Spacecraft Galileo, a 2½-ton hunk of human ingenuity, has been orbiting Jupiter since it arrived there in December 1995 after a six-year voyage from Earth.
Articles with Space exploration
The surface of Europa imaged by the Galileo spacecraft • NASA/JPL (Public Domain)
Artist's conception of a terraformed Mars • Image by Daein Ballard (CC BY-SA 3.0)
A little place near beach on Mars? Well, why not?
The spirit of adventure. The challenge of the unknown. Scientific curiosity. A common project to unite humankind. A high-tech alternative for scientists and engineers who have hitherto made their living producing the instruments of war. Entertainment. The inspiration of young people. A hedge on our survival in case the human race becomes extinct on Earth through self-annihilation or cosmic catastrophe.
Valles Marineris on Mars • Image by Kevin Gill (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Voyage to Mars
Next month [Sep. 1988] the planet Mars will be closer to Earth than at any time since 1971. For telescopic observers in mid-northern latitudes, the viewing will be best since 1955.
Artist's impression of space travel via wormhole • Les Bossinas (Public Domain)
Space travel is bilge
Ah, yes. Galactic travel. A zip through hyperspace. The meat and potatoes of science fiction. We have traveled so often to Antares and beyond, in books, films, and television, that it seems only a matter of time before humans must actually embark upon such a voyage.
Earth from 100,000 miles • NASA/Apollo 10 (Public Domain)
A view we need
A friend gave me a new poster from the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum called Space Explorers, a compilation of small portraits of all persons who have spent at least one Earth-orbit in space.
Humanity's mark on the moon • NASA / Buzz Aldrin (Public Domain)
A lapse of will
Eighteen years ago [in 1969] the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the surface of the Moon, and for the first time a human stepped onto another world. That grand achievement was followed by five other manned lunar landings, the last of them in December 1972.