Based on the novel, Rocket Boys,By Homer Hickam
1865-1926
• French Author, Jules Verne, published From the Earth to the Moon
• This book inspired the idea of rocketry
1932
• Germans were most successful in their rocketry achievements
• Wernher von Braun was a key leader in this area
• Von Braun was working on a series of more powerful rockets than the V-2 to fire at the United States
End of WWII
• Von Braun surrendered to American forces
• He later wanted to help the US build a rocket-based space program
1945
• Although the Soviet Union had been allies during WWII, the US and the USSR (Soviet Union) became deadly enemies
• They kept the atomic bomb a secret from the USSR
What the US did not Know…
• The USSR had their own atomic bomb!
• 1933 Sergei Korolev launched a rocket that reached over 1,300
• He designed the world’s first satellite, known as Sputnik I
Mid 1950s
• The US and the USSR developed ballistic missiles that could carry atomic bombs
• This meant that the nuclear warheads could be launched from planes or submarines
• If one superpower used their weapons, then the other could retaliate, threatening the entire world with destruction
October 4, 1957
• The Soviet government announced that it had launched the world’s first satellite, named Sputnik I
October 1, 1958
• NASA was formed as a reaction to
Sputnik I and the space race
• This helped relieve the military of keeping up with the space race to the moon and made space a national priority
April 9, 1959
• The Mercury program was developed through NASA to put the first man on the moon
April 12, 1961
• The Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin was launched into orbit
• He became the first human to go into outer space
• This humiliated the US
May 25, 1961
• President Kennedy set a goal...
The US Challenge Continues
“The Eagle has landed”July 20, 1969
First Man on the Moon?