The space age began 50 years ago this October, when the former Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik, sparking a U.S.-Soviet space race. Scientists and engineers gathered at the California Institute of Technology Sept. 20 and 21 to talk about space milestones of the past and future exploration. Mike O'Sullivan reports, they say the next 50 years should be even more exiting than the last 50.
Former astronaut Harrison Schmidt recalls how he learned about the beginning of the space age. A geology student on a Fulbright Fellowship, he was living in western Norway with a farming family when he heard the news on shortwave radio.
"Every night after they'd gone to bed, I'd go down and listen to the Voice of America and specifically, about 11 o'clock at night, Willis Conover and "Jazz from A to Z" would come on. And the news associated with that program was what brought me the first knowledge that Sputnik had been launched and was successfully orbiting the earth."
The following year, the United States launched its own satellite called Explorer and created the U.S. space agency NASA. In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, followed by the first American, Alan Shepard, Jr. The same year, U.S. President John F. Kennedy promised to put a man on the moon.
"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth," Kennedy said.
On July 20th, 1969, it happened, as astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface saying "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Harrison Schmidt would go there himself in December, 1972, on the Apollo 17 mission. He and fellow astronaut Eugene Cernan were the last two people to walk on the moon.
Another stream of research was continuing, as unmanned probes explored the solar system. Charles Elachi is director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which builds and operates unmanned spacecraft for NASA outside Los Angeles. He is amazed at human accomplishments in just a generation, from landing people on the moon to sending robotic explorers to other planets.
"Fifty years ago, we barely knew how to launch something. Fifty years later, we have rovers roving on Mars. We have spacecraft in orbit around Saturn. We have visited every planet in our solar system. We are looking at the origin of the universe, looking at our own planet and able to monitor the changes which are occurring on a daily basis. It's absolutely mind-boggling what was accomplished, and I'm sure over the next 50 years, we are going to accomplish even more," he said.
Today, dozens of countries have their own space programs. India's began in the 1960s. Abdul Kalam, who stepped down this year as the nation's president, is an engineer and scientist who is considered the father of India's missile program. He says India puts satellites into orbit for communications, monitoring weather and other terrestrial purposes, and wants to use its orbiting system to link its population of more than one billion.
Mr. Kalam says that space can be an area of cooperation as joint projects bring down costs, and a convergence or synergy of effort speeds up progress. "That will create a kind of synergy, and big changes will come in the space program," he said.
Big changes are already happening, says aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan, the man behind the first private rocket in space, SpaceShipOne. Rutan says private sector competition is accelerating the development of technology.
Former astronaut Harrison Schmidt says humans have shifted their perspective and opened new options. "We have established ourselves as creatures of the solar system, if we decide to be those creatures. We can live on the moon. We can live on Mars. We know the resources are there to ultimately support settlements independently of any supply from earth," he said.
The scientists and engineers who met in California say the moon and planets may one day be a source of energy and natural resources, and will offer insights into the nature of our planet that could help solve problems such as global warming.
NASA plans to return humans to the moon by 2020, and officials have announced updated plans for a lunar habitat, including rovers capable of two-week journeys. Former astronaut Schmidt, who served one term in the U.S. Senate, hopes the president and congress will maintain adequate funding to see the program through.
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50年前的10月，前苏联发射第一颗人造卫星，引发了美苏太空竞赛，标志着人类进入了太空时代。最近，一些科学家和工程师聚集在加州理工学院，讨论人类探索太空的过去和未来。他们认为，今后50年要比过去50年更加精彩。
前宇航员哈里森.施密特回顾他最初如何了解到太空时代的来临。当他从短波收音机里听到这条消息的时候，他还是享受富布赖特奖学金的地质学学生，住在挪威西部一户农民家里。他说：“每天晚上，他们睡觉之后，我就到楼下去听收音机，特别是11点的爵士音乐节目。我最早从插播的新闻里听到，苏联人造卫星上天了，正在绕地球飞行。”
次年，美国也发射了自己的卫星，并成立了航空航天局。1961年，苏联宇航员尤里.加加林成为人类第一位进入太空的人，美国的第一个太空人是艾伦.谢泼德。同年，美国总统肯尼迪发出了人类登月的豪言壮语：“我认为，我们国家应当致力于在今后10年之内实现人类登上月球并安全返回地球的目标。”
人类一大步
1969年7月20号，这个目标实现了，美国宇航员阿姆斯特朗踏上了月球：“这是一个人的一小步，但却是人类的一大步。”
施密特本人1972年12月随阿波罗17号登上月球。他和另外一名宇航员尤金.瑟曼是在月球上行走的最后两个人。
同时进行的还有另外一项研究，这就是用无人驾驶飞行器探索太阳系。查尔斯.埃拉奇是喷气推进实验室主任。他们在洛杉矶郊外为航空航天局制造无人驾驶飞行器。他说，从登月到把机器人探索器送往其他星球，在仅仅一代人的时间里，人类取得了惊人的成就。
埃拉奇说：“50年前，我们几乎不知道怎样发射。50年后，我们有漫游器在火星漫游，有飞行器绕土星轨道飞行。我们探索了太阳系的每一颗行星。我们在研究宇宙的起源，我们自己星球的起源，并且能够监视每天发生的变化。这些进展令人难以置信，我相信今后50年，我们会取得更多的成就。”
改变视野
前宇航员施密特说，人们改变了视野，有了新的选择。他说：“我们确立了自己在太阳系中的地位。我们可以住在月球上，住在火星。我们知道那里有资源，能够不依靠地球上的任何物资，支持人类生存。”
在加州开会的科学家和工程师说，有朝一日，月球和其他星球将能够提供能源和其他自然资源，帮助人类认识自己的星球，解决地球变暖等问题。
航空航天局计划2020年之前让人类重返月球，并宣布更新建立月球栖息地计划，其中包括能够承担两星期飞行的漫游器。前宇航员施密特希望总统和国会为这个计划提供充足的资金。
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