6th Grade Astronomy

The space race began in the 1950s.The Soviet Union was the greatest

rival to the United States in politics and military power at that time.

The Tensions between the two countries were so great that they were said to be in a “cold war.”

This increased when the Soviets launched a satellite into space.

The race began in 1957 when the Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik I into orbit.

The United States responded by speeding up its own space program.

Sputnik I was the first artificial satellite. This caused great alarm in the United states.

In 1958 the United States launched its own satellite, Explorer I. During the next few years many satellites were placed into orbit.

Later in 1958, the United States established a government agency in charge of the space program, called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA brought together talents of many types of scientists and engineers who worked together to solve the many difficult technical problems of space flight.

In 1961 the space race heated up more when the Soviets launched the first human into space.

Yuir Gagarin flew one orbit around Earth aboard Vostok I. Less than a month later, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space. His tiny spacecraft, called Freedom 7, was part of U.S. Mercury space program.

The first to orbit Earth was John Glen, who was launched into space in 1962 on the Friendship 7.

The craft he traveled in was called a space capsule because it was like a small cap on the end of a rocket. It orbited the Earth 3 times.

In May 1961 John F. Kennedy gave a speech and launched an enormous program of space exploration.

The American effort to land astronauts on the moon was named the Apollo program.

Between 1964 and 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union sent many unpiloted spacecraft to explore the moon. When a U.S. spacecraft called Surveyor landed on the moon, it didn’t sink.

This proved that the moon had a solid surface. Next scientist looked for a good place to land

humans on the moon.

In July 1969, three American astronauts circled the moon aboard Apollo 11.

Once in orbit, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin entered a tiny spacecraft called Eagle.

On July 20, the Eagle went down toward a flat area on the moon’s surface called the Sea of Tranquility.

Armstrong radioed that the Eagle had landed. A few hours later Armstrong and Aldrin left the

Eagle to explore the moon. When Armstrong first step on the moon, he

said, “That’s one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind.”