A Race of Lunar Proportions

The Cold War inspired many competitions between the United States and the Soviet Union. One of said competitions was the Space Race. The Americans believed they had the edge space-wise until the Soviets launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space on October 4, 1957. This increased the worry that Soviets were advancing in technology more quickly than the United States. This fear was further increased when they launched yet another satellite, Sputnik 2, into space a month later. Americans realized they could not let themselves fall behind and so the National Committee of Aeronautics (NACA) launched the US satellite Explorer 1 a short four months afterward. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) would replace NACA when founded on July 29, 1958.

Sending technological equipment into space was one thing, but sending a human was another one entirely. The USSR was also the first to achieve this when cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin was sent into space on April 12, 1961. Once again, Americans feared that the Soviets were getting ahead of them. President Kennedy proclaimed that although the Soviets were the first to send a man into space, the United States would be the first to have a man walk on the moon. However, first an American man had to successfully be launched into space and on May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard was the man to do so. It wouldn't be until eight years later that Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins would reach the moon. On July 20, 1969, people all over the nation were able to see Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon. America had achieved their goal.

-By Becky