The Space Race and the Race to the Moon
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THE SPACE RACE AND THE RACE TO THE MOON For over a decade, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a heated competition—the space race. The space race began in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik. The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and the American presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon all believed that conquering outer space was very important. Both countries wanted to win—to prove their scientific superiority and to show their military strength. Soviet Premier Khrushchev wanted to show that Soviet technology was superior. President Kennedy wanted to beat the Soviets to the moon. Commenting about the prospect of sending astronauts to the moon in March 1961, Kennedy stated, "No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space. And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish." Soviet and U.S. leaders knew that being the first country to land on the moon would be an extremely important media event. The world watched each country’s progress with great interest. RACE TO THE MOON TIMELINE October - November 1957 -- Soviet Sputniks Sent into Space On October 4, 1957, Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, was launched, demonstrating the technical abilities of the Soviet Union. This shiny basketball-sized sphere took Americans by surprise. Fearing attack from afar and distraught over being beaten by its Cold War rival, the United States jumped headfirst into the space race. On November 4, 1957, Sputnik 2 was launched into space with Laika the dog aboard. This demonstrated that the Soviets might soon follow with man. Laika became a national hero and the subject of artwork. December 6, 1957 – The U.S. Vanguard Failure The Army's attempt to launch America's first satellite into orbit failed in a launch pad explosion. Two months after the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik, this failure further emphasized America's lag behind the Soviet Union in the space race. January 1958 – The U.S. Explorer 1 Success The Jupiter-C propelled America's first satellite, Explorer 1, into space. The nose cone of the Jupiter-C became the first man- made object to survive a round trip into space and back. Unlike Sputnik, this object did not go into orbit. However, its blunt shape and protective coating proved that Americans had solved the re-entry problem and paved the way for sending humans into space. October 1, 1958 – NASA is Born The pressure to beat the Soviets in the space race resulted in the creation of America's space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by President Eisenhower. October 4, 1959 – Soviet Luna 3 Orbits the Moon The Soviets sent the first spacecraft, Luna 3, around the moon. It took pictures of the moon's far side and sent them to Earth. August 1960 – U.S. Corona Spy Satellite Fearing a surprise nuclear attack from the Soviet Union, President Eisenhower authorized a top-secret spy satellite called "Corona" which returned with pictures over Soviet territory. To disguise its purpose, it was given the name "Discoverer" and was called a “scientific research satellite.” April 1961 – First Man In Space On April 1, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth once in his Vostok spacecraft and returned safely to the ground becoming the first man in space. May 25, 1961 - Kennedy's Goal to Reach the Moon President Kennedy wanted to know how the U.S. could beat the Soviets. Vice President Johnson spoke with top NASA officials about the nation's chances of beating the Soviets to the moon. At that time, neither country had a rocket powerful enough for such a mission. Kennedy made putting a man on the moon a top priority anyway and the space race became about getting to the moon. February 20, 1962 -- Glenn Orbits the Earth John Glenn became the first U.S. astronaut to circle the Earth when he spent five hours aboard the Friendship 7 capsule. New York responded with a ticker tape parade. Many felt the U.S. was catching up with the Soviets. April 1962 – Soviet Zenit Spy Satellite A converted Vostok spacecraft, named the “Kosmos,” carrying a camera instead of a cosmonaut, was successfully launched, and it returned with photos taken above the United States. March 1965 -- First Spacewalk Secured by an umbilical cord attached to Voskhod 2's life support systems, Aleksei Leonov became the first person to leave a spacecraft in orbit. After spending 20 minutes in the vacuum of space, he nearly didn't make it back inside the craft. His spacesuit had expanded more than predicted. To re-enter the spacecraft, Leonov was forced to release some of the air from inside his suit. December 1968 – U.S. Apollo 8 Manned Moon Orbit The first manned Saturn V sent Apollo 8 astronauts into orbit around the moon and set the stage for the first manned lunar landing. The crew carried along a camera and for the first time broadcast images of Earth back to the people inhabiting it. February 1969 – Soviet N-1 Failed Moon Rocket Test To win the space race, both sides needed a rocket powerful enough to send a manned spacecraft to the moon surface. Americans built the Saturn V rocket; the Soviet answer was the N-1. The Soviet N-1 first launch attempt ended in failure. An engine fire caused the rocket to shut down and crash a minute after liftoff. July 1969 – U.S. Places First Man on the Moon The race to the moon ended when Americans successfully landed men on the moon and returned them safely to Earth. The Apollo 11 lunar module set astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin onto the lunar surface, where they collected 46 pounds of soil and core samples and deployed scientific experiments. Approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes later, the astronauts began returning to the lander, where they rested before getting back into the Apollo command module the next day. By reaching the moon first, some historians claim the U.S. “won the space race.” The U.S. sent six more missions to the moon’s surface. All of them were successful, except Apollo 13, which was aborted en route to the moon following an on- board fire. The Soviets continued to have problems with the N-1 rocket so plans to land on the moon were cancelled. Instead, the Soviets sent two robotic lunar rovers called "Lunokhods." They took photographs and analyzed rock and soil deposits on the lunar surface. As the Cold War began to cool down, attention turned away from the moon and towards space stations where scientific experimentation and cooperation between the two nations could take place. In April of 1971, the Soviets created the first space station, Salyut. The U.S. followed suit with their own space station, Skylab, in May of 1973. Other historians view the end of the Space Race happening in 1975 with the Apollo-Soyuz mission. During this mission, the Soviet Union’s Soyuz 19 docked with the American Apollo spacecraft thus allowing each side to enter each other’s ship. The group then conducted science experiments together. Today, NASA has many plans for continued space exploration. Scientists are continuing to develop more powerful spacecrafts. Plans for building an international space station with Russia and Europe are underway. .