In April 1961, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human to venture into outer space. While his orbit lasted a mere two hours, his endeavour showed that it was possible to leave Earth’s atmosphere and return safely. Gagarin walked so Armstrong could leap.
In the 60 years since the Russian’s pioneering mission, we have stepped foot on the Moon, built the unfathomably complex International Space Station (ISS) and even launched billionaire tech moguls towards the stars. We are becoming more adept at journeying into the cosmos, and growing bolder and more ambitious, yet it’s fair to say that space is far from conquered. If humanity is to, for example, visit Mars – and potentially head even further afield – numerous hurdles will first need to be overcome.
And, when it comes to making long-distance space travel a viable proposition (NASA has aired plans to land humans on the Red Planet by the late 2030s) one of the most critical challenges is that of interstellar
