Part 1 of Essay
INTRODUCTION From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for untold thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects planets, meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities -- Jupiter, king of the gods; Mars, the god of war ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... World War II enabled our machines to break the grip of Earth's gravity and travel to the Moon and to other planets. The United States has sent automated spacecraft, then human-crewed expeditions, to explore the Moon. Our automated machines have orbited and landed on Venus and Mars; explored the Sun's environment; observed comets, and made close-range surveys while flying past Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These travelers brought a quantum leap in our knowledge and understanding of the ....