The Space Race During the 1960s, the prospect of sending someone into space and landing on the moon captured the imagination of both the USA and the USSR. Both countries saw this as an opportunity of showing their superiority in the Cold War (see Chapter 17: International Relations 1945–1999). During the 1960s the two superpowers were in a race to reach the moon.
l In 1959, the Soviet space programme launched Luna 2, which was the first probe to hit the moon.
l The first person in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. His aircraft completed a 108-minute flight in April 1961.
l In 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
l The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) aircraft Apollo 8 orbited the moon in 1968.
l In July 1969, America won the ‘Space Race’ when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. His famous quote as he stepped on the moon was ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’
Fig 18.8 Yuri Gagarin of the USSR was the first man in space.
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Fig 18.9 An Apollo 11 astronaut’s footprint in the moon’s soil. ✣ By the way
Laika the dog was the first animal to go into orbit in October 1957!
Music
Some of the greatest and most famous bands and musical artists of the twentieth century became stars in the 1960s. They had a massive influence on popular culture in the 1960s and the decades that followed. Their popularity with younger people encouraged a counter-culture (an attitude that goes against the existing culture). The hippies’ belief in freedom and love was in conflict with the more traditional views of their parents’ generation. ‘Sex, drugs and rock and roll’ was the motto of the 1960s in parts of Britain, Europe and America.
u The Beatles formed in Liverpool in 1960. Their songs held the first five slots on the American Billboard singles chart in April 1964 and they went on to sell over a billion records.