Space exploration began in the sixth decade of the 20th century. Since then, robot probes and then human beings have first ventured beyond the limits of the Earth's atmosphere and landed on another celestial object, the Moon. Probes have since gone on to explore the far realms of the solar system and beyond.

Even though the space age is young, it has been based on a long history of theoretical and practical developments. Many years before the enabling technology to begin entering the cosmos was developed, a theoretical basis had been laid by science. The production of the rocket engine was the key to space exploration, making possible the lofting of objects beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Once achieved, supporting technologies combined to yield the broad range of activities now being pursued in the realm of space. This included the development of scientific instruments to sense the conditions and processes found in space and the observation of objects encountered there, and the development of transportation and communications hardware to support these activities. For humans to survive in space, the effects of the vacuum, microgravity, and radiation conditions of that environment had to be studied also, and appropriate life support systems developed to meet those conditions.

Today we are investigating celestial objects ranging in size from cosmic dust to planets of the solar system and the Sun itself. Conditions encountered in space also alter familiar terrestrial processes, from simple chemical reactions to complex biological activities, and these effects are being explored to determine how they might prove useful, as in crystallization and drug purification processes. Objects placed in orbit around the Earth provide platforms both for astronomical studies and for a wide range of scientific and practical activities relating to the Earth's surface. This includes surveys of resources, the study of weather processes, and communications relaying television images between distant points. These subject areas all lie within the field of space exploration.

Space research is an infinite journey. Even though we have learnt so much, there is still so much more to learn and so much more to see. The space research program is continually under funded, deemed by most as whimsical. By now there should have been so much more research than there has been, including more efficient and less toxic fuel supplies.

Where else can you find a better place to study Earth.