The first human being into space

May 5,1961: The United States and the Soviet Union found themselves in a race to put the first human being into space. The United States initiated Project Mercury in 1958 to put the first American into space and selected its first group of astronauts in 1959 to begin training for that mission.

The Soviets kept their plans secret but began their own human spaceflight program and selected their own team of 20 cosmonauts in 1960. The Soviets won the race in April 1961 when cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin completed a single orbit around the Earth aboard his Vostok capsule. Alan B. Shepard became the first American in space during a suborbital flight aboard his Mercury capsule named Freedom 7.

Three weeks later, based on the success of Shepard’s brief flight, President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to achieving a lunar landing before the end of the decade.