Orbital Infinity

Part 1 :- The Cold War Race (USA vs USSR)

Space has always exercised a control of curiosity over humans, right from ancient times, in some cases as old as the Stone Ages. But, do we know how far we have come in our research about space ? What were the major events that we achieved, and when did we achieve them ?
Let’s get to know about this from our Article: The History of Space Exploration, and its 1st Part.

The foundations laid for modern world Space Exploration were born out of The Cold War. In short, the Cold War was a proxy war in which two superpowers of that time, the USA and USSR fought for power. Apart from countries under the influence of these nations, Space Exploration was a way for these giants to show their prowess beyond the land of Earth.
And needless to say what history has shown and taught is that the USSR dominated the first few years of the Space Race. The USA soon followed the developments and till today remains the most dominant country in Space Exploration.

In such a case let’s take a look at the greatest achievements of humans in space exploration sequentially and point wise.

1) Launch of Sputnik – 1
The first step of Mankind ever taken in space was by Sputnik 1. Launched on 4th October 1957, the satellite was almost equal to the size of a beachball. It was launched by the USSR to gain an upperhand on the USA in their proxy war. It was a historic day. The satellite was used to transmit radio signals. Its life span was short as it burned in the atmosphere just 3 months later.

Sputnik 1, first artificial satellite ever.

2) Animals in Space
The very first animal in Space was the man’s best friend, a dog. Laika was her name and she was launched in Sputnik 2. The launch was done by the USSR. Its launch was barely a month after the Sputnik 1 launch date. It was launched on 3rd November 1957. The mission was intended to study the effects on the body of a living thing in space. Though sadly Laika the dog died just a few hours into the flight due to overheating. It still achieved its intended target and provided us with vital information.

The first living being to go space ever, the female dog Laika.

Seeing rapid developments in Space Exploration, USA had to come up fast in equalling with their rivals. And so was NASA born in 1958.

3) Weather Satellites
Launched by USA in 1960 through TIROS-1, their use was to use satellite imaging and it’s data to predict weather. USA beat the USSR for the first time in space race by launching and discovering the uses of satellites.

4) 1st Human in Space
A feat first achieved by USSR by launching Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961. The Vostok 1 was responsible for carrying the first human in space. This feat resulted in USSR again getting an upperhand over the USA.

The first human to ever go to space, Yuri Gagarin.

It was yet sometime for the USA to establish itself as the the leading space explorer. But still, occasionally USA once or twice beat the USSR and got to know about its capabilities. The very next time when USA beat the USSR was while :-

5) Orbiting Earth
First person to orbit earth was of the USA, named John Glenn in 1962.

6) First Female to Space
It took 2 years from the the first man in space to launch a first woman in space. It was launched, like the previously by the USSR in 1963. The astronaut was Valentina Tereshkova. She made a 3 days space journey and was aboard the Vostok 6.

Valentina Tereshkova, first woman to space wearing band showing herself as USSR.

The fun fact about all the missions which included humans is that people never stepped out of their space capsules. This was about to change and it was going to be brought by the USSR.

7) Out of the Space Capsule
The first person to do it was Alexei Leonov, an astronaut from USSR. He took a space walk for approximately 12 minutes. He was aboard the Voskhod 2. During his walk he had tied a rope to his space suit from the capsule so that he would not drift away. This historic mission was carried launched on 18th March 1965.

Alexei Leonov becomes first person to do spacewalk

The next and the one of the greatest achievement to date was achieved by NASA. It is so significant that while talking about Space Exploration this remains the most talked about. Also, from this point achievement, the rise of USA’s space exploration is seen. While the USSR remains in power, it starts heading towards its dissolution.

8) “A small step for a man, but a giant leap for Mankind”.
Famous words of Neil Armstrong, this was said after he stepped on the Moon and became the first to do so. The legendary Apollo 11 carried the 3 US based astronauts to the moon and did what was just thought to be as of a dream. Many thought of it to be fake, but no it’s very real. This legendary mission was accomplished on 20th July 1969,
by stepiufb on the Moon. Credits for this mission are also majorly given to the former US Prez, John F Kennedy who was keen on space exploration.

USA astronaut after placing the US flag on the Moon.

All things discussed up until now are the most revolutionary achievements done by us, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. In just 12 years, mankind went from beachball sized satellites to actually landing humans on the surface of the moon. And from there we are just 4 years shy of getting to 6 decades old. A lot of time and this list is long.
And a single part won’t and can’t do justice to it, so there will be a Part 2, talking about new rising contenders and an unforgettable thing in our space. Let’s keep it a bit suspenseful. And be ready for Part 2, coming soon………