29th in the series:
It may well be argued that NASA has become the world's premier agent for
exploration, carrying on in "the new ocean" of outer space a long tradition of
expanding the physical and mental boundaries of humanity.
28th in the series:
The year 2008 will be a year of 50th anniversaries for space exploration.
Following in the wake of Sputnik I and Sputnik II, on January 31, 1958 the
United States launched Explorer 1.
27th in the series:
A recent conference on the moons of Mars reminded me of the wonders that
await us even in our own solar system.
26th in the series:
Galileo represented a new phase in the study of the outer planets. Pioneer
and Voyagers 1 and 2 together completed the preliminary reconnaissance of
those gas giants, but Galileo undertook a much more systematic, in-depth and
holistic analysis of the entire Jupiter system.
25th in the series:
Originally planned to explore the gas giant planets and their satellites,
the Voyager spacecraft have continued their journeys and are now the most
distant human objects in the cosmos.
24th in the series:
The recent award of the Nobel Prize in Physics to NASA astrophysicist John Mather and University of California Berkeley astrophysicist George Smoot reminds us that NASA not only undertakes voyages in space, but also in time.
23th in the series:
The universe is what it is, not what we want it to be, and science must always be open to correcting its mistakes.
22th in the series:
Less than a century ago, the planet Venus was most often referred to as "Earth's sister planet."
21th in the series:
Exploration doesn't happen by sitting still, physically or intellectually.
20th in the series:
No single essay can do justice to the events that took place between 1968 and 1972, four years that, as time passes,
seem all the more remarkable for human history.
19th in the series:
It is hardly cause for surprise that with the beginning of the Space Age humans set their sights on the nearest celestial body, the Moon.
18th in the series:
Daring though voyages to comets have been, with comet material often pelting and even damaging passing spacecraft,
voyages to asteroids have gone one step further, achieving an actual landing, or maybe two landings.
17th in the series:
Among the more adventurous voyages of exploration are those whose destinations are comets.
16th in the series:
Humanity's epic voyages to the Moon are well known, the stuff of history. But what about voyages to the Sun?
15th in the series:
In October 1995 - ten years ago this month - two Swiss astronomers announced the discovery of the first planet around
a Sun-like star outside of our solar system.
14th in the series:
Exploration is necessary for a creative society and risk is the inevitable companion of exploration.
13th in the series:
The study of cosmic evolution allows us to see the universe as it really is, to reflect on our place in it, and to "know the place for the first time."
12th in the series:
Why do we explore? Since the beginning of the Space Age one of the chief drivers has been the search for life beyond Earth.
11th in the series:
Human exploration is more than the sum of all science.
10th in the series:
One of the benefits of space exploration is international cooperation.
9th in the series:
As controversies swirl about funding, resources, motives and methods for spaceflight, it is well to consider the consequences of exploring space - and of choosing not to do so.
8th in the series:
At the core of the Age of Space are the voyages themselves, and not by accident have spacecraft been named Mariner or Voyager.
7th in the series:
Both the Age of Discovery and the Age of Space had ships, heroic explorers and navigators, but very different motivations.
6th in the series:
A continuous story of voyages further and further from the home planet.
5th in the series:
Recalling the ideas of previous thinkers.
4th in the series:
Then and Now
3rd in the series:
Learning From History
2nd in the series:
How do we balance risk and rewards?
First in the series:
The Importance of Exploration
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