The Space Race changed history, but it began with a launch that stunned the world. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union sent Sputnik into orbit, kicking off a race that would push the United States to attempt something that had never been done before: sending humans into space.
What was it like in those early years, creating a space program from scratch? For this episode of Who Else Loves History? our team of history lovers travels back to the years 1957 to 1963 to share stories of that time as the space race was just beginning and the heat of competition was as almost as intense as the heat of re-entry. Our host,Tim Gore, explores the Mercury Years outside the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, following the remarkable people and moments that helped make American spaceflight possible.
Experience the world’s shocked response to Sputnik’s launch. See archival footage of early Soviet missions. Meet six McDonnell aircraft engineers who worked on the Mercury program and were part of the launch team for each Mercury mission, and discover the challenges of designing, building, and testing America’s first space ships. Go inside the capsule with John Glenn on his historic flight orbiting the earth. From the launch of Sputnik to the final Mercury recovery, this is the story of the early days of America’s race into space.
Content Breakdown for the Episode:
- 00:00 to 02:35–Introduction and Space Race Overview
- 02:36 to 05:25–Sputnik Launch: The Cold War Crisis
- 05:26 to 10:19–Intense Rivalry of the Early Space Race
- 10:20 to 15:24–Mercury Engineers: Dealing with Technology of the Time
- 15:25 to 23:26–Designing and Building the Mercury Capsule
- 23:27 to 28:32–Astronaut Training & Engineering Constraints
- 28:33 to 38:05–High Stakes of Mercury Launch Procedures
- 38:06 to 38:44–Gus Grissom’s Liberty Bell 7 Splashdown Controversy
- 38:45 to 42:56–John Glenn’s Historic Friendship 7 Flight
- 42:57 to 44:59–JFK’s Moon Challenge and Mercury Engineer Reflections
- 45:00 to 46:02–Closing Credits and Legacy
Quick Ideas for Using the Video with Students:
1. Provide the video to students doing independent projects on the space race, space exploration, or related topics.
2. Use the video in a flipped learning activity and have students come to class prepared to share two insights gained by watching the video and two questions they’d like answered through their own or class research.
3. Use the video as part of your study of American life in the 1950s and/or 60s and/or the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Why do students think Americans were so shocked and worried by the launch? How did that potentially feed into and/or reflect the fear of communism in the country at the time?
4. Use the video as part of a unit on space exploration to spur additional student research on topics and events highlighted in the video.
5. Use the video as an example of how primary sources (both interviews and archival footage) can influence and impact student understanding of historic events. What is student reaction to the engineers and their description of their work? How do their stories influence student understanding of the challenges, opportunities, and worries faced by Americans as the space race was beginning.
