The start

A: How come there is so much interest in space exploration these days?

B: It is just something that has always been there but, it was only in the last century that we could, actually, do something about it.

A: How do you mean?

B: Man has always been interested in the stars and the Planets. That goes back for thousands of years.

A: What happened last century?

B: People started experimenting with rockets in a serious way.

A: But the Chinese had rockets ages ago. The Chinese invented gunpowder and they used that to fire rockets.

B: Yes, that’s true, but, last century people started to think in terms of going into space.

A: I did read a book written by H. G. Wells about a rocket ship that went to the Moon.

B: Science fiction writers have been dreaming about space for many years but, it was the Germans, during World War Ⅱ that really brought the dream to life.

A: What? You mean space flights started in the middle of a war?

B: No! But, some German scientists did build a rocket that was able to fly for hundreds of miles and they used it to bomb targets in England.

A: That doesn’t sound like a good start for Space Exploration!

B: The way the rockets were used wasn’t good but, the men who designed, and built, the rockets were looking into the future frontiers of space.

A: So, what happened?

B: America, and Russia, took over the rocket development from the Germans and that was the real start of practical Space Exploration as we know it today.

A: Which was the first nation to get into space?

B: Russia was the first. They launched their “Sputnik” satellite, in 1957 which started the “Space Race” between Russia and the USA.

A: Who won? And, was it worthwhile?

B: It’s a bit hard to say who finished up winning. It was enmeshed in politics and became very expensive, although, it did produce some beneficial spinoffs.