On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite and caught America and the whole world off guard. This was the Soviet's first push in the historical "Space Race." There was great fear surrounding this launch; a certain question was on everyone's minds, could the Soviets send Nuclear weapons with ballistic missiles from Europe to the U.S.? Even before the U.S. could respond the Soviets launched Sputnik II carrying an increased payload and the first dog in space named Laika, it seemed the U.S. space program would never catch up. In order for the U.S. to win the Space Race they would have to succeed in putting a man in earth orbit, but it was on April 12, 1961 just four years after sputnik was launched, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin went into earth orbit edging out the United States' chance to pu

The three were strapped snuggly in the Columbia Command Module with Commander Neil Armstrong settled in the left couch. In just a short while Lunar Pilot Buzz Aldrin eased in the center couch, and last but not least Mike Collins was strapped in the right couch, and the hatch was sealed. All three astronauts were ready to go, but still had an hour and a half until count down.

Their suits were then pumped up to 19 pounds per square inch of pure oxygen, checked for leaks, and for the next three hours, they had to get all the nitrogen out of their blood stream so they wouldn't get the bends in space. There last four hours on earth were spent with NASA personnel, until it was time to ride the transfer van to the pad in the early morning light.

"The official viewing site was home to over 75,000 visitors from all over the world to watch the launch. The launch was the most dangerous part of the whole mission. It was possible that if any part of the huge Saturn V. rocket touched the launch tower during the first twelve seconds the rocket could be knocked off balance causing the fuel in the rocket to explode. With 5,000 specialists, and engineers looking over every detail even the pulse rates of the three astronauts, they were on their way to the one goal the late President Kennedy sought after; they were going to the moon. Paul Donnelly the launch manager, gave the announcement, "Good luck and God speed from the launch crew." A second later there was a response from Armstrong, "thank you very much." (Smith 9).

Our goal was finished we safely landed a man on the moon. We have proven that our heroes were successful in leading us on a great journey through the first stage of space exploration, but were will we land next will a new president lead us on a journey to mars? Will there be new heroes to look up to? Only time will tell.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Paul Donnelly, James Webb, Joe Schmitt, Mike Collins, Eagle Smith, Space Administration, Space Race, Buzz Neil, Deke Slayton, Hugh Dryden, earth orbit, lunar module, saturn rocket, lunar surface, command module, james webb, apollo 11, lunar pilot buzz, space race, space apollo, pilot buzz aldrin, huge saturn, commander neil armstrong, faster speed sound,
Approximate Word count = 1922
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)