The Cold War and the Space Race At the conclusion of World War 2 both

the United States and Russia set themselves up to be super powers

This rivalry and disputes between the two countries was a part of everyday life

On October 4, 1957 the Space Race began with Russia launching the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into space

The ability to use a rocket to launch the satellite created a fear of the Russians for most citizens because if they could launch a rocket into space they also could launch a nuclear bomb/missile towards the United States

Creation of NASA and the Race is on 1958, the US launched its first artificial satellite

(Explorer I) and President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

1959, Russians launched Luna 2 which is the first space probe to hit the moon

April 1961 Russian Cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, became the first man in space

May 1961, Alan Shepard became first American in space and JFK made his proclimation that the US would put a man on the moon before the end of the 60’s

February 1962, John Glenn became first American to orbit Earth

To the Moon

The process of getting to the moon was broken into three major segments (projects) Project Mercury Project Gemini Project Apollo

Project Mercury

3 Goals: To orbit a manned

spacecraft around Earth To investigate man’s

ability to function in space To recover both man and

spacecraft safely

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/program-toc.html

Project Mercury Notable missions:

Mercury-Redstone 7 – Suborbital flight piloted by Alan Shepard (1st American in space) – 15 min 28 sec

Mercury-Atlas 6 – piloted by John Glenn and was a three-orbit flight – 4 hrs 55 min

Mercury-Atlas 9 – the last Mercury mission; completed 22 orbits to evaluate effects of one day in space – 34 hours 19 min

Liftoff of the Mercury-Atlas rocket from Pad 14 at Cape Canaveral marked the first American manned orbital space flight carrying astronaut John Glenn. Image credit: NASA http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/mercury7.html

Project Gemini

Goals: To subject man and equipment

to space flight up to two weeks in duration

To rendezvous and dock with orbiting vehicles and to maneuver the docked combination by using the target vehicle’s propulsion system

To perfect methods of entering the atmosphere and landing at a preselected point on land

Landing on land goal was cancelled in 1964

http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/gemini/gemini.htm

Project Gemini Notable missions:

Unmanned Missions: Gemini I and Gemini II -

launched vehicles into space to be docked with at a later date

Manned Missions: Gemini III – Gemini XII –

slowly worked on the goals – starting with testing the 2-man piloted mission all the way up to docking in space, spending extended period of time in space, and perfecting re-entry to Earth

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00181/gemini.html

Project Apollo Goals:

Establishing technology to meet other national interests in space

Achieving preeminence in space for the United States

Carrying out a program of scientific exploration of the Moon

Developing man’s capability to work in the lunar environment

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/index.html

Project Apollo

Notable missions: Jan 27, 1967 –

Apollo 1 was set to take off, but a fire started and killed all 3 astronauts on the launch pad

Apollo 10 mission completed all aspects of an actual lunar landing, except the landing

http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/as01/a01sum.htm

http://www.astronautix.com/graphics/0/10075155.jpg

Project Apollo Notable

missions: July 20, 1969

Apollo 11 reached the moon Spent 21 hours

on the moon Apollo 13 –

Successful Failure

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/images/as11_44_6552.jpg

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/images/as11_40_5903.jpg

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ap13acc.html

Bibliography

History of Space Race http://www.history.com/topics/space-rac

e http://www.nasa.gov/missions/past/index

.html