THE 1960S: AN IMPORTANT DECADE IN WORLD HISTORY 2. The Space Race
The Space Race between the USA and the USSR was part of the Cold War. It began in the 1950s when the USSR sent Sputnik, the first satellite, into space in 1957. ● This shocked America because it showed that communist technology was superior to the American or capitalist technology.
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Debate the importance of the Space Race
Key Words Space Race
● It shocked America also because it showed that the USSR had more powerful rockets capable of landing nuclear bombs on America.
The USSR jumped further ahead in 1961 when Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the Earth.
Soon the Americans were trying to catch up. President Kennedy made a commitment that year that America would land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth before the 1960s were out. ● This resulted in the USA investing $25 billion to get the first man on the Moon. ● This happened in 1969 when Apollo 11 reached the Moon, and Neil Armstrong and ‘Buzz’ Aldrin were the first men on the Moon.
See Timeline of the Space Race, p. 354.
US astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon
Analyse the layout and the news from the front page of The New York Times on the first Moon landing.
The New York Times front page on the first Moon landing, 1969