In 1961, the United States and the Soviet Union were caught in a race to get the first humans into space. The United States started the Mercury program in 1958, bringing the first American into space, and in 1959 it selected the first group of astronauts to begin training for the mission.
On May 5, 60 years ago, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard (Alan Shepard) became the first American to enter space. The Space Research Organization specifically posted Shepard’s honor and mission on its website. 1961 was crucial because the two great superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, were caught in a race to send the first humans into space.
The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, sparking an unexplored frontier in the Cold War space domain. A year later, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established. On May 5, 1961, Shepard took his Mercury (Freedom 7) capsule on a suborbital flight and became the first American people in space.
60 years ago today, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to travel in space, climbing ~116 miles (188 km) above Earth! Shortly after, President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to a lunar landing before the end of the decade: https://t.co/1syroEq84g pic.twitter.com/TO1GtAUgZA
— NASA (@NASA) May 5, 2021
Earlier today, astronaut Alan Shepard (Alan Shepard) became the first American to travel into space, climbing 116 miles (188 kilometers) from Earth. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration stated on its website that the United States began studying the Mercury program in 1958 and selected the first astronauts a year later. Train them for space missions. At the same time, the Soviet Union secretly began its own efforts to plan space missions.
They selected a team of 20 astronauts in 1960, and in April 1961 they became the first country to successfully implement a manned space program. Astronaut Yuri A. Gagarin traveled aboard the capsule W The Stoke completed a single flight. orbit around the Earth. A month later, Shepard became the first American to enter space. His short flight turned out to be a stepping stone for the United States into space.
NOW: To mark the 60th anniversary of Americans in space, @NASAHistory and @AirAndSpace experts are answering your questions on @Reddit about the history of human spaceflight: https://t.co/FvLoCqPfQb pic.twitter.com/aUDMevX3MX
— NASA (@NASA) May 5, 2021
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the space mission team at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, USA, launched the Mercury program in 1958 and focused on three main goals: orbiting manned spacecraft.
I was in grade school in eastern Jackson County, Missouri (17 miles east of Kansas City) and when this happened we were all called into an assembly wherein our Principal Thomas J. Ultican (a truly dedicated educator) announced the feat emphasizing what a significant event it was!
— Dwayne Todd (@DwayneTodd3) May 5, 2021