the original selection i was interested in rockets before they could spelt -- spell it. >> the goal was to put a human in orbit before the soviets. on the second count they failed and 3 1/2 years after the shock of april 12, 1961, the soviets outpaced the united states again when a cosmonaut was the first human being in space. >> they beat us into orbit so we were behind. we were lagging. >> america scrambled to catch up less than a month later, on may 5, allen shepard, became the first american in space over three months into the presidency, john f. kennedy, like millions of other americans across the country, was glued to the television. >> am enshepard was an instant hero but the facts of life, the