Arms Race: The Space Race

The space race was an event that shaped America as we know it, and the man that came up with the idea to control the moon, John F. Kennedy, had a major impact on history. The United States and Russia were competing to land on the moon during a time of tension. NASA’s funding increased to get an man

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." This quote was made by John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962, and it encompasses the dedication the US had to winning the Space Race, a space technology race between the United States and Soviet Russia. The Space Race would soon become a huge competition led by many big factors and decisions. Overall, The Space Race started with the USSR's launch of Sputnik, an event which fueled nationalism in both countries, and ended with the United States landing a man on the moon.

America and the USSR have had a rivalry for a very long time. One huge portrayal of their rivalry would be the Space Race. It took place from 1955 to 1975.The Space Race was a race between America and the Soviet Union to see who would make it to space first and other accomplishments related to that. Such as putting a man in space or on the moon. Even some animals were involved. The Space Race had a large influence on the United States. It was a time where America changed and advanced in more ways than just space travel.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped out of the landing module onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969 marking the first time in human history man had stepped food on a celestial body other than Earth. This event effectively won a more than 10 year competition of scientific advancement and research for the USA, bringing humans to the heavens and setting many precedents for the Cold War. This was known as the “Space Race” between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly known as the USSR or the Soviet Union. This event reflected both countries situations in three major ways: politically, socially, and economically.

The cold war served as a catalyst for the Space Race. The United States and the Soviet Union ran neck and neck to launch their way into Earth’s orbit. The launching of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union placed them in the lead of the race. No sooner than a decade later, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, making it one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments. The Apollo program (source B) opened up the vault of a billions of dollars investment.

The space race was a race to see who could do more and get more done in space. It was done against the U.S and the USSR. The USSR was the first to make something orbit the Earth that was the spacecraft Sputnik I. In 1957 USSR launch the Sputnik I it took 98 minutes to make its orbit. It spend 21 days in space before it burned up in the atmosphere. The USSR later launched Sputnik II. It carried the first living thing in space a dog named Laika.The US was going crazy on how Russia has passed them in technology. Almost two years later the US made the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The USSR kept on making successful launches in may 1958 they launch Sputnik III which carried 2 thousand pounds to space. In April 1961 the USSR launched the Vostok I it had the first man to orbit the Earth his name was Yuri Gagarin. A month later the US had the first American to go to space his name was Alan Shepard.

During the space race, both the US and the Soviet Union achieved a lot. Some say the US won the race because it landed the first human on the Moon but no one can take anything away from the USSR. Soviet accomplished a lot and had more “firsts” then the US until the US caught up. Both the US and the USSR won the space race.

A national holiday day often is a day off work and school to celebrate a person or event to honor their accomplishments or impact on society. If also means affecting society whole, everyone knows about it. The whole nation (or should continue to educate new people so the accomplishments are not forgotten.) Awareness, safety, helping, important, heroic, speaking up for others, bravery, courage. I want a national holiday about the moon landing.

Did you know that the Soviet Union was the first to launch something outside of Earth’s orbit? In the 1960’s, the Soviet Union speed up the advancement of space science, faster than the United States ever could, during the Space Race. First of all, they were the first to start the Space Race and continually kept going onward to try new concepts and/or more concepts. On the other hand, the Soviet Union were more focused on witnessing who’s better. Finally, the Soviet Union were the ones who sent multiple of inventions into space, but still had a bunch of trial and error and learned what worked and what didn’t work.

1960s-After World War 2 a new conflict began. Known as the cold war it was between the United States and the Soviet Union. The war worked a way into everyday life for both countries. The arms race fueled the cold war and the growing threat of nuclear weapons. The space race continued when the Soviet Union launched the Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik. The Soviet R-7 was the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit.

Arms race: when two or more countries have a competition to see who can have the principal, superlative, and most commanding weapons (Merriam Webster). The United States successfully launched the world’s first atomic bomb August 6, 1945. Dropping a weapon so prevailing to destroy cities was something the Soviet Union couldn’t defend unless they had something correspondingly demoralizing. Thus, started the Arms Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. There were no weapons fired during the Arms Race and everybody remained in their own country. Today, the Arms Race is still going between the Soviet Union now known as Russia and the United States.

In this particular instance, the arms race was between Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, as well as Russia, most predominantly, Britain and Germany. The arms race, prior to as well as during and thus, related to the First World War occurred officially between 1891 and 1919. It is often debated that without the arms race there would not have been a First World War, and certainly the destruction rate would not have been so detrimental.

Space Arms Race is the use of weapons for space welfare and has become a problem around the world and needs to be stopped. Nations around the worlds since the dawn of time have tried to gain more power than other nations with wars, nuclear weapons etc. Now different nations have tried to occupy space and use it to their advantage to attack other nations. In 1957, Russia sent the first satellite into space and that was the start of a new generation of technology.

The arms race theory is dyadic theory that focuses on the variables between two states, specifically their military spending. The arms race theory is an old explanation of a potential cause of war and is discussed frequently in regards to military affairs. There are a mixture of definitions for an arms race but nonetheless, an arms race is a competition engaged by two states in acquiring military weapons (although, an arms race can occur between more than two states as seen between Germany, France and Britain in the 1930s). This competition consists of an increase in the quantity or quality of military capabilities. And so, an arms race is seen when states intensively increase their military spending. The key variable of this theory is that

Despite the United States effort to score points in the space race the USSR remained a head. In August 1962 the Soviet union climbed a higher rung with the Nikolaev popovich expedition.while orbiting the earth, the twin Vostoks were so precisely targeted that they came with them in Astounding. 3 miles of each other. This was the skill needed to accurately join the lunar module with the spacecraft after astronauts had walked in the moon. Again the faithful words of Kennedy rang out through the TV stations and newspapers of America.The eyes of the world look into space to the moon and to the planets beyond we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest. The first landing would be hardly less significant if disaster should overtake the expedition and prevent the safe return of any or all the crewmen. Others would follow and return alive. The media exposed the space race to national attention. Kennedy had said it. A man would walk on the moon before this decade was over, and James E. Webb, Space Agency Director, responded, "I happen to think we will make the lunar landing and return before they do. But, the Americans weren't as far behind as they appeared. Sure Russia, had the technology to connect two spacecrafts of equal masses while in orbit, but the U.S. first discovered the magic of attaching spacecrafts of different sizes, which was more realistic. By 1968, Apollo 7 carried its first American crew into space; two months later Apollo 8 orbited