Moon Landing Dbq

In the period after World War II, from the late 1940’s up until the 1990’s, the United States and their allies were engaged in a “cold” war with the Soviet Union and its allies. Except for minor proxy wars between countries supported by the respective sides, no major wars were fought between the U.S. and the USSR. Nonetheless, tensions were extremely high for many years and the two superpowers constantly went back and forth trying to best the other. Likely the most well-known of these competitions was the Space Race. Battling for cosmic supremacy from the late 1950’s to 1969, the two countries traded many victories over the years and pushed each other to their technological apexes.

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

John F. Kennedy once said, "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space...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”. The main motive for this quote was to ensure that the United States wanted to beat out the Soviets in the space race. Ever since the Soviets tried to advance on the moon, the United States wanted to be the first successful nation to accomplish the first ever moon landing. At the time, the tension between the United States and the Soviets was very strong because the Cold War just ended and neither nation wanted to lose to each other in the space race. Just as the

On May 25, 1961 President John F. Kennedy paved the way for the world’s first lunar landing when he announced the US’s ambitious goal to place an American on the moon before the end of the decade. This historic announcement was fueled by desires to beat the Soviet Union, and show the United State’s dominance, the need for a uniting cause among the American people, and a desire to lead the world in the scientific field.

In 1965, NASA’s annual budget was $5.2 billion; this money was spent to heat up the Space Race (“Project Apollo”). The Space Race and its competitive nature is best illustrated in this passage from John F. Kennedy’s Address at Rice University on the nation's space effort, “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” (“John F. Kennedy”). The launch of the Soviet satellite, Sputnik 1, was the event that began the Space Race (The First 13). It was launched on October 4, 1957 (Taylor, Roberts, and Bullock 2451; “The Space Race”). This metallic sphere created the panic of the Sputnik Crisis and the missile gap (Commager 628; Taylor, Roberts, and Bullock 2451; The First 13). Two products of the Sputnik Crisis were the National Defense Education Act and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“A Brief;” Apollo to the moon 19-20; The First 25). From that point on, the race was on. Although the Soviet Union had a head start in the Space Race, the United States caught up with and surpassed them because of their advanced education system, the German engineers, technology from the Second World War, and their different types of government and economic systems.

In 1961, the United States of America was embroiled in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This confrontation was taking place not only on land, sea and air, but in space as well. On May 25th, 1961 recently elected US President John F. Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress, during which he outlined his now famous Man on the Moon challenge. It was through this ambitious dream that the creation of the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) came about, which President Kennedy challenged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Although he didn't live to see the achievement of his dreams, the United States successfully landed Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon on July 20, 1969 and

Soon after World War II ended, the United States of America (U.S.A) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) entered the Cold War, an altercation between the two superpowers, which lasted over 40 years, due to their differing political systems; the U.S.S.R. was communist and the U.S.A. democratic (Alchin, 2017). In the late 1950s, the Space Race between the two superpowers begun with launch of Sputnik 1 by the U.S.S.R. in 1957 (Timeline of Space Exploration, 2009). On July 20 of 1969 the U.S.A.’s Apollo 11 mission was successful in ending the Space Race after landing on the moon (Timeline of Space Exploration, 2009). The first lunar landing is one of the most important events in modern human history, because it redefined the

When John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1961, it was believed that the United States was losing in the Space Race against the Soviet Union, who had successfully launched the first satellite Sputnik, about four years prior. Convinced of the need to achieve what would cement America’s space authority, Kennedy, after consulting NASA through Vice President Lyndon B Johnson, stood before Congress on May 25, 1961, and suggested that “this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” His speech can be broken up into four main parts, each having an essential role in the construction of his message.

Although The New Frontier was largely unsuccessful, Kennedy had an abundance of success in other areas of his presidency. One of Kennedy’s primary focuses was space exploration. During Eisenhower’s presidency, the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik, and then at the beginning of Kennedy’s presidency, the Soviet Union launched the first man to orbit the earth. Kennedy took space exploration on as a challenge and urged Americans to support him by funding the Apollo missions. Kennedy challenged Americans to commit themselves to landing a man on the moon before 1970. “In February 1962 the United States caught up with the Soviets by sending John Glenn into orbit” (107).

-Space Race During the Cold War between Russia and the U.S. there was a time called the space race. During which both countries rushed to have the best space developments than the other did. One of the main things was to be the first to get someone in space. As Russia and the U.S. continued the race little did they know they were advancing technology for the world. When Russia got something in space so did the U.S. and the race continued. As soon as Russia got a man in space the U.S. raced to get a man on the moon, and they did. As soon as Mr.

This investigation assesses to what extent the United States’ Apollo 11 moon landing, ensure their victory over the Soviet Union in the Space Race. This investigation will follow the situation that the United States were behind the Soviet Union in the Space Race, hoping to achieve the unachievable by being the first ever to land on the Moon. Because the Soviet Union were the first to launch a satellite into orbit (Sputnik 1), and becoming the first country to send a man into space, the United States’ only way to thrive with victory over the Soviet Union in the Space Race was to send a man to a completely different world: the moon. This investigation will evaluate the Space Race between the United States, and the Soviet Union, and will focus on the turning point of the Race that eventually led to the United States’ victory.

In May of 1961, President John F. Kennedy stated a commitment to land an American on the moon by the end of the century (Gitlin). During the 1960’s, the Soviet Union and the United States started a massive space race. The Soviet Union had launched the orbit Sputnik on October 4, 1957 and later launched another, heavier, Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957 with a dog named Laika inside. During the height of the Cold War, the United States were stunned by these unbelievable achievements due to she short recovery from WWII and worried the US had fallen back on the advancement of technology. With the United States starting

“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” (Kennedy 4). John F. Kennedy gave his “We go to the moon” speech on ‎September 12, 1962 to a supportive crowd at Rice Stadium. This speech was given partly as a result of the cold war. Other nations had been making major technological advances and this caused fear in the United States government. In John F. Kennedy’s speech at Rice Stadium, President Kennedy used ethos, pathos, and logos, to convince the American population of the importance of not only participating in the space race, but to also become the highest power in it.

The public attention of Americans was captivated by the Space Race— from its beginning with the launch of Soviet Sputnik in 1957 until the landing of Apollo 11 in 1969. This attention was captured using a relatively new medium of media: television. Through their representation in national televised media, astronauts became the ultimate American heroes. Additionally, through the depiction of the national media, Soviets were pictured as the ultimate villains, with their failed efforts to surpass the United States' advancements and to prove the Communist system (“The Space”). Some call the Apollo program, and the Space Race in its entirety, a child of the Cold War. Following the launch of Sputnik, the United States responded by building a foundation for its own space program— NASA (Balogh 14). This led to the United States reclaiming its unofficial title of the most technologically-advanced nation in the world following the successful lunar landing of the Apollo 11

Another factor of the Cold War was space exploration. The use of both super powers racing to get the first satellite and person into space was a point of contention. Both world powers respectively put men into space, but the United States put the first man on the moon, which the USSR grew frustrated because they have not taken that chance yet (Benson,