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Space race begins!
The space race is on, and the soviets are winning. -
Seven astronauts are chosen for the jorney!
Finally, NASA found seven astronauts between the ages of 25-40 that have been training for a while. They will be doing 1,500 hours of flying time. -
Soviets launch another one!
Soviets launch another one and it is an 108 miniute flight and lands back down safely. -
The first USA space flight
On may 5th, 1961, USA sent an austronaut out to space. Alan Shepard's 15-minute sub-orbital flight doesn't impress the Soviets. But it shows that the Americans are still in the race. -
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The Cold War
THe cold war -
Launchpad fire
Tragedy strikes. On January 27, 1967, the crew of Apollo 1 Virgil Grissom, Edward White II, and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire on the launchpad. -
Race to the moon
President Kennedy responds by saying, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." Kennedy wants to show that America can defeat the Soviet Union in the space race.
Between 1963 and 1965, the Soviets launch the first woman and the first three-man crew, and do the first space walk. -
A lunar landing
On the morning of July 20, 1969, Collins helps Armstrong and Aldrin through a tunnel into the tiny Eagle.
The Eagle flips over again and Armstrong and Aldrin face the Sea of Tranquility, the place they are supposed to land.
Aldrin says, "Contact! Houston, Tranquility Base here." Armstrong says. Armstrong and Aldrin fly face down, then flip over and see Earth. A quarter-million miles away. -
The first moonwalk
Armstrong touches the moon's surface and says, "That's one small step for man… one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin climbs out next. Armstrong and Aldrin put on their bulky moon suits and prepare to take the first steps on the moon. -
Choosing a scientist
Sally Ride during her time in college at Stanford Choosing a Scientist. Sally Kristen Ride is born in 1951, in Los Angeles, California. In 1972, one of the world's greatest female tennis players, Billie Jean King, sees Sally play. She suggests that Ride quit college and become a tennis pro. She could be a star! But Sally Ride chooses instead to stay in school. She earns degrees in English and in physics. -
NASA sends its first space station, Skylab, into orbit.
So, they design the Space Transportation System (STS) with reusable boosters for launch and a shuttle that lands like an airplane. In 1973, NASA sends its first space station, Skylab, into orbit. -
Astronauts with new skills are needed for the shuttle program.
Astronauts with new skills are needed for the shuttle program. NASA looks beyond military pilots to scientists. The agency is aware that Americans are demanding equal rights for minorities and women. The class of astronauts NASA selects in 1978 includes two African-American men, a man of Asian descent, and six women. One of these astronauts is Sally K. Ride. -
Finding the right person for the job
After a year, Ride and classmate John Fabian are assigned to mastering the space shuttle's 50-foot robotic arm. -
sts-7 Liftoff!
Signs urge, "Ride, Sally Ride!" A huge crowd cheers the launch of America's first woman in space.
It's 3:15 a.m. on a Saturday, but the crew onboard the space shuttle Challenger doesn't mind the early hour.
As the shuttle takes off, Ride is thrust back into her seat by three times the force of gravity.
Inside the shuttle, Ride is weightless, soaring 185 miles above the earth. -
LIftoff!
As Collins puts it, "All of us are aware… that we are about to lay our little pink bodies on the line." When they get near the moon, the astronauts have to fire Columbia's engine to slow down.
Before liftoff, the crew had named the LM the Eagle and the command module Columbia. -
First real space flights
In January 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins are named as the crew for the historic flight.
After John Glenn orbits Earth, Armstrong says, "Space is the frontier, and that's where I intend to go." Armstrong's first flight into space is almost his last! In 1966, Armstrong makes a swift recovery from a near-disaster aboard a spacecraft in Earth orbit.
Armstrong has proved that he can handle an emergency situation in space — the kind that might arise while trying to lan -
Space race is over
It reads: "We came in peace for all mankind." Aldrin says, "I hope some wayward stranger in the third millennium may read it and say, 'This is where it all began.'" After Apollo 11, five more Apollo missions land on the moon. -
April 25, 1990
First Space Telescope -
February 3, 1994
First International Space Station (ISS) Mission -
September 26, 1996
First American to Spend Six Months in Space