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While humans have long thought of gods living in the sky, the idea of space travel or humans living in space dates to at least 1,610 after the invention of the telescope when German astronomer Johannes Kepler wrote to Italian astronomer Galileo: “Let us create vessels and sails adjusted to the heavenly ether, and there will be plenty of people unafraid of the empty wastes. In the meantime, we shall prepare, for the brave sky-travellers, maps of the celestial bodies.” [1]

In popular culture, space travel dates back to at least the mid-1600s when Cyrano de Bergerac first wrote of traveling to space in a rocket. Space fantasies flourished after Jules Verne’s “From Earth to the Moon” was published in 1,865, and again when RKO Pictures released a film adaptation, A Trip to the Moon, in 1902. Dreams of space settlement hit a zenith in the 1950s with Walt Disney productions such as “Man and the Moon,” and science fiction novels including Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles (1950). [2] [3] [4].

NASA Celebrates Arrival of OSIRIS-REx and Bennu Asteroid Samples on Earth

In a historic moment that marks the culmination of a seven-year interstellar odyssey, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has successfully delivered its first precious cargo to Earth. The long-awaited rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu has yielded a treasure trove of samples that are now undergoing meticulous examination by scientists and researchers.

The momentous touchdown occurred on Sunday, September 24, at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. Subsequently, the valuable package was carefully hoisted onto a waiting helicopter before embarking on the final leg of its journey to a high-security clean room. Access to this pristine environment is strictly limited to a select group of six individuals.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts from four countries rocketed toward the International Space Station on Saturday.

They should reach the orbiting lab in their SpaceX capsule Sunday, replacing four astronauts living up there since March.

A NASA astronaut was joined on the predawn liftoff from Kennedy Space Center by fliers from Denmark, Japan and Russia. They clasped one another’s gloved hands upon reaching orbit.

Aditya-L1 will carry out scientific studies of the Sun from a vantage point 1.5 million km above Earth.

Watch India launch a probe to the sun and Japan attempt its first landing on the moon.

Get information on the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM). The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) performs various activities related to aerospace as an organization, from basic research in the aerospace field to development and utilization.

Russia’s space agency on Tuesday said that the crew stuck on the International Space Station because of a damaged capsule were now expected to return to Earth in September, a year after they first launched into orbit.

Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Sergei Prokopyev and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio flew to the ISS in September 2022 aboard a Soyuz MS-22 capsule.

They were scheduled to return home in the same spacecraft, but it began leaking coolant in mid-December after being hit by what US and Russian space officials believe was a tiny space rock.

India is preparing for its second attempted moon landing, a historic moment for the world’s most populous country.

Chandrayaan-3, which means “mooncraft” in Sanskrit, is scheduled to put down its Vikram lander shortly after 6pm (1230 GMT) near the little-explored lunar south pole in what would be a world first for any space programme.

The robotic Luna-25 spacecraft appeared to have “ceased its existence” after a failed orbital adjustment, the space agency Roscosmos said.

Russian experts monitoring their moon-bound unmanned spacecraft Luna-25 have switched on its scientific equipment and started processing the first data.

Russia is aiming to become the first country to carry out a soft landing on the lunar south pole — a region thought to hold pockets of water ice.

Space agency Roscosmos said in a statement on Sunday: Luna-25 continues its flight to the Earth’s natural satellite — all systems of the automatic station are working properly, communication with it is stable, the energy balance is positive.