"The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago… had they happened to be within reach of predatory human hands." — Havelock Ellis, The Dance of Life (1923)
34 years later in 1957 the USSR launched Sputnik One into orbit marking the official start of the space race. 4 years later in 1961 USSR cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel in space. 8 years after the USA's Apollo 11 landed on the lunar surface allowing Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong to be the first humans to walk on our moon.
By 1981 the USA introduced the space shuttles with the USSR following suit in 1988 with the Buran program. The USA created the first reusable spacecraft allowing them to routinely reach orbit while cutting costs. The Buran program was a successful failure however in its demonstration of technology competition. The Buran was more advanced than the USA's space shuttle as it featured unmanned capabilities, safer and more flexible due to liquid only engines, could carry heavier payloads into orbit and modernised avionics as the computers were 15 years newer. Despite these advantages the Buran only had one launch before the program was shutdown due to unsustainable funding as the USSR collapsed into Russia.
1998 marked the first breath of the International Space Station as Russia and USA launched the first modules 400km into orbit. The ISS has been used largely for scientific research in a zero gravity environment, these programs have advanced and created new technology in multiple fields from cancer fighting drugs to robotics used in nuclear power plants. Now the ISS is 27 years old as of 20/11/2025, unfortunately the ISS has planned decommissioning in 2030-2031 giving it more than three decades of scientific advancements.
Once the ISS is decommissioned NASA and international partners will be encouraging private companies to launch their own commercial space stations. The Axiom Space Station is the most promising replacement for the ISS while creating commercial pathways into space.
In 2035, only 78 years after Sputnik One space will most likely be available to civilians. It seems unreal but given the progress within 68 almost 69 years I believe lunar colonies will exist by 2065. If lunar colonies are established by then I believe we will have 100% safe commercial space flight to almost anywhere in out solar system by 2100. After that I simply hope we never leave the solar system.
This is not the typical LOST RECORDS entry I know but it will still become lost as we pass, I just hope we won't make the stars disappear.