Space Race
United States of America VS Soviet Union
Introduction
Causes
Characteristics
The space age began when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into orbit. Sputnik 1, a basketball-sized metallic sphere was launched on October 4, 1957. The world watched in awe as something amazing happened before their eyes. The Soviets struck first, but the States soon got into the game. The US also launched satellites into orbit shortly after they did. There were achievements such as orbiting the moon, the sun, touching the moon, and putting a man into space. The very first man in space was Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin, but what the Space Race eventually turned into was a race to see which country could first land a man on the moon. John F. Kennedy promised that the United States would land on the moon before the end of the decade. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to ever step foot on the Moon and the United States “won” the Space Race.
Timeline of Space Race
Oct. 4 1957 - USSR launches first satellite into space, Sputnik 1.
Nov. 3 1957- USSR launches second satellite into space Sputnik 2.
Jan 31. 1958 - Explorer 1, the first American satellite, is launched.
March 17. 1958 - Vanguard 1, America’s second satellite to reach orbit is launched.
May 17. 1958 - Sputnik 3 is launched.
Jan. 2 1959 - Luna 1 is launched by the USSR, is the first manmade object to orbit the Sun.
Sep. 12 1959 - Luna 2 is launched, and is the first satellite to touch the moon.
Apr. 1 1960 - Tiros 1 is launched, becoming the first successful weather satellite.
Nov. 8 - John F. Kennedy is elected President of The United States of America.
Apr 12. 1961 - Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth and becomes the first man in space.
May 5. 1961 - Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space.
Jun. 16 1963 - Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first women in space.
Nov. 22 - 1963 - John F. Kennedy is assassinated.
Mar. 18 1965 - Alexei Leonov performs the first space walk.
Apr. 3 1966 - Luna 10 becomes the first satellite to orbit the Moon.
Jan. 27 1967 - Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed when a fire ignites in their Apollo 1 capsule while performing a test.
Mar. 27 1968 - Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, dies in a plane crash.
Jan. 16 1969 - Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spacecraft docking.
Jul. 20 1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon.Significance
Conclusion
Even though the Space Race was based off of a competition between the United States and Soviet Union, the overall result was great human achievement. The things that were gained from this time really helped humans to grow, and now we continue to use and extend the knowledge we gained from the Space Race. What the Space Race did for was show that humans are capable of accomplishing amazing things when are set on doing it.