The Space Race Facts
The Space Race Facts
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Interesting The Space Race Facts: |
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Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel in space on June 16, 1963. |
The "V" in the German V1 and V2 rockets stood for "victory." The V2 rocket was the first manmade device to make it into outer space in 1942. |
"Cosmonaut" is the tradition Russian word for astronaut. |
NASA was created on July 29, 1958 from the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. The United States Army also handled much of the government's space exploration activities before NASA was created. |
Gagarian orbited the Earth one time for about an hour and a half before reentering the atmosphere and safely parachuting to Soviet soil. He was the first person dubbed a "cosmonaut." |
Aland Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961. |
The Apollo 11 crew consisted of Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Armstrong was the first to set foot on the Moon and only he and Aldrin did so as Collins had to pilot the Lunar module. |
The Apollo 11 landing coincided with the period "Détente" in the Cold War during the 1970s, when the tensions between the Americans and Soviets eased. |
During the Détente, the Soviets and Americans engaged in cooperation in space, which many see as the end of the Space Race. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) of 1975 was the first cooperative American-Soviet space flight. It had a major impact on the cultural landscape of the United States during the 1970s as millions of Americans witnessed their astronauts shake hands and exchange gifts and flags with the Soviet cosmonauts. |
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