Sealed inside a tiny capsule in the rocket's nose, 125 feet above ground, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was alone with his thoughts and fears. Gagarin was soon going to be the first man in space, yet he also knew it was quite possible that he would never return to Earth alive. At 9:07 AM, all preflight checks were completed and the final commands were given: "Hold… ignition… switch to launch… lift-off!"
Thirty-two engines ignited simultaneously, generating 1.1 million pounds of thrust. "We're off!" Gagarin exclaimed. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, the rocket climbed into the heavens.
By noon of April 12, 1961, the world was introduced to Yuri Gagarin, the first in space [Undoubtedly, NASA officials winced every time they heard that name] The space race had begun and the Soviets were evidently well ahead of the Americans. Not only had the Soviets sent the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit, but they also sent the first man into space. Texas senator Lyndon B. Johnson declared, " I for one, don't want to go to bed by light of a communist moon."
The space race was a political war as well as a scientific one. Each country was trying to prove that their government was more effective than the other [while in reality, they were just spending each other out]. In the process, the two countries spent vast resources on their space programs and spurred development to a neck-breaking speed.
On May 24, 1961, President John F. Kennedy made his historic speech in which he stated, "I believe that the United States should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely back to Earth." In the following, you will witness the power and effect of rivalry between the two superpowers in the form of space development.
