Space Exploration — NASA, ESA, SpaceX, Mars Missions, ISS, James Webb, Artemis

Space exploration questions appear regularly in Kerala PSC general knowledge sections. This covers global space agencies, landmark missions, and recent developments. For ISRO-specific content, see the separate ISRO study notes.

Major Space Agencies

Agency	Country	Founded	HQ
NASA	USA	1958	Washington, D.C.
Roscosmos	Russia	1992 (successor to Soviet space program)	Moscow
ESA	Europe (22 member states)	1975	Paris
CNSA	China	1993	Beijing
JAXA	Japan	2003	Tokyo
ISRO	India	1969	Bengaluru
CSA	Canada	1989	Ottawa
KARI	South Korea	1989	Daejeon

Landmark Firsts in Space

Achievement	Mission/Person	Year	Country
First artificial satellite	Sputnik 1	1957	USSR
First animal in orbit	Laika (dog, Sputnik 2)	1957	USSR
First human in space	Yuri Gagarin (Vostok 1)	12 April 1961	USSR
First woman in space	Valentina Tereshkova (Vostok 6)	1963	USSR
First spacewalk (EVA)	Alexei Leonov (Voskhod 2)	1965	USSR
First Moon landing (unmanned)	Luna 9	1966	USSR
First humans on Moon	Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11)	20 July 1969	USA
First space station	Salyut 1	1971	USSR
First reusable spacecraft	Space Shuttle Columbia	1981	USA
First Indian in space	Rakesh Sharma (Soyuz T-11)	3 April 1984	India (on Soviet mission)
First woman to walk in space	Svetlana Savitskaya	1984	USSR
First private astronaut spaceflight	SpaceShip One	2004	USA
First Indian woman in space	Kalpana Chawla (STS-87)	1997	USA (NASA)

Moon Missions

Apollo Program (NASA)

Mission	Year	Significance
Apollo 8	1968	First humans to orbit the Moon
Apollo 11	1969	First Moon landing; Neil Armstrong — “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”
Apollo 13	1970	”Successful failure” — crew survived after oxygen tank explosion
Apollo 17	1972	Last crewed Moon mission (to date under Apollo)

Total Moon walkers: 12 astronauts (all American, all male, across Apollo 11–17, excluding Apollo 13)

Recent Moon Missions

Mission	Agency	Year	Achievement
Chandrayaan-3	ISRO	2023	Soft landing near lunar south pole; India became 4th country to land on Moon
Chang’e 4	CNSA (China)	2019	First landing on far side of the Moon
Chang’e 5	CNSA	2020	Returned lunar samples to Earth
Chang’e 6	CNSA	2024	First samples from far side of the Moon
Artemis I	NASA	2022	Uncrewed test of SLS rocket and Orion capsule (Moon flyby)
SLIM	JAXA (Japan)	2024	Japan became 5th country to land on Moon (precision landing)

Artemis Program (NASA)

Aspect	Details
Goal	Return humans to the Moon and establish sustained presence; eventually Mars
Artemis I	2022 — uncrewed test flight
Artemis II	Planned — crewed lunar flyby (first crewed SLS/Orion flight)
Artemis III	Planned — first woman and first person of colour on the Moon
Key vehicle	Space Launch System (SLS) rocket + Orion capsule
Lunar Gateway	Planned space station orbiting the Moon

Mars Missions

Mission	Agency	Year	Achievement
Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan)	ISRO	2014	India’s first Mars mission; India became first country to succeed on first attempt; cheapest Mars mission
Curiosity	NASA	2012	Mars rover; still active; exploring Gale Crater
Perseverance	NASA	2021	Mars rover; carried Ingenuity — first helicopter to fly on another planet
Tianwen-1	CNSA	2021	China’s first Mars rover (Zhurong); orbiter + lander + rover
Hope (Al Amal)	UAE	2021	UAE’s Mars orbiter — first Arab interplanetary mission
InSight	NASA	2018–2022	Mars lander; studied interior of Mars; mission ended 2022

Countries that have successfully reached Mars orbit or surface: USA, Russia/USSR, ESA, India, UAE, China

International Space Station (ISS)

Aspect	Details
Launched	First module (Zarya) in 1998; continuously inhabited since 2 November 2000
Partners	NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA, JAXA (Japan), CSA (Canada)
Orbit	Low Earth orbit, approximately 400 km altitude
Speed	~27,600 km/h (orbits Earth every ~90 minutes)
Purpose	Scientific research in microgravity — biology, physics, medicine, Earth observation
Planned retirement	Around 2030–2031

Space Telescopes

Telescope	Agency	Launched	Key Feature
Hubble Space Telescope	NASA/ESA	1990	Visible and UV light; revolutionised astronomy; still operational
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)	NASA/ESA/CSA	25 December 2021	Infrared telescope; successor to Hubble; orbits Sun at L2 Lagrange point (1.5 million km from Earth); largest space telescope
Chandra X-ray Observatory	NASA	1999	X-ray telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope	NASA	2003–2020	Infrared; retired
TESS	NASA	2018	Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite — discovering exoplanets

SpaceX and Commercial Space

Aspect	Details
SpaceX	Founded by Elon Musk (2002); HQ: Hawthorne, California
Reusable rockets	Falcon 9 — first orbital-class reusable rocket; boosters land vertically
Falcon Heavy	Most powerful operational rocket (before Starship)
Starship	Super heavy-lift spacecraft; fully reusable; designed for Moon, Mars, and beyond
Crew Dragon	Carries NASA astronauts to ISS since 2020 (ended US dependence on Russian Soyuz)
Starlink	Satellite internet constellation — thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit

Other Commercial Space Companies

Company	Founded by	Key Achievement
Blue Origin	Jeff Bezos	New Shepard suborbital flights; New Glenn orbital rocket
Virgin Galactic	Richard Branson	Suborbital space tourism
Rocket Lab	Peter Beck	Small satellite launcher (Electron rocket)

Key Space Terms

Term	Definition
LEO	Low Earth Orbit (160–2,000 km) — ISS, Starlink
GEO	Geostationary Earth Orbit (~35,786 km) — communication satellites
Lagrange points	5 points where gravitational forces of two large bodies balance; JWST at L2
EVA	Extra-Vehicular Activity (spacewalk)
Light year	Distance light travels in one year (~9.46 trillion km) — NOT a unit of time
AU	Astronomical Unit — average Earth-Sun distance (~150 million km)

PSC-Focused Quick Recall

Question Pattern	Answer
First human in space	Yuri Gagarin (1961)
First person on Moon	Neil Armstrong (1969)
First woman in space	Valentina Tereshkova (1963)
First Indian in space	Rakesh Sharma (1984)
Kalpana Chawla tragedy	Died in Columbia disaster (1 February 2003)
ISS continuously inhabited since	2 November 2000
JWST launched	25 December 2021
JWST orbits at	L2 Lagrange point
SpaceX founder	Elon Musk
Mangalyaan launched	2014 (ISRO, first attempt success)
Chandrayaan-3 landing year	2023 (near lunar south pole)
First far-side Moon landing	Chang’e 4 (China, 2019)
Artemis program goal	Return humans to Moon, then Mars
Light year is a unit of	Distance (not time)
NASA full form	National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Ingenuity is	First helicopter on Mars (carried by Perseverance)