Man In Space

 

With the successful launch of Sputnik, the space race was on.  The years following, the Soviet Union and America were having tremendous success launching satellites into space, but sending a person into space was not done.  That all changed when the Soviets stunned the world again.  On April 12, 1961, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.  He successfully flew around the Earth, and returned safely in his spacecraft, Vostok.  This put pressure on the U.S. to follow.  A month after Gagarin’s flight, Alan Shepard became the first American to enter space.  Now that both superpowers had a taste of success, the goals of these two battling nations broadened.  President John F. Kennedy announced to the world on May 25, 1961, that the ultimate goal for the U.S. was to land a man on the Moon.  The only problem was that there wasn’t a rocket strong enough to accomplish the mission.  A few months later, the U.S. flexed their muscles again by sending another man in space.  John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, which he successfully did three times before returning home.  The race to the moon was in full force.  The next couple of years were full of firsts, the majority of them being Soviet successes.  They included the first space walk and the first woman to go into space, Valentina Tereshkova.  It seemed as if the U.S. was lagging behind in the race to the moon, but they were sticking with a slow and steady program, which ultimately paid off in the long run.  On July 21, 1969, the race to put a man on the moon ended.  Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon.

http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal114/SpaceRace/sec300/sec310.htm