SPACE... SPACE... SPACE...


Earlier, we took a quick peek to the history of human's space exploration. We've also talked about the Philippines' initial efforts to reach space. But so far, we haven't defined space.

So, what is space?

Well, loosely speaking, space is any place outside the Earth. But then this makes us ask, where do space starts? There is no exact answer to this question -- some define it as 100 km from Earth's surface, some at 120 km, some at 180 km. But just imagine, space is like Monumento to Tarlac moving upwards! That doesn't seem very far!
 
Then, what is so special about space? 
Space is special, one, because it is not something that we can touch and not something that we can visit on a daily basis -- actually, without a hefty amount, we can't go to that place. So far, only a few had been there. 

More importantly, space opens several opportunities to its users. We can place our eyes (cameras, telescopes) there and then we can have visibility over a wide area. We can put our ears (receivers) there and we can listen from different places across the globe. On the other hand, putting our mouth (transmitters) there allows us to talk to anyone on Earth. If we put our nose (sensors), we can have a good idea of what's the status up there. 

Now, with those capabilities, we gain chances to solve different problems. You will see later how these are possible. But before that, let's also appreciate the challenges in putting something to space. In my next article, I will discuss briefly the space environment.

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