Race to the Moon

Photos: Astronaut Karen Nyberg's view from space

Apollo 11 was followed by six more Apollo missions, five of which landed on the Moon. However, with support declining in Congress, President Richard Nixon only backed future funding for a space shuttle to facilitate development of permanent space stations. The Soviet Union, after their loss in the race to the Moon, shifted their focus to orbital space stations and, on April 19, 1971, successfully launched Earth's first space station, Salyut 1.
On July 17, 1975, during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the United States and the Soviet Union performed the first joint space docking between two nations. This was the first of many collaborations in space between these former rivals. Notably, between 1995 and 1998, astronauts from both nations lived on the Russian space station, Mir. In 1998, construction of the International Space Station began, a collaborative, global venture between Japan, Canada, Brazil, Europe, Russia, and the US that remains ongoing.
The Space Race and the scientific developments that made it possible had an important historic impact, not only for the United States and Soviet Union, but for the rest of the world. Space exploration required innovations in a range of fields, such as computer science and medicine, and NASA technology has even made its way back down to Earth, impacting developments in everything from prosthetics and cancer treatments to LED lights. Today, NASA and US astronauts and scientists continue building on the creativity and exploration of their predecessors in the 1960s, exploring new planets and recently confirming another big breakthrough—the presence of water on Mars.

The launching of the space shuttle Columbia

Astronaut Guion S. Bluford, mission specialist, walks on a treadmill exerciser during a medical test aboard the space shuttle orbiter Challenger (STS-8)

Building Bridges and Space Stations

Racing to Space

International Politics: Cooperation and Competition

Life in Space

Space and the Popular Imagination

A front view of an astronaut using his rocket pack to control his movements as he "walks" in space during a mission

National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures

National Archives and Records Administration

“1962-09-12 Rice University.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Accessed September 29, 2015.  <a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/MkATdOcdU06X5uNHbmqm1Q.aspx">http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/MkATdOcdU06X5uNHbmqm1Q.aspx</a>
“The Antarctic Treaty.” National Science Foundation Directorate for Geosciences (GEO). Accessed September 29, 2015. <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/geo/plr/antarct/anttrty.jsp">http://www.nsf.gov/geo/plr/antarct/anttrty.jsp</a>
Dunbar, Brian. "Sounds from Apollo 11." NASA. January 6, 2006. Accessed September 29, 2015. <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11_audio.html">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11_audio.html</a>
“Excerpt from an Address Before a Joint Session of Congress, 25 May 1961.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Accessed September 29, 2015. <a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/xzw1gaeeTES6khED14P1Iw.aspx">http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/xzw1gaeeTES6khED14P1Iw.aspx</a>
“History’s Highest Stage.” NASA History Program Office. Accessed September 29, 2015.   <a href="http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/hhs/hhs.htm">http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/hhs/hhs.htm</a>

Race to the Moon

References

References