The_Moon_Landing

The Moon Landing The day was July 20, 1969 and the first human had walked on the moon. During the cold war era (1961-1970) the United States pumped billions of dollars into its NASA program with the sole goal of landing on the moon. With its goal came consequences. On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched its first Sputnik. It carried 184 pounds of scientific equipment into earth orbit. A month later, Sputnik 2 was launched with a living passenger, Laika the dog. Spurred by its newfound rival, the United States accelerated its space program. Within 11 years, the Americans had successfully completed a moon launch. In 1961, NASA was still a massively military operation. Astronauts were not even considered civilians, carrying military IDs and all the pros and cons of a citizen in uniform. Vice President Lyndon Johnson was the chief supporter of the moon landing attempts during the time period, and later was followed by his presidential counterpart, John F. Kennedy. By 1965, the United States was far ahead of the USSR in space technology and accomplishment. At the time, a push for a nonmilitary goal such as a moon landing would apollo, space, moon, landing, nasa, america, war, united, military, manned, lunar, launched, flight, america’s, states, program, cold, americans, ultimately, russians, new, mercury, later, astronauts, years, two, time, successfully, spacecraft, race, project, orbital, one, launch, johnson