Exploring the universe has been a dream of humanity since the dawn of civilization. From the first steps in space taken by the United States and the former Soviet Union in a global struggle for power, to the first human being in space, Yuri Gagarin, to the longest cumulative individual time spent in space by cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, space exploration has come a long way. Today, space travel technology has advanced light-years in just three decades, and companies like SpaceX are hoping to take civilian astronauts to Mars in the next 20 years. Spaceflight (or spaceflight) is an application of astronautics to fly spaceships to or through outer space, with or without humans on board.
Astronauts are people from the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan who travel to space, while cosmonauts are Soviet and later Russian individuals who travel to space. In Russia, the word cosmonaut is used for space travelers from all nations. In the West, Chinese space travelers are known as taikonauts (from the Chinese word for “space” and from the Greek word meaning “sailor”), but in China the word yuhangyuan is used (from the Chinese words for “space” and “traveler”). The first human mission to space was undertaken by Yuri Gagarin in 1961. He had to parachute from his spaceship after re-entering from orbit.
The United States landed two astronauts on the Moon's austere surface in 1969, followed by five more manned missions. NASA developed reusable spaceships, space orbiters to transport astronauts and satellites to orbit. The Space Shuttle leaves orbit at 16,465 miles per hour (26,498 kilometers per hour) and stops on a runway without using an engine. However, tragedy struck when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after its launch in 1986, and seven more astronauts lost their lives when the shuttle Columbia disintegrated when it re-entered in 2003. To become an astronaut or cosmonaut requires a certain set of skills and qualifications.
Candidates should have experience piloting high-performance jets and due to the cramped conditions inside spacecrafts, they should be no more than 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm) tall and weigh no more than 180 pounds (82 kg). Space exploration is an exciting field that continues to push boundaries and open up new possibilities for humanity. With advances in technology and new companies like SpaceX taking us further into space than ever before, it's an exciting time for those interested in exploring the universe.
