OPENSPACE 24: The Future of Space Exploration | Page 20

dossier
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The International Space Station
In 1998, after years of political rivalry and competition in
the space race, the different space agencies launched
the International Space Station, an example of how space
projects can be performed by partner nations in the future.
Continuously occupied since 2000, it has hosted more
than 200 visitors from 15 different nationalities.
The First Commercial Initiatives First Landing on a Comet
The first space tourist was Dennis Tito, an American who The year 2014 was important in space exploration because
reportedly paid $20 million for a seat on a Russian mission ESA landed a robot on the Churyumov–Gerasimenko comet.
to the International Space Station in 2001. A similar sum After a journey of more than six billion kilometers, Rosetta
($25m) from another American millionaire funded the first deployed the Philae Lander to the surface of the comet on
private spacecraft, SpaceShipOne, which successfully November 12, 2014.
crossed the boundary into outer space in 2004. Since Data provided by Philae helped scientists discover that
then, the role of private space companies has increased, comets are ancient leftovers of early solar system formation,
with companies making reusable rockets and setting their not younger fragments resulting from subsequent collisions
aim on sending humans to Mars. between other, larger bodies.
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