In 1961 a Russian spaceship called Vostok 1 carried the first human being, Major Yuri Gagarin, into space. Russia celebrated their victory but it angered America who had been trying to put a man into space too. But they were successful the following year, sending a man into space for longer than Russia had. The space race had begun!
In the following years the competition to explore space became more furious. At one point the president of America announced that by the end of the decade they would put a man on the moon. And on the 21 st July 1969 they did. Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon.
Neil Armstrong can be seen in 'Buzz' Aldrin's visor reflection.
The moon landing was beamed back to earth and one fifth of the world鈥檚 population watched it on TV. It was an amazing event and unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. Many people didn鈥檛 even believe it had happened. They thought it had been set up in a studio somewhere!
The space race had a huge influence on people all over the world. Design, art, building, fashion, you name it - they all took inspiration from the space race.
Space travel really raised people鈥檚 expectations - if a man could be put on the moon then anything was possible. When people looked to the future they imagined all sorts of wonderful inventions. Three course meals which would be taken as a pill, flying cars, houses on Mars - all these ideas were inspired by the space race!
Richard talks about Scotland's link to the space race.
