Saturn V rockets were used by NASA between 1967 and 1973. It is a 'human rated expendable rocket', which means that it is safe to use for human spaceflight. The rocket design was developed for the Apollo missions that landed humans to the Moon. A Saturn V rocket was also used to launch Skylab.

If you think of a 'rocket', you might think of a vehicle which flies people to space. But did you know that a rocket is also a type of engine? We use rocket engines to send humans, satellites and robots into space. This lets us explore space and send information around the globe.

What will the future of space exploration hold? At the moment there are more than 70 government space agencies. These include the American agency, NASA and the European agency, ESA. There are also a number of commercial companies, like SpaceX. All of these groups have plans for the next giant leaps forward in space exploration.

First animals in space

The Mercury missions was NASA's first human spaceflight program, from 1958 to 1963. There were 20 unmanned flights (some which sent animals into space), and six successful flights by astronauts.

The Gemini missions was NASA's human spaceflight program in the early 1960s. The Gemini missions came after the Mercury missions, and before the Apollo missions. Each Gemini spacecraft could carry two astronauts, and 10 spacecraft were launched during the Space Race.