10
Math
The
Race for
Space
NASA/TIMEPIX
Jupiter's moon Europa
(taken by Voyager)
RALPH MORSE/TIMEPIX
John Glenn
HULTON ARCHIVE
1961
A Soviet astronaut is the first person to orbit—or go around—Earth.
A month later the U.S. sends its first American into space.
1962
John H. Glenn, Jr. rides the Mercury 6 to become the first American
to orbit Earth.
1965
The first person to walk in space is a Soviet astronaut. He spends
20 minutes outside his spacecraft.
1967
Moving at a speed of 30,000 kilometers per hour, Gemini 6 and
Gemini 7 become the first spacecraft to come together in space.
1969
Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to step on the moon.
1970
U.S. astronauts head again for the moon. But an accident ends their
mission. They safely return to Earth.
1975
The Soviet Union and the U.S. are not friendly on Earth. But they
work together in space as their spacecraft dock with each other.
Americans and Russians work together on science experiments.
1981
The space shuttle Columbia makes its first flight. It is the first
spacecraft that can be used over and over again.
1986
The Challenger space shuttle explodes soon after it takes off. This
same year the Russians send the Mir space station into orbit.
1993
The Hubble Space Telescope pictures are fuzzy. The crew from a
space shuttle fix the telescope.
1996
Shannon Lucid spends 188 straight days on Mir. She sets the
U.S. record for time in space.
1998
The U.S., Russia, and other nations begin building the International
Space Station. It will be completed by 2006.
Space shuttle Columbia
taking off
HULTON ARCHIVE
10
NASA/TIMEPIX
Math
Hubble Telescope
The space age began in 1957. That’s when Russia (then
called the Soviet Union) launched a satellite called
Sputnik I. For years after that launch, Americans and
Russians raced against each other to be the “best” in
space. Today, Russia, the U.S., and other nations join
together to explore space. Here are some of the most
important moments in the history of manned space flight.
2001 An American pays $20 million to spend a week on the International
Space Station. He is the first space tourist.
Shannon Lucid
ic20
Exploring Nonfiction—Level 3
© TIME For Kids
10
Comprehension
Connection
Before Reading
1. What do you know about the
space age and space travel?
2. What do you think this time
line can show? How do you
read a time line?
3. How does this time line
remind you of other time lines
you have read? How is it
different?
During Reading
1. How many years after the first
space flight did it take for
humans to get to the moon?
2. When did space shuttles start
being used?
3. What terms are important for
you to know in order to
understand this information?
Why?
Math
Skill Focus
Following Chronological Events
A time line is a great way to show the progress of
an age or a movement. Dates of important events are
laid out along a line. A label and a short description
tell you what happened on each date.
Because the dates are in chronological, or time,
order, it is easy to follow along. You can see what
happened first, what happened next, and so on. This
order helps you understand how earlier events lead to
or help cause later events.
For example, the first space shuttle was launched
in 1981. It could be sent into space over and over
again. After 1981, you can see that space crews spent
longer amounts of time in space and did more work. It
became possible to build a space station.
You can also see how much time went by between
important events. For example, in 1961 and 1962, a
Soviet astronaut orbited Earth, an American was shot
into space, and John Glenn orbited Earth. These
events happened very close together. The United
States and the Soviet Union were enemies at the time.
They were both working hard and fast to be the first
and best in the space race.
Writer’s World
After Reading
1. How are the space events of
the 1960s different from those
of the 1990s? What different
goals does each event show?
2. How does the time line tell you
that the United States and the
Soviet Union became more
friendly?
3. Where did this information
probably come from? Is it
correct? Why do you think so?
Level 3
1. Research one of the events on the
time line. Write a newspaper
article about the event as though
it has just happened. Tell who,
what, when, where, why, and how.
Predict what it will mean for the future.
2. Imagine what important events might happen
next in the space age. Add these events to the
time line.
3. Pretend you are at one of the events on the time
line. Write a journal entry about what happened.
Tell how you think the event will advance the
space age.
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