It all started on October 4th, 1957, the world watched in awe and fear as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, THE WORLDS FIRST man-made satellite, into space. This"little" metal ball, smaller than two feet in diameter, started a space race between the US and U.S.S.R. that would last for eighteen years and changed the world as we know it.
Sputnik was actually NOT the FIRST piece of human technology to enter space. That award goes to the V-2 rocket, used by Germany in missile attacks against allied cities as a last-ditch effort in the final year of World War 2. It wasn't very effective, but at the end of the war, both the US and the U.S.S.R. had captured the technology and the scientists that had developed it and began using them for their own projects. The US had barely managed to catch up, as Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space April 1961. But hard work, pays off, as they say. John Glenn was the first American in orbit in February 1962.
President Kenedy announced the goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. They succeeded in this through the Appolo program with Neil Armstrong taking his famous step on July 20, 1969.
I will not start a conspiracy debate...
Back to the...
Today in military history, 1975. The use spacecraft Apollo 18 and the Soviet vessel Soyuz 19 rendezvous in space.
The cold war was the time of tension for more than two decades, by the time the superpowers met in space, but the space crews were determined to break that friction. Seems like there was no need for it anymore.
When the hatches between the two vehicles were opened, the astronaut and cosmonauts warmly greeted each other as a global audience watched on television from the planet below. During the 45-hour Apollo-Soyuz embrace, the astronauts and cosmonauts conducted experiments, shared meals, had some fun and held a joint news conference as well.
30sec of joy, click to see the super powered handshake.
The Appolo-Soyuz mission was the final Apollo program mission.
AS THE FIRST HANDSHAKE IN SPACE, Apollo ended with hopes of peace and international cooperation. While it symbolically reflected the end of the space race for supremacy that began with the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957.
The mission was considered a great success, both technically and as a public-relations exercise for both nations, but they had some issues during reentry and splashdown of the Apollo craft. Some toxic fumes were sucked into the cabin of the craft.
It luckily all worked out at the end...
Celebrating historic handshake in space.
"THE Handshake" started 4 decades of space cooperation.
YOU PROBABLY WANNA KNOW WHO WON THE RACE for SUPREMACY?
We all won, everything and everything good made for our planet is a WIN. Some people will go full politics on me and would say this and that...
I dunnot care about who made the most of it, the US or the U.S.S.R. I know that we as humanity needed it, and we are all one "big" family at the end of the day... If the aliens come by...
Hope you enjoyed my post and until next time, take this thank you for upvoting or resteeming! Much love and bye!💕
