Heather J- Space Race

The Space Race

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union changed history when they launched the Sputnik I, which was the first artificial satellite. This launch was the single event that started the space age and the competition that started the space race between the United States and the U.S.S.R. (http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik). The U.S. had plans to launch an Earth orbiting satellite for the International Geophysical Year that dated back to 1955 when the White House made an announcement of their plans to use the Vanguard proposal. But this all changed when the Sputnik was launched. It not only started the space race, but it also put a fear into the public that if the Soviet Union could launch satellites into space then they could also launch missiles from Europe into the United States.


As a result President Eisenhower sent a bill to Congress to start the program NASA, or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. However the Soviet Union again achieved a first, when they sent the first man into space orbit around Earth in April 1961. In response to the Soviet's launching the first man into space that Americans sent up their first man into space in the Mercury on May 5, 1961. Then again they sent John Glenn to orbit Earth in 1962. The Americans won the next milestone in the space race by putting Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the moon in July of 1969, this lead to the United States winning the space race over the Soviet Union (www.vibrationdata.com/SpaceRace.htm).
http://spacerace.history.tripod.com
www.vibrationdata.com/SpaceRace.htm
http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik