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.

The Portugese

Portugal was a key country in the Age of Exploration. The Age of Exploration followed the Age of Enlightenment and the Renaissance. The main interest of the European countries in discovering the new World was to become more powerful. At the time of the Age of Exploration silk was one of the most treasured commodities in the world. Silk was only produced in the far east in places like China. The only way that Europe could trade in silk was using the great silk road. this was a long and arduous journey. It was also very dangerous for European Christians to travel and trade along the road as Turkish Muslims were always attacking them. This is why the Portuguese led by King Henry the Navigator were desperate to find a new trade route to the East by sea. Vasco Da Gama was the first to discover India and the Eastern World. He did this by sailing around the Cape of Storms/ Cape of Good Hope under Africa. He travelled to Mozambique and then on to Calicut in India. He was rewarded the title of Lord for his exploration and the ownership of his home town of Sines. This was a great discovery for Da Gama, Portugal and the World.

Vikings

Although there were many great explorations before the Vikings, the Vikings is where we will begin our exploration of explorations. The Vikings were a people from Scandinavia, they came from the countries known today as of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. They were farmers and seafarers who began to explore and discover Europe circa 800 B.C, this continued for approximately 350 years.
They were excellent sailors and everybody knows about the infamous Viking long ships which they travelled upon. The ships were cleverly designed for both raiding and war, they were fast but with a shallow bottom allowing them to travel both in the open sea and up and down rivers.
 The reasons behind their exploration are simple. They travelled to raid other villages, they wanted to steal their riches and their livestock and food. Another reason the Vikings began to raid Great Britain and Ireland was that the countries were in such disarray. The land was divided between villages who were constantly warring. This made them easy prey as all there warriors were scattered not together in a single army.
The reasons behind their raids and the expansion of their territory geographically speaking come from the origins of the Viking people. They originated from Scandinavia a notoriously harsh land, with a freezing climate prone to large snows. They attacked southern and western regions such as France and England because these places were a lot warmer and stealing crops was preferable to growing them.
The Vikings were amazing explorers they travelled extremely far for people of their time. Some say that they were the original discoverers of North America not Christopher Columbus.

Introduction

Óran's Exploration Geography Blog

Hello, my name is Óran, and this is my Transition Year Environmental Studies blog. I chose to do my blog on the geography of exploration because of my interest in history, the age of exploration and the exploration of mankind. Ever since the beginning of mankind, people have wished to explore and discover further, to find and know more about the world on which we live, In this blog I will look at some of the greatest explorations and the geographical reasons behind them.