Spaceflight, or the application of astronautics to fly spaceships to or through outer space, is an exciting and ever-evolving field. From the first era of space exploration driven by a space race between the Soviet Union and the United States, to the development of large reusable spaceships with wings capable of transporting people and equipment to Earth orbit, space exploration has come a long way. Today, space exploration is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, unmanned robotic space probes, and manned space flights. It is one of the main sources of space science. The commercialization of space began with the launch of private satellites by NASA or other space agencies.
This reality meant that space exploration had to serve very broad interests and, in fact, it has done so in a variety of ways. China is planning a large multi-module space station capable of housing three taikonauts, and has already launched two test vehicles in orbit, the Tiangong-1 and the Tiangong-2.Beyond the technical factors that could generalize life in space, it has been suggested that the lack of private property, the inability or difficulty of establishing property rights in space, have been an impediment to the development of a space intended for human habitation. After the first 20 years of exploration, the focus shifted from one-time flights to renewable equipment, such as the space shuttle program, and from competition to cooperation, as was the case with the International Space Station (ISS). To make access to space routine and cost-effective, NASA relies on SpaceX and Boeing to build spaceships capable of taking humans to orbit. More than 15 years after SpaceShipOne arrived in space, several companies began carrying out these types of suborbital flights. Spaceships are no longer protected from solar radiation because they are located above the Earth's magnetic field; the radiation hazard is even more powerful when entering deep space.
This illustrates a reality that has remained constant for half a century as space capabilities develop and can often be used for both military and civil purposes. Titan has the distinction of being the only object in the Outer Solar System that has been explored with a lander, the Huygens probe deployed by the Cassini spacecraft. Through it, we have been able to gain insight into our universe that would have otherwise been impossible. As we continue to explore outer space, we can look forward to uncovering more secrets about our universe.
