1. Based on the novel, Rocket Boys, By Homer Hickam

2. 1865-1926 French Author, Jules Verne, published From the Earth to the Moon This book inspired the idea of rocketry

3. 1932 Germans were most successful in their rocketry achievements Wernher von Braun was a key leader in this area Von Braun was working on a series of more powerful rockets than the V-2 to fire at the United States

4. End of WWII Von Braun surrendered to American forces He later wanted to help the US build a rocket- based space program

5. 1945 Although the Soviet Union had been allies during WWII, the US and the USSR (Soviet Union) became deadly enemies They kept the atomic bomb a secret from the USSR

7. What the US did not Know… The USSR had their own atomic bomb! 1933 Sergei Korolev launched a rocket that reached over 1,300 He designed the world’s first satellite, known as Sputnik I

8. Mid 1950s The US and the USSR developed ballistic missiles that could carry atomic bombs This meant that the nuclear warheads could be launched from planes or submarines If one superpower used their weapons, then the other could retaliate, threatening the entire world with destruction

10. October 4, 1957 The Soviet government announced that it had launched the world’s first satellite, named Sputnik I

12. October 1, 1958 NASA was formed as a reaction to Sputnik I and the space race This helped relieve the military of keeping up with the space race to the moon and made space a national priority

13. April 9, 1959 The Mercury program was developed through NASA to put the first man on the moon

14. April 12, 1961 The Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin was launched into orbit He became the first human to go into outer space This humiliated the US

15. May 25, 1961 President Kennedy set a goal...

16. The US Challenge Continues

17. “The Eagle has landed” July 20, 1969

18. First Man on the Moon?