From Galileo Galilei to Konstantin Tsiolkovsjy, mankind has always wondered about the stars. The advent of technology has certainly paved the way for further space exploration. According to NASA, the first infrared telescope, later to be known as the Hubble Space Telescope, was launched into orbit in 1990 in order to measure the X-rays emissions radiating from the stars that could not be possibly detected because of Earth's atmosphere blocking most of the harmful rays. Providing spectacular images, the Hubble Space Telescope led astronomers to groundbreaking discoveries ranging from the birth of the cosmos and the ever-expanding galaxies.
Did you know that the International Space Station (ISS) was the most expensive, most ambitious human structure ever built? The journal, All About Space, approximated that ISS cost about $100 billion to be built alone without repair costs. The first module of ISS was launched in 1998. Like assembling a puzzle, each of the pieces were launched into space (along with astronauts) to put the pieces together. The structure was completed in 2011.
Astronaut Tom Mashburn who was wearing a device to measure his circadian rhythms while in space described his life living in ISS as "exhausting and exciting." Astronauts' jobs vary from performing maintenance checks on ISS to exercising every day to prevent their muscles from deteriorating the zero gravity environment.
ISS holds a substantial potential to grow and develop new modules in the future. Recently, the first flower to be ever blossomed in space took place in the ISS's veggie chamber. Scott Kelly, an ISS astronaut, tweeted a picture of a blooming zinnia dubbing it as the "First ever flower grown in space makes its debut!" The zinnia represents the promising future of cultivating edible plants outside Earth and further solidifies the seemingly science fiction idea of growing vegetations in inhospitable planets' environments (i.e., Mars).
A South African-born engineer and investor, billionaire Elon Musk who is both the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors attempts a daring feat that no one has ever undertaken. Other than pushing his evolutionary transportation, Hyperloop, and declaring for Mar's human colonization, Musk's company SpaceX has successfully revolutionized space traveling. According to NBC news, SpaceX has created the first rocket that can be launched off to orbit and deliver "communication satellites into space" with the ability to land itself back to Earth unmanned.
Musk described that "[the rocket's 'reusable' ability] to [safely] return to Earth" would greatly transform the nearby future of space exploration. Not only will it be easier and cheaper to send satellites into orbit, human expedition into space isn't a far-fetched science fiction anymore.
