The Space Race 英二 1 29 th Apr. 2013

Summary The space race occurred during the 1960s, both the United States and the Soviet Union improved their technology and made new scientific discoveries. Their astronauts also showed great heroism. Though the space race began as national and political competition, it remains one of the great moments of history.

Summary The space race had no clear goals at first. At first, the Soviet Union seemed to be winning. Besides sending the first artificial satellite into orbit, the Soviet space program sent the first unmanned spacecraft to the moon.

Summary In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. In 1963, the first woman went into space. The Voskhod 1 mission was in 1964 and carried three astronauts. This was the first time a single spacecraft had carried more than one person. In addition, the first spacewalk was conducted in 1965 by Alexi Leonov.

Summary The American space agency used modified missiles at first. The US attempted to launch its first satellite in 1957, but the rocket exploded. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in Space.

Summary President John F. Kennedy gave a speech which set a specific goal for the American space program. This goal was for men to land on the moon before the end of the 1960s. At this time, the space race became a race to the moon.

In contrast to the United States, the Soviet moon program was secret. Its target date for reaching the Moon was 1967 or However, in 1966, Sergei P. Korolev died during a medical operation. This was a great loss, since few people could replace Korolev.

The biggest shock of all came in 1968, when Yuri Gagarin, the hero of the Soviet space program, died in a plane crash. The Soviets began to abandon the idea of going to the moon.

In 1969, two more N-1 rockets exploded. It became clear that the Soviet Union would not only fail to beat the United States but fail to reach the moon at all that decade. On July 20, 1969, the American mission Apollo11 landed, and Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. The space race was over.

True or False ____ The space race occurred during the 1960s, and the United States and the Soviet Union had clear goals at first. ____ At first, the Soviet Union seemed to be winning. F T

True or False ____ The Soviet space program sent the first unmanned spacecraft to the moon. ____ The two countries which competed for new achievements in space were the Briton and the Soviet Union F T

True or False ____ The Voskhod 1 mission was in 1964 and carried three astronauts. This was the first time a single spacecraft had carried more than one person. ____ The first woman who went into space was an American. T F

True or False ____ After George Bush gave a speech which set a specific goal for the American space program, the space race became a race to the moon. ____ The probably main reason why the Soviet Union lost the space race was that their robotic moon probe crashed, wasting a lot of money. F F