TIME TRAVEL THROUGH SPACE
By Hannah
How are we going to get into space? In 1500, the earliest days of attempting space travel, Chinese scientist Wan Hu wanted to be the first person in space. So he packed gunpowder into 47 traditional Chinese rockets and tied them to a chair. After he supposedly took off, Wan Hu’s story remained unsolved. Some people believe he made it to space and just stayed in the atmosphere; some think he died right there.
However, 257 years later, in 1957, the Soviets made a rocket powerful enough to go to space, and with that technology, they launched a dog, Laika, into space. Unfortunately, Laika passed away in space because scientists at the time did not know how solar radiation and the temperature change would impact a living organism. After Laika, NASA committed to learning more and more about why Laika had died in space. NASA then successfully sent a monkey into Earth’s orbit. The monkey came back to earth all healthy, but unfortunately died two days later from cancer, a previous condition that engineers did not know of when they sent her to space.
After it was proven by both Soviet and American astronauts that life in space was achievable and sustainable, this question arose: Now, how are we going to make it to the moon? In 1961, president John F. Kennedy made America’s goal to make it to the moon before the ’70s, thus starting the Space Race. JFK said,
However, 257 years later, in 1957, the Soviets made a rocket powerful enough to go to space, and with that technology, they launched a dog, Laika, into space. Unfortunately, Laika passed away in space because scientists at the time did not know how solar radiation and the temperature change would impact a living organism. After Laika, NASA committed to learning more and more about why Laika had died in space. NASA then successfully sent a monkey into Earth’s orbit. The monkey came back to earth all healthy, but unfortunately died two days later from cancer, a previous condition that engineers did not know of when they sent her to space.
After it was proven by both Soviet and American astronauts that life in space was achievable and sustainable, this question arose: Now, how are we going to make it to the moon? In 1961, president John F. Kennedy made America’s goal to make it to the moon before the ’70s, thus starting the Space Race. JFK said,
We choose to go to the Moon... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept. ("Moon Shot Speech to Congress," 1961)
With the technology used in the rockets used to orbit the earth, Americans and Soviets alike put their knowledge towards learning how to make a rocket make it to the moon. Newsflash, America won the space race. In 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong took “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” (NASA). After Apollo 11, there were six other missions to the moon.
As is often the case for human nature, another question arose: Now, how are we going to get to Mars? In 1997, the first ever rover landed on Mars. This rover took pictures, samples, and much more. More and more rovers have gone to mars since then. Most recently, the Opportunity Rover died on Mars after outliving its expected lifetime by 14 years, extending the amount of new data available. The final transmission from the Opportunity Rover was “My Battery Is Low and It’s Getting Dark.” The more we send to collect data, the closer we are to figuring out how we are going to get a human on Mars. In conclusion, we as human beings have done the impossible by going to space and the moon. Maybe we can get to Mars!
As is often the case for human nature, another question arose: Now, how are we going to get to Mars? In 1997, the first ever rover landed on Mars. This rover took pictures, samples, and much more. More and more rovers have gone to mars since then. Most recently, the Opportunity Rover died on Mars after outliving its expected lifetime by 14 years, extending the amount of new data available. The final transmission from the Opportunity Rover was “My Battery Is Low and It’s Getting Dark.” The more we send to collect data, the closer we are to figuring out how we are going to get a human on Mars. In conclusion, we as human beings have done the impossible by going to space and the moon. Maybe we can get to Mars!