Fascinating and forbidding, space has drawn the attention
of humans since before recorded history. People have
looked outward, driven by curiosity about the vast universe
that surrounds Earth. Unaware of the meaning of the bright
lights in the night sky above them, ancient humans thought
they saw patterns, images in the sky of things in the landscape
around them.
Slowly, humans came to realize that the lights in the sky
had an effect on the workings of the planet around them.
They sought to understand the movements of the Sun, the
Moon, and the other, brighter objects. They wanted to know
how those movements related to the changing seasons and
the growth of crops.