Standard and Objective Stand 1: American History Concept 9: Postwar United States PO 2: Describe aspects of American post-World War II domestic policy: f. Space Race and technological developments Students will analyze the reasons behind the space race by comparing major events and the state of space travel today.

JFK and the Cold War Containing Communism

A “Flexible Response” Kennedy did not want to rely as heavily on nuclear weapons as Eisenhower had Instead he built up troops and conventional weapons along with expanding Special forces All in an effort to contain communism and show other nations that America and capitalism were strong

Helping Other Countries Kennedy especially wanted to help Latin America Created the Alliance for Progress -aid programs with Latin American governments to help their people. In 10 years the U.S. pledged $20 billion to help Latin American countries This money was supposed to be used for new schools, housing, health care, etc. This worked for some countries but in others the corrupt rulers pocketed the money

The Peace Corps Created by Kennedy Sends Americans to countries that ask for help Those in the Peace Corps would be assigned to a country for 2 years and help build schools, roads, provide medical care and teach English Still around today

Now For the Cool Stuff -The Space Race! Yuri Gagarin was the first man to orbit the earth -1961 He was a Russian Cosmonaut The Soviets had beaten the U.S. again in the space race The U.S. didn’t like this because it made Communism look stronger than Capitalism

But How Did the Russians Make Space Travel Safe? Dogs, lots of dogs Laika was a stray dog that was chosen for her small size and calm nature Chosen for what? She was sent into orbit in Sputnik 2 - this was 1957 before there was technology to land back on earth “Muttnik” didn’t make it

The U.S. Goes into Hyperdrive The U.S. freaked out and Kennedy pledged that the U.S. would put a man on the moon John Glenn was the first American put into orbit -1962 Then in 1968, using the most powerful rocket ever built, the Saturn V, Apollo was launched into orbit with three men on board and lunar module with enough force to send them to the moon

Apollo 11 July 16, 1969 the Apollo 11 took three astronauts to the moon Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”

Space Then and Now What is the future of space travel? It is probably going to have to be accomplished in the private sector