Lunar+Missions+By+Griff+Kell

 Lunar Missions    By: Griffin  K.     With the first artificial satellites sent into space the next goal of both the Unites  States  and the <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">Soviet Union <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> was to send probes to the moon. The <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">United States <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> was still feeling the pressure from the Soviets when they beat the <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">United States <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> into space with Sputnik so the <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">United States <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> was more determined than ever to get a probe to the moon first. Once again as before the Soviet Union beat the United States by getting their space probe Luna I to the vicinity of the moon first. The <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">Soviet Union <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> wasn’t done there however, with their Luna II space probe the <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">Soviet Union <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> was able to get the first space probe to land on the moon. After this second humiliation the <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">United States <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> began a series of space programs that would take the first human to the moon. Most notably of these space programs was the Apollo program. In order to get the revenue for these space programs the <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">United States <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> government had to get the approval of the senate and the American people. In 1963 President John Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson where able to gain support for the Apollo missions which would quickly capture the attention of the American public. The public support increased 53% from 1963-1965 and by this time nearly five Apollo missions had already been completed. With the Apollo missions the Americans became the first to send people within the vicinity of the moon and also the first to have a crew of astronauts orbit the moon. The next and final step was to have a successful lunar landing and having people walk on the moon. The whole time that the Americans where completing their successful Apollo missions the Soviets were going through a transitional stage in leadership and the government was very reluctant to spend money on a program they saw that was doomed to fail. Also the Soviets had recently lost the father of the Soviet Space program in Korolev and national space hero Yuri Gagarin. By 1969 the <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">United States <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> was ready to send their astronauts to space with the intention of having them land on the moon. On <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">July 21, 1969 <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> one day after the crew of Apollo 11 landed on the surface of the moon they were ready to take their first steps on the surface of the moon. Lead by the team commander Neil Armstrong the crew stepped of the lunar landing vessel and took their first steps on the moon. With nearly 500 million people watching around the world the <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">United States <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> had succeeded where the Soviets had failed by having the first men walk on the moon. The lunar landing was a huge accomplishment in human history and was marked by Neil Armstrong’s famous quote “One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial">