Space Exploration

Space Exploration is the only real exploration which is being carried out these days. Space exploration started out during World War two. German scientists made the first great leaps in this field of research. During 1942 they sent a rocket into space, the first ever. It was five years later that a life form was sent into space this was done by the same German scientists who were now controlled by the US government. This mission saw fruit flies launched into orbit. It was ten years later that the Soviets were recognized and the space race began. The Soviets launched an unmanned rocket called Sputnik which completed the first ever orbit of the earth. The Russians then outdid themselves sending a dog called Laika into space. It would take four more years until Russian Astronaut Yuri Gagarin was sent into space in 1961.
The most famous space expedition of all is most certainly Apollo 11. The men aboard this space shuttle are the only men ever to have set foot on the moon. This occurred in 1969 when two men Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon.
This was the biggest advancement in exploration of our solar system for many years but in recent years their have been many more exciting expeditions such as the mars Rover or just last year when Philae landed on a comet with its own gravity field.
In conclusion exploration is still ongoing and interesting with the exciting explorations of our galaxy. 

Circumnavigation of the Globe

Ferdinand Magellan was another great Portuguese explorer. He was born in 1480 in the North of Portugal but he served the Spanish King, King Charles. Magellan is famous for being  the first person to circumnavigate the world although in truth he did not complete the journey. Magellan set sail on the tenth of August in 1519 with five ships and a crew of about 270 men. The reason we know such specific details about Magellan's voyage is because a crewman of his Antonio Pigafetta kept a journal of the entire journey. They reached South America with all ships intact but soon a mutiny broke out involving three of the ships. Magellan acted quickly killing two of the captains and marooning another. Another one of his ships was hit by a sudden storm and sunk, and so Magellan continued on with four ships. While travelling through what is no known as the Magellan straits at the bottom of South America another ship was lost, this time to desertification. Magellan reached the Philippines and decided to help rid an ally King of his of his enemy. Magellan went with a small force to attack the indigenous tribe. The numbers were heavily against them. Pigafetta's diary suggesting sixty against 1500. This was when Magellan would die. he was targeted as a leader and when the locals saw that they had injured him using a bamboo spear they rushed towards him to kill him. The crew now numbered just 115 and were forced to abandon a ship. On the sixth of September the crew arrived in Spain led by Sebastian Del Cano. This is how the first circumnavigation of the world occurred. 

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa. He was born circa 1450. He grew up learning to sail on the Mediterranean. Columbus came up with what was at the time a radical idea that you could sail West away from Europe and reach the East. Columbus though that this would make for a much more efficient trade route for spices from the spice islands and silk from the Far East. He presented his plans to John the second king of Portugal who dismissed him. Instead of giving up he brought his ideas  King John's rivals King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. They supplied Columbus with three ships the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. It took five weeks for Columbus and his ships to reach land this happened on the second of October in 1492. The land he had discovered was not in fact an island of the Far East but in fact an island which is located in the Caribbean. He claimed the land for Spain calling it San Salvador. Columbus returned many times to the Americas, and was appointed Governor but was eventually sent home in disgrace for cruelty to the locals. Columbus always believed that the land he had discovered was part of the Far East which was why the natives were called Indians. it was some time later that a map maker by the name of Amerigo Vespucci realized it was a whole new continent.