The+space+race+and+schools

=__**//Chris- The Space Race and the effect on Schools//**__= The Soviet Union was the first country to launch a satellite (Sputnik 1) in orbit around the Earth on October 1967. This satellite didn't have any actual purpose and fell out of orbit a month later. Then next month another satellite was launched carrying a dog. The dog was named Laika and was riding in Sputnik 2 which weighed over 1120 pounds. The purpose of this was to see the effect of space travel to people. Laika was hooked up with a lot of scientific equipment. When she took off into space her heart beat, increasingly sped up until the satellite got settled into orbit. Laika lived for about 3 days until she ran out of oxygen and was put to sleep harmlessly by the equipment.

The United States was taken by surprise on the Soviet Unions accomplishment. The United States desperately wanted to excel in their space program. The U.S. tried to launch a satellite in orbit in December of 1957 but the satellite exploded on lift-off. The next month, the U.S. launched the Explorer 1 successfully into orbit. After these satellite launches, the US and Russia both increased the engineering of manned flight in space. In April of 1961 Russia placed the first man in orbit, his name was Yuri Gagarin. Later in 1961 the US launched the first American, Alan Shephard, into space on an unreliable Red Stone Rocket that ended soon after take off.

With U.S. leadership clearly shaken by Russia's progress, President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) on May 25, 1961 proclaimed a national goal to land an astronaut on the moon by the end of the decade and safely return him to earth. The pronouncement came as a surprise even to many in the space program. With the moon identified as the finish line for the space race, a clearly difficult goal was publicly set. Later in 1961 John Glenn (1921-) became the first American to orbit the Earth successfully. Four more manned Mercury flights were followed by Project Gemini in March of 1965. Gemini, in its brief existence, introduced two-man space capsules, the first space walks, docking exercises, and more extended flight times. Project Apollo, The heart of the US lunar program, followed in late 1966. A tragic capsule fire in January of 1967, killed the first of three Apollo astronaut crews while sitting atop a missile on the launch pad. Then on Christmas Eve of 1968, the first Apollo mission to orbit the moon sent back spectacular pictures to Earth, again captivating the public. Soon afterwards, on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first humans to walk on the moon. An estimated half a billion people around the world watched the event 240,000 miles away on live TV, the space race was won.

The effects of the Space Race on schools was tremendous. Educators, government officials, and parents all lay the blame of "falling behind" on the quality of schools. The nation's educational system had become "too relaxed," "too lenient." It is now time to reverse the damage and return to the traditional studies of math, science, and reading. Quality education was perceived as vital to national defenses. From all sides came demands for higher standards in schools and colleges, more training in science and mathematics, better provisions for gifted students, and more study required for all students. A strong curriculum-revision movement started in 1958 in the field of mathematics. Reformers also called for improved instruction in foreign languages as well as various revisions in curricula, teaching methods, and requirements.

The importance of this topic is to show that the United States doesn't give up on something they think is important and in this case it is winning the space race. Winning the space race was important to America because many people were doubting the scientist that they wouldn't make something that would carry men to the moon.

**__MY SOURCES__**
Davis, Jennifer. "Curricula (1950s)." American Decades. Ed. McConnell, Tandy. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Thomson Gale. Cook Memorial Public Library. 6 Feb. 2007 <[|http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=SRC-1&docId=EJ2113101910&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=ccscm&version=1.0>.]

"Space Race." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Ed. Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. Student Resource Center - Gold. Thomson Gale. Cook Memorial Public Library. 5 Feb. 2007 <[|http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=SRC-1&docId=EJ1667500649&sourceSRCG&userGroupName=ccscm&version=1.0>.]

The Space Race Nathan Aseng Lucent books PO copy right 2002 San Diego, California