Slide

1 (Ranjana)

It is the year 1958, the world is recovering from second world war, and the 2 super powers US and USSR
are fighting a battle to establish their supremacy. Apart from fighting on the economic, political and
ideological front the war has even stretched to the extra-terrestrial race to establish supremacy beyond
the boundaries of our planet.

It was a different time back then; USSR was leading the technological front.

They were the first to put a satellite in space- The Sputnik

This cute dog ‘Laika’

The first man and the first woman

And also the first successful spacewalk.

The then president, Eisenhower, was opposed to an all-out effort to reach the moon.

But the, US elected their youngest president for the Oval Office,

John F. Kennedy. Perhaps the best president that ever was.

And then this happened.

VIDEO
Slide 2 (Aditya)

US had single goal to get ahead of USSR,

JFK has set the national goal of landing astronauts on the moon and returning them safely to earth
before the decade was over.

The finish line was set to 1970. However, now the vital question was “where to start”.

A 4 year old organization, NASA was commanded to shoulder this responsibility.

However, this required the contribution of every American citizen. Their president had shown them a
novel dream.

The preparation began, the first challenge was to leave Earth’s Gravity. Easy? Right? (Use Sarcastic
Voice)

However, the real challenge was to return back safely. The mission could not be allowed if the US
government wasn’t satisfied that the second challenge could not be completed, which was returning the
astronauts safely back to Earth.

Slide 3 (Abhishek)

The Soviets had tasted initial success. They had convinced their premier Nikita Khrushchev to fund an
all-out program to put a Soviet man on the moon. Unlike their American counterparts, the USSR were
ruthless and they only cared about their final goal. The means didn’t matter.

Soviets had started testing their N1 rocket long before Kennedy’s challenge. They had Korolev; their
Chief Designer, the father of practical astronautics to lead them. Unlike US which had a single point of
command in NASA, the Soviet Union had multiple agencies working on satellites. But there was a tussle
for power between Khrushchev and Korolev, politics vs science.

In 1964, Khuruschev fell and Korolev’s path became easier. However, it was too late, two precious years
had been lost.

Slide 4 (Rohan)

It’s the year 1967 and the USSR had an ambitious plan. Soyuz 1 was the first manned spaceflight of the
Soviet Space Program.

The mission was complex. It involved a Rendezvous with Soyuz 2 while in space and an exchange of crew
members.

The date of launch was set as 23rd April 1967. Prior to that, Soyuz 1 engineers had reported 203 design
faults.

However, their concerns were overruled by the political pressure for a series of space achievements to
mark the anniversary of Lenin’s birthday. The pilot knew this. He knew his chances of returning back
were bleak, close to none. He could have refused and in his place Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space
would have had to go. His death would have meant the death of a national hero. The pilot was aware of
this. The passion to achieve for his country defeated logic. He went, never to return, the first fatality of
the great race to the moon.

His name was Vladimir Komarev. His last words while plummeting to earth were to his wife instructing
her on how to raise their children. He died while re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.

Slide 5 (Disha)

It was a clear afternoon. Thousands had flocked to the Kennedy Space center on July 16, 1969 to witness
the launch of the Apollo 11 space capsule. 4 days later on July 20th, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and
Michael Collins began their descent and 3 hours later landed on the moon. It was a historic day.

US had lost the battles but won the war.

Man had overcome a great challenge through sheer perseverance. It was then Neil Armstrong summed
up the Apollo 11 mission and uttered the beautiful words- “That’s one small step for man, one giant
leap for mankind”. The entire world celebrated their success. This moment had united the human race.

3 days later the Soviet Union sent a letter of congratulations.

John F Kennedy who was assassinated in 1963 would have been one proud man.


Slide 6 (Aayesha)

In its relentless pursuit to establish supremacy, US didn’t cease its endeavors here.

There were 5 more landings on the surface of moon in the subsequent years between 1969 and 1972.
13 humans have taken a walk on the moon and Apollo 17 marked the final lunar mission by NASA. It
was the last time humans travelled to another celestial body. The sheer cost of a programme and the
concentration on Mars has prevented more missions.

It has been 57 years since Kennedy made that historic speech and USSR has still not put a man on the
moon. Some races are worth running only if you emerge victorious.

The only nation in the world to have put its flag in the lunar soil is the United Nations.

US won this race and began the era of the unipolar world.

Slide 7

The way forward is full of challenges and difficulties for both cosmonauts and Scientists.

By 2020, NASA plans to use the Orion crew-vehicle to send humans to deep space locations such as near
earth asteroids and Mars.

Many new countries have joined the foray for space exploration.

Space agencies like ISRO have set new standards of efficient and inexpensive technologies to reach the
outer space and India has emerged one of the flag bears in the pursuit of extra-terrestrial knowledge
and the day is not far when we too achieve the impossible.