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Greg Van Lieu
HIST101-1502B-02
Professor Gleason
May 25, 2015

THE SPACE RACE

During the cold war a competition between the United States and Russia started as each country competed in seeing who would make it to space first. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed, it replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) in October 1, 1958. On September 12, 1962 the race was defined by President John F Kennedy’s speech at Rice University and thus “The Space Race” had begun. In that speech, John F Kennedy stated “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” JFK RICE MOON SPEECH. (n.d.). The space race ignited America’s competitive spirit. The space race between the two world powers changed humanity with breaking the limits of new technology in space travel and catapulted the United States to evolve into the world leader by landing a human on the moon.

On October 4 of 1957, the space race began between two of the most powerful countries when Russian launched an unmanned rocket called Sputnik 1 into orbit. “The launch of Sputnik 1 had a "Pearl Harbor" effect on American public opinion.” Launius, R. (n.d.). Then Russia, a month later, launched Sputnik 2 which included a small dog named Laika. The U.S. tried to catch up by launching two satellites. One of the satellites failed to reach orbit, however one of satellite discovered what is called The Van Allen belt. In 1959, the United States launched the Luna 1, which was the first manmade object to reach the solar orbit. Then, the United States launched the Luna 2, which became the first manmade object to reach the moon. On November 8 of the next year, John F Kennedy was elected President and informed NASA he wanted the United States to get mankind in space before Russia. The space race between the two super powers was intensifying and NASA was trying to meet the challenge placed upon its’ organization. The program to land a man on the moon was costing NASA twenty-five billion dollars. John Glenn was selected for the project Mercury astronaut training. The Mercury project was to place the first manned American aircraft into the earth’s orbit. Glenn underwent vigorous training and the mission was named Mercury 7. On February 26, 1962, Glenn was in earth’s orbit for 5 hours and circled the globe 3 times. After the mission, Glenn received NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal awarded by President JFK, along with numerous accolades, Glenn was considered a Hero of the President Kennedy. Next, NASA selected a second group of astronauts to orbit around the earth. In 1965, this second group’s mission was to allow astronaut Ed White to leave the capsule and complete the world’s first ever spacewalk. Ed White: First American Spacewalker. (2008, March 23).

Then on July 16, 1969, NASA launched what would be the world’s first moon manned landing called the Apollo 11 mission. The launch took place from the JFK Space Center and on July 20 the Apollo 11 landed on the moon. The 3 astronauts aboard the Apollo 11 were Commander Neil Armstrong, command module pilot Michael Collins and lunar module pilot Edwin Aldrin, Commander Neil Armstrong was the first to open the hatch and became the first man to walk on the moon's surface. Also, during the moon landing, Commander Neil Armstrong activated a special television camera that sent feeds back to Earth for transmission of the important event. The Bedford Gazette published the triumphant headline "Man Walks Safely on the Moon" Man Lands Safely on the Moon. (1969, July 21). in its’ July 21, 1969 edition. The newspaper explained the event and picture of Commander Armstrong planting the American flag on the moon, how Armstrong's first objective was to turn on the television camera and his second objective was to plant the flag on the moon's surface. Armstrong’s famous quote, "That's one small step for man. One giant step for mankind." was reported in the newspapers article as Armstrong's first words on the moon.

In conclusion, the space race scientifically helped establish America into the leading world power. In addition, winning the space race gained back America’s confidence and citizens once again perceived the country as the world’s leading super power. The cold war era space race scientifically changed American history with mankind’s success with space travel and technological advances that came from going beyond earth’s atmosphere.

References 1) JFK RICE MOON SPEECH. (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2015, from http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm 2) Launius, R. (n.d.). Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age. Retrieved May 25, 2015, from http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/sputorig.html 3) Ed White: First American Spacewalker. (2008, March 23). Retrieved May 25, 2015, from http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_838.html 4) Man Lands Safely on the Moon. (1969, July 21). Bedford Gazzette.