In the 1950s, two powerful super countries were in a Cold War. These two countries were The United States and the Soviet Union, however this conflict was not an actual war, it was a technology race to see who was the most powerful and technologically advanced country.

For thousands of years, humans looked at the stars and wondered what it was like to be up there. In the start of the 1950s, scientists finally came up with a plan to find out. Two countries wished to be the first country to make it to space. This was known as the Space Race.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union shocked the world. They launched the first man-made object into space! It was a shiny metal ball named Sputnik. It was small, but it changed everything.

 Sputnik didn't do much, but it did emit a "beep" sound that radio operators on Earth could hear. This sound proved that humans could finally reach beyond our own atmosphere and touch the stars.

The United States knew they had to work fast. They created a special group called NASA. Thousands of the smartest engineers and mathematicians gathered to build their own rockets to catch up.

President John F. Kennedy saw that the U.S. was falling behind. He stood before a large crowd and made a bold promise: America would land a man on the Moon and bring him home safely before 1970.

People asked, "Why go to the Moon? It is so far and so hard!" President Kennedy answered, "We choose to go to the moon... not because it is easy, but because it is hard."

First came Project Mercury. These were tiny ships for just one person. Brave pilots like Alan Shepard and John Glenn proved that Americans could survive the "G-force" of a rocket launch.

Next was Project Gemini. These ships held two people. Astronauts practiced "walking" in space and docking two ships together. These were the practice rounds for the biggest journey of all.

To get to the Moon, NASA needed the most powerful machine ever built. The Saturn V rocket was as tall as a 36-story building and carried millions of pounds of fuel to break away from Earth's gravity.

On July 16, 1969, the engines of the Saturn V roared to life. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins sat at the very top. The ground shook for miles as they sped toward the sky.