Manned space flight is the greatest achievement of the human race in the 20th century. Humans are now able to travel from the earth into the vastness of space. So far, three types of manned spacecraft have been developed: spaceships, space shuttles and space stations. Each has a different purpose that complements the other. Now, let's take a closer look at the development of space flight.
So far only 3 countries, Russia, the US and China have the capacity to build spacecraft able to return to the earth. Among the three types of spacecraft, the spaceship is the smallest in scale and costs the least. It, therefore, became the first type of vessel to be put into use.
The former Soviet Union and the US had been competing with each other intensely to develop space programs. Ultimately, both countries excelled, but in different fields. The Soviet Union performed better in building orbiting spacecraft and the US in building spaceships for lunar landings.
The former Soviet Union built the very first spacecraft to send a man into space. This event accelerated US efforts to construct its first generation of spaceships. Ten months after the first human flight into space was conducted by the Soviet Union, about 100 million Americans watched their astronaut blast into space on television.
To further compete with its rival, the Soviet Union started to build its second-generation spacecraft. It could hold a three-person crew and enabled the astronauts to conduct space walks. History remembers the moment when the first human walked into the space. And America at the same time was also trying to achieve this goal.
Russia's early successes in space technology drove the US to make a giant leap forward. And the result was the world-renowned Apollo spaceships. On July 21st, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. And when American astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon's surface, he became the first moon visitor from earth.
Apollo 11 fell safely into the middle of the Pacific Ocean 4 days later. The first lunar landing project had succeeded and has been considered the greatest achievement of human kind in the 20th century. Astronauts were welcomed and hailed as heroes everywhere they went.
Six years later, the US launched another Apollo spaceship. This time, it was not for a moon mission, but to dock with a Soyuz manned spaceship built by the Soviet Union. It was the first time the two super powers cooperated in space and it had worldwide repercussions.
To meet the future needs of space stations, Russia started launching improved spaceships. The Soyuz-TMA became one of the most advanced manned spaceships. It was originally developed to rescue astronauts in an emergency, and also to transport visitors to the international space station. But after the crash of the American space shuttle " Columbia" in 2002, the other three American space shuttles stopped flights. The Soyuz-TMA is now the only flight vehicle available to transport astronauts to the international space station.
Manned spaceships enable humans to fly into space, making an age-old dream come true. And the technology is being used in more and more practical ways. Even a space tourism market has been developing recently.
Millionaire Dennis Tito, from California, visited the international space station by riding on the Soyuz-TM in April 2001 and became the first space tourist. Since then, many people around the world have been dreaming of business opportunities in space. To supply the increasing market interest, Russia is now constructing manned spaceships for commercial use. It seems more than ever that there is nothing we cannot dream, that human endeavor cannot accomplish.
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