Amidst the shortcoming of the Cold War, the goal of the 1960’s was “to go above and beyond” in space exploration by successfully landing a man on the moon, which would serve as a gambit to conceivably lead the United States to victory. Before astronauts ventured beyond the earth, scientists had to assess the space environment and the hazards of human exploration. Soon after President John F. Kennedy assumed office in January of 1961, the space race was undoubtedly underway, and the United State’s primary focus was landing a man on the moon--hence, the Apollo Program. These Apollo Missions are significant in that America received technical credibility and hasted the end of the Cold War in our favor. Also, Carole Stott, a long-time astronomer
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and USSR. Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite, was launched by Soviet Russia on October 4, 1957, rendering them as number one in the space race (United). The door of the space age had just opened and so had the rivalry for primacy in a global effort for world influence. Not only did social and political aims urge America’s demand for space exploration, but also did human curiosity. As Earth’s companion in space and its nearest neighbor, there is no question that the moon had aroused people’s interest, making it a target for manhood space travel. The 20th century was an era when, literally, “the sky was not the limit” to imaginative thinking (Compton 9). American attempts to meet the Soviet challenge initially ended in failure. For example, January 27, 1967 the preflight test for the apollo mission, that was to be known as Apollo 1, ended in tragedy when a fire swept through the command module killing astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee (Time-Life 178). “Gus” Grissom had told reporters before the incident, “If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life” (178). Sending more men to space would not be accomplished by NASA until almost eighteen months later with the Apollo 7 mission. Apollo 7 surpassed the time spent in space by all of the Soviet space flights combined with a total of ten days and twenty hours while orbiting the earth 163 times (Taylor 131). However, the goal presented by President JFK in 1961 that “before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon” was not fulfilled until July of 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made it a reality (Cayton 224).
and USSR. Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite, was launched by Soviet Russia on October 4, 1957, rendering them as number one in the space race (United). The door of the space age had just opened and so had the rivalry for primacy in a global effort for world influence. Not only did social and political aims urge America’s demand for space exploration, but also did human curiosity. As Earth’s companion in space and its nearest neighbor, there is no question that the moon had aroused people’s interest, making it a target for manhood space travel. The 20th century was an era when, literally, “the sky was not the limit” to imaginative thinking (Compton 9). American attempts to meet the Soviet challenge initially ended in failure. For example, January 27, 1967 the preflight test for the apollo mission, that was to be known as Apollo 1, ended in tragedy when a fire swept through the command module killing astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee (Time-Life 178). “Gus” Grissom had told reporters before the incident, “If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life” (178). Sending more men to space would not be accomplished by NASA until almost eighteen months later with the Apollo 7 mission. Apollo 7 surpassed the time spent in space by all of the Soviet space flights combined with a total of ten days and twenty hours while orbiting the earth 163 times (Taylor 131). However, the goal presented by President JFK in 1961 that “before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon” was not fulfilled until July of 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made it a reality (Cayton 224).