http://www.history.com/photos/space-race en Copyright 2013, History.com Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT History.com 2013-05-22T04:00:00Z en Copyright 2013, History.com http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo1 The Soviet Union launched the first Sputnik satellite on October, 4 1957, ushering in the age of space exploration and kicking off an intense space race with the United States. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo1 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo2 An illustrated post card celebrating the launches of Sputnik I and II, in 1957. The card reads: 4 October, the USSR launched Earth's first artificial satellite. 3 November, the USSR launched Earth's second artificial satellite. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo2 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo3 In 1962, President Kennedy delivered a speech that ramped up the space race, uttering the famous lines, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo3 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo4 On April 12, 1961 the Soviet Union scored another milestone in the space race when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the earth. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo4 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo5 On May 5th, 1961, three weeks after Gagarin's orbit, the United States responded to the Soviet challenge by launching the first American, Alan Shepard, into space. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo5 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo6 President John F. Kennedy presents astronaut Alan Shepard with the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for completing the first American manned space flight. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo6 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo7 Astronaut John Glenn inside the Mercury-Atlas 6 Friendship 7 spacecraft during his historic mission to orbit the earth. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo7 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo8 John Glenn rides in a parade with his family and Vice President Lyndon Johnson on February 26, 1962, after he sucessfully orbited the Earth. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo8 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo9 Edward H. White completed the first spacewalk in U.S. history on June 3, 1965. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo9 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo10 Astronaut Neil Armstrong in April 1969, while training for the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo10 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo11 Apollo 11, the first mission to land on the moon, blasts off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo11 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo12 Astronaut and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin stands beside an American flag placed on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo12 http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo13 President Nixon greets the Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin, as they sit in a quarantine unit after their return from space. http://www.history.com/photos/space-race/photo13