THE SPACE RACE.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite-beginning a space race that would change the world.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union stunned the world. It launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, into orbit around the Earth. Sputnik, which means traveling companion in Russian, was not impressive by today's standards. It was an aluminum ball only 23 inches in diameter that weighed 184 pounds. But the world would never be the same again.

For three weeks, radio transmitters on Sputnik sent beeping signals back to Earth. In the U.S., these strange new sounds coming from the sky caused fear and anxiety. The U.S. and the Soviet Union had been locked in a fierce rivalry know as the Cold War since the end of World War II (1939-1945).

For many years. Americans believed that U.S. technology was far superior to the Soviet Union's. The launching of Sputnik shattered that belief.

Lyndon B. Johnson, then a U.S. Senator from Texas, recalled that after Sputnik. "somehow. In some new way, the sky seemed almost alien." G. Mennen Williams, then Governor of Michigan, even wrote a poem about it:

"Oh little Sputnik, flying high

With made-in-Moscow heep,

You tell the world it's Commie sky

And Uncle Sam's asleep."

The Race Begins

The U.S. rushed to catch up with the Soviets, and the race to conquer space was on. Congress quickly passed the National Defense Education Act, which gave schools more money for math and science programs. In 1958, the government set up the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NSSA) to organize the space program.

Within a year, the U.S. successfully launched three satellites to gather information about Earth's atmosphere. One of these satellites, Vanguard 1, is still in orbit today. But even though the U.S. was in the space race, it still lagged behind the Soviet Union.

Just one month after launching Sputnik, the Soviets sent a dog named Laika into Earth orbit aboard Sputnik 2. In 1959, the Soviets launched the first space probe to land on the moon. And in April 1961. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit Earth.

Kennedy's Dream

One month after Gagarin orbited Earth, the U.S. sent the first American into space, astronaut Alan Shepard. But Shepard spent only 15 minutes in space and did not orbit Earth.

President John F. Kennedy decided that something drastic had to be done if the U.S. was going to win the space race. In a 1961 address to Congress, Kennedy called for the U.S. to send a man to the moon by the end of the 1960s.

"No single space project will be more important to mankind or more important in the long-range exploration of space." Kennedy said. "And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

At first, people were shocked. "I couldn't believe my ears," says Robert Gilruth, a NASA official. "I was literally aghast at the size of the project." But Kennedy's dream inspired Americans.

The U.S. government, the military, the scientific community, and private industries all worked together to put a man on the moon. More than 400,000 people worked on the project. Never before bad the U.S. undertaken such an ambitious plan during peacetime.

Those who answered the call to become astronauts soon found themselves national heroes. "People just wanted to touch them," recalls Daniel Goldin, the current NASA administrator. "When I touched one of the astronauts, I felt I had touched a god."

The U.S. Catches Up

In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. Meanwhile, the Soviets also moved ahead. In 1963, they sent the first woman into space, Valentina Tereshkova. In 1965, cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov made the first space walk.

The U.S. followed closely behind. In 1965, Edward White became the first American to walk in space. The next year, the U.S. sent a series of unpiloted spacecraft into orbit around the moon. These lunar orbiters photographed the moon's surface to find the best spot for a landing.

In 1967, the U.S. suffered a tragic setback. Three astronauts--Edward White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee--lost their lives in a fire while doing ground tests of the first Apollo spacecraft.

The schedule for a moon landing was pushed back, but not for long. On Christmas Eve, 1968, three astronauts aboard Apollo 8 swung into orbit around the moon. They were the first humans to orbit the moon.

One Giant Leap

On July 16, 1969, the dream of President Kennedy, who had been assassinated in 1963, came true. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins blasted off from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral), Florida, on Apollo 11.

Three days later, while Collins orbited the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon in a place called the Sea of Tranquility More than a billion people around the world watched on television as Armstrong climbed down a ladder and stepped onto the powdery surface below. "That's one small step for a man," Armstrong said through the static, "one giant leap for mankind." Six more U.S. missions to the moon followed, the last one in 1972. The Soviet Union never landed a man on the moon.

But the space race did more than send a man to the moon. The advancement of space technology has helped us learn more about our universe than anyone ever thought possible. Space probes have visited every planet except Pluto. Now there is talk about sending people to Mars.

Space exploration has had its costs, too. In 1986, the U.S. space shuttle Challenger broke apart after blastoff, killing all seven people aboard.

Working Together

Today, the Cold War is over. It ended in 1991, when the Soviet Union broke up into 15 separate countries, including Russia. Instead of rivalry in space, now there is cooperation.

The U.S. and Russia have worked together with 13 other nations to design, build, and assemble the International Space Station (ISS), which now orbits Earth.

When the ISS is completed in 2006, the station will be a floating laboratory the size of two football fields. Astronauts and cosmonauts are already living and working together on the station.

At night, you can actually see the ISS in orbit. One thing hasn't changed since the end of the space race. People everywhere still look up at the sky, just as they did 30 years ago, and wonder what lies beyond.

Time Line

1957 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first artificial satellite.

1958 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is created.

1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is the first person to orbit Earth.

1962 - Astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth.

1963 - Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is the first woman in space.

1968 - U.S. launches Apollo 8, the first piloted space mission to orbit the moon

1969 - Astronauts Nell Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are the first humans to land on the moon

1982 - U.S. launches the space shuttle Columbia the first rousable piloted spacecraft

1986 - U.S. space shuttle Challenger explodes killing all seven crew members

1999 - Assembly of the International Space Station begins