Exploring Space

The attention of many potential explorers turned towards Space after 1945. Many unmanned rockets were sent up into space. In 1947 the USA launched primates into Space- many other animals followed. July 1951, Dezik and Tsygan, two dogs were launched into space by the USSR.
The race to put man into space had begun. 10 years later on 12th April 1961 Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut became the first man in space.

The next race was to put the first man on the moon. On Wednesday 16th July 1969 Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket. On Sunday20th July 1969, in front of cameras for all of us back on Earth to watch, USA astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon. Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin was just steps behind. The third member of the crew Michael Collins stayed in the mother ship Columbia.

The next step was a manned space programme - the Space Shuttle Transportation System (SSTS). The idea was to create a spaceship with a payload bay which would be launched by a rocket and glide back to Earth to be used again. The idea of the payload was to release/collect communication satellites. On 2nd April 1981 Robert Crippen and John Young were on board when the Space shuttle Columbia was successfully.

2020 sheet on spaceflight events during the year.

On 11th July 2021 Richard Branson completed a successful suborbital space flight to reach the edge of space - the idea is to speed up journeys from continent to continent.

On 13th October 2021 William Shatner, of Star Trek fame as Captain Kirk aged 90, hitched a ride aboard a suborbital spacecraft to become the oldest person to ever travel to space.

Sheet on Future of Space exploration

Plus First/Beginning vocabulary, 2 best copy sheets plus blank comic strip.

Sources
A brief Illustrated History of space exploration
Encyclopedia of Great Explorers
wikipedia