Space Race
Events of the Space Race
October 4,1957- USSR launches Sputnik 1
January 31,1958- US launches Explorer 1
October 1,1958- NASA is formed
March 3, 1959- Pioneer 4 is launched and passes within 37,000 miles of the moon. (US)
September 12,1959- Luna 2 is launched and impacts the moon(USSR)
April 12, 1961- Yuri Gagarin orbits the earth and becomes the first man in space
May 5, 1961- Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space
March 18,1965- Alexei Leonov performs the first space walk
June 3, 1965- Ed White performs America's first space walk
February 3, 1966- Luna 9 becomes first spacecraft to land on the moon.
April 3, 1966- Luna 10 becomes first spacecraft to orbit the moon
June 2, 1966- Surveyor 1 soft lands on the moon
July 20, 1969- Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the moon.The Space Race and the Cold War
Think of the Cold war as an obstacle course. The Space race is just one obstacle of the entire course. Throughout the whole race you want to be ahead, but on every obstacle you are also trying to win that individual obstacle.