2. The Cold War and the Space Race  At the conclusion of World War 2 both the United States and Russia set themselves up to be super powers  This rivalry and disputes between the two countries was a part of everyday life  On October 4, 1957 the Space Race began with Russia launching the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into space  The ability to use a rocket to launch the satellite created a fear of the Russians for most citizens because if they could launch a rocket into space they also could launch a nuclear bomb/missile towards the United States

3. Creation of NASA and the Race is on  1958, the US launched its first artificial satellite (Explorer I) and President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)  1959, Russians launched Luna 2 which is the first space probe to hit the moon  April 1961 Russian Cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, became the first man in space  May 1961, Alan Shepard became first American in space and JFK made his proclimation that the US would put a man on the moon before the end of the 60’s  February 1962, John Glenn became first American to orbit Earth

4. To the Moon  The process of getting to the moon was broken into three major segments (projects)  Project Mercury  Project Gemini  Project Apollo

5. Project Mercury  3 Goals:  To orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth  To investigate man’s ability to function in space  To recover both man and spacecraft safely http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/program-toc.html

6. Project Mercury  Notable missions:  Mercury-Redstone 7 – Suborbital flight piloted by Alan Shepard (1 st American in space) – 15 min 28 sec  Mercury-Atlas 6 – piloted by John Glenn and was a three-orbit flight – 4 hrs 55 min  Mercury-Atlas 9 – the last Mercury mission; completed 22 orbits to evaluate effects of one day in space – 34 hours 19 min Liftoff of the Mercury-Atlas rocket from Pad 14 at Cape Canaveral marked the first American manned orbital space flight carrying astronaut John Glenn. Image credit: NASA http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/mercury7.html

7. Project Gemini  Goals:  To subject man and equipment to space flight up to two weeks in duration  To rendezvous and dock with orbiting vehicles and to maneuver the docked combination by using the target vehicle’s propulsion system  To perfect methods of entering the atmosphere and landing at a preselected point on land  Landing on land goal was cancelled in 1964 http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/gemini/gemini.htm

8. Project Gemini  Notable missions:  Unmanned Missions:  Gemini I and Gemini II - launched vehicles into space to be docked with at a later date  Manned Missions:  Gemini III – Gemini XII – slowly worked on the goals – starting with testing the 2-man piloted mission all the way up to docking in space, spending extended period of time in space, and perfecting re-entry to Earth http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00181/gemini.html

9. Project Apollo  Goals:  Establishing technology to meet other national interests in space  Achieving preeminence in space for the United States  Carrying out a program of scientific exploration of the Moon  Developing man’s capability to work in the lunar environment http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/index.html

10. Project Apollo  Notable missions:  Jan 27, 1967 – Apollo 1 was set to take off, but a fire started and killed all 3 astronauts on the launch pad  Apollo 10 mission completed all aspects of an actual lunar landing, except the landing http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/as01/a0 1sum.htm http://www.astronautix.com/graphics/0/10075155.jpg

11. Project Apollo  Notable missions:  July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 reached the moon  Spent 21 hours on the moon  Apollo 13 – Successful Failure http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/images/as11_44_6552.jpg http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/images/as11_40_5903.jpg http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ap13acc.html

12. Bibliography  History of Space Race  http://www.history.com/topics/space-race http://www.history.com/topics/space-race  http://www.nasa.gov/missions/past/index.html http://www.nasa.gov/missions/past/index.html