Space Race

Between the United States and the Soviet

Union

October 4, 1957 - Sputnik

Soviet was first to launch satellite

One revolution every 90 minutes

Weighed 184 pounds

Sputnik 2 – November 3, 1957

• Includes Laika• Satellite remains in

orbit for 162 days• Laika dies soon after

liftoff, from stress and high temperatures inside the capsule

National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958

• President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 into law, establishing NASA (July, 1958)

April 9, 1959 – The Mercury 7 were

introduced to America

NASA introduces the first seven astronauts to the world.

Without yet performing a task, they are instantly hailed and embraced as heroes by the American public

U.S. ROCKET TESTINGUnited States testing of rockets was embarrassing from ‘57-’61

1961Jan 31 – Ham, a chimpanzee, survives a sub-orbital flight on an American mission, Mercury 2

The American press pokes fun at American astronauts for doing a job that could be accomplished by a monkey. Experienced test pilots call the astronauts “Spam in a can.”

First Men In Space - 1961

• April 12 - Soviet sends first man into space – Yuri Gagarin – Refer to him as a “cosmonaut”

Americans - Alan Shepard on Freedom 7 on May 2 1

15 minute flight which took him to a max height of 116.5 miles

Sept 12, 1961: Pres Kennedy makes his speech at Rice University

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

Feb 20, 1962John Glenn orbits the Earth three times, becoming the first American in orbit.

Hailed as a hero, he will later leave the space program to become a U.S. Senator from Ohio.

First Woman in Space – Soviet Union’s own Valentina Tereshkova

The American program will employ NO female astronauts

Soviets Continue to Lead; Americans and the Gemini Program

1964• Oct 12 – Voskhod 1, Soviet

mission that was the first to send multiple men into space

1965-1966• March 18, 1965 – Leonov

leaves the spacecraft for the first “Spacewalk”.

• The American Gemini Program begins – essential program that will solve many of the problems that must be overcome for a lunar landing mission.

Apollo Program starts with tragedy of Apollo 1 fire on Jan 27, 1967. The program continues in

1968-1969Killed in fire – Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chafee Inside of Apollo 1 Capsule

First death to occur during space flight – April 23, 1967

• Cladimir Komarov commands Soyuz 1• On its descent, the parachute becomes

tangled and Soyuz 1 slams into the ground at high speed, killing Komarov

Apollo 11- July, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin land on the moon

Neil Armstrong first to step foot

on the moon

“That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.”

Apollo 13 – April 11-17, 1970

• First aborted Apollo mission• Lasted 6 days (142 hours)

From the Moon, Knowledge

Apollo 13

• April 11-17: En route to the moon, oxygen tanks explode on Apollo 13s command-service module

Apollo 13

• Astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise manage to survive in the Lunar Module during the trip

• Took longer than other modules to splashdown

July 26 – Aug 7, 1971Apollo 15 lands on the moon with a four-wheel drive lunar rover

The End of the Apollo Program

• July 1975 – Last Apollo mission to the moon• In orbit, they dock with a Soviet Soyuz

spacecraft.• The mission proves the compatibility of the

two space programs and paves the way for future collaborations and rescue missions.

Activity – Magazine Cover

Make a magazine cover about the Space Race/Americans in Space/ Russians in Space or any other aspect we have discussed

Must have: name of magazine, at least 3 visuals that are on topic, title of top story or caption of picture on cover