Space Race, Sputnik & the U-2 incident
By: Andrew Nickerson
Zach Granillo
The Space Race
• The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and United States president John F. Kennedy both wanted to prove their scientific superiority.
• Both countries believed that conquering outer space was very important.
• The ultimate goal of both countries was to get to the moon first.
• “No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space. And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish." --- John F. Kennedy about sending astronauts to the moon.
Launch of Satellites
• On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik I
• The United States launched a satellite called Explorer I on January 31, 1958.
Sputnik
Explorer
Sputnik I
• 22.8 inches in diameter• 183.9 pounds in weight• The Sputnik took 1 hour
and 38 minutes to orbit the earth.
• Immediately after the launch of the Sputnik, the U.S. increased funding in schools for math and science in order to keep up with the Soviet Union.
NASA
• In 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed in the United States.
People In Space
• Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the Earth in 1961
• Later, Alan Shepard, Jr. became the first American astronaut in space.
• In 1962, John Glenn, Jr. became the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth.
• The first woman to reach space was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova in 1963.
Yuri Gagarin Alan Shepard John Glenn
Valentina Tereshkova
Man On The Moon!!!
• In 1969, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins made it to the moon.
• Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon and was followed by Buzz Aldrin.
• By reaching the moon first, the U.S. had won the space race.
U-2 Incident
• On May 1, 1960 a U.S. spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers was flying over Russia and was shot down.
• Powers’ mission was to take aerial photos of two major missile test sites in the Soviet Union.
• The incident sparked a verbal battle between the Soviet Union and the U.S. This led to the collapse of the Paris Summit at the height of the Cold War.
Closure
• What was Sputnik and why was it important?
• Describe the U-2 Incident.
• Who do you think won the space race?
Works Cited
• http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/sputnik.html
• http://www.newseum.org/cybernewseum/exhibits/dateline_moon/space.htm
• http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/• http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/fac
tsheet.asp?id=7644