THE PROGRESS OF SPACE EXPLORATION FROM THE FIRST AMERICAN HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT PROGRAM TO MARS ROVER

The purpose of this research is to take a look at the progress of space exploration from the first American human spaceflight program, Project Mercury, to recent projects like SpaceX and the Mars rovers. This research details successful and unsuccessful space missions and it examines the impact of these missions on the history of what we know about our galaxy. Examples of such missions include successful missions like the Apollo 11 mission that sent man to the moon for the first time, the Mars exploration rovers like Spirit and Opportunity that gave people a look at Martian terrain for the first time, and failed missions like the space shuttle STS-107 (otherwise known as the Columbia), the Apollo 1 tragedy, or the Mars Climate Orbiter that was sent to study Mars’s climate but was unsuccessful due to a navigation error. Each failed mission taught NASA how to improve for future missions, and each successful mission showed NASA what they have done well. This research will conclude with recent missions such as the previously mentioned SpaceX and what will be next in space exploration.