Space Race – the US Strikes Back!
It’s that time again… 50 years since the USA had their golden moment, landing the first humans on the moon. Prior to that, they had not had it all their own way and their was much concern in the west over the giant strides being made by the Soviet Union. It was the Soviet Union who launched the first intercontinental ballistic missile on 21 August 1957, closely followed that same year with the first artificial satellite in Earth orbit, and the first dog in space (Laika). The Americans hit back the following year with their own satellites – first detection of the Van Allen belt, first solar powered and first communications satellites. From then on the firsts came thick and fast for both nations. But, after the huge prize of sending the first human (Yuri Gagarin) into Earth orbit, the next biggest event was to land men on the moon on 20 July 1969. Full details from 1957 to 1975 can be seen at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Space_Race
The photo below shows Buzz Aldrin’s lunar boot print though it was Neil Armstrong who first stepped onto the moon’s surface.
