Space Race Timeline
Post date: Sep 11, 2014 3:52:18 PM
This week we are starting to learn about the Space Race and look at our novel, Laika. Our first activity will be researching the USA/USSR Space Race that took place from about 1957 to 1970. Though both countries continued to make great strides in space exploration and technology after that point, the sense of urgency and frantic pressure and pace at which both sides worked ended when the US Apollo 11 mission successfully landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
What many students often fail to realize is that for much of that period it was the Soviets, not the Americans, that were in the lead for much of the race. The Soviets put the first satellite, animal, man, and woman in space/orbit. They sent the first probes to the Moon and other planets. However by the late 60's following the death of the leader of the Soviet Space Program, Sergei Korolev, the USSR program failed to make much progress and the Americans left them behind.
To learn about these events and get a picture of just why this period is called the Space "Race", you will study the timeline of events below and this one, and then complete the Space Race Timeline worksheet. You have class time this week and next to work on it. If you are printing it at home, please note it is A3-sized. You may want to download it as a word file, type in the events, and then email it to me instead of printing.
