Landing a man on our moon has always been a dream of the entire world. President Kennedy had shown the world that this dream could become a reality. It was the mission of Apollo 11 to land two men on the moon, and then return them safely to Earth. As we look back in time this was amongst the most memorable accomplishments of mankind. This demonstrates what man can do with perseverance and unbreakable determination, along with much research, time and resources. The "space race" started with the Sputnik satellite. The U.S. put a man on the moon to complete and finish this race to the moon.
The Soviet Union initiated this "space race." The first step in sending a man to the moon was sending a satellite into space. History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union effectively propelled Sputnik I. "The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball, weighed only 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race." (Garber Steve) For many years after this, the United States and Soviet Union were deadlocked in a race to put a man on the moon. January 31, 1958, the United States successfully launched Explorer I, which put the U.S. in the lead in this "space race". The Soviet Union spent many years creating and planning for the Sputnik satellite to land on the moon. "This satellite carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth, named after principal investigator James Van Allen. The Explorer program continued as a successful ongoing series of lightweight, scientifically useful spacecraft."(Garber Steve) Before this no one has seen a close up picture of the moons surface, this discovery helped the U.