The Space Race: Rockets, Rivalry, and the Road to the Moon

Cold War

The long rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II, involving power, ideology, weapons, and influence.

Space Race

Competition, especially between the United States and Soviet Union, to achieve major spaceflight firsts.

Ballistic missile

A rocket-powered weapon that travels on a high curved path toward a target.

ICBM

An intercontinental ballistic missile: a missile designed to travel between continents.

National prestige

A country's reputation, status, and perceived strength in the eyes of its own people and the world.

Dual-use technology

Technology that can have both civilian and military applications.

Thrust

The forward force produced when a rocket expels exhaust backward.

Propellant

Material carried by a rocket and expelled to create thrust. It may include fuel and oxidizer.

Orbit

A path in which an object continually falls around a larger body because its sideways speed and gravity work together.

Orbital velocity

The sideways speed needed for a spacecraft to remain in a particular orbit.

Gravity turn

A planned launch path in which a rocket gradually tips from near-vertical flight toward the horizon.

Stage

A section of a multistage rocket with its own engines and propellant that can separate after use.

Sputnik 1

The first artificial satellite to orbit Earth, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957.

Artificial satellite

A human-made object placed into orbit around Earth or another body in space.

Sputnik crisis

The political, public, and security reaction in the United States after Sputnik's launch.

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. civilian space agency created by the 1958 Space Act.

NDEA

The National Defense Education Act of 1958, which increased federal support for education after Sputnik.

Propaganda

Information or achievements used to influence public opinion and promote a political system or nation.

Cosmonaut

A Soviet or Russian space traveler. Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space and the first person to orbit Earth.

Astronaut

A U.S. space traveler. Alan Shepard was the first American in space, and John Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth.

Suborbital flight

A flight that reaches space but does not gain enough sideways speed to circle Earth.

Orbital flight

A flight with enough sideways speed for a spacecraft to keep falling around Earth instead of falling straight back down.

Life-support system

Equipment that keeps people alive in space by managing oxygen, pressure, carbon dioxide, temperature, water, and waste.

Reentry

The return through Earth's atmosphere, when a spacecraft must survive intense heating and slow down safely.

Cold War

A long period of political and military rivalry, especially between the United States and the Soviet Union, that made space achievements politically important.

Apollo program

NASA's program that developed the rockets, spacecraft, training, and missions used to land astronauts on the Moon and return them safely.

Public funding

Money provided through government decisions and congressional appropriations to support work that serves national goals.

Mission architecture

The overall design for how a mission will work, including vehicles, flight paths, tasks, and major decisions.

Lunar orbit rendezvous

Apollo's mission method: a Lunar Module landed on the Moon, then returned to dock with the Command Module in lunar orbit.

Systems engineering

A method for designing and managing complex projects by testing individual parts and how those parts work together.

Saturn V

The three-stage launch vehicle that carried Apollo missions toward the Moon.

Command Module or CM

The crew cabin and flight-control section that returned through Earth's atmosphere.

Service Module or SM

The section that provided major propulsion, power, and spacecraft support.

Lunar Module or LM

The spacecraft that carried two astronauts from lunar orbit to the Moon and back to the CSM.

Lunar-orbit rendezvous

A mission strategy in which the LM returns from the Moon and docks with the CSM in lunar orbit.

Apollo Guidance Computer or AGC

A purpose-built computer that supported guidance, navigation, and control.

EVA

Extravehicular activity: work performed by an astronaut outside a spacecraft, such as a moonwalk.

Regolith

Loose, broken material covering solid rock on the Moon, including dust, small fragments, and impact-created debris.

Contingency sample

A quickly collected sample taken early in a mission so scientists would have material even if the planned work ended early.

Core sample

A sample removed from below a surface that preserves material from different depths.

Passive seismometer

An instrument that detects ground vibrations, such as moonquakes or impacts.

Laser ranging retroreflector

An array of special mirrors that returns laser light toward Earth, allowing highly precise distance measurements.

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

The 1975 U.S.-Soviet mission in which Apollo and Soyuz docked in Earth orbit, demonstrating early international human-spaceflight cooperation.

Outer Space Treaty

The 1967 treaty that provides key rules for space activity, including peaceful use of celestial bodies and the ban on national claims to the Moon.

Non-appropriation

The principle that no country may claim outer space, the Moon, or other celestial bodies as national territory.

Interoperability

The ability of equipment, procedures, and teams from different organizations to work together safely.

CLPS

NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, which buys commercial delivery services for NASA science and technology payloads headed to the Moon.

Deconfliction of activities

Coordinating operations and sharing relevant information to avoid harmful interference, without creating territorial ownership.