Space race

Space Race Timeline by Mia Douglas

By douglmia

  • First satellite in space by USSR

    First satellite in space by USSR
    USSR successfully launches Sputnik 1, the first Earth-orbiting satellite in history. It was about the size of a beach ball, weighed 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path.

  • First animal in space by USSR

    First animal in space by USSR
    USSR successfully launches Sputnik 2, carrying a Soviet space dog named Laika. Hours after she launched, she became the first animal to die in orbit.

  • First satellite in space by USA

    First satellite in space by USA
    United States entered the space race with launching Explorer 1, the first US satellite to reach orbit. It was an 18-pound, cylindrical shaped satellite and was 80 inches long and six inches in diameter.

  • Creation of NASA

    Creation of NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is created in the US, replacing the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA).

  • First animal in space by USA

    First animal in space by USA
    Ham, a US chimpanzee, becomes the first hominid in space and the first to successfully survive the landing. He was apart of the U.S. space program, Project Mercury.

  • First man in space and orbit Earth by USSR

    First man in space and orbit Earth by USSR
    Aboard the Vostok 1, Yuri Gagarin makes a single orbit around the Earth and becomes the first man to reach space. He remained in space for one hour and forty-eight minutes before landing in Saratov Oblast, west Russia.

  • First man in space and orbit the Earth by USA

    First man in space and orbit the Earth by USA
    US launches the first American in space, Alan Shepard aboard the Mercury-Redstone 3 (or Freedom 7) spacecraft. However, in this flight, Shepard didn't orbit Earth, he flew 116 miles high and only lasted about 15 minutes.

  • JFK's speech and commitment to getting to the moon

    JFK's speech and commitment to getting to the moon
    President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade.

  • 3 events that were important in the Gemini missions

    3 events that were important in the Gemini missions
    -Ten Gemini crews flew low Earth orbit (LEO) missions during 1965 and 1966, putting the United States in the lead during the Cold War Space Race against the Soviet Union.
    -It performed missions long enough for a trip to the Moon and back.
    -Perfected working outside the spacecraft with extra-vehicular activity.

  • First man to do an EVA by USSR

    First man to do an EVA by USSR
    Alexei Leonov leaves his spacecraft, the Voskhod 2, in a specialized spacesuit and conducts a twelve-minute and nine-second spacewalk.

  • The launch of Apollo 7-11 and their "firsts"

    The launch of Apollo 7-11 and their "firsts"
    • Apollo 7: First live TV from a manned spacecraft.
    • Apollo 8: First mission to take humans to the Moon and back.
    • Apollo 9: First manned flight of all Apollo lunar hardware in Earth orbit and first manned flight of the lunar module.
    • Apollo 10: First to travel to the Moon with the entire Apollo spacecraft configuration.
    • Apollo 11: First manned mission to land on the Moon.

  • First man to do an EVA by USA

    First man to do an EVA by USA
    Neil Armstrong and later Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while their crewmate Michael Collins continued to orbit the Moon aboard the Apollo 11. The landing was televised and witnessed around the world by 723 million people.

  • Tragedies that led up to getting to the moon

    Tragedies that led up to getting to the moon
    • Apollo 1 (1967)
    • Soyuz 1 (1967)
    • Soyuz 11 (1971)
    • Challenger (1986)
    • Columbia (2003)