The Space Race Timeline

From 1955 to 1969, the Soviet Union and the United States of America competed in a spectacular race to dominate space. During this time, there were many dramatic successes, humbling losses, and tragedies. There has never been a contest between major powers as dramatic, public, and long-lasting as this race. It remains one of the most compelling and entertaining episodes of the Cold War. Inside you will read about: From Missiles to Rockets Russia Takes the Lead Early American Failures The First Men in Space Fatalities on Both Sides The Moon Landing and much more...

From 1955 to 1969, the Soviet Union and the United States of America competed in a spectacular race to dominate space. During this time, there were many dramatic successes, humbling losses, and tragedies. There has never been a contest between major powers as dramatic, public, and long-lasting as this race. It remains one of the most compelling and entertaining episodes of the Cold War. Inside you will read about: From Missiles to Rockets Russia Takes the Lead Early American Failures The First Men in Space Fatalities on Both Sides The Moon Landing and much more...

Fifty years after the Moon landing, a new history of the space race explores the lives of both Soviet and American engineers At the dawn of the space age, technological breakthroughs in Earth orbit flight were both breathtaking feats of ingenuity and disturbances to a delicate global balance of power. In this short book, aerospace historian Roger D. Launius concisely and engagingly explores the driving force of this era: the race to the Moon. Beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957 and closing with the end of the Apollo program in 1972, Launius examines how early space exploration blurred the lines between military and civilian activities, and how key actions led to space firsts as well as crushing failures. Launius places American and Soviet programs on equal footing—following American aerospace engineers Wernher von Braun and Robert Gilruth, their Soviet counterparts Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko, and astronaut Buzz Aldrin and cosmonaut Alexei Leonov—to highlight key actions that led to various successes, failures, and ultimately the American Moon landing.

The Space RaceDuring fourteen years, from 1955 to 1969, the Soviet Union and the United States of America were engaged in a dramatic race against each other to conquer space. This period encompassed dramatic victories, humbling defeats, and more than one tragedy. This is a story of human courage and ingenuity at its best and political maneuvering at its worst, of almost unbelievable technological progress undertaken with the object not just of advancing human knowledge but also of proving the superiority of one country over another. Inside you will read about...✓ From Missiles to Rockets ✓ Russia Takes the Lead ✓ Early American Failures ✓ The First Men in Space ✓ Fatalities on Both Sides ✓ The Moon Landing And much more! The space race culminated in man setting foot upon the moon, but each milestone on the way to that final goal was bitterly contested. Two powerful nations pledged a substantial part of their national resources to beat the other in a scientific and technological race to be the first to achieve new records. In terms of contests between major powers, there has never been anything quite as dramatic, public, and sustained as the space race; it remains one of the most fascinating and engaging episodes of the Cold War.

On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong landed gently on the lunar surface and became the first person to set foot on another world. People around the world stopped what they were doing to crowd around television sets and radios to witness one of the greatest achievements in human history—a man walking on the moon. How did we get there? Why haven’t we gone back? In The Space Race: How the Cold War Put Humans on the Moon, kids ages 12 to 15 explore the race to the moon against the chilling backdrop of the Cold War. The Space Race was the period during and after the Cold War when America and the Soviet Union participated in a fierce competition to see which country could beat the other into space. It was a time of bitterness, fear, and secrecy, but it was also a moment in history when two countries directed resources toward pushing themselves to reach goals that were once thought unattainable. Would we have succeeded as far as we did without the competition to be first? While Neil Armstrong will be remembered as the first person to set foot on the moon, the people and events behind this accomplishment populate a fascinating tale of politics, science, technology, and teamwork that resulted in what might be the greatest accomplishment of the twentieth century. In The Space Race, middle school students explore this history of science and discover the political, social, and economic factors that led to incredible achievements in space, including the launch of Sputnik, the launch of Explorer I, and eventually, the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon, where Neil Armstrong took those famous first steps. Middle school students will meet some of the tens of thousands of engineers and scientists that worked for years to create the technology needed to send humans to the moon and return them safely to Earth. By showing space events against the backdrop of the turmoil back on Earth, readers understand that scientific achievement doesn't happen in a vacuum, even when it happens in space! A wealth of links to primary sources makes this an interactive learning experience while science-minded STEAM activities link the historical and scientific material. Throughout the fun facts, cool photos, and investigative projects, kids are encouraged to explore creative and critical thinking and problem-solving strategies. The Space Race is one book in a set of four that explore great events of the twentieth century. Other titles in this set include Globalization: Why We Care About Faraway Events; The Vietnam War; and World War II: From the Rise of the Nazi Party to the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb.

Do you know the space race occurred in the 20th-century? Do you know NASA was a part of the competition? Do you want to know the history of the race? If you do, then read this book. This book tells the story of the dawn of rocketry to the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Every manned American spaceflight is included, from Project Mercury to Gemini to Apollo. Also covered are vital details about important Soviet spaceflights, as well as America's space shuttle, the International Space Station, and planned future missions. In this 33,000-word history of the space race, you'll discover: Early rocketry, from Chinese fireworks to the terrifying German V-2 missiles of WWII. The Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. The origins of NASA. The original Mercury 7 astronauts. The cosmonauts went where no one had gone before. The spacecraft that brought us to the moon. Concise biographies of the pioneering men and women who first explored the heavens. Glossary and Timeline. 75 historical images from NASA's archives. And much, much more!

From the author of 'The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World' comes the shocking but true story behind the space race -- and the ruthless, brilliant scientists who fuelled it.

Blast off alongside space expert Sarah Cruddas on a journey through space exploration history, from the Apollo Moon landings to mind-boggling plans for living on Mars. How did we land on the Moon? What will the space jobs of the future look like? And why did we send a car to space? The Space Race answers all of the big questions that kids have about space travel. Sarah Cruddas brings to life the hidden stories behind the most famous space missions, before taking the reader on a journey through our space future. This children's ebook includes a foreword by NASA astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission. It also includes fascinating insights from Sarah's interviews with real-life astronauts including Apollo 17's Eugene Cernan and Virgin Galactic Test Pilot Kelly Latimer. Space-mad kids will delight in the detail, photographs and information on each page, and will love seeing intricate diagrams of iconic spaceships, Moon cars and space suits created by artist Mark Ruffle. Propelled by recent scientific discoveries and printed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, The Space Race is an essential children's handbook to understanding every aspect of the history, and future, of human space travel.

*Includes over 30 pictures of important people, places, and events, including Sputnik, Apollo 11, the Moon, Mars, Viking 1, and more. In the 19th century, the Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle famously wrote, "The history of the world is but the biography of great men," popularizing the "Great Man" theory that the course of history is shaped by a select few heroic individuals. While historians and others continue to debate the accuracy of the Great Man theory of history, there is no question that the course of history is permanently altered by decisive moments in time, where a different result would have produced drastically different outcomes. Charles River Editors' Decisive Moments in History examines the events that changed history forever and set the world down the path it finds itself on today. Today the Space Race is widely viewed poignantly and fondly as a race to the Moon that culminated with Apollo 11 "winning" the Race for the United States. In fact, it encompassed a much broader range of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States that affected everything from military technology to successfully launching satellites that could land on Mars or orbit other planets in the Solar System. Moreover, the notion that America "won" the Space Race at the end of the 1960s overlooks just how competitive the Space Race actually was in launching people into orbit, as well as the major contributions the Space Race influenced in leading to today's International Space Station and continued space exploration. Indeed, the Soviet Union had spent much of the 1950s leaving the United States in its dust (and rocket fuel). President Eisenhower and other Americans who could view Soviet rockets in the sky were justifiably worried that Soviet satellites in orbit could soon be spying on them, or, even worse, dropping nuclear bombs on them. And in 1960, when Eisenhower's administration began planning and funding for the famous Apollo program that would land the first men on the Moon in 1969, the Soviet Union was already thinking further ahead, literally. In one of the worst kept secrets of the Space Race, the Soviet Union launched two probes, Korabl 4 and Korabl 5, toward Mars in October 1960. Eventually, the Space Race produced some of the most iconic moments of the 20th century, including the landing of the first men on the Moon, and in the years after the Space Race and the Cold War ended, the competition itself had helped lay the groundwork for international cooperation in space, both in terms of space exploration and aboard the International Space Station, which continues to orbit Earth today. Decisive Moments in History: The Space Race covers the history of the Race and the major milestones that both nations achieved during it, while ultimately analyzing how the Space Race continues to leave a lasting legacy to this day. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, places, you will learn about the Space Race like you never have before, in no time at all.