Key Events in the Space Race Essay Example for Free

Key Events in the blank property Race EssayThe 60s were infamous for many rapidly changing aspects pertaining to different topics at the period. The subject of distance was one not to be left behind. This decade would be one of the domain of a functions halcyon ages of extraterrestrial research and every event during this time would be recorded into history. In a achievement most people know as the Space Race, the Soviet Union (USSR) and the unite States (USA) would repugn for supremacy in spot exploration. Most events occurred in this decade, alone the period of the Space Race itself lasted from the 1957 to 1975. Sputnik 1, the worlds first artificial satellite, was launched on October 4th, 1957 by the USSR. Sputnik itself was a polished metal sphere, 23 in. in diameter, with four external radio antennae to broadcast radio pulses. It was sent into an elliptical, low-Earth orbit and provided scientists with information. Its purpose was to measure the stringency and co mposition of the upper atmosphere, as well as measuring solar radiation, magnetic fields, cosmic rays, and so forth It travelled at about 18,000 mi. per hour, taking 96. 2 minutes to complete each orbit.Signals continued to discover Earth for 22 days until the transmitter batteries ran out of energy on October 26, 1957. Sputnik burned up on January 4, 1958 as it fell from orbit upon reentering Earths atmosphere. It travelled at about 43. 5 million miles and spent a total of 3 months in orbit. Although life had been sent into pose before, Yuri Gagarin would be the first human to breathing out Earths atmosphere. He was born on borderland 9, 1934 in a small hamlet in the Soviet Union called Klushino.The cosmonaut boarded onto Vostok, a subterfuge that consisted of a spherical descent module, 2. meters in diameter, which housed the astronaut, instruments, escape system, and a conical instrument module, containing propellant and the engine system. Upon reentry into the Earths atmos phere, the cosmonaut would fling from the craft at about 7,000 m. and descgoal via parachute, while the capsule would land separately. Gagarins mission to destiny the Earth on April 12, 1961 lasted for 1 hour and 48 minutes. He was only 27 years overage at the time and that was the first and last time he went into space, since he was too valued to conduct on a risky mission again.Gagarin may have been the first human in space, but Alan Shepard became the first American to exit Earths atmosphere. He was born on November 18, 1923 in Derry, vernal Hampshire. Although the flight was originally scheduled for October 1960, delays by unplanned preparatory work meant that this was postponed several times, initially to March 6, 1961 and finally to May 5. On April 12, 1961, Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first person in space and to orbit the Earth. On May 5, 1961, Shepard piloted the Freedom 7 mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into sp ace.The suborbital flight only lasted a mere 15 minutes, but the launch was seen live by millions. opus the USSR was showering in fame and glory, ahead of the US in the Space Race, Americas President bath F. Kennedy declared the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending a citizen safely to the Moon before the end of the decade on May 29, 1961. This was announced before a special joint session of Congress. This last would soon change the world forever in 1969. The Soviet Union left the United States in the dust again when they sent Alexey Leonov, a Russian cosmonaut, to become the first human to conduct a spacewalk on March 18, 1965.He was born on May 30, 1934 in Listvyanka, Kemerovo Oblast, USSR. His walk in space was originally to have taken place on the Vostok 11 mission, but this was cancelled, and the historic event happened on the Voskhod 2 flight instead. He was outside the spacecraft for 12 minutes and nine seconds, connected to the craft by a 5. 35 m. tether. America was hu miliated once again in early 1966 as it watched the USSR successfully land the worlds first spacecraft to achieve a soft get on the Moon. Luna 9 was launched on January 31, 1966 and landed on the Moons surface on February 3, 1966.Its mission was to land safely on any planetary body other than Earth and to transmit photographic data back. Signals lasted for 6 days until the last transmission was sent on February 6, 1966. The spotlight was moved from the Soviet Union onto the US for once when the country launched the Apollo 11 mission, an event that would forever change history. The primary butt of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961 perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth.The crew consisted of Neil Armstrong as the Commander, Michael Collins as Command Module Pilot, and Edwin Buzz E. Aldrin, Jr. as the Lunar Module Pilot. Apollo 11 was launched on July 16, 1969 and successfully landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. M illions of American watched the event live on television. Armstrong set beak on the moon and declared Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. A few minutes later, Aldrin joined him. Together they collected soil samples and took photographs. They stayed on the moon for 21 hours.Many experiments were tested and 22 kilograms of lunar samples were collected. On July 24, the astronauts returned home aboard the command module Columbia, landing in the Pacific Ocean. On August 13, they rode in parades in their honor in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Indeed, the time of the Space Race is one not to be forgotten by the world. The Soviet Union and United States must be well acknowledged for all the effort spent on the study of space alone. While the USSR won some battles, the US won others. That, however, will never change the fact that they wedge the world, science, and history today.