The Soviet challenge
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first satellite. At that time, the United States and the Soviet Union were enemies. They were trying to get ahead of each other. The US realised it had to go into space, too. In 1958, Nasa was born. Nasa stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The birth of Nasa was the start of the 'space race'. Nasa's first act was to put the first American satellite into orbit in 1958. It had a staff of about 80 people. The new agency began researching rockets. It decided it needed to beat the Soviet Union and put people into space.
Early projects
In the beginning, Nasa was focused on putting people in space.
Alan Shepard was the first American in 1961. He spent 15 minutes in space on a rocket called Freedom 7.