A Place Beyond the Sky - Part 2
In little more than six months, America's John Glenn had matched Yuri Gagarin's feat of orbiting the Earth. But it was an event back on Earth that spurred America's ambition to win the Space Race.
Under von Braun鈥檚 leadership, America鈥檚 technology finally seemed to be catching up with the Soviet Union鈥檚. On 5 May 1961, von Braun鈥檚 Redstone rocket successfully launched American navy test pilot Alan Shepard 116 vertical miles up into space. The American space programme grew rapidly.
On 20 February 1962, a marine colonel named John Glenn successfully orbited the Earth. Nasa and Wernher von Braun were at last delivering real results. Sputnik鈥檚 challenge and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin鈥檚 groundbreaking feat had been equalled. But the young president would never live to see man walk on the moon. On 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas, Kennedy was assassinated and Cape Canaveral, home to US space exploration, was quickly renamed Cape Kennedy, in honour of the fallen visionary.
A film By Robert Stone.
A Robert Stone Production for American Experience WGBH/PBS in association with Arte France.
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