Sputnik was birthed from the investments of the Soviet Union and was launched to space from Tyuratam in the Kazakh Republic. It was aptly named Sputnik – which is Russian for satellite – and is the world’s first artificial satellite. Sputnik circled our planet once every 36 minutes and traveled at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour. Its nearest point to earth as it made its way along its elliptical orbit was 143 miles while its farthest was 584 miles. The satellite’s major feats included transmitting radio waves back to earth powerful enough that commercial radios can pick up their signal. Sputnik ran its course until its eventual deterioration in 1958 and burned upon the earth’s atmosphere.
The cultural and scientific relevance of Sputnik, achieved by the Soviet Union, cannot be stressed enough. It occurred at the height of the US-Soviet Cold War which was fueled by the looming threats of nuclear power and arms race. With no insurance of peace, the Space Race was set afoot by the Soviet’s successful maiden space mission. It was the dawn of the Space Age.
The Beginnings of NASA
Caught unaware by the Soviet Union’s triumphant launch of the Sputnik, the US government feared for the further military application of what Sputnik’s success would bring to the table. In 1958, the US launched the Explorer I, their first satellite designed by the US military, headed by prolific rocket scientist Warner von Braun. That same year, President Dwight Eisenhower made one of his biggest scientific investments by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, which will be his federal arm, tasked with space exploration.
The Race is On
Technology progressed by leaps and bounds throughout the space race. Neither the Soviets nor the US wanted to be left behind and were shelling out investment money left and right. In 1959, the Soviet space program took another huge stride with their launch of Luna 2. It was the first-ever space probe to hit the moon. Two years later, another astronomical feat was achieved when Soviet Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit our planet Earth. The cosmonaut was aboard Vostok 1, a spacecraft in the shape of a capsule.
NASA, on the other hand, was not without its own achievements. Project Mercury was NASA’s effort to put their man in space. They designed their own version of the Vostok, which was a lighter cone-shaped spacecraft. The US scientists made use of chimpanzees as test passengers for the spacecraft and eventually made their final tests during March of 1961. A month later, after Yuri’s maiden orbited around the earth, NASA came just behind and was able to launch Alan Sheperd. The first American in space was officially given credit to Alan.
In May 1961, United States President John Kennedy released a bold public statement that the US would be the first to successfully send a man to the moon. A year later, US astronaut John Glenn, made further strides for the American space team and would be given credit for being the first American to orbit the earth. His achievement would kick-start the lunar landing program, Project Apollo.
Man on the Moon
From the astronomical strides initiated by the Soviets, with the successful launch and orbit of Sputnik, the space race would reach its eventual climax with Project Apollo. At the early stages of the project, the US government shelled out hefty lumps of investment money to cater to thousands and thousands of NASA employees, industrial employees, and university contractors. In 1967, the project encountered major setbacks when three astronauts perished in a failed launch simulation. Nonetheless, they persevered, and in December of 1968, NASA launched the first manned mission to orbit the moon, the Apollo 8. A year later, they launched what is considered to be one of mankind’s greatest feats in history, the Apollo 11 mission. On July 20, 1969, the first man on the moon was given credit to Neil Armstrong. His achievements along with Edwin Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins paved the way to the closing stages of the Cold War and the Space Race.
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