The Cold War was a period of political tension and proxy wars between the Soviet Union and its allies, commonly called the ‘US’, from 1945 to 1991. The US wanted to prevent the spread of communism in Europe and Asia. The space race was a part of this strategy. It involved both civilian and military projects that were funded by the government. The Space Race began in 1957 when Russia launched its first satellite into orbit around Earth (Sputnik 1), which was followed by several other successful launches by America. In 1961, President John F Kennedy announced that America would put a man on the moon within ten years (1971). This goal was achieved in 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission led by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The US also had many other programs such as Project Mercury,(Initiated in 1958, completed in 1963), Project Mercury was the United States' first man-in-space program.which saw three men sent into space; Project Gemini, which sent two men into space; Project Apollo, which sent six men into space; Corona program that used high-altitude balloons to spy on Soviet Union; Discoverer program that used satellites for spying purposes; Skylab program where astronauts stayed in outer space for months at a time while orbiting Earth. …show more content…
Gagarin into space; the Voskhod program (1963), which sent Alexei A. Leonov and Pavel A. Belykh into space; the Soyuz program (1967), which sent Georgi P. Shonin, Vladimir N. Komarov and Yury G. Koptev into space; the Almaz program (1972), which launched Valentina Tereshkova into space; The Salyut program (1971) that launched several modules to outer space including a laboratory, living quarters, and an observation deck; The Mir Space Station (1986) that was used for long-term missions in outerspace by cosmonauts who stayed aboard for months at a time while orbiting