Transcript Space Race, Sputnik & the U-2 incident

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 longrange 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
Valentina Tereshkova
John Glenn
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/sputni
k.html
• http://www.newseum.org/cybernewseum/exhibits
/dateline_moon/space.htm
• http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/
• http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/fact
sheet.asp?id=7644