The Space Race

Uploaded by

gila26

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

0% found this document useful (0 votes)

19 views

The Space Race

Uploaded by

gila26

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 10

Andre Gil, Ryan Riggs, Henry McClelland

Timeline of the Space Race

January 1958 -
September 1962 - President
The United States
John F. Kennedy gave his
entered the Space
famous address at Rice
Race by launching
University, in which he confirmed
the satellite
the United States’ intention to put
Explorer 1
a man on the moon

October 1957 - The April 1961 - A Soviet

USSR launched astronaut completed an
Sputnik 1, the first orbit around the Earth,
Earth-orbiting becoming the first
satellite human in space
Timeline of the Space Race
1967 - a deadly year July 1969 - Neil Armstrong and
for both the Apollo Buzz Aldrin became the first men to
and Soyuz programs, walk on the moon while crewmate
with US and Soviet Michael Collins orbited it. The event
astronauts dying was watched by roughly 729 million
people

May 1961 - The December 1968 -

United States was Apollo 8 successfully
able to put an reached and orbited
astronaut in space the moon
Illustration of Apollo 11 Spacecraft
The Goals of Project Apollo:

- Establish technology to send astronauts

to the Moon and back safely
- Assert superiority over the Soviet Union
by launching a successful space
exploration project
- Carry out a scientific exploration
program of the Moon
- Developing the ability for humans to
work in a lunar environment
Image of the Landing
- On July 20, 1969, one hundred and nine
hours and forty two minutes after the
launch, astronauts Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin became the first men to lay
foot on the moon.
- The event was watched by roughly 729
million people from various countries,
excluding communist nations. These
communist countries did not broadcast the
landing to their people because Apollo 11
was a significant win for the United States
over the Soviet Union.
John F. Kennedy was the
president during the time of Nikita
the space race. Kennedy Khrushchev
challenged the nation to was the Soviet
leader most
claim a leadership role in
involved in the
space and land a man on
Space Race.
the Moon before the end of
Kennedy
the decade. This goal was offered a
prompted by the Soviet proposal for a
Union, the United States’ joint space
Cold War rival, beginning a missions, but
space exploration project of Khrushchev
its own. declined.
Neil Armstrong was the first person on the moon. He
was an American astronaut who along with two others
stepped onto the moon. This beat the Soviets and China
to put the first person on another planet. Upon landing
on the Moon, he famously uttered: "That's one small step
for man, one giant leap for mankind." When people
think of the Apollo 11 landing today, Armstrong’s words
immediately come to mind. He became a symbol of
American ingenuity and the triumph that was the Apollo
11 Moon Landing.
- The landing was not only an example of America’s
technological capabilities, but was also a victory for
democracy over communism. People around the world
witnessed the shortcomings of communism live as Neil
Armstrong stepped foot on the Moon. They realized that a
communist country was not capable of achieving the
technological advancements of a democratic society.
- The Apollo 11 Landing was also significant from a scientific
perspective as it ushered in future space exploration
projects. One of these endeavors, the Apollo-Soyuz Test
Project (joint human spaceflight), marked the first true
collaboration between the United States and the Soviet
Union since the dawn of the Cold War.
- After the successful landing, the United States
carried out a goodwill tour, known as “Giant Step”,
featuring Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael
Collins. The tour spanned thirty-seven days and the
astronauts appeared in twenty countries.
- On this tour, the astronauts asserted that the Moon
landing was done for all of humanity, not just
Americans. President Nixon deemed “Giant Step” a
success and utilized the diplomatic boost from the
tour to strengthen the United States’ foreign
relations.
- In 1951, Moscow street dogs Tsygan and Dezik reached
an altitude of just under 70 miles, making them the first
vertebrates to experience spaceflight
- The Apollo 11 crew had to go through customs as if they
were returning from a foreign country rather than space.
Some items they had to declare included Moon dust and
Moon rocks
- The astronauts were put into quarantine after returning in
case they had contracted a disease on the Moon
- Richard Nixon gifted 270 moon rocks to foreign
countries, but only 180 are accounted for
- The United States remains the only country to have put a
man on the Moon