| In 1952, the International Council of Scientific Unions | | | | the United States had chosen a fully reusable craft |
| (ICSU) announced the International Geophysical Year | | | | from the beginning on. |
| (IGY), a time span between July 1957 to December | | | | After these initial competitions between the two |
| 1958. This period was to be filled with numerous | | | | Superpowers about the firsts, like first satellite, first |
| scientific experiments and studies about Earth. It was | | | | man in space, first "space walk", both states soon |
| in 1955 that the Soviet Union surprised the world by | | | | targeted a new major goal: the moon. Although the |
| announcing the plan to orbit a satellite in the | | | | Soviets denied until its decline in 1991 all the time that |
| International Geophysical Year. As this was the time | | | | they had a moon program, the whole program is |
| of great rivalry between the United States and the | | | | clear today. Both countries depended with their |
| Soviet Union, US President Eisenhower promised that | | | | ambitious programs on large boosters: the Saturn V |
| the United States would orbit a satellite in this period | | | | on the US side and the N-1 on the Soviet side. Today |
| themselves. This was the start of the Space Race. | | | | one can say, that the N-1 was the only major failure |
| Both countries had missiles in development, | | | | of the Soviet or today Russian space program |
| Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). Their mission | | | | (beside the point, that not a single Mars probe ever |
| was the same on both sides: To deliver a single | | | | functioned as intended, if ever reaching Mars). |
| nuclear warhead over an intercontinental distance. But | | | | But it was a very serious duel. Both rivals took great |
| as the Soviet warhead was much heavier than the | | | | risks in achieving their goals. And as no one has luck |
| US one, the Soviets developed, from the beginning | | | | for all times, both had to mourn about first victims. |
| on, a stronger rocket, which showed very useful | | | | Vladimir Komarov died on the first manned flight of a |
| later in history for use as a space launcher. In the | | | | new capsule, the Soyuz 1. The United States |
| United States, the satellite should have been orbited | | | | lamented about the crew of Apollo 1, Ed White, |
| by an all-civil rocket, the Vanguard. | | | | Roger Chaffee and Virgil "Gus" Grissom. |
| Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union on | | | | But nonetheless the United States landed on the |
| October 4, 1957. It was a shock for the western | | | | moon in 1969 and after a third failure in trying to |
| hemisphere, all forth the United States. Not only that | | | | launch their super-rocket N-1 the Soviets cancelled |
| the Soviets had orbited a satellite, it was the mass | | | | their moon program. But this was not the end of the |
| that shocked the governmental authorities. Though | | | | Space Race. It seemed that the United States had |
| the Sputnik itself weighed only 84 kilograms, the third | | | | won, but the Soviets had an ace in the hole. They |
| stage of the rocket orbited the Earth as well. And | | | | switched from the exploration of the moon to a |
| this stage alone weighed about 7.5 tonnes. In | | | | completely different goal: manned space stations. |
| contrast, the US satellite, named like its launcher | | | | Salyut 1 was launched on April 19, 1971. The first |
| Vanguard, had a mass of only 1.36 kilograms and the | | | | crew that docked with the station, Soyuz 11, directly |
| rocket was more like a patchwork. Tauntingly said, | | | | achieved a new endurance record of 23 days, the |
| the Americans put every kind of rocket together | | | | obviously new goal of the Space Race. Sadly, the |
| they could find. Not that surprising that the maiden | | | | crew of Soyuz 11 died at re-entry due to an open |
| launched failed only a few seconds after lift-off. | | | | valve. |
| But in the progress of developing the first satellites, | | | | As the United States launched their first space |
| the United States slowly recognized their shortfall in | | | | station, Skylab, in 1973, the Soviet Union already had |
| rocket technology and allowed Wernher von Braun | | | | Salyut 2 in orbit and gained a lot of experience in long |
| and his Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) to | | | | time stays in microgravity and about operating space |
| reinforce a military Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile | | | | stations. But Salyut 2 was still a small station |
| (IRBM), the Redstone, with two additional stages, so | | | | compared to Skylab and had much in common with |
| that this launcher, now called Jupiter-C, was able to | | | | the first one of its name. So it was not very |
| deliver a small payload into orbit. The first US satellite, | | | | surprising that the first crew of Skylab set a new |
| Explorer 1, was successfully put into orbit on January | | | | endurance record in 1973. After the United States |
| 31, 1958. In the meantime, the Soviets had launched | | | | stopped their Apollo-based flights with the |
| a dog onboard Sputnik 2, a satellite with a mass of | | | | Apollo-Soyuz-Test-Project (ASTP) in 1975 to wait for |
| 508 kilograms. But already in this very early phase, | | | | their new Space Transportation System or Space |
| one difference showed up. | | | | Shuttle, the Soviet Union continued their space |
| While the Soviets were able to put large payloads | | | | station program with a steady pace. In regular |
| into orbit, their scientific payloads often suffered | | | | intervals, new stations were orbited and each of |
| under the backlog in electronics and the kind of the | | | | them incorporated improvements and new features. |
| academic landscape. Explorer 1, for example, although | | | | With Salyut 6, launched in 1977, the Soviets entered |
| weighing only a bit more than a kilogram, gave | | | | a new phase. This was the first station that had two |
| valuable information about a radiation belt around the | | | | docking ports, so it could be replenished by |
| Earth, later called the Van-Allen Belt after the | | | | unmanned cargo transports as well as receiving |
| professor who developed the instrument onboard | | | | guests on an additional Soyuz ferry. |
| the satellite. In contrast the Soviets had problems to | | | | The Space Race practically ended with the |
| exchange data and information as the whole space | | | | mothballing of Skylab but still both states walked |
| program was highly classified. | | | | somewhat side by side: both opened their |
| It soon became clear for both sides, that space flight | | | | spacecrafts to international guests. The Soviet Union |
| was a perfect environment to show their assumed | | | | started their Intercosmos program in 1978 with the |
| technological supremacy over each other. Both | | | | first flight of a Czech cosmonaut, Vladimir Remek, |
| thought that they could document the superiority of | | | | the Space Shuttle saw the first non-American to fly |
| their respective administrations. That's why both of | | | | in 1983, German Ulf Merbold. Although during the first |
| them early envisaged a manned space flight. The | | | | half of the 1980s the rivalry between both countries |
| Soviets approached their goal with a relatively simple | | | | grew over again, the signs of a new Space Race |
| solution. A sphere-shaped capsule with no possibility | | | | were only a short flame up: Neither the United States |
| for the spaceman to control or steer the craft. | | | | with their space station Freedom, nor the Soviet |
| On the other side of the Earth, the Americans had | | | | Union with their Shuttle-craft Buran had the will or |
| two concepts under investigation. They had a very | | | | money to push these programs through. |
| successful experimental flight program, the X-15. One | | | | With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, a new era |
| option was to develop a next evolutionary step of | | | | was to become reality. US-built rockets like the Atlas |
| this craft, the reusable like a plane X-20. First to be | | | | flew with Russian-built engines. The Space Shuttle |
| carried under a Mach-3 bomber, the B-70, up the | | | | docked with the Mir space station and Americans |
| atmosphere to fly ballistic flight profiles. Later the | | | | stayed for 6 months onboard the station while |
| craft should have been fitted onto a Titan rocket in | | | | Russian cosmonauts flew on the Shuttle. And today |
| order to fly orbital missions. As the realisation of this | | | | we have the International Space Station ISS. |
| program would have taken a long time, it was | | | | But this was only the end of the first part: A new |
| decided to initiate the "Man in Space Soonest" | | | | Space Race already waited on the horizon. To be |
| program, that later became the Mercury project. The | | | | more precise, not only one, but instead three Space |
| X-20 was kept alive for a few years as an Air Force | | | | Races would soon become reality. |
| program but was then cancelled. One can only | | | | Watch out for the next parts of the Space Race. |
| speculate how space flight would have developed if | | | | |