Our knowledge of the world around us, including our solar system and beyond, has evolved a lot over several centuries. Did you know that a long time ago, people refused to believe that the Earth was round? Some believed that it was simply flat, while others even thought it might be square! When early philosophers and scientists tried to convince people that the Earth was round, they were thought to be very strange and even evil. Since then, a lot has changed. Throughout human history, astronomers and physicists (even in ancient cultures, such as the Mayans) have been fascinated with the secrets of space. They would make maps and charts of the constellations, and later began to unveil findings of other planets that also revolve around the sun. Even with all of that knowledge, at that time, people never believed that one day we might actually voyage to outer space! That only came about in the 1900s after airplane technology started to be developed.
By the 50s, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was founded and began to develop a program to explore space. People were still skeptical and thought it was crazy to believe that they could actually send a man to walk on the moon! All of that changed when astronaut Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon and broadcast it back to the millions of people tuning in on Earth. In the few decades after that space exploration grew in leaps and bounds. Russia was also developing a major space program and they raced against the Americans to make the first achievements in space exploration. Since those days, humans have sent up a lot of space shuttles, astronauts, satellites, remote-controlled probes, and more. They have also found more advanced ways to capture images, video, and data of very remote stars and galaxies from Earth. Despite all of this exploration and knowledge, we have yet to find an answer to a single question that everyone wonders at some point: are there other forms of life beyond our planet?
Even kids can start to learn about space and astronomy.
So far, scientists have determined that the other planets of our solar system are uninhabited. However, the universe is so vast that it would take millions of years for anyone to explore it! Perhaps in the future, humans might develop a technology so advanced that it can achieve this purpose. For now, we have to continue to be persistent and learn all that we can. If it is something that truly interests you, perhaps you might choose to study it more fully as you grow up. There are many different careers related to space exploration apart from being an astronaut. For example, some people are engineers and help to build spacecrafts, while others might manage new programs, study and research other areas of outer space, or develop new technologies to help astronauts live in space. To start learning more about space, check out the fun links below!