Sputnik: The Space Race

The Space Race between the Soviets and the Americans was put into the public eye on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 into orbit. Sputnik was not only the first vehicle launched into space by mankind, but it was also the first vehicle ever put into orbit. The construction of the small satellite and development of the launch program was led by Sergei Korolev, the driving force of the Soviet space program. Since he was crucial to the development of their program, his identity was kept completely secret, even to those working on the project with him. He was known only as the Chief Designer. He would contribute to the development of the Soviet space program until he succumbed to cancer in 1966. With the development of

Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to reach escape velocity of the Earth and travel onward into space to within 3,725 miles of the Moon and then to travel onward into a heliocentric orbit (about the Sun) between Earth and Mars. Luna 2 actually made it to the Moon and crashed there. The spacecraft impacted the surface of the Moon east of the Mare Serenitatis. Luna 2 is most famous for discovering the solar wind by using sensors that had been designed to detect ions in space. Luna 2 also confirmed that the Moon was lacking a magnetic field of any significance. Luna 3 actually orbited the Moon and sent back images of the far side. The spacecraft used a camera to take photographs, which were developed onboard. The photographs were then scanned and sent back to Earth using technology very similar to a facsimile machine. The year 1960 brought forth a new era for the world in weather prediction and warning. The first television weather satellite Tiros 1 was launched into orbit. Also, the first communications satellite, to Echo 1, was launched. The Soviets launched two dogs on Sputnik 5 and successfully returned them to Earth. Strelka and Belka were the first cosmonauts to safely return home from space. In 1961, the manned era of space exploration began. On April 12, 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel in space. He was launched atop a Vostok 1 with the call sign “Cedar” with a flight time

It was at this time that President John F. Kennedy announced his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Soon after the speech was made, Project Apollo and Project Mercury were started. Although it only lasted for a couple years, Project Mercury was able to put the first American astronauts in space with a total of six flights made. Project Apollo, was a lunar landing program founded with goal of reaching the moon. This project would have the majority of NASA resources dedicated to it with a budget increase by 500% in its first three years. On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 was launched from Kennedy Space Center with the goal of being the first manned mission to orbit the moon. The mission would carry Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders on a 6 day trip making them the first humans to to see the far side of the Moon, and to witness the planet as a whole. The flight would orbit the moon 10 times and then return the astronauts home on December 27 in the Pacific Ocean. On July 16, 1969, a Saturn V spacecraft launched Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins into space and to the Moon on the NASA Apollo 11 mission. Once reaching the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin descended to the lunar surface in the lunar module where they were the first two humans to set foot on the moon. After spending