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