The Space Race
Imagine you’re running in a race, all you have to do to win is run fast and go past the finish line first. Now, imagine you’re in another race, but to win you must walk on the moon! The United States and the Soviets had that kind of race during the Cold War, called the Space Race. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a Cold War is “a state of political hostility between countries characterized by threats, propaganda, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular.” This Cold War was “a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc.” (History.com staff, 2010) and lasted from 1945-1990. In this essay, I will be writing about one event of the
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President Kennedy's goal had been achieved.” (Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History, 2009) On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong was a changed man.
Neil Armstrong was a very significant person. He was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5th, 1930. In 1949-1952 he was a naval aviator, then in 1955 he joined NASA. For 17 years he was a test pilot, engineer, astronaut, and administrator for NACA and NASA. “NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA was started in 1958 as a part of the United States government. NASA is in charge of U.S. science and technology that has to do with airplanes or space.” (NASA.gov staff, 2009) Armstrong began his NASA career in Ohio. At age 32, he officially transferred to astronaut status. As spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, Neil gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the moon and first to step on its surface. (NASA.gov staff, 2012) After that, he received a bachelor of science degree in Aeronautical engineering from Purdue University and a master of science in Aerospace Engineering from the university of Southern California. Sadly, Neil Armstrong died from cardiovascular procedures complications on August 5th, but died a legend.
The space race was a major part of the Cold War. There were many important events and people involved such as the first person in space, the first person on the moon, and Neil Armstrong. According to the
During the twentieth century, the power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union became prevalent through proxy wars and the Space Race. The Cold War had begun in 1947 when the United States had become more worried about the growing influence of the Soviet Union on Eastern European nations. The rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States had become one of the biggest contests, that eventually culminated in the dissociation of the Soviet Union. Although there were many different events that had occurred during the Cold War, perhaps the most important one would be the Space Race. Despite popular belief, the moon landing was the reason that America became a global superpower because it showed America had superior
The Space Race exacerbated the tense relationship between the USA and USSR to a greater extent. From 1957 to 1969 (the accepted duration of the Race), it created tension because the advancements made in Space technology translated directly into ideological superiority and military power. However, from 1970 to 1979, after the Race had ended and Cold War tensions were easing, collaborations in Space encouraged co-operation between the two countries.
The Space Race was a 20th century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. This competition was held between 1955 until 1972 and enabled these two rivals to advance their ability of spaceflight and their exploration out of the Earth’s reach. The competition covered several ways in taking human life out of Earth’s orbit and to successfully bring them back home in the process. The Space Race brought about several controversial topics relating to how the USSR copied the methods conducted by the United States, how the United States retaliated against the USSR and the man landing was purposely staged or not. These factors contribute to a large extent on how the space race was won. The Space Race
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.
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.
Have you heard of the “Space Race”? It all began when the Soviet Union sent the first artificial satellite “Sputnik 1” into space. After that the United States rushed to catch up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances, and the Space Race started. The Space Race finally ended in 1969, when we sent the first man to land on the moon. The Space Race had many impacts on the Cold War.
The American and Soviet Union space programs were in a race to space during the cold war. This space race reflected many political, social, and economic aspects of the cold war. The fact that both countries were in the middle of a cold war didn’t help.
The Space Race is a pivotal part of the Cold War’s history. During the ending of World War II, both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated a military, political, and technological supremacy battle. There was no physical fighting, instead both superpowers competed through space exploration. Between 1957-1969 the United States and the Soviet Union battled to overcome and take control over space which led to tensions alleviating in the 1970’s causing the pressure and necessity to decrease resulting in both superpowers collaborating in many tasks. Many of the technology that dealt with space exploration began with military affiliations. The
The Race to Space was a competition the United States and Soviet Union engaged in to see who had the most advanced space technology. The competition included some events like who launched the first manned spacecraft into space and who would be the first to walk on the moon, these events took place during the Cold War. The cold war was a decades long period of time with increased tensions for global power and influence. The Race to Space gave many impressions on the political, economic, and social aspects of the Cold War.
After the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union became embroiled in what is now known as the Cold War, this was both an international competition between two countries, and an ideological confrontation between capitalism and communism. This led to direct and indirect competition on many fronts, such as proxy wars and police actions, the Olympics, the Nuclear Arms Race, and the Space Race. (Citation).
The Space Race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States to see which nation could achieve spaceflight dominance before the other. The Race began on August 2, 1955 and ended nearly 40 years later in December of 1991. The Space Race began because of two major factors that would carry it until its end. The Soviet Union’s announcement that they were going to began building and using satellites to use in space days before the United States planned to announce the same thing helped fuel the fire for the competition. The Cold War also played a very influential role in the competitiveness between the countries and would inspire them to be better and work harder than their rival. The general public also played a key role in the race. Reinforcing your country’s involvement in the race gave them the all clear to spend money to build these space crafts, satellites and other technology in order to not only win, but to please the people. If a country has the support of its people they can accomplish anything. Propaganda like posters became a great way of encouraging the people to get involved and stay involved. Posters depicted great spaceships only seen in movies, engrained a hatred for the opposing country, the influence the race had on the future, and astronauts as real life superheroes like Superman. Most importantly the Space Race was a time of great inventions that carry on to
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 Cold War, the United States and Russia had a severe space race between one another. Every time one country would be a step ahead of the other, and somehow one of the countries would catch up to the more advanced country at the time. During the early years of the space race, success was measured by what nation did what first: To the alarm of the United States, each of the early adventures were achieved by the Soviet Union. And all of those events triggered the United States to drive and catch up with to surpass the Soviet Union. This sort of see-saw method happen throughout the space race. Throughout this paper, there will be a discussion on the space race between the United Stated and
To begin with, the Space Race began all because of the Soviet Union and they kept pushing on to create and carry out with their objectives, meanwhile the United States was doing nothing. In an article, “United States-Soviet Cooperation during the Cold War” nasa.gov. Erika Vick, May 28, 2008. Web. , it says, “History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I.” In the late 1950’s they launched Sputnik I, which created the Space Race and it continued into the 1960’s, where the Soviet Union and the United States tried beating each other. If the Soviet Union started it, they should earn a little credit for giving the space science a tremendous advancement. For example, in an article by Global Security website, it says, “When communists were pressing for joint action in 1963, what it had meant was Soviet commitment to the policy of
The Space Race was a war of firsts between the United States of America and the Union Soviet Socialist Republics. But it was also the culmination of the dreams of man for many millennia and the team who worked on the space programs were able to discover what so many of the people that came before and after them could only dream of. It was an endeavor that all of humanity was invested in at the time. It was a testament to the power of the human spirit and it showed how nothing was impossible if we persevered and strived to be better.