10 Facts about the Space Race during Cold War

Buzz Aldrin and the U.S. Flag on the Moon – Photo by NASA/Apollo 11 From Wikimedia

10 Facts about the Space Race during Cold War

The space race is a term used to describe the cold war’s bitter competition between the Soviet Union and the United to achieve superior spaceflight capability. The competition started in the late-1950s with the Soviet Union sending the first man-made satellite to space in 1957 and ended in 1975 with the launch of the first international joint space mission.

The Space Race has its origins in the nuclear arms race between the two world superpowers following the end of the Second World War. Both sides tried to outmaneuver each other into the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles which soon degenerated into a bitter space race between the two superpowers that lasted close to 20 years.

Let’s look at 10 Facts about the Space Race during Cold War.

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1. The Soviets Launched the first Man-made Satellite in 1957

Sputnik 1 Exploded View – Photo Source: Wikimedia

Following the united states’ announcement of its intent to launch artificial satellites for the International Geophysical Year on July 30, 1955, the Soviets responded by launching the first-ever artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into space on October 4, 1957.

The launch which caught the World and the United States by surprise marked the beginning of a bitter space race that went on until the mid1970s. It also planted the seeds for the development of modern satellite navigation and was an important Soviet propaganda tool in the early years of the Space exploration competition.

2. The Soviet Union sends the first living Animal into space in 1957

On 3 November 1957, the Soviet Union become the first nation to successfully send a living organism into orbit, after it successfully launched Sputnik 2, carrying a dog named Laika into space.

Laika was the first living organism in space and the first to orbit the Earth. However, as the technology to re-enter the earth had not yet been developed, Laika’s survival was never expected. and she died within a few hours of the flight due to what Soviet scientists termed as overheating.

3. The United States Created NASA and Launched Explorer 1 in 1958

In 1958, the United States created The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), replacing the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). This was in response to the soviet’s launch of the first man-made satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957.

In the same year, the United States entered the space race by launching Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. It was the first US satellite to reach the earth orbit carrying experimental equipment that led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt.

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4. The United States launched the world’s first communications satellite in 1958

On December 18, 1958, the United States launched SCORE (Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment),  the world’s first purpose-built communications satellite.

SCORE captured the attention of the world by broadcasting a pre-recorded Christmas message from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower via shortwave radio. The broadcast, which was the first human voice from space, placed the United States at par with the Soviet Union in the pursuit of space flight superiority.

5. Yuri Gagarin  became the first person to travel into outer space in 1961

Yuri Gagarin (1961) – Photo Source: Wikimedia

On 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a soviet cosmonaut, became the first human to journey into outer space and orbit the Earth. He traveled in Vostok 1 a soviet spacecraft that was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 6:07 am UTC on the same day.

Gagarin’s achievement was a major milestone in the Space Race and a triumph for the Soviet space program. He also became a national hero of the Soviet Union and an international celebrity.

6. The Soviet Union sent the First civilian and a woman into space in 1963

On 16 June 1963, the Soviet Union sent the first civilian woman into space. Valentina Tereshkova took a solo mission aboard Vostok 6  and spent almost three days in space, orbiting the Earth 48 times.

Although she has never gone back into space again, she gained international fame for being the first and youngest woman in space and remains the only woman to have been on a solo space mission.

7. Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov made the First spacewalk in 1965

Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov – Photo Source: Wikimedia

On 18 March 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to leave a space capsule and, tethered to it, floated freely in orbit. He was the pilot of the Voskhod 2 mission, part of the Soviet Union’s race to reach the moon before the United States.

He left his spacecraft, the Voskhod 2, in a specially designed space suit and conducted a 12-minutes spacewalk. This was another major milestone for the Soviets in their bitter space exploration competition with the United States.

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8. Three US astronauts and one Soviet cosmonaut lost their lives in 1967

1967 proved to be the deadliest year for both the United States and the Soviet Union. Both countries lost some of their best space scientists in two separate accidents. On January 27 1967 three American astronauts were killed after their Apollo 1 capsule caught fire during a launch test mission.

A few months later Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was also killed when the parachute on his Soyuz 1 capsule fails to open correctly on his reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. 

9.  Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon in 1969

Neil Armstrong – Photo Source: Wikimedia

On July 21, 1969, at 02:56 UTC, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon after he successfully stepped onto the lunar surface from the US spacecraft Apollo 11. When Armstrong first stepped onto the lunar surface, he famously said: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

The event was broadcasted live and was watched by millions of people around the world. Landing the first man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth was one of the major US victories in the Space Race.

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10. Appolo-Soyuz space mission in 1975 became the first joint space mission

In the early 1970s, the space race’s stiff competition between the two superpowers began to soften. This was marked by the Apollo–Soyuz space mission that was jointly carried out by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1975.

This mission, which was also the first crewed international mission, saw the two commanders Tom Stafford and Alexei Leonov exchange the first handshake between the United States and the Soviet Union scientist in space. This marked the beginning of international space cooperation and the end of bitter competition between the Soviet Union and the United to achieve superior spaceflight capability.