History – space: to infinity and beyond...

Task 1: read through the information on the space race below.

The space race

During the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union were in competition with each other to see who had the best technology in space. This included such events as who could put the first manned spacecraft into orbit and who would be the first to walk on the Moon.

The Space Race was considered important because it showed the world which country had the best science, technology and economic system.

The Race Begins

After World War II, both the United States and the Soviet Union realized how important rocket research would be to the military. They each recruited the top rocket scientists from Germany to help with their research. Soon both sides were making progress in rocket technology.

The Space Race began in 1955 when both countries announced that they would soon be launching satellites into orbit. The Soviets took the US announcement as a challenge and even established a commission whose goal was to beat the US in putting a satellite into space.

On October 4, 1957 the Russians placed the first successful satellite into orbit. It was called Sputnik I. The Russians had taken the lead in the Space Race. The Americans successfully launched their first satellite four months later called the Explorer I.

The First Man in Orbit

The Soviets again won the race for putting the first man into space. On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin (in the left picture) was the first man to orbit the Earth in the spacecraft Vostok I. Three weeks later the US launched the Freedom 7 and astronaut Alan Shepherd became the first American in space. Shepherd's craft did not orbit the Earth, however. It was nearly a year later on February 20, 1962 when the first American, John Glenn, orbited the Earth on the Friendship 7 spacecraft.

Race to the Moon

The Americans were embarrassed at being behind the Space Race. In 1961 President Kennedy went to congress and announced that he wanted to be the first to put a man on the Moon. He felt this was important for the country and the western world. The Apollo Moon program was launched.

The Gemini Program

In conjunction with the Apollo program the US launched the Gemini program which would develop technology for use on the Apollo spacecraft.

Under the Gemini program the Americans learned how to change the orbit of a spacecraft, spent significant time in orbit to learn how the human body would be affected, brought two spacecraft together in a rendezvous in space, and also went on the first space walks outside of a space craft.

Man on the Moon

After many years of experiments, test flights, and training the Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched into space on July 16, 1969. The crew included astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.

The trip to the Moon took three days.

Upon arriving Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin moved to the Lunar module, called the Eagle, and began their descent to the Moon. There were some malfunctions and Armstrong had to land the module manually. On July 20, 1969 the Eagle landed on the Moon. Neil Armstrong stepped outside and became the first man to walk on the Moon. With his first step on the Moon, Armstrong said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".

The End of the Space Race

With the Gemini and Apollo programs the US had taken a huge lead in the Space Race. In July of 1975 the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union beginning to get better, the first US-Soviet joint mission occurred with the Apollo-Soyez project. The Space Race was effectively over.

Both the astronaut and cosmonaut crew met in space on 17th July 1975.

Top row: Thomas P. Stafford (commander) and Aleksei A. Leonov (commander)

Bottom row: Donald K. Slayton (docking module pilot), Vance D. Brand (command module pilot) and Valeriy N. Kubasov (flight engineer).

Task 2: Did you know? For this lesson, you’re going to research into someone who has The word astronaut comes from been influential in the history of space travel. Below is a list of the Greek words, astron nautes, people and a brief summary of what role they played so you which means ‘star sailor’. can choose the one that interests you the most.

If you can think of your own person to research that has played a key part in the history of space travel and exploration then feel free to create your fact file on them instead. There are so many worthy astronauts that could have made the list, many of whom did not survive to see the end of their mission.

At the Kennedy Space centre in Florida there is a Space Mirror Memorial dedicated to those astronauts who gave their life in the mission to find knowledge of what lies beyond Earth.

At the end of the astronaut list is a list of what to include in your fact file.

Guion Bluford:

 First African-American in space.

 He flew in four different space shuttle missions.

 Was also a pilot in the US air force.

Yuri Gagarin:

 Russian cosmonaut (a cosmonaut is Russian for astronaut).

 The first human to travel into outer space and orbit the Earth

Mae Jemison

 First African-American woman to travel into space

 Travelled aboard the Endeavour as a mission specialist in 1992

 She also worked as a physician

Sally Ride

 Third woman in space but the first American woman  The youngest American astronaut to go into space  She went into space with her childhood friend Kathryn Sullivan (who was the first woman to walk in space).

Valentina Tereshkova

 First woman in space  Part of the Russian team in Vostok 6  She asked to stay longer in space, in total she stayed for 3 days  She was desperate to return to space but it never happened

Buzz Aldrin

 He was a pilot on the lunar module Apollo 11.

 He was the second man to walk on the moon after Neil Armstrong

 He was an engineer and a fighter pilot before he became an astronaut

Neil Armstrong

 First man to walk on the moon  Neil, Buzz and Michael Collins were part of NASA’s first manned mission to the moon  Afterwards, Neil became a university professor for aerospace engineering  Neil and Buzz’s footprints are on the moon.

Laika the dog

 First dog in space  She was found as a stray dog in Moscow  Was part of the Sputnik 2 mission

Albert II

 Albert was a Rhesus monkey  He was part of an American test aboard a V2 rocket

Did you know?

As well as Laika, there have been all sorts of creatures sent into space.

Fruit flies were the first things to be sent into space, they were sent to test the effects of radiation levels. Since then dogs, cats,

tortoises, frogs, mice, chimpanzees and even spiders have been sent into space!

Things you could include in your file:

 Their full name  Where were they born?  What school did they go to?  Did they have a job before they became an astronaut?  What role did they have onboard their space craft?  How many times did they go to space?  What was their mission whilst they were in space?

** If you have chosen to research into Laika or Albert II:  Why were they sent into space?  Why were they chosen?  How long were they in space?  Was their mission successful?  What was training to be an astronaut like for them?