Since, Nov. 2, 2000 the International Space Station has been manned. For 15 years astronauts from various space programs have lived on the station.
The station was first manned by Commander William Shepherd of NASA and cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).
Currently there are six on board: Station commander Scott Kelly of NASA, Flight engineer Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Flight engineers Mkhail Kornienko, Oleg Kononenko, and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos.
The space station, an orbiting laboratory, is located approximately 400 kilometres from above the earth.
It’s amazing to think that a mere 50 years prior to the launch of the space station came the Space Race between the very countries now working together.
Having studied history in school, I was intrigued by the Soviet Union, and focused on it when choosing classes, so learning about the Cold War and the Space Race were included. It’s fascinating really.
On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, the Russian word for “traveler.” It was the first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to orbit the Earth. Its launch came as a surprise to the Americans, who were determined to explore space as the next frontier, so losing ground to the Soviets was unacceptable.
During the late 1940s and 1950s, both the Americans and the Soviets launched animals into space to further their research, and although they were launched 42 miles up to 62 miles up, it was in 1957 that the Soviets sent Sputnik II into orbit with a stray dog they had found, Laika, meaning “barker” in Russian. Sadly Laika didn’t survive, no provisions were made for her to return, and she died orbiting the planet in her capsule. However, the Soviets launched two dogs in 1960 on Sputnik 5 within animal cargo, which survived, and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev gave a puppy born to one of the Sputnik 5 dogs to Caroline Kennedy, despite Cold War tensions.
In 1958, the United States launched Explorer I and President Dwight Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
In 1959 the Space Race became a more heated competition between the two powers, as Luna 2 was launched by the Soviets which was the first space probe to hit the moon. This was followed by the launch of Yuri Gagarin into space becoming the first person to orbit the Earth. In May of that same year, two months after Gagarin’s launch, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, however he did not orbit the Earth.
With the Soviets seemingly beating the Americans in the Space Race, President John F. Kennedy declared that the United States would land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. The American sent John Glenn into space in 1962 becoming the first American to orbit the Earth.
Between 1961 and 1964, it’s said that NASA’s budget increased by 500 percent and although there was a setback in 1967 of three astronauts killed after their spacecraft caught fire during a launch simulation.
As the Americans were still determined to continue, the Soviets began questioning the importance of space exploration. As they debated the necessity of it, Sergey Korolyov, the chief engineer of the Soviet space program died in 1966.
The Amercans sent Apollo 8 in 1968, the first manned mission to orbit the moon. They followed this by launching Apollo 11 in 1969 manned by Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Armstrong would go down in history as being the first man to step foot on the moon with, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
And like that the Space Race was won by the United States. The Soviets attempted four lunar landings following the United States’ success, but were unable to accomplish this.
The Space Race ended in the 1970s as U.S. astronauts on an Apollo spacecraft docked, while in orbit, with a Soviet Soyuz vehicle. This handshake in space between the two commanders symbolized an a warming of relations between the U.S. and Soviets during the latter part of the Cold War.
