Two countries have dominated space exploration: the United States and the Soviet Union. These nations competed in the “space race,” or the race to the Moon, which the U.S. eventually won. Even after man first walked on the Moon, fascination with what is in space has continued.
German Space Program
- In 1942 the German V2 was the first rocket to reach 100km from the Earth’s surface (the boundary of space).
- The rocket was designed by Wernher Von Braun, who later worked with NASA as the creator of the rockets that went to the moon.
First Animals in Space
- In 1947, the first animals were launched into space. Fruit flies were used to study the effects of space travel on animals, and were chosen because they are more similar to humans than you might imagine!
- The flies travelled with a supply of corn to eat on the flight.
First Monkey in Space
- Albert II, was the first monkey in space. He was a Rhesus monkey, a type of monkey that originally comes from Asia.
- Albert went into space on 14th June, 1949 in a specially adapted American V2 rocket, that flew to a height of 83 miles from earth.
US/USSR Missile Programs
- After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union created their own missile programs.
First Russian Artificial Satellite, Sputnik 1
- On October 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into space.
First Animal to Orbit the Earth
- In November 1957, the Russian space dog Laika became the first animal to orbit the earth.
- Laika travelled in a spacecraft known as Sputnik 2. Laika means “Barker” in Russian, and her mission helped scientists understand whether people could survive in space.
First Human to Orbit Earth
- Four years later on April 12, 1961, Russian Lt. Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth in Vostok 1. His flight lasted 108 minutes, and Gagarin reached an altitude of 327 kilometers (about 202 miles).
The First U.S. Satellite
- The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, went into orbit on January 31, 1958.
The First American to Fly into Space
- In 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American to fly into space.
First American to Orbit Earth
- On February 20, 1962, John Glenn’s historic flight made him the first American to orbit Earth.
First Woman in Space
- The first woman in space was Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.
- After her 1963 mission, Valentina became an important member of the Russian Government, and has been awarded many honours and prizes for her achievements. A crater on the far side of the Moon is named after her!
The First Person on the Moon
- “Landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth within a decade” was a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. On July 20, 1969, Astronaut Neil Armstrong took “a giant step for mankind” as he stepped onto the moon. Six Apollo missions were made to explore the moon between 1969 and 1972.
- During the 1960s unmanned spacecraft photographed and probed the moon before astronauts ever landed. By the early 1970s orbiting communications and navigation satellites were in everyday use, and the Mariner spacecraft was orbiting and mapping the surface of Mars. By the end of the decade, the Voyager spacecraft had sent back detailed images of Jupiter and Saturn, their rings, and their moons.
America’s First Space Station
- Skylab, America’s first space station, was a human-spaceflight highlight of the 1970s, as was the Apollo Soyuz Test Project, the world’s first internationally crewed (American and Russian) space mission.
- In the 1980s satellite communications expanded to carry television programs, and people were able to pick up the satellite signals on their home dish antennas. Satellites discovered an ozone hole over Antarctica, pinpointed forest fires, and gave us photographs of the nuclear power-plant disaster at Chernobyl in 1986. Astronomical satellites found new stars and gave us a new view of the center of our galaxy.
First British Astronaut in Space
- In 1989, Helen Sharman entered a competition to become the first British astronaut in space. After 18 months of intensive training, Helen was part of a Russian mission to the MIR space station.
- She spent eight days in space conducting scientific experiments. She used to work for the sweet company that makes Mars bars!
Space Shuttle Columbia
- In April 1981 the launch of the space shuttle Columbia ushered in a period of reliance on the reusable shuttle for most civilian and military space missions. Twenty-four successful shuttle launches fulfilled many scientific and military requirements until January 1986, when the shuttle Challenger exploded after launch, killing its crew of seven.
First Space Tourist
- On the 28th April 2001 American millionaire Dennis Tito became the first space tourist when he paid around 20 million dollars for a ride in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
- Dennis spent a week in orbit, most of the time visiting the International Space Station. He had to train for 900 hours just to be a passenger!
First Private Manned Space Flight
- On June 21st, 2004, Space Ship One made the first ever privately funded manned space flight. This space plane was built by a private aviation firm to win the 10 million dollar Ansari X Prize.
- A new Airline, Virgin Galactic has been set up to offer private tourist flights into space, using a new version of this space plane. Despite a terrible crash in testing in 2014 in which a pilot was tragically killed, tickets remain available for flights starting around 2015.
The U.S. National Space Policy of 2010
- The U.S. National Space Policy of 2010 set out goals for space exploration; to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and to the planet Mars in the 2030s
