Summary of Space Race

The Space Race refers to the cold war competition between the Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union and the Unites States in the 20^th century in order to achieve the first position in space flight capability. It had its origin in the ballistic missile based nuclear arm race between the two nations that followed with the World War II. The advancement of technology that is required to rapidly achieve the spaceflight milestone can be noticeable for natural security with a mix of symbolism and ideology of time. The Space Race led to the groundbreaking effort so as to launch the artificial satellites and human spaceflight in the low orbit of the Earth to the Moon. The entire competition began in the year 1955 on 2 August when the Soviet Union responded to the US announcement four days earlier to the launch of artificial satellites for the International Geophysical Year while declaring the launch of the satellite in the future. The Soviet Union achieved its first successful launch in the year 1957 on 4^th of October. It sent the first human space with its orbital flight of Yuri Gagarin on 2^nd of April 1961. The USSR also sent the first woman named Valentina Tereshkova to space with various other taking the first position over the next few years in consideration with flight duration, space walks and other related activities. In the Space race, the American were embarrassed at the beginning. In the year 1961, President Kennedy went to congress and announced his wish to be the first man to go to Moon. He felt that this is one of the important step for the country and for the western world. After this the Apollo Moon Program was launched. In continuation with the Apollo program, the US launched the Gemini program that helped in developing technology for the use of Apollo spacecraft. Under the Gemini program the Americans learned the way to change orbit of the space craft, while spending significant time in orbit in order to learn about the effect of the human body while bringing two space craft together in a rendezvous in space. After many years of the Space Race, the Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched into space in the year 1969. The crew included astronauts including Neil Armstrong. Nuzz  Aldrin and Michael Collins. The entire trip to Moon took about three days. Upon arriving at the Moon, Neii Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin moved towards the Lunar module which is known as the Eagle and began their descent to the Moon. In the year 1969, Eagle landed on the Moon. Neil Armstrong stepped outside and became the first man to walk on the Moon. With the association of the Gemini and Apollo programs, US had taken a huge lead in the Space Race. The Russians called the Space pilots who were involved in the Space Race as the cosmonauts meaning “sailors of the universe”. The Americans were known as the astronauts meaning star sailors.