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The ideas that were once thought of as speculative fantasy are moving towards becoming a reality.
Introduction
In 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first people to step foot on the moon (Space Exploration, 2016), and less than a century later there are multiple efforts in the works to return both robots and people to the moon between 2019 and 2029. Interplanetary colonization has long been the subject of many popular science fiction franchises such as Star Wars and Star Trek. However, with the rapid advancement of technology and information accessibility, the ideas that were once thought of as speculative fantasy are moving towards becoming a reality. The line between science fiction and science fact continues to be blurred as technological innovations and inventions are discovered, pushing the leading edge of technology into new territory. Educators can use these public displays of technological achievement as platforms for fostering student learning and creativity.
History of Space Exploration
Space exploration began to become a priority for the United States and Russia after World War II (Aerospace, n.d.). There had been rapid wartime advancement in many fields of technology, and both countries were interested in finding ways that the technologies developed for war could be used at home. As research advanced in the areas of missiles, rockets, and fuel, the United States and Russia entered another war, the Cold War. The Cold War was a war of ideology and an attempt by both the United States and Russia to prove themselves as the ultimate world superpower. The History Channel article on the Space Race explains, "Beginning in the late 1950s, space would become another dramatic arena for [the Cold War], as each side sought to prove the superiority of its technology, its military firepower and-by extension-its political-economic system."
Russia landed the first "blow" in 1957 when it launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, into the atmosphere (Aerospace, n.d.). A year later, the first American satellite, Explorer, was successfully launched into space. In 1961 and 1962 three men in three separate missions, two American and one Russian, became the first people in space. Less than a decade later, after several disastrous missions, Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969.
Even though the Space Race had...