On October 4 1957 the night sky lit up over a secret site in the Soviet Union The Soviets had launched a missile into space The rocket and its historic cargo reached 139 miles 223 km above the earth Then the core of the rocket fell away A shiny aluminum sphere the size of a basketball emerged Its four long antennae unfolded The radio transmitter inside started beeping The world’s first satellite Sputnik 1 began to circle Earth Sputnik shocked the world It fueled the fear that there was a missile gap between the United States and Sputnik 1 had four long rods as its antennae SPUTNIK SPARKS THE SPACE RACE 1 4
the Soviet Union Enemies since after World War II 1939 1945 both powers were locked in the Cold War Each side raced to build more powerful weapons Now Americans feared that the Soviets would use space for military purposes President Dwight D Eisenhower tried to downplay the feat when he congratulated the Soviets He called Sputnik a small ball He then said that the United States would launch its first satellite in December On launch day December 6 millions watched on TV The US rocket rose four feet 1 2 m off the ground Then it exploded The press dubbed it Flopnik The United States successfully launched a satellite Explorer 1 on February 1 1958 Later that year the United States created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Over the next decade the United States raced to beat the Soviet Union to the moon 12 Years between Sputnik’s launch and the first moon landing The Soviet Union launched Sputnik on October 4 1957 Sputnik was the first satellite On February 1 1958 the United States launched Explorer 1 Technicians in the Soviet Union track Sputnik’s orbit 5
On September 12 1962 President John F Kennedy gave a famous speech at Rice University in Houston Texas Kennedy said he wanted the United States to be the first country to send someone to the moon and back And he wanted to do it before the end of the decade In 1962 however US astronauts had only orbited Earth for a few hours at a time Getting to the moon in less than 10 years would take a lot of work So the astronauts first logged many hours in space as part of Project Gemini Gemini was named after twins from Greek mythology It was a series of two person missions from 1964 to 1966 The astronauts who would be part of the first moon landing Neil Armstrong Michael Collins and Edwin Buzz Aldrin all flew Gemini missions Gemini gave astronauts a chance to practice the skills and techniques they would need on a trip to the moon They changed orbits They even docked Gemini with other Astronaut Ed White performed the first US walk in space as part of Project Gemini PROJECT GEMINI PREPARES ASTRONAUTS 2 6
spacecraft To get to the moon astronauts would have to do both Gemini also gave astronauts a chance to work in low gravity for longer periods Some even walked in space That means they floated in space outside of a spaceship After the last Gemini mission NASA was ready for the next step to the moon Project Apollo PROJECT MERCURY Project Mercury was the United States first manned spaceflight program Its goal was to put a man in orbit around Earth On May 5 1961 American Alan Shepard traveled into space His flight lasted 15 minutes Between 1961 and 1963 Mercury astronauts flew six solo missions 176 Time in hours the three astronauts had already logged in space before the moon landing The astronauts who would later travel to the moon first flew Gemini missions Gemini involved two people per mission Gemini allowed astronauts to practice skills needed for getting to the moon Astronaut Michael Collins prepares to pilot the Gemini 10 7
