K Antriksha

  The history of space began with early rocket technology and fiction, but the modern era started with the launch of the first satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957 . This sparked the   Space Race   between the Soviet Union and the U.S., with the Soviets achieving firsts like the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, in 1961. The U.S. later landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Today, space exploration is characterized by international cooperation, commercial ventures, and continued robotic and human missions to orbit and beyond.   Early and 20th-century foundations Precursors:  Ancient civilizations studied the stars, and writers like Cyrano de Bergerac, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells wrote fictional accounts of space travel. Rocketry:  German engineers developed the V-2 rocket in the 1940s, a key precursor to modern spaceflight technology. Pioneers:  American inventor  Robert Hutchings Goddard  launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926. ...