-
Launching of Spootnik I (USSR)
Despite the name of this satellite this was a major thing for the world just as much as it was for Russia to beat America. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball, weighed only 183 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. -
Period: to
Space Race Timeline
-
Explorer 1 (US)
The First United States Satellite and Space Launch Vehicle that would send information back to earth from where it was launched. The mission ended when the batteries ran out. was the first United States earth satellite and was sent aloft as part of the United States program through the years 1957-1958 -
Luna 1 (USSR)
First man-made satellite to orbit the moon.launched by the U.S.S.R. So, this was a Russian contribution to the Space program and information gathering. This was also the first thing to be launched in the direction of the moon. This took many calculations as long as direction and angle specifying. -
Tiros 1 (US)
was the first successful weather satellite, and the first of a series of Television Infrared Observation Satellites. The TIROS Program's first priority was the development of a meteorological satellite information system. This would produce statistics regarding the weather on earth WAY more accurate than just educated guesses. -
Yuri Gagarin (USSR)
He orbitted the Earth once and became the first man in space. According to Kennedy, everyone wanted to meet and know this guy. Everyone wanted to be him because everyone wanted to go to space as a kid. All young boys aspired to be this man and he was famous. He was the first to COMPLETELY orbit the Earth. -
President Kennedy challenges the nation to go to the moon before the end of the decade (US)
President Kennedy was just as ready as anyone to "beat the Russians" but he also influenced the government funding of NASA and completely backed them up. He wanted to be the first and he planned on getting to the moon. Turns out, his dedication and devotion to progressing the United States knowledge on space travel really pulled through. -
Gus Grissom (US)
Launched on a sub-orbital flight. His shuttle was lost after his return resulted in landing in the water and filling with water and sinking to the bottom of the ocean. He was originally a part of the NASA Mercury program and was a veteran astronaut. If he wouldn't have died in the fire, he probably would have been the first man on the moon.. but now Neil gets all the fame. -
(USSR) Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova
She became the first woman in space and was from the USSR. They probably sent her because they wanted to be the first at that too. -
Alexei Leonov (USSR)
He was in space for about 14. He spent 12 minutes outside of the spacecraft, monumental at the time, even though it doesn't sound like a long time. He then performed the first spacewalk in space, because he was a cool kid, and then came back to earth. He was the first at this. -
Ed White
This man became the first American to perform a spacewalk in space. As said before, the Russians beat America to the FIRST spacewalk but June 3, marks the day that AMERICA first did a spacewalk. This was great improvement and led to other "out of shuttle" performances and deeds. -
Luna 10 (USSR)
First to orbit the moon. Minutes after Luna 10 went into orbit around the Moon, the lunar satellite separated, went into its own orbit close to that of the parent craft, and began to operate in its own right. The lunar satellite was unstabilised but its instruments were able to measure the electrical, magnetic and radiation fields in near-lunar space. As it was battery powered, the satellite had a limited lifetime. It died after 57 days. -
Lunar Orbiter 1
Lunar Orbiter 1 was a monumental objective during the Space Race and was a orbiter sent by the US in order to take photos of the Earth and of moon. This orbiter sent the first EVER pictures of the Earth from another place, this being the Moon, and was a great step forward for US. -
Apollo 1 Disaster
Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed when a fire ignites in their Apollo 1 capsule while performing a test on the launch pad. The ship was enclosed with a pure oxygen enviornment. NASA thought that this would be the ideal atmosphere for the astronauts and they would be more healthy. The door of the shuttle swung inward instead of outward due to a prior problem with another astronaut. There were bare wires underneath one of the seats in the shuttle in which caught the oxygenon fire -
Apollo 7
Once Apollo 7 cleared the pad, a three-shift mission control team-led by flight directors Glynn Lunney, Eugene Kranz, and Gerald D. Griffin.
This was a mission launched from Houston Space Station. Several days before the mission ended, they began to worry about wearing their suit helmets during reentry. which would prevent them from blowing their noses. The buildup of pressure might burst their eardrums. They were fine. I've always been afraid of this. -
Apollo 17's return from the moon (US)
The last Apollo mission to land on the Moon. It carried the only trained geologist to walk on the lunar surface, lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt. Compared to previous Apollo missions, Apollo 17 astronauts traversed the greatest distance using the Lunar Roving Vehicle and returned the greatest amount of rock and soil samples. Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, still holds the distinction of being the last man to walk on the Moon, as no humans have visited the Moon since this date.
