Space Race Facts for Kids

28 Space Race Facts For Kids

1. The Space Race was a competition between Cold War rivals the United States and the Soviet Union.
2. The Space Race was an attempt by the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve spaceflight superiority.
3. The United States and the Soviet Union saw spaceflight capabilities as a national security priority.
4. The Space Race has origins from the ballistic missile arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
5. The early technology developed during the ballistic missile arms race between the USA and USSR was used for spaceflight advancements during the Space Race.
6. The spaceflight, rocket and guidance technology developed during the Space Race was also used in the later part of the ballistic missile arms race.
7. The Space Race started on October 4th, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched the first artificial satellite.
8. The Space Race ended on July 20th, 1969, when the United States successfully put humans on the Moon.
9. Some historians instead believe the Space Race ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union on December 26th, 1991.
10. The Space Race helped fuel the advancement of space exploration and many of today’s most used technologies.
11. The Soviet Union was first to put an artificial satellite into space, Sputnik 1, on October 4th, 1957.
12. The Soviet Union was first to put a mammal into space, a dog named Laika, on November 3rd, 1957.
13. The Soviet Union was first to have a successful flyby of the Moon with Luna 1 on January 2nd, 1959.
14. The United States was first to take a photograph of Earth from Space with Explorer 6 on August 7th, 1959.
15. The Soviet Union was first to hard land on another celestial body, the Moon, with Luna 2 on September 14th, 1959.
16. The Soviet Union was first to put live animals and plants into space and return them alive with Korabl-Sputnik 2 on August 19th, 1960.
17. The United States was first to put a great ape into space, a chimpanzee named Ham, with Mercury-Redstone 2 on January 31st, 1961.
18. The Soviet Union was first to put a human into space, Yuri Gagarin, with Vostok 1 on April 12th, 1961.
19. The United States was first to successfully flyby another planet, Venus, with Mariner 2 on December 14th, 1962.
20. The Soviet Union was first to put a woman into space, Valentina Tereshkova, with Vostok 6, on June 16th, 1963.
21. The Soviet Union was first to do a spacewalk with Voskhod 2 on March 18th, 1965.
22. The United States was first to successfully flyby the planet Mars, with Mariner 4, on July 14th, 1965.
23. The Soviet Union was first to soft land on another celestial body, the Moon, with Luna 9 on February 3rd, 1966.
24. The Soviet Union was first to take a picture of another celestial body, the Moon, with Luna 9 on February 3rd, 1966.
25. The Soviet Union was first to hard land on another planet, Venus, with Venera 3 on March 1st, 1966.
26. The Soviet Union was first to put an artificial satellite in the orbit of another celestial body, the Moon, with Luna 10 on April 3rd, 1966.
27. The United States was first to have humans orbit the Moon with the Apollo 8 mission on December 21st, 1968.
28. The United States was first to put humans on another celestial body, the Moon, with the Apollo 11 mission on July 20th, 1969.