The Space Race

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to G. Card A, a summary in our words: Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, was the first artificial satellite to circle the Earth. It weighed about 184 pounds. The launch surprised many Americans, and it added to Cold War fears in the United States that the Soviet Union was ahead in technology. Card B, a summary in our words: on October 9, 1957, the White House released a statement by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It congratulated Soviet scientists. It said the United States satellite program was a scientific project planned for the International Geophysical Year, and that it was not a race. Card C, a summary in our words: on January 31, 1958, a Jupiter-C rocket carried Explorer 1, the first American satellite to reach orbit, into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Space Act became law on July 29, 1958. It says a civilian agency should direct most space work, and work that is mainly military or about defense stays with the Department of Defense. NASA opened for business on October 1, 1958. Card D, a summary in our words: the Soviet Union launched Yuri Gagarin into orbit on April 12, 1961. On April 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson to survey where the United States stood in space. Kennedy asked whether the country had a chance of beating the Soviets with a space laboratory, a trip around the Moon, or a rocket that would take a person to the Moon and back. Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the first American in space on May 5, 1961, on a flight that went up and came back down. Card E, a summary in our words: on May 25, 1961, President Kennedy spoke to a joint session of Congress about urgent national needs. He asked the nation to commit itself to landing a person on the Moon and returning safely before the decade was out. He gave an estimate of $7 billion to $9 billion in added costs for the space program over five years. Card F, a list in our words of NASA appropriations by fiscal year (a year ending June 30), in millions of dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation: FY 1959, 330.9; FY 1960, 523.6; FY 1961, 964.0; FY 1962, 1,824.9; FY 1963, 3,673.0; FY 1964, 5,099.7; FY 1965, 5,249.7; FY 1966, 5,174.9. An appropriation is money Congress makes available, not money spent. Card G, a summary in our words: on February 20, 1962, John H. Glenn Jr. flew the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7 around the Earth three times, the first American to orbit. On February 21, 1962, Soviet Chairman Nikita Khrushchev sent President Kennedy a message congratulating the United States and saying the two countries could cooperate in space. Kennedy replied the same day, welcomed the idea and said his officials would prepare proposals for joint projects.

2. 1.

   Ari reads card A. Which claim does it support about how Americans reacted to Sputnik 1?

   • Many saw the launch as a sign the Soviets might lead in technology
   • Most Americans quickly called for a Moon landing to answer the Soviet satellite
   • Americans took the launch calmly, since it was a scientific event for the International Geophysical Year
   • Americans blamed their own scientists, since the launch surprised many of them
3. 2.

   Card B calls the US satellite program a scientific project and "not a race." Bo asks if that contradicts card A's Cold War fears.

   • Yes; B shows the President was not worried, and A shows the public was, so they disagree
   • Yes; one of the two cards must be false, so neither can be used as evidence
   • No; B is the President's public description, and A reports reactions
   • No; B shows the fears were groundless, since the US program was already planned
4. 3.

   Card B summarizes a statement released to the press. What can Esme not learn from it?

   • What the President and his advisers privately thought, since it was made for the public
   • What the White House said in public, since a press statement is not a record of speech
   • Which international scientific year the program was planned for, since the card does not say
   • Whether the White House congratulated Soviet scientists, since a summary leaves such details out
5. 4.

   Card F shows appropriations rising from FY 1959 to FY 1965. Kira says that shows steady public enthusiasm for space. What does the list support?

   • A very large rise in money Congress made available, but not public enthusiasm
   • A rise driven by the Moon goal alone, since FY 1962 to FY 1963 doubled after May 1961
   • A rise that peaked in FY 1966, so enthusiasm was highest in that year
   • A steady rise each year, which shows steady public enthusiasm over the period
6. 5.

   Card E gives $7 billion to $9 billion in "added costs" over five years. Milo asks how that compares with the yearly amounts on card F.

   • It is a single year's appropriation, so it matches the FY 1966 figure on card F
   • It is extra money on top of NASA's budget, so it cannot be set beside the F amounts
   • It is the full NASA budget for the five years, so it should equal the sum of the F amounts
   • It is money NASA had spent already, so it should match the amounts in card F
7. 6.

   Card G says Khrushchev and Kennedy exchanged messages on February 21, 1962. Which claim do the messages support, Noah asks?

   • The United States was ready to share its space program, since Kennedy welcomed the idea
   • The competition between the two countries had ended by February 1962
   • The two countries began a joint space project in the month of the messages
   • Both leaders would discuss joint space projects while still competing
8. 7.

   Which item would a historian count as a primary source for Kennedy's request of May 25, 1961, Pia asks?

   • Card E, a summary in our words, since it gives the cost estimate he stated
   • A newspaper article from 1961 on his message, since it was written at the time
   • A school textbook's account of the message, printed in the year 2010
   • His message to Congress as printed in the Congressional Record in 1961
9. 8.

   Card C says a civilian agency would direct most space work while mainly military work stayed with Defense. What conclusion is fair, Ren asks?

   • The Act split space work by purpose, but the card does not say why Congress chose that split
   • The Act took power from the military in space, since NASA was created to replace it
   • Congress wanted to keep the military out of space, since civilians got most of the work
   • The split was meant to calm Soviet fears, since a civilian agency looks less threatening
10. 9.

    Card F shows FY 1966 a little below FY 1965. A student says interest in space was fading. What reply is fair, Tala asks?

    • The dip shows Congress was cutting NASA, since an appropriation falls just when Congress cuts it
    • The dip shows fading interest, since later years on card F fall too
    • The dip means nothing, since appropriations are not money spent
    • One small dip in unadjusted dollars cannot show fading interest; it needs more years
11. 10.

    A note says "Explorer 1 was launched to win the race to the Moon." What does Zee point out from cards C and E?

    • Explorer 1 flew in January 1958, over three years before Kennedy's Moon goal
    • Explorer 1 was a crewed flight like Shepard's, so it belongs to the Moon program
    • Explorer 1 was launched by the Soviet Union, so the note names the wrong country
    • Explorer 1 flew after Apollo 11, so it could not have been part of a race