America as Country of Technological Inventions: Space Race

America has been built on technological inventions. The U.S. and the Soviet Union were still neck and neck with one another to see who would be the first country to claim outer space. The two countries sent rockets and explorers into space. However, one of the special goals they shared was getting the first people to the moon. In 1963, Americans wondered if the death of the president would also mean the death of the country's space program. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took over as the leader of the nation. Lyndon quickly announced that the space program would continue as planned.

When the final Gemini flight ended in 1966, the U.S. was able to take all the information they had gathered and built an even better rocket and larger space crafts. Americans are paned at the Apollo missions next. For a while, it seemed the space program might never be a real success. In January of 1967, three astronauts died when their Apollo one space capsule caught fire. The deaths of Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. NASA stopped all space missions for months. Late in 1968, the U.S. launched the Apollo 8 spacecraft.

Onboard, the astronauts prepared to be the first to exit the Earth's orbit. The rocket was able to get near the moon and orbit it 10 times, although it did not set down on the moon. Thanks to the success of Apollo 8, President Kennedy's commitment to put a man on the moon seemed within reach. On July 16, 1969, a huge rocket was launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida. The spaceship was as large as a 28-story building and right on top was the Apollo 11.

Three astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins, were ready to do what humans have never done before. They would land on the moon and make America the winner of the space race. One of the best moments in history happened. On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 lunar module landed on the moon. Leader Neil Armstrong stepped down the ship's ladder and onto the surface of the moon. “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.The landing and return trip home to Earth went without any incidents.

The United States was honored to claim they were the first to land on the moon. Between 1969 and 1972 the country sent 6 manned missions to the moon. 12 men walked on the crust of the moon. The nation seemed to stop and celebrate to end as the country experienced one of the most troubling ears.