Space Age

- The Space Age is a period in history encompassing the activities related to the space
race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments that resulted
from these events.

The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite in history, Sputnik, on October 4, 1957,
ushering in the Space Age. The 84-kilogram Sputnik, which was launched during the
International Geophysical Year, sent out a signal that amateur radio operators worldwide could
hear as it orbited the Earth every 90 minutes. NASA was established after the United States
was taken by surprise by the launch of Sputnik. As each superpower aimed to become the best
in space, the two nations started the Space Race. Due to the competition, both nations' space
capabilities advanced quickly, launching automated probes to the Moon and planets and
launching animals and humans into space, respectively.

Remarkably, mankind set foot on the moon fewer than 12 years after Sputnik. Technology,
medicine, and other fields have advanced as a result of the astounding advancements in space
exploration during the last 60 years. The only limit to the advancements that can be made in the
next sixty years is our imagination.

Moon Landing

- A Moon Landing or Lunar Landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the
Moon, including both crewed and robotic missions.

Millions of people gathered in front of their televisions on July 20, 1969, to witness two American
astronauts accomplish a first. Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin were the first humans to
set foot on the moon, using heavy space suits and oxygen breathing backpacks.
Space Race

- The Space Race or The United States and the Soviet Union, Cold War adversaries,
competed to develop superior spaceflight capabilities during the 20th century. It began
with the two countries' nuclear arms race centered on ballistic missiles after World War II
and culminated in the more specific Moon Race between the US and Soviet moonshot
projects to put a man on the moon. In addition to being viewed as essential for national
security, especially with reference to intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellite
reconnaissance capabilities, the technological advantage exhibited by spaceflight
accomplishment also became ingrained in the era's cultural iconography and philosophy.
Human spaceflight in low Earth orbit and eventually to the Moon, robotic landers to the
 Moon, Venus, and Mars, and the first launches of artificial satellites were all made
possible by the Space Race.

Causes of the Space Race

Fueled by the arms race, the growing threat of nuclear weapons, extensive espionage and
counter-espionage between the two nations, the Korean War, and a verbal and intellectual spat
in the media, the U.S.-Soviet Cold War had become ingrained in both countries' daily lives by
the mid-1950s. Events like the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Cuban missile crisis in
1962, and the start of the war in Southeast Asia would all contribute to these tensions, which
would persist throughout the space race.

Nasa Is Created

The United States launched Explorer I, a U.S.-designed satellite, in 1958. Wernher von Braun, a
rocket scientist, led the army.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a federal organization devoted to
space exploration, was established by a presidential order issued by President Dwight D.
Eisenhower in the same year.
Eisenhower established two space initiatives focused on national security that would run
concurrently with NASA's effort. The first was led by the United States. The Air Force is
committed to utilizing space's military potential. The second, code-named Corona, was headed
by the Air Force, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and a new agency called the National
Reconnaissance Office, whose existence was not made public until the early 1990s. Its mission
was to collect intelligence on the Soviet Union and its allies by means of orbiting satellites.

Space Race Heats Up: Men (And Chimps) Orbit Earth

With the launch of Luna 2, the first space mission to land on the moon, in 1959, the Soviet
space program advanced even further.

In the capsule-shaped spacecraft Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first
human to orbit the Earth in April 1961.
NASA engineers created a smaller, cone-shaped capsule for Project Mercury, the U.S. attempt
to launch a man into space. The capsule was significantly lighter than Vostok, and it was tested
on chimpanzees before the Soviets were able to launch Gagarin in March 1961. Alan Shepard
became the first American in space (but not in orbit) on May 5.

President John F. Kennedy boldly and publicly declared later in May that the United States
would send a man to the moon before the decade was up.
By the end of 1962, the groundwork for NASA's lunar landing program, known as Project Apollo,
had been laid after John Glenn became the first American to orbit the planet in February.

Achievements of Apollo

The lunar landing program eventually encompassed over 34,000 NASA personnel and 375,000
employees of industrial and academic contractors, after NASA's budget was expanded by about
500 percent between 1961 and 1964. In January 1967, Apollo experienced a setback when their
spacecraft caught fire during a launch practice, killing three men. In the meantime, the Soviet
Union's lunar landing program moved slowly forward, in part because of internal disagreements
over its importance and the premature passing of Sergei Korolev, the program's main engineer,
in January 1966.
Apollo 8, the first manned space mission to orbit the moon, was launched from NASA's
enormous launch site on Merritt Island, close to Cape Canaveral, Florida, in December 1968.

The Apollo 11 space mission, the first attempt at a lunar landing, was launched on July 16,
1969, by American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins.

Armstrong famously referred to the successful landing on July 20 as "one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind," making him the first person to set foot on the moon.
Who Won the Space Race?

The United States essentially "won" the space race, which had started with the launch of
Sputnik in 1957, by setting foot on the moon. Between 1969 and 1972, the Soviets attempted
four times without success to launch a lunar landing craft, including a spectacular launch-pad
explosion in July 1969. The space race captured the American public's interest from start to
finish, and the national media extensively reported on the numerous advancements made by
the American and Soviet space programs. The new medium of television further fueled this
flurry of curiosity. Earth-bound men and women appeared to take pleasure in living vicariously
through astronauts, who were viewed as the ultimate American heroes. With their huge,
unrelenting attempts to outdo America and demonstrate the might of the communist system, the
Soviets were portrayed as the ultimate villains.

After the early 1970s, the U.S. government lost interest in lunar missions as the space race
came to an end. Three American astronauts were launched into space in 1975 as part of the
joint Apollo-Soyuz mission. The Apollo spacecraft mated in orbit with a Soviet-built Soyuz
capsule. The "handshake in space" that the commanders of the two craft exchanged as they
formally greeted one another represented the slow but steady strengthening of U.S.-Soviet ties
in the latter stages of the Cold War.