Did anything went in space before sputnik
Answers
Fifty years ago, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, giving the Soviet Union a huge victory in its Cold War space race against the United States. But experts say it didn't have to happen that way.
American astronaut Alan Shepard probably could have reached space before April 12, 1961, when Gagarin launched into orbit . Similarly, the United States likely could have put a satellite into Earth orbit before the Soviets, whose October 1957 launch of Sputnik 1 shocked America and set the space race in motion.
Some key decisions conspired against such a chain of events. The result: American technological pride took a serious beating twice in four years.
AdvertisementBut as it turned out, the two stunning defeats didn't demoralize the United States. Rather, they lit a fire under the American space program, paving the way for its crowning achievement — putting a man on the moon in 1969. [Giant Leaps: Top Milestones of Human Spaceflight]
"In some ways, Sputnik and Gagarin were like gifts to NASA," said noted space historian Asif Siddiqi of Fordham University, who has written several books about the Soviet space program and the space race. "You're not going to have a moon program without that kind of a shock."
"Alan's Night"?
April 12 is known around the world as "Yuri's Night," to celebrate the cosmonaut and his historic achievement. But if the United States had been a little less cautious, every March might see a celebration of "Alan's Night" instead. [Video: Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space]
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