As the deadline drew near, NASA finally prepares to send astronauts beyond Earth's orbit, and Apollo 8 became the first spacecraft to go into lunar orbit in 1968. With just about one year left to meet the late President John F. Kennedy's ambitious goal to reach the Moon by the end of the decade, time is running low for NASA.

In more recent years, the European Space Agency has been developing a brand new type of vehicle, capable of re-entering Earth orbit. Learn more about the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) as one of the stepping stones for future missions.
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Revisit the key advances that have marked space exploration and find out the very latest innovations in space science.
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