Page 6 - Life beyond the Karman

SPACE TECHNOLOGY
Space technology includes space crafts like satellites, space stations and orbital launch vehicles; deep-space communication; and a wide variety of other technologies, including support infrastructure, and procedures.
These are all crucial for navigating the space environment and communication between space and Earth.
Daily services like remote sensing, weather forecasting, navigating satellite systems, and long-distance communication systems rely heavily on this space infrastructure. Space technology also provides early warning systems based on satellite imagery and data which plays a vital role in protecting the world from natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunami, floods, etc.
Over the years, there has been increased emphasis on space technology and countries have adopted national strategies to develop technologies that enable them to launch into space. More countries have started developing space technology and infrastructure to ensure improved satellite Earth Observation (EO), satellite communication, and satellite positioning technologies.
Significant milestones in space exploration
• The first country on Earth to put technology into space was the former Soviet Union, known as the “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics” (USSR). The Sputnik 1 satellite that it sent on 4 October 1957 weighed about 83 kg (183 lb) and is believed to have orbited Earth at an altitude of about 250 km (160 miles).
• In 1958, the American Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act to oversee the country’s space programme. This led to the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that oversees all space related matters.
• The first living creature to be launched into Earth’s orbit was Laika, a dog. A small (13 pounds [6 kg]), even- tempered, mixed-breed dog about two years old. Laika went to space on the Soviet artificial satellite Sputnik 2, on 3 November 1957.
• The first person to travel to space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin. The 27-year-old test pilot and industrial technician was on board the spacecraft Vostok 1 on 12 April 1961. He was also the first man to orbit the planet in his space capsule. Vostok 1 orbited Earth in 89 minutes at a maximum altitude of 187 miles and was guided entirely by an automatic control system. A few other rockets from Vostok 2 to Vostok 5 were successfully launched into space.
• Cosmonaut Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was the first woman in space. She spent almost three days in the Vostok 6 space craft which was launched on 16 June 1963 from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Vostok 6 mission lasted 71 hours and 12 minutes, just 48 minutes short of three days. At the time, this was longer than the combined flight time of every US Mercury astronaut. During her three days in space, Tereshkova made 48 orbits of Earth. Vostok 6 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 19 June 1963 and Tereshkova ejected at an altitude of 20,000 feet and parachuted safely back to Earth.
• In 1969, an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer Neil Alden Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. During the Apollo II landed mission, astronauts collected samples of rocks and lunar dust that scientists still study to learn about the moon. Armstrong, who was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor, was born and raised in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University.
• In 2023, India made history when its moon mission became the first to land in the lunar south pole region. India joins the elite club of countries that have achieved a soft landing on the moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union and China. The Vikram lander from Chandrayaan-3 successfully touched down as planned at 18:04 local time (12:34 GMT).
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LIFE BEYOND THE KÁRMÁN LINE - OUTER SPACE