Andie Galante: Growth In Space

The Space Race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space. From 1955 until 1975, both sides battled it out to be the leader in the competition. Fueled by the Cold War and other causes of the beginning of the race, the Soviet Union and the United States fought for authority in a very public manner through the media. There were many achievements at this time and it led the way for many great things to come afterwards.

On October 4th, 1957 the simple action of launching a beachball-sized hunk of metal into our orbit, reshaped the lives of people in the United States and across the world for the next years to come. This small ball of metal was Sputnik, a Soviet satellite with a radio transmitter inside letting out a small “beeping” sound. This object, as unsophisticated as it was, had the power to set the entire country into panic. To US officials this action not only made it clear that the Soviet superpower of Russia was more technologically advanced, but for all we knew they could be putting nuclear warfare into space. To the US this thought was unbearable, and because of this it would go on to set off a race of the century, the Space Race. A race to put technology into space, a race that would change American life at home and in foreign policy. From changes within the school system, to the Red Scare, life would be changed drastically in the years to come, not only in the U.S, but in Russia as well.

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space called, “Sputnik”. It was the start of one of the biggest races in the world called “The Space Race”. But it isn’t the start of the race that is questionable but the very end. On July 19, 1969 the United States supposedly landed 3 men on the moon. More than a billion people around the globe watched this event occur on their television sets as Neil Armstrong said “That’s one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind.” But was it really a giant leap for mankind? Or was it one of the ways the U.S tried to fool us into believing they really did land on the moon? The Space Race wasn’t only about being the first to land on the moon but would also be a major sign of dominance over the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Many believe the U.S was not capable of accomplishing this so they had no choice but to fool the world into believe they landed on the moon and won the Space Race.

Space exploration needs to start happening again because the US is starting to fall behind other countries such as Russia and India. Neil Degrasse Tyson says in his book, Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, “The Soviets sent the first multi-person crew and the first international crew into orbit. They made the first spacewalk, launched the first space station, and were the first to put a manned space station into long-term orbit” (Tyson 122). The Soviets beat the US to everything other than the moon. The Space Race was a competition between mainly the US and Russia. Neil Degrasse Tyson says in his book, Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, “the USSR held that high ground until 1969, when, courtesy of von Braun and colleagues,

Sylvia Engdahl, in her book series Americans at War, relayed that during the landing of Apollo 11 on the lunar surface, the television broadcast of the event was “beamed to an estimated 600 million people in thirty-three countries on six continents” (182). Considering that this vast group of people, largely comprised of Americans, was tuned into this monumental event proves that the space race was captivating for its audience and the subject of utmost public attention. For Americans, the space race was a basis from which new technological developments would soon proliferate, and it served as an arena for cold war competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Consequently, when it came to innovative advancements in the US’ progress

Humans have dreamed of leaving the earth and traveling space for many years, and up to this day they have taken many steps in the right direction. Yet, with every new frontier they approach, new problems loom over the horizon. Some of these problems arise right here on Earth. Some of the issues have been resolved, such as escaping the forces of gravity to reach outer space. Most of the problems are far more arduous and the solutions need more time to be worked out properly. In “The Coming Schism” by James E. and Alcestis R. Oberg, they posit that humans can colonize space. Humans need to buckle up and build the technology which will help to solve problems that would arise to

the stars! That would be incredible! I feel that civilians should travel in space because it could help research and give privileges. If you don't think so you should read this.

October 4, 1957: The Russia launched Sputnik into space. Thus began the seemingly-eternal battle for control of space exploration. Who would get the first man into space; to the Moon, to Mars? Everything that could be done by either country was being done to give the edge. It soon became obvious to all that neither country was going to back down from the challenge. However, a lot has changed since 1957, governments have slumped, privatized exploration has taken charge. . . what happened? Where is space exploration going? Where is the human race, today?

I have recently read the two texts “A Success in Space”, and “Americas New Spacecraft”. They both talk about space and spacecraft. Although, one text has more successful points and strategies than the other. In the excerpt “A Success in Space “it talks about how a small probe helped scientists take a huge leap forward in space exploration , on the other hand the other excerpt “ Americas New Spacecraft” talks about a spacecraft launching into the air to discover critical data for future mission crews.

The Space Race started in the middle of the 1950’s, and it was a technological race between Russia and the United States to get into space and land on the moon. Russia was the first to successfully launch a satellite and launch a human into space, but the United States was the first to successfully land a man on the moon. It impacted education because it made more people want to become engineers, so the education system had to add more courses about math and science. The space race was good for the economy because it created jobs in all sorts of fields including science and technology. Many people were focused on how we would respond to Russia because we are the world super power. The impact of the Space Race was the race to get into space

Humans and other species navigate by determining their current position and planning a course to a desired goal. Navigation normally occurs in the 1-g environments experienced on Earth, but a new environment was added as the Soviet Union and the United States competed for supremacy during the space race of the mid 20th century. Outer space posed many new problems, including the challenge of navigating in microgravity. The first human in space was Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961, but the first reports of gravity-related problems surfaced with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Apollo program during the 1960s and 70s (Homick, Lyndon, & Miller, 1975). With current plans for expanded space exploration, it

1. Plants come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Being brought up around plants I've always felt at home when there are planets around. I’ve been exploring nature and discovering different types of plants that I didn’t know about almost my entire life. That is why I would like to pursue a career in botany.

Hats off to Scott Kelly! The NASA astronaut has successfully grown the first flower in space after the zinnia plants almost died. In the late last year, astronauts noticed symptoms of extremely high humidity and limited air flow after a mere two weeks they started growing zinnias. The seed containers leaked water and the leaves became curled and bent unnaturally. However, things got matured when some of the plants grew mold around the Christmas time.

In the initial experiment, NASA used the Veg-01 to study how naturally grown veggies would work in orbit. Planting the seeds in “pillows”, the scientists then began to study the performance of the plant growth facility back in May 2014.

South Africa can be considered the pioneer of space research in Africa. According to Dr. Peter Martinez, of the South African Council for Space Affairs, South African Astronomical Observatory was established in 1820 it used astro-photography to capture the first measurement to the nearest star. Other projects that emerged from South Africa space inquisitions were project Moonwatch which resulted in observations of satellite transits. South Africa collaborated with National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) in 1961 to establish deep space station 51 that provided ground support to Mariner IV (fly by to Venus), Pioneer 8 (interplanetary weather satellite) and analysis of soil samples returned by the Apollo satellite. Moreover, South Africa serves as the African continent premier space geodetic facility using Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), satellite laser ranging, Global Positioning System (GPS), Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TT&C). Moreover, South Africa hosts the national earth observation archive and disaster management centers that support the country and its neighbors. South Africa launched its first satellite in 1999 named Sunsat, followed by another Satellite Sumbanila in 2009; the latter project was fully managed by South Africans and created a large awareness of space technology throughout the nation (Ghadaki, 2010).