Similar to two children vying for their parent’s attention, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a battle of pride and wit. This battle of technological prowess began amidst the Cold War. Both sides fought to push the boundaries even further on space travel. The Soviet Union may of won the first part of the Space Race during the Cold War Era, but the United States quickly began building their space program using a methodical approach. The United States overtaking the Soviet Union was directly caused by the early portion of the space race, Project Gemini and Mercury buildings towards the Apollo 11 mission, and the manned mission to the moon.
Russia then hit a mile stone with the failure of the launch of two men. America begins uplifting its rank and with NASAs Gemini program and the launch of 3 men into lunar orbit prepares the world for what comes next. The successful launch and landing of the Apollo 11 module on the moon, carrying human life. In an ideological way, the USA is crowned the winner and unofficially ends the space
The Soviet Union furthered their lead in the race of the century on November 3, 1957 when they sent the first living thing into space in the form of a female dog called Laika. The Soviets had proven to the world that not only were they at the forefront of space research but that it was possible to sustain life in space. On December 6, 1957 the first American space bound satellite was launched, only to burst into flames moments after the initial lift-off. The Americans had one more failed rocket attempt before they successfully launched their first satellite into orbit on January 23, 1958. 1958 was one of the most pivotal years of the space race and of American involvement in space.
The very first mission failed and killed the three occupants of the spaceship. After many attempts, Apollo 11 successfully put Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the moon on July 20, 1969. NASA reached the moon five more times before the space shuttle program began. The main idea of the space shuttle program was to create reusable spaceships and allow easy flight. The first launch of the space shuttle Columbia was on April 12, 1981.
Space Race On October 4th 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first man-made object into orbit. The satellite known as “Sputnik” Russian for “companion” successfully departed on first attempt. Sputnik was a silver 183 lbs. sphere with four 22in. long antennas.
This began the history of the Space Race. In order to prove that they are Superior to Soviet Union, the United States worked to gain technology supremacy. To do so, the congress passed the National Defense Education Act, which heavily funded children who were seeking a higher education. However, Soviet Union kept launching successful space missions such as the Sputnik 2 mission and the launchings of the first man in space. The United States tried to out-do Soviet Union’s space missions by landing the very first man on the moon.
The third thing that MR-3 wanted to achieve was to study man's physiological reactions during space flight. The fourth and final objective for MR- was to recover the astronaut and spacecraft. The man who made it on the ship was Mister Alan B. Shepard. The MR-3 took off at LC 5, Florida, USA on May 5, 1961 at 14:34:13. The craft landed later that same day only 15 minutes and 22 seconds later.
The Space Age began for the world's domination when the Soviets put Sputnik I, the first man made satellite, into a shallow Earth orbit. Sputnik carried a battery-operator radio transmitter that beeped as it circled the globe every 95 minutes. It was 1:0 to Korolyov, to Soviets. United States’ suggestion to place a satellite in orbit was actually made in 1954 by the U.S. Army. Although these ambitious plans failed, the United States joined the Soviets in space eventually on the 31st of January 1958.
NASA has sent many space craft to the moon. Apollo 13 really breaks the mold when several technical difficulties occur, during the flight that causes the three brave pilots to capture the true meaning of being a pilot.Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, by a giant Saturn V launch vehicle and only minutes later was inserted into orbit around Earth. About 2 1/2 hours after launch, the still-attached S IVB third stage was reignited to provide the final boost toward the Moon. The transposition maneuver was carried out efficiently, and soon Apollo 13 was coasting toward the Moon on a path so accurate that the first planned course adjustment was canceled. Later in the mission, the craft underwent a hybrid transfer maneuver to facilitate landing in the
The Apollo program was conceived in 1960, but it wasn’t until May 25, 1961 that Kennedy had given his speech to announce his support for the program. When America found out that Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly in space on April 12, 1961, it had given Kennedy the extra incentive needed to support the space program.