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So It Begins- Sputnic I
The Soviet Union begins The Space Race by launching the satelite Sputnic I. This worries the United States because the figured if the Soviet Union could launch satelites then they might be able to launch a nuke on USA territory. This date is vey important because it begins the race between the two countries for dominace in the field of science. -
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Space Race
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The US Fights Back- Explorer I
The Americans launch the Explorer I in response to the Soviets launch of Sputnic. This is an important date because with the Soviets first launch, they thought the Americans would never top it. -
NASA is Born
The NASA program is created for the USA to comepete in the Space Race. The program is important becasue it is used through out the entire race for launching numerous missions. The program is still used today! -
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet is the first man to orbit Earth once. This is an important date because with the Soviets not having a break through event since the Spcae Race started -
John F. Kennedy's Announcement
JFK announces that the United States needs to make an effort to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. This was an important date to the Space Race because no one ever tried going to the moon which means it could possibly end the race. -
First Reusable Piloted Spacecraft- The X-15
The X-15 is the first reusable spacecraft. This was important to US because now they wouldn't have to spend as much money on missions. -
The First Moon Walk
Aleksei Leonov of the Soviet Union is the first man to space walk. This was only one of the firsts for the Soviets. This was important because now as humans we learned that people could survive in space with the right necessities -
The First Moon Landing
Niel Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin land on the moon. The date is something to remember for the US as it brought them a strong lead in the Space Race. -
The First Soviet Space Station
The Soviet Union launch their first space station, the Salyut 1. This was important because. This was the soviets first successful space station. -
Peace Finally
The US and Soviets finally work together. When Sputnic 19 and Apollo were launched and in space the two crews shook hands and exchanged gifts. This was impotant because this finally ended the long race and made peace between the Soviets and US
