Moon Race: the US/Soviet Competition to Put Humans on the Moon

Date and Time

Wednesday, June 19, 2019 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm

Location

MIT Building E-51, Room 315

Presenters

Jonathan McDowell , Astrophysicist - jmcdowell cfa harvard edu

Summary

The race in the 1960s to be the first nation to land human beings on the moon

Abstract

In 1957, the first Sputnik propelled the USSR to leadership in space. Shocked, America mobilized to demonstrate its technology surpassed Russia's – a furious, decade-long race ensued. But, it wasn't obvious until the finish line that Neil Armstrong, and not Alexei Leonov, would be first to walk on another world. Join Dr. McDowell in an exciting review of the events that marked a pivotal moment in history.

Bio

Jonathan is an astrophysicist working at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as part of the Chandra X-Ray Center, which operates the Chandra X-ray Observatory spacecraft.