Revolutionaries Unbound The Space Race Analysis

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is perhaps the most well known space agency in the world. Since its formation in 19581, it has pioneered in space science, yet is also renowned for its large budget. NASA has the highest budget of any space agency, $18.6 billion2 in 2015, the equivalent of every American paying $54 towards the agency3, meaning 0.14% of total GDP is spent on NASA3 . This money is spent on the ISS, sending astronauts, probes and satellites into space, astrophysics and planetary science research, maintaining and developing NASA’s space telescopes (the Wide Field Infrared Survey telescope searching for dark energy and exoplanets, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope) and developing spacecraft2. Space exploration is an incredibly expensive process with one shuttle launch costing $450 million4 however NASA’s colossal budget benefits the USA greatly; the agency employs 18,000 people5 as astronauts, engineers, scientists and teachers and G. Scott Hubbard, former director of the NASA Ames Research Center estimates that every dollar spent on NASA returns $8 to the economy6.While this figure is an estimate, it demonstrates NASA’s worth and capacity for money making. NASA works on pioneering research and as its patents and licenses return to the US treasury, it

Man’s curiosity for the environment that surrounds him fuels the ambition to explore past the realms of his being. The space race marked the first time homo sapiens were able to escape and extend their biosphere. This age is filled with technological advancement. The space race gave the ability for a new age of technological advancements to occur. Almost every technological device that is produced or owned by people in the 21st century world contains technology that was invented or derived from the space race. Technology is the product of modernization and industrialization. Society is forced to make adjustments in social, economic and political institutions as humans continue to progress. The results and the success of the space race was and still is a great triumph for mankind. However, the motive for the United States and the Soviet Union for reaching space is not explicit. Although the space race and the resulted technological innovations in science had elements that benefited human progress in a substantial manner, the general motive for the space race lies within the political aspect of society and the repercussions that came with the cold war.

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.

This source tells of a theory and provides a bias point of view but nonetheless, important. It tells of the theories of if they did certain aspects, they could have won the “Space Race.” This compares by being a source from recent years and it shows a point of view from someone outside of the NASA world. The goal of this source is to tell of theories and strategies they could have taken in protocol. It was helpful and it shapes my argument for the three e’s. I can use this source by pointing out vital mistakes they made and how it could've changed the course of history. It has changed how I thought about the topic because it shows the things they could've nailed in the head but mistakenly didn’t.

As President Eisenhower once stated, “Every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed” (qtd in DeGroot). According to Jerry DeGroot, a lecturer in the Department of Modern History at the University of St. Andrews and author of the widely acclaimed biography “Douglas Haig”, every year, the United States federal government funds the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with over $17 billion. When Keith Yost, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was asked about government funding on NASA, he replied, “NASA is not only spending money, but also the sweat of our laborers, the genius of our scientists, and the hopes of our children.” As a powerhouse in the work industry, NASA is taking away from the remainder of the country. Before venturing off into space, the US needs to realize the importance of tackling the issues that lie before the citizens here on Earth. As Richard Truly, a retired Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, stated in agreement, “...I didn’t go to NASA for the United States to make international commitments that wouldn’t keep, to design space vehicles that will never be built (or will be then fail), or to make promises to the American people that will never be kept.” It would be in the best interest for the citizens of the United States federal government to cut NASA funding.

To support the ideas space exploration brings, one must look at where the people’s taxes are going and if these ideas are worth the financial trust the citizens put into their government. Source A explains where the taxes from salaries

It is often debated whether or not the Space Race was necessary. People have viewed it as a waste of time, money, and resources. America spent over $25 billion on the space program, equivalent to $100 billion today. Many believed that there were far more pressing matters on Earth, and that they should not explore space. Those people only saw the disadvantages that it had (Biddle, 2009). However, the Space Race was beneficial to humanity in various ways. Today Americans can use the knowledge obtained during the Space Race for countless purposes including commercial and military applications (Rabinowitch, 1963).The Space Race changed the face of science, international politics, and technology forever (Schefter 2005). The Space Race was not

The NASA Space Program is one of the most, if not, the most known space program that is currently active. One of the most successful projects was the “Space Race”. In this essay I will discuss what happened on the political side, the economical side, and the social/public side of this event and race to beat and get ahead of Russia and their launch of Sputnik 1.

The Space Race greatly affected American Politics and left a stellar legacy on Earth along with the discovery of many useful products used in space technology modified for modern day use. Evan Herbert exclaims how The Space Race affected American Politics by stating; “The presidencies of Eisenhower and Kennedy were put under great strain during this intense rivalry between these two world super powers. Eisenhower assertiveness was questioned after the Soviet launching of their Sputnik satellite. President Kennedy had to keep morale and support for the Space Race afloat when the American public question the purpose, necessity and budget for the en- devour”(Herbert 7). Herbert also adds a quote from one of President John F. Kennedy’s speeches after he states, “On September 12th, 1962 at Rice Stadium, President John F. Kennedy gave one of his most famous speeches ever given”. Herbert then states what John F. Kennedy articulates towards the end of his speech, ‘“Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there”’(Herbert 2). Bill Dietrich remarks about the legacy that The Space Race has given us in present times as he questions, “What has the Space Race accomplished?”, he then continues on his question, “Will future historians someday link the demise of the Soviet Union to its launch of Sputnik?”(Dietrich 1). Dietrich answers these two questions later in his article by

John Foster Dulles wrote a letter discussing the launch of the Soviet Union’s launch of the first earth satellite. Sputnik I was launched on October 4, 1957 with a cost of 15 million RUB and remained in orbit of the Earth until January 4, 1958. Although it traveled about 70 million kilometers, it did nothing for the people below it. In his letter, he states that while Sputnik is of “considerable technical and scientific importance,” it does not involve any discovery. Additionally, sending humans and animals to outer space, a huge goal of both parties during the Space Race, was rather a fascination than a benefit. Yuri Gagarin became the first human to journey to outer space on April 12, 1961. He became an international celebrity by completing an orbit around the Earth, but he didn’t discover a basic fact about outer space; his journey was merely a stunt. Similarly, Neil Armstrong may have walked the moon first, but it was just an incredible act with no helpful discovery

Despite that during the space race many thought that the monetary investment in space would not yield any achievements, they could not have been more wrong. In the article “Space Race”, of the 1965 New York Times, the author writes… “In the USSR - as everywhere else - there are great unmet needs to which at least some of the billions spent on space research could be more usefully diverted. In the Soviet Union, no less than in the United States, it is a distorted priority system that puts such prestige feats in space so far ahead of the real needs on earth” (The Space Race). However, what this author did not realize was that despite the appearance that the billions going to space research did not affect life on earth, but was only to prove superiority over the Soviet Union, it eventually improved life for everyone through the expansion of technology in everyday

“Now is the time...for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth.” This quote from John F. Kennedy expresses his belief on the future impact that the space race will have on Earth, and now we can see that his prediction was correct. Although, his prediction is not the only effect of the space race on the rest of humanity. The demand for space exploration has grown and evolved from the Space Race, which in turn has also sparked new advances in multiple fields of science and changed our society now and in the future.

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.

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.

This conspicuous conclusion can be seen by looking at what NASA has done in the past compared to what it is doing now, by looking at other countries government funded space agencies, by looking at the successes of current day privately funded space programs, and by looking at a private space company that is currently doing extremely well.