Turning point
The Space Race began with the launch of Sputnik, and from then on it did nothing but heat up. The launch of Sputnik did give the Soviets a lead, but The U.S. quickly answered back with the expedited launch of their satellite, the Explorer 1. Now that the U.S. had realized that they were behind, they began making major strides in the field of space exploration. The first change that thy made was creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and immediately after creating the Mercury program that had the goal to put a human into orbit. The Soviets made good use of their lead, though, and in April, 1961, they put the first person (Yuri Alekseyevich) into orbit aboard Vostok 1. NASA was closer to the Soviets this time and one month later Friendship 7 was put into orbit with John Glenn aboard. As opposed to the launch of Vostok 1, all of America watched in anticipation as Astronaut John Glenn left and reentered the atmosphere. Soon after that launch president John F. Kennedy gave a speech in which he said something that rallied the imaginations of every American who heard it and caused every type of reaction. In the words of John F. Kennedy, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." He told America that if they were to reach the moon that they would have to work together. It was from that point on that the U.S. really started pulling forward in the Space Race. NASA realized that before they could send a man to the moon they would have to have a filler mission in which a group of three astronauts were sent into orbit in the same space craft. This program was called Gemini. There was more then one purpose to Gemini though. NASA realized that in addition to the three man team, the U.S. would also need them to perform vehicular activities (spacewalks, etc.) and stay in space for the length required for a moon flight. In ten flights all this criteria was met well America watched and NASA believed they were ready to begin a program where they would send a manned mission to the moon, code named Apollo. All the while in the Soviet Union things were going well, to. They had completed 18 missions under the program Soyuz and were beginning to send test rockets to the moon to test for a moon landing. Under the Apollo mission the rocket was completely redesigned to be almost 5 times the size of the previous rockets. Extensive preparations were made and hundreds of thousands of procedures were adapted for any malfunction that could happen, and after extensive training Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong got ready in the Apollo 11 rocket in Cape Canaveral in the year of 1961. All of America watched in suspense as Neil and Buzz left the atmosphere, and several days later cheered as they reentered safe and sound, effectively making America win the space race. The Soviet Union had several other accomplishments in space but never did manage to get to the moon, all the while America went back six times, five of which were successful landings.