The Space Race
The heated race between the USSR and the USA for the moon
Overview
The Space Race was a heated 20th century Cold War rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States. The race was for who could be the first to have space supremacy.
The Beginning
In the beginning, Russia launched the first ever artificial satellite to go outside Earth's atmosphere was Sputnik 1. The United States was really worried about this because they were thinking the satellite could spy on them, so they reacted quickly in a huge effort to get their first rocket into space.
First Satellite
In 1958, the US launched its first satellite, the Explorer 1 into space, this launch came merely 4 months after Sputnik 1 was launched.
The Moon
As America and the Soviet Union both got their satellites into space, the ultimate prize was the moon, America was the first to get there, the spacecraft, Apollo 11, was launched on December 18, 1968. In Apollo 11, was Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and the first person ever to set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong
Some Very Important Faces
Wernher Von Braun
(1912-1977) The leading rocket scientist in the United States, also the former head of the rocket program in Nazi Germany
Sergei Korolev
(1907-1966) The widely respected leader of the Soviet Space Program
Neil Armstrong
(1930-2012) The first man ever to step on the moon's surface