space race between the united states and the soviet union
TRANSCRIPT
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