This site is part of the Science Museum's	STEM Project	and it was completed by a student of North London Collegiate School,	based on a visit to the 'Exploration of Space' Gallery, and called
			The Development of Space Travel and the First Moon Landing.

Introduction.

When people think of space, most tend to imagine a world completely separated from our own, when in fact, space begins just 150km (100 miles) above our heads, and stretches on forever in every possible direction. To some, visiting space might seem easy because it is portrayed as such in movies and other programmes. But in reality, going into space is often dangerous, difficult and always extremely expensive.

Scientists often spend years working on the minor details of a rocket, and these are vital. For example, a faulty seal on one of the booster rockets (see Rocket) caused the destruction of the Challenger Space Shuttle on the 25^th flight.

Since 1903, when the Wright brothers accomplished their first historic flight, and in 1957, when aviation developed into exploration of space in the form of the Soviet satellite Sputnik, space flight has played a major and vital role in our lives. Rockets are used to launch broadcasting, surveillance, communications and weather satellites. These have vastly improved our telecommunications, television and weather forecasting, as well as giving us the chance to see what Earth and other planets look like from space. Ships use satellites to help them with navigation - they are given their position in the seas and oceans of the world.