The History of the Space Race
By Jaden Perez
Intro
Since the dawn of time, man set out to do the unthinkable, go to space. This feat was not yet accomplished until about 54 years ago! Since this accomplishment, many moments in space exploration were soon to follow.
The beginning of the space race
After WWll, Soviet Union (Communist Russia) and The United States of America tried to show one another on who was the superior country and technologically advanced country. The space race has now begun! No one in the west (The U.S) thought Russia was technologically capable of going in space. Little did they know that was all about to change. Soviet sent out their smartest army/military experts. Unlike the soviets, The U.S made an orginization for space and rocket launching, NASA.10 years after the cold war began was the very first Man-made object (Rocket) that was launched by...RUSSIA
Space Bound
Yes you heard it correctly, Russia sent the first rocket in the air. This was known as the Sputnik 1 and it was launched into the air on October 4,1957. This was the first but not the last win for Soviets/Russians. The U.S started to take notice so they immediately and built a rocket. 2 months after Sputnik 1, Russia had another space win...First animal in space! Yes, Sputnik 2 had a dog named Laika in space that December. But U.S made a rocket that December and the name was Vangard. It set for space on December,6,1957. This flight was an epic catastrophe. It blew up just INCHES from the launchpad. The president at the time,Eisenhower, set out an emergency mission with the help of organizations JPI and ABMA, to build a successful rocket. And they did. The rocket was called the Explorer 1. This was a success on January 31,1958. This was the U.S first space victory
Laika the space dog
The end of the space race
Many more space rockets were made but none reached the biggest victory of the space race, the moon. JFK (the president at the time) promised to send a man to the moon. With this promise, the U.S started the Apollo mission. JFK was shot during his presidency so the U.S now had little hope of accomplishing this feat. Although JFK was not in office (Neither was the russian leader Korolev, he died during a routine surgery) new president Lyndon B Johnson set out to make this possible. On July 16,1969 the U.S sent out the spacecraft Apollo 11 to go to the moon. 4 days after the initial launch day, apollo reached the moon. Americans watched in awe as Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon. By the end of the cold war (Few years later) was a major event, the handshake in space. Russian Astronauts and American Astronauts met in space and shook each other's hands, ending the cold war.
Handshake In space
Video
Who won the space race? - Jeff Steers
Citations
Pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7s6MjeBWbg
http://www.spaceanswers.com/space-exploration/heroes-of-space-laika-the-space-dog/
http://pics-about-space.com/apollo-soyuz-handshake?p=1
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxpC-8f--xo
Books+ Websites:
Angelo, Joseph A. Human Spaceflight. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2007. Print.
Bailey, Diane. The Future of Space Exploration. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2013. Print.
N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
“The Space Race." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Space-Program.aspx