1. The Space Race & The Berlin Crisis
US History II

2. Lift Off: Space Race Continues
USSR
Yuri Gagurin
Russian Cosmonaut (astronaut)
April 12, 1961 took off in Vostok I
First human in space and orbit the earth.

3. USA: Mercury Missions
Learn if humans could survive the difficulties of spaceflight
Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the first American to fly into space. 15-minute suborbital mission May 5, 1961
John H. Glenn Jr. became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth
Project Mercury achieved its goal of putting piloted spacecraft into Earth orbit and retrieving the astronauts safely

5. Gemini Missions
Extended NASA's human spaceflight program to spacecraft built for two astronauts
Data on weightlessness, perfected reentry and splashdown procedures, and demonstrated rendezvous and docking in space
Edward H. White, Jr., became the first U.S. astronaut to conduct a spacewalk

7. Apollo Missions
Apollo became a NASA priority on May , when President John F. Kennedy announced "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." A direct response to Soviet successes in space, Kennedy used Apollo as a high-profile effort for the U.S. to demonstrate to the world its scientific and technological superiority over its cold war adversary.

8. Apollo Missions Apollo Program lasted 1963 to 1972
Goal: land a human to the moon return to Earth
costing $25.4 billion
Six of the Apollo missions would land on the moon

9. July 20, 1969
Apollo 11 Crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, & “Buzz” Aldrin
“The Eagle has landed” - Moon landing site: Sea of Tranquility
Armstrong: “This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”

10. Berlin Crisis Escape from East Berlin
1950 to ,000 to 200,000 refugees escape to West Berlin.
The only way to stop them was by force.

11. Berlin Crisis <Aug. 1961> Berlin Wall East Germany sealed off
32,000 combat and engineer troops build the wall
Border Police control the newly constructed barrier.