3.2 Ideas and Technologies of Ancient Space Flights
103
book greatly inspired European’s strong desire to explore the highly civilized and
rich Eastern world, and finally broadened their horizons.
At the same time, the rising Ottoman Empire (1299−1922 A.D.) so frequently
warred with the Byzantine Empire (also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire,
295−1453 A.D.) that the people, which fled from the warfare, brought a large number
of the ancient Greek and Roman cultural books and art treasures to the commercially
developed cities of Italy. Some advanced intellectuals in the new bourgeoisie publicized the humanistic spirit through cultural creation by studying the art and culture of
ancient Greece and Rome. So, a great revolution of emancipating the mind, science
and art, well known as the Renaissance, which rose in the major cities of Italy and
prevailed throughout Europe, opened the prelude of modern European history.
The fifteenth century, when several isolated and independent continents began
to connect under the promotion of voyage explorations and trades, is an important
watershed in human history. In 1434, when is just the second year after the emperor
of the Ming Dynasty ordering to dismiss Zheng’s fleet, greatly driven by Prince
Henry (O Infante Dom Henrique Duque de Viseu, 1394−1460), who was with a
pioneering spirit, the Portuguese fleet crossed through Cape Bojador on the west
coast of Africa, which used to be called “death limit”, and thus made the first step
in the Age of Exploration. In 1492, Christopher Columbus (1451−1506), an Italian
navigator and explorer, led his fleet across the then uncharted Atlantic Ocean with
the help of the Spanish queen, and eventually arrived in the American continent after
70 days of hard sailing. In 1497, a Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1460−1524)
first opened a sea route to India by passing through the Cape of Good Hope at the
southern end of Africa. In August 1519, with the support of the King of Spain, another
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480−1521) and his fleet set sail from the
port of Seville in Spain, and entered into the Atlantic Ocean along the Guadalquivir
river; they sailed west across the Atlantic toward South America, made landfall at Rio
de Janeiro in December 1519, and from there, sailed south along the coast, searching
for a route through or around the South American continent; they bypassed the Tierra
del Fuego at the southern end of the continent, crossed through the Pacific Ocean and
reach the Philippine Islands in April 1521; they passed through the Southern India
Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope, and finally returned to Sanlúcar de Barrameda
on the coast of Spain in September 1522. As a result, the fleet led by Magellan had
achieved the great feat of the first circumnavigation of the Earth for mankind. The
Magellan’s fleet as setting out consisted of five ships and about 270 crew members,
most of whom were Spanish and only around 40 Portuguese, and as returning to
Spain, only one ship Victoria with ghostly 18 crews survived. Magellan himself died
in a battle against the local troops of the Philippines in April 1521, and thereafter
Juan Sebastián Elcano, a Spanish explorer aboard the ship, took the command of
the carrack Victoria to finish the final voyage from the Moluccas in Indonesia to the
Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain. The Magellan’s fleet successfully accomplished
the circumnavigation at a huge cost, which proves that the Earth is round and the
oceans around the world are connected together with each other.
The Exploration Age not only brought huge wealth for Europeans, but also
inspired their spirit of adventure and exploration, and they were accepting the baptism
103
book greatly inspired European’s strong desire to explore the highly civilized and
rich Eastern world, and finally broadened their horizons.
At the same time, the rising Ottoman Empire (1299−1922 A.D.) so frequently
warred with the Byzantine Empire (also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire,
295−1453 A.D.) that the people, which fled from the warfare, brought a large number
of the ancient Greek and Roman cultural books and art treasures to the commercially
developed cities of Italy. Some advanced intellectuals in the new bourgeoisie publicized the humanistic spirit through cultural creation by studying the art and culture of
ancient Greece and Rome. So, a great revolution of emancipating the mind, science
and art, well known as the Renaissance, which rose in the major cities of Italy and
prevailed throughout Europe, opened the prelude of modern European history.
The fifteenth century, when several isolated and independent continents began
to connect under the promotion of voyage explorations and trades, is an important
watershed in human history. In 1434, when is just the second year after the emperor
of the Ming Dynasty ordering to dismiss Zheng’s fleet, greatly driven by Prince
Henry (O Infante Dom Henrique Duque de Viseu, 1394−1460), who was with a
pioneering spirit, the Portuguese fleet crossed through Cape Bojador on the west
coast of Africa, which used to be called “death limit”, and thus made the first step
in the Age of Exploration. In 1492, Christopher Columbus (1451−1506), an Italian
navigator and explorer, led his fleet across the then uncharted Atlantic Ocean with
the help of the Spanish queen, and eventually arrived in the American continent after
70 days of hard sailing. In 1497, a Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1460−1524)
first opened a sea route to India by passing through the Cape of Good Hope at the
southern end of Africa. In August 1519, with the support of the King of Spain, another
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480−1521) and his fleet set sail from the
port of Seville in Spain, and entered into the Atlantic Ocean along the Guadalquivir
river; they sailed west across the Atlantic toward South America, made landfall at Rio
de Janeiro in December 1519, and from there, sailed south along the coast, searching
for a route through or around the South American continent; they bypassed the Tierra
del Fuego at the southern end of the continent, crossed through the Pacific Ocean and
reach the Philippine Islands in April 1521; they passed through the Southern India
Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope, and finally returned to Sanlúcar de Barrameda
on the coast of Spain in September 1522. As a result, the fleet led by Magellan had
achieved the great feat of the first circumnavigation of the Earth for mankind. The
Magellan’s fleet as setting out consisted of five ships and about 270 crew members,
most of whom were Spanish and only around 40 Portuguese, and as returning to
Spain, only one ship Victoria with ghostly 18 crews survived. Magellan himself died
in a battle against the local troops of the Philippines in April 1521, and thereafter
Juan Sebastián Elcano, a Spanish explorer aboard the ship, took the command of
the carrack Victoria to finish the final voyage from the Moluccas in Indonesia to the
Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain. The Magellan’s fleet successfully accomplished
the circumnavigation at a huge cost, which proves that the Earth is round and the
oceans around the world are connected together with each other.
The Exploration Age not only brought huge wealth for Europeans, but also
inspired their spirit of adventure and exploration, and they were accepting the baptism