Did you know that the first human-made object to reach space was the German V-2 rocket in 1944? The rocket reached an altitude of 189 km, marking the beginning of the Space Age. Following the V-2 rocket, the first living being in space was Laika, a Soviet space dog, aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. Unfortunately, Laika did not survive the mission. Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet astronaut, became the first human to travel to space and orbit the Earth on April 12, 1961. His spacecraft, Vostok 1, completed one orbit in 108 minutes. In 1969, the Apollo 11 mission, led by NASA, successfully landed the first humans on the moon. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to walk on the lunar surface, while Michael Collins orbited above in the command module. The Space Shuttle program, launched by NASA in 1981, revolutionized space travel by enabling reusable spacecraft. The shuttles flew numerous missions to deploy satellites, conduct research, and assemble the International Space Station. Today, various countries and private companies continue to advance space exploration with plans for missions to Mars, the Moon, and beyond. Aerospace science continues to push boundaries and inspire future generations of space explorers.