Man has always looked up at the
millions of twinkling stars in the night sky with wonder and awe of what could
be out there. America has always been a nation of curiosity and discovery. We
are in America for that reason. From our very beginnings we were adventurers,
searching for a more prosperous land where we could grow. The only natural
evolution of that curiosity is outer space. It all began on March 16, 1926 when
Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid fueled rocket. From that point on
it became a race between America and the Soviet Union to see who could progress
and explore faster. It was an amazing time of discovery and wonder for the
world!
Albert1 was the first rhesus monkey to be
launched into space on June 11, 1948. He
went up in a V-2 rocket the US had confiscated from Germany at the end of the
war. He achieved an altitude of between 30 and 39 miles. On June 14, 1949
Albert 2, another rhesus monkey, was launched into space and achieved an
altitude of about 83 miles. Though this was only the beginning of a series of
suborbital flights they were the first baby steps that paved the way for a
human launch. On October 4, 1957 The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 the first
artificial satellite to actually orbit the Earth. This event precipitated the
American Sputnik Crisis and triggered the Space Race. That launch ushered in a
new era of political, technological, and scientific development that has yet to
end.
Neither was America the first to send
a man into space. April 12, 1961 marked a very historic event when a man named
Yuri Gagarin from the Soviet Union became the man to fly the first human crewed
orbital flight. Although America was not far behind. On May 5, 1961 Alan
Shepard, became the first American to fly a human piloted space vehicle on a
suborbital flight. Those men were the
beginning of a very amazing period in time. The 1960’s were busy with America
and the Soviet Union both discovering and celebrating many firsts. Then
something amazing happened! On July 16, 1969 Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz”
Aldrin, and Michael Collins blasted off on the Apollo 11. And just 4 days later Armstrong and Aldrin
landed on the Moon in a Lunar Module named The Eagle. On July 20, 1969 Neil
Armstrong became the first man to step onto the Moon.
Now we’ll fast forward a bit. The
date is currently June 6, 2016. America is leading in the never ending Space
Race. Up to this point twelve men have walked on the Moon, but none since 1972.
That may very soon change. In addition
to NASA, there are several private space companies taking up the exploration
banner and running with it. One idea,
which is gaining a lot of traction, is to go back to the Moon as a prep flight
for a mission to Mars. Now I’m sure you’re wondering how as a nation we could
afford this. An entrepreneur named Elon Musk has created the means to do that. After
making a fortune by helping to create the online payment system known as PayPal,
he created a company called SpaceX. This
company recently made history when he successfully launched and then landed a
rocket upright on April 8, 2016.
He has proven that not only can we build rockets
more economically but that we can reuse them as well. Next stop Mars! SpaceX
states they will be launching a mission to Mars using the Red Dragon in 2018
and sending humans to Mars in 2024. NASA also has a timeline for Mars but it’s,
well, a bit further out, like sometime in the 2030’s so it is honestly far more
realistic to believe a private space company will get there first. But after
that who knows? The sky is literally the limit. There is no telling how far we
can go.
As we embark on this amazing journey
of discovery we need to remember that searching for answers and exploring new
world’s is the American way. We must go further and aim higher. It’s a
necessary part of who we are. We are the
innovators, the explorers, the leaders in a race spanning decades and it’s not
over yet. This race probably will not ever be over as long as we keep the
curiosity and the drive. It’s up to us to preserve the American desire to know
more, to go further, and to excel. Let’s go! Let’s colonize Mars then go further!
Let’s push ourselves out into the abyss of space and see what’s there. Because
frankly space exploration is as American as Apple Pie!
