The Space Race

By abbyg19
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    The Space Race

    The Space Race was part of the Cold War and was a time when the Soviet Union (Russia) and U.S.A were competing to see who could do various things in space first.

  • The Lauch of Sputnik 1

    The Soviet Union launched this satellite, which stayed in orbit until January 4, 1958. It was the first satellite or man-made object to orbit the Earth.

  • First Animal in Orbit

    Sputnik 2, a space satellite, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957 with a live mutt (mostly Siberian Husky) on board. Laika (Barker in Russian) was about 3 years old, a stray from the streets of Moscow, and was known and loved by people around the world. She died while in orbit, only a few days into the journey and before Sputnik 2 fell in the atmosphere and burned (on April 14,1958).

  • First Man in Space

    The Soviet Union launched the space capsule Vostok 1, which orbited around the earth for 108 minutes. Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gargarin was onboard and became the first man in space.

  • First Woman in Space

    Soviet Union spacecraft Vostok 6 had female cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova on board. She became the first woman in space. Vostok 6 orbited the Earth 48 times.

  • First Space Walk

    Soviet Union cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov made a 12-minute-long space walk in 1965. This was the first-ever space walk, made from spacecraft Voskhod 2.

  • First Man to Leave Earth's Gravitational Pull

    U.S astronauts Frank Borman, William Anders and James Lovell, Jr. took a six-day trip (in their spacecraft Apollo 8) to orbit the moon ten times. They were able to capture photos of the Earth, which had a stark contrast compared to the empty space around it. Also, the astronauts had a televised Christmas Eve reading of the Book of Genesis in the Bible.

  • Apollo 11 Lands on the Moon

    The U.S was the first to put a man on the moon, when Neil Armstrong and Edward "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. landed on the moon in 1969. Apollo 11, their spacecraft, was launched on July 16, 1969.

  • The Launch of Apollo 13

    This U.S spacecraft, with astronauts John Swigert, Jr., James Lovell, Jr. and Fred W. Haise, Jr. on board, was intended to be the third spacecraft to land on the moon. Instead, there was an explosion in the service module oxygen tanks, which prompted Swigert to say his famous quote: "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here."

  • The Launch of Soyuz 11

    Soviet Union cosmonauts Vladislav Volkov, Viktor Patsayev and Georgi Dobrovolsky were on a mission to board Salyut 1, the first space station, on their spacecraft Soyuz 11. Everything went well until their return- on June 29, 1971, all three of them died when the crew capsule depressurized just before their re-entry.