<P> In the 2000s, the People's Republic of China initiated a successful manned spaceflight program, while the European Union, Japan, and India have also planned future crewed space missions . China, Russia, Japan, and India have advocated crewed missions to the Moon during the 21st century, while the European Union has advocated manned missions to both the Moon and Mars during the 20th and 21st century . </P> <P> From the 1990s onwards, private interests began promoting space tourism and then public space exploration of the Moon (see Google Lunar X Prize). </P> <P> The highest known projectiles prior to the rockets of the 1940s were the shells of the Paris Gun, a type of German long - range siege gun, which reached at least 40 kilometers altitude during World War One . Steps towards putting a human - made object into space were taken by German scientists during World War II while testing the V - 2 rocket, which became the first human - made object in space on 3 October 1942 with the launching of the A-4 . After the war, the U.S. used German scientists and their captured rockets in programs for both military and civilian research . The first scientific exploration from space was the cosmic radiation experiment launched by the U.S. on a V - 2 rocket on 10 May 1946 . The first images of Earth taken from space followed the same year while the first animal experiment saw fruit flies lifted into space in 1947, both also on modified V - 2s launched by Americans . Starting in 1947, the Soviets, also with the help of German teams, launched sub-orbital V - 2 rockets and their own variant, the R - 1, including radiation and animal experiments on some flights . These suborbital experiments only allowed a very short time in space which limited their usefulness . </P> <P> The first successful orbital launch was of the Soviet uncrewed Sputnik 1 ("Satellite 1") mission on 4 October 1957 . The satellite weighed about 83 kg (183 lb), and is believed to have orbited Earth at a height of about 250 km (160 mi). It had two radio transmitters (20 and 40 MHz), which emitted "beeps" that could be heard by radios around the globe . Analysis of the radio signals was used to gather information about the electron density of the ionosphere, while temperature and pressure data was encoded in the duration of radio beeps . The results indicated that the satellite was not punctured by a meteoroid . Sputnik 1 was launched by an R - 7 rocket . It burned up upon re-entry on 3 January 1958 . </P>

What was the first thing sent into space