescopic observations beginning in 1609 through Mariner 9’s arrival 41 years ago this month,.We’ve continued learning more about our neighboring world every day since then,.With new orbiting telescopes like MAVEN,,And ground based observatories like ALMA,,We’re able to explore Mars In unprecedented detail.,Nowhere are we seeing this played out more so than With NASA’s Curiosity rover which landed 5 years ago tomorrow,.On August 6th 2012,,Since then It has traveled over 12 miles across Gale Crater,,Drilling Into rocks To analyze their composition And taking high resolution pictures along The way That Are transmitted back To waiting scientists On Earth..This rover represents just one example Of how technology And human ingenuity working together Can help us unlock mysteries surrounding not just Mars But all Of our Solar System neighbors And beyond..