The 60's has to be the decade for man's greatest achievements in Space Exploration both in America and the USSR, but it was not to be all success and glory, there were many tragedies too.
However our story starts not in 1960 but on the 4th of October 1957 when USSR launched the worlds first satellite "Sputnik 1". This tiny satellite was only 60 centimetres in diameter and weighed just 83 kg. but was able to transmit data back to Earth for 21 days. "Sputnik 1" remained in space until the 4th January 1958 until its orbit decayed and it was burnt up on re-entry to Earth. "Sputnik 1" heralded what was to be the start of the "space race" which would end with man walking on the surface of the moon.
The Russians were quick to follow up their success and on the 3rd November 1957, "Sputnik 2" was launched. The worlds newspapers, radio and television carried the story of THE FIRST DOG IN SPACE. "Sputnik 2" contained Laika the dog, however Laika died long before the craft was destroyed on re-entry the following May, but it did transmit valuable data back to the Russians.
On the 31st January 1958 the Americans launched their first satellite from Cape Canaveral (later to be re-named Cape Kennedy) named "Explorer 1". The "space race" had now well and truly started. 1959 saw Russia launch no less than three space probes, Lunik 1, Lunik 2 and Lunik 3. Their tasks were to fly close to the moon and transmit photographs and data back to Earth. Unfortunately Lunik 1 missed the moon completely and ended up being the first artificial satellite of the Sun. Lunik 2 had no better luck either when it's guidance control systems failed and it became the first man made object to crash on the moon's surface. The third Russian probe Lunik 3 did however complete its mission and sent back to Earth the first photographs of the hidden side of the moon.
1960 saw both the US and the USSR launch many satellites. On the 1st April 1960 the US launched "Tiros 1" which was the first ever weather satellite which transmitted back clear photographs of the Earth's cloud cover. Next the US launched "Discoverer 13" which ejected a capsule on its 17th orbit. The capsule safely landed in the Pacific Ocean and was the first capsule to be recovered from space. The US also launched "Echo 1", a 30 metre diameter balloon which was the worlds first passive communications satellite. Meanwhile Russian dogs Beika and Streika become the first animals recovered from orbit having been returned from the capsule of "Sputnik 5."
1961 was the year of THE FIRST MEN IN SPACE. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made a one orbit trip on Vostok 1 on the 12th April. Not to be outdone America responded on the 5th May with Alan Shepard making a sub-orbital flight at a height of 116 miles above the Earths surface. The USSR was not to be outdone by this and on 6th August the second Russian cosmonaut, Gherman Titov began a 17 orbit, 24 hour flight in "Vostok 2."
By 1962 the space race had hotted up and 20th February saw the US Astronaut, John Glenn become the first American in orbit. John Glenn made 3 orbits in "Friendship 7", a Mercury rocket powered craft. April 26th, "Ranger 4" became the first US craft to reach the Moon and later in the year "Telstar 1" which was launched on the 10th July was the first commercial communications satellite to begin relaying TV Programs across the Atlantic Ocean. Despite of the vastness of space, USSR's "Vostok 3" piloted by Andriyan Nikolayev and "Vostok 4" piloted by Pavel Popovich, launched respectively on the 11th and 12th August had a near miss in space when they came within 4 miles of each other. The USSR also launched the first Mars probe but lost contact with it, and to end the year US probe "Mariner 2" returned the first close-range information on Venus.
1963 was a rather quite year for space exploration but the USSR dominated the media headlines by announcing that they put the first women in space, Valentina Tereshkova on the 16th June.
The USSR continued to dominate the space race in 1964 with the launch of "Voshkod 1" on the 12th October with Vladimir Komarov, Boris Yegorov and Konstantin Feokistov aboard. It was the first craft to be launched with more than one spaceman on board. "Voshkod 1" made 16 orbits before returning its occupants safely back to Earth.
1965 was the year of "The Space Walks". Alexei Leonov "walked" for 10 minutes from "Voskhod 2" on the 18th March and made history by being the first man to do so. The US launched their first manned Gemini test flight with astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young making 3 orbits in "Gemini 3". Later on Ed White makes history on 3rd June by taking the first American space walk from "Gemini 4." Further US space history was written on 16th December when Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford in "Gemini 6" made the first space rendezvous with "Gemini 7". The two craft came within 1ft (30 cm) of each other.
The USSR continued with space probes and on 31st January 1966, "Luna 9" makes a soft landing on the Moon and returns TV pictures from the Ocean of Storms. Luck however was not with the Russian probe "Venera 3" launched way back in November 1965, when it failed on 1st March to soft land on the planet Venus and impacts and is totally destroyed. Meanwhile the US add another chapter to their space exploration when Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott in "Gemini 8" dock in space with the unmanned Agena rocket on the 16th March. Later on the 30th May was America's first soft landing on the Moon by "Surveyor 1". The mission was highly successful with over 11,000 pictures transmitted back to Earth.
1967 was the year of THE FIRST SPACE DISASTERS when on the 27th January three American astronauts, Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chafee were killed in an Apollo 1 launch pad fire. On 24th April tragedy befell Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov when "Soyuz 1" crashed to Earth after a parachute failure. There was one achievement however when the Russian Venus probe reaches its destination on 17th October and starts to transmit information.
1968 saw further milestones in space travel for the USSR in the first recovery of an unmanned lunar probe, "Zond 5" from the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile US "Apollo 8" manned with Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders successfully complete 10 orbits of the Earth followed with a equally successfully re-entry and splash down.
By 1969 the question on everyone's lips was, who will be the first man to land on the Moon? But before that was to happen, on 15th of January the USSR enjoyed success with the first docking of two manned space craft (Soyuz 4 and 5) with the exchange of cosmonauts by means of a space walk. America was now preparing for the Moon landing that was to take place later that year, starting with the first manned flight of lunar module, James McDivitt, David Scott and Russell Schweickart in "Apollo 9"; and in May "Apollo 10" with Thomas Stafford, Eugene Cernan and John Young descend to within 6 miles of the Moon's surface. In this same month both Russian probes "Venera 5 and 6 soft land on Venus and start returning data.
On 21st of July 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon. 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'. were Neil Armstrong's famous words when he took that historic walk. "Apollo 11" had taken just 10 days from launch on the 16th July to reach the Moon. Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin descend to the moon's surface in the lunar module 'Eagle' leaving Michael Collins orbiting in the command module. The astronauts stay for 21 hours, 36 minutes and 21 seconds on the Moon, collecting soil and rock samples weighing 22kg and performing various experiments before blasting off to rejoin the command and service module and returning safely home to Earth. Later on the 14th of November, Charles Conrad, Alan Bean and Richard Gordon in "Apollo 12" also make a successful moon landing, with Conrad and Bean landing in the Ocean of Storms. They too made moon walks. In 1971 "Apollo 14" made the 3rd successful Moon landing, but that's another decade and another story.