Transcript What was the space race PPt

AIM: What Was the Space Race?
DO NOW: If the U.S. and Russia were in a race
to space, who do you think would win? Explain
your answer using complete sentences.
The Space Race = The Cold War in the Skies
• The Space Race grew out of the Cold
War between the United States and the
Soviet Union, the most powerful nations
after World War II.
• For a half-century, the two superpowers
competed to be # 1 in a global struggle
pitting a democratic society against
totalitarian communism.
• Beginning in the 1950’s the U.S and the
Soviet Union competed for influence not
only among the nations of the world, but
in the skies as well.
• Space was a crucial arena for this
rivalry. Before a watchful world, each
side sought to demonstrate its
superiority through impressive feats in
rocketry and spaceflight.
Sputnik: The first traveler.
•
The Soviet Union stunned the
world with the launch of Sputnik
("satellite") on October 4, 1957. It
became the first artificial satellite
to successfully orbit the Earth.
•
Sputnik signaled the U.S.S.R.'s
capability in rocketry and their
potential to dominate space.
•
Americans felt they had fallen
behind in science and technology,
and the government poured
money into science and
education. By 1958, the United
States had launched it’s own
Satellite.
Image of Sputnik satellite.
Courtesy of NASA/JPL
Picture from http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/highlights/index.html
•
The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) was formed in 1958 in
response to the build up of Russian space
programs and the threat of their nuclear
payloads in ICBM's.
Race to the Moon
"I believe that this nation should commit itself
to achieving the goal, before this decade is
out, of landing a man on the Moon and
returning him safely to the Earth. No single
space project...will be more exciting, or more
impressive to mankind, or more
important...and none will be so difficult or
expensive to accomplish...."
President John F. Kennedy, 1961
•For Americans, President Kennedy's declaration focused the Space Race on a
clear goal: landing a man on the Moon before the Soviets. The Space Race became
a race to the Moon.
In July, 1962, the U.S. sent astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and
The
U.S. Collins
lands on
Michael
to the
the Moon
moon. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the
moon.
The Space Race = The Cold War
in the Skies
"That's
one small step
for man, one giant leap
for mankind."
U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, on the Moon, 1969