Cold War Fears
• The Cold War sparked new fears of communism at home.
• Leading the fight was the House ofHouse of Un-Un-American Activities CommitteeAmerican Activities Committee.
• Established in 1938 to investigate fascist groups in the U.S.
The Hollywood Ten
• This was a group of California film directors who were accused of having communist views.
• They were blacklisted from the film industry and their careers were destroyed.
The Search for Spies
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
• Accused and sentenced to death for for giving away atomic secrets.
McCarthyism
• Claimed communist groups throughout the U.S. were plotting to overthrow the government.
Nuclear Anxiety
• In 1950 the U.S. scientists began working on the Hydrogen bomb.
• They claimed this would be 1000 times more powerful than the Atom bomb.
• Americans feared a nuclear war with the USSR.
• Americans began building “fall-out” shelters in their backyards.
The Sound Barrier
• On October 14th, 1947 U.S. air force test pilot Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier.
• He reaches a speed of over 750 miles an hour. –AKA- Mach 1.
• A sonic boom is echoed through the sky.
The Space Race Begins
• In October of 1957, the Soviet Union launches Sputnik into orbit.
• This was the 1st artificial satellite.
Explorer I
• The U.S. was behind the USSR in this “Space Race”.
• Explorer I was the U.S. satellite.
NASA
• The U.S. were looking for men with the “right stuff” to become astronauts.
• Test pilots from the U.S. armed forces were chosen.
The Mercury Program
• 53 test pilots were selected to go through a series of tests to become astronauts.
• 7 were chosen.
• This was NASA’s 1st space program known as Project Mercury.
• These were single manned missions.
The Gemini Program
• In 1962 NASA begins its race to the moon.
• 15 more test pilots are chosen.
• Project Gemini begins.
• This was a 2 manned space flight.
The Apollo Program
• This began in 1967.
• This was a 3 manned mission.
• In July of 1969, man walked on the moon!
• Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin were the 1st.
• Mercury Astronauts Allan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and Wally Schirra were Apollo Astronauts.