space race
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Sputnik 1(USSR) Explorer 1(U.S)
The
SPACE
RACE
The USSR's launch of Sputnik, the first man made object to orbit the earth, put pressure on the US to catch up in the space race. "On October 4, 1957, a soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched sputnik, the first human made object to be placed in Earth orbit"( Collins 7). Sputnik1 was launched on October 4, 1957, from a R-7 rocket (Wikipedia sputnik 1 p.2). This was the world's first artificial satellite to be put in orbit. Sputnik1 lasted in orbit in space for 92 days before it re entered the Earths atmosphere on January 4, 1958 and crashed into the earth's surface.
The U.S Jupiter-C launched America's first satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31st, 1958. It was designed by the Von Braun team and built by the U...