The race to the Moon
The SPACE RACE was a contest between AMERICA and the SOVIET union to be first in space, and this word search gathers it. You'll be finding the first SATELLITE, SPUTNIK, the first man in space, GAGARIN, and the giant leap of the APOLLO MISSION that put ARMSTRONG on the MOON.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection from the list, so the grid changes every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a Hard-mode mission once the diagonals and backwards words appear.
Rockets, capsules and crews
Getting to space took daring crews and brilliant science, and the words are here. There's the towering ROCKET on the LAUNCH pad, the LIFTOFF and the climb into ORBIT, the cramped CAPSULE and the reusable SHUTTLE that followed. Brave crews — the American ASTRONAUT and the Soviet COSMONAUT — fought GRAVITY itself, guided by NASA and the ENGINEER on the ground, all the way to a Moon LANDING beside a dusty CRATER.
Firsts that changed the world
The SPACE RACE was a peaceful contest born out of Cold War rivalry, and the SOVIET union landed the early blows. In 1957 they launched SPUTNIK, the first artificial SATELLITE — a beeping metal ball that stunned the world and worried AMERICA, which rushed to create NASA in response. Then in 1961 Yuri GAGARIN became the first human in space, orbiting the Earth in a tiny CAPSULE. The USA, trailing badly, set itself an almost impossible goal: to land a person on the MOON before the decade was out.
They made it. On 20 July 1969, the APOLLO 11 MISSION touched down and Neil ARMSTRONG stepped onto the lunar surface — beside ancient CRATERs — with the words 'one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind', watched live by an estimated 600 million people. The science that got them there gave us far more than footprints on the Moon: satellite navigation, weather forecasting, computer miniaturisation and countless everyday inventions trace back to it. That's why the Space Race sits so neatly across both a modern-history and a science topic.
Great for a history or science topic
It pairs perfectly with a topic on the Space Race, the Cold War or space science — Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words. Play online, print a PDF pack, or use our Make Your Own tool to build a grid from your own space words.
Frequently asked questions
What's in the Space Race word search?
Key words from the Space Race — Sputnik and the first satellites, Gagarin and Armstrong, the Apollo missions and Moon landing, rockets, capsules and the shuttle, plus astronauts, cosmonauts and NASA. Each puzzle uses a fresh mix.
Does it cover Sputnik and the Moon landing?
It does — the SPUTNIK SATELLITE, GAGARIN and ARMSTRONG, the APOLLO MISSION and Moon LANDING, plus the ROCKET, CAPSULE and SHUTTLE, and crews from ASTRONAUT to COSMONAUT.
Is it good for a history or science topic?
Great fit — the Space Race spans both modern history and science. Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words.