Space Race: Relationship Between America And Russia

By examining the two nations’ early space technology, it is evident that Russia was initially superior in this regard. Launching the world’s first-ever artificial satellite — called Sputnik I — in October of 1957, the USSR chalked

The space race started when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957. Sputnik was the very first artificial satellite and the first man-made object in space. This scared and upset many Americans. They worried that if the Soviets could launch a satellite into space, then they could also launch nuclear missiles. One month later, the USSR launched Sputnik II, which was larger than Sputnik I and it carried Laika, the first living being in space. The US saw space as the next frontier to explore and they did not want to lose too much ground to the Soviets, so in response America launched their own satellite, Explorer I, in January 1958, marking their entrance into the race. And in that same year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a federal agency dedicated solely to space travel, was created.

The launch of the Sputnik had such a big impact on America because “America thought of themselves as the world’s technological leaders” (Richerme 35). Also “the Soviets, after all, were not supposed to be good at technology” (DeGroot 3). This scared America and brought them into a big crisis or as some call a race. This race was known as the space race and it was a very long and twisted path that it bared on its shoulders.

On October 4th, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first ever satellite, Sputnik. The launch of Sputnik sent the United States into a frenzy, beginning the Space Race, and the innovation of technology as a whole. The Space Race most importantly had a major impact on the evolution of the United States’s defense technologies through the launch of Sputnik. The Space Race sparked the United States battle for technological superiority against the USSR, and lead to improvizations in their satellite and satellite defense technologies.

It occurred between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States, and the two cold war rivals. Technological superiority was essential for the symbolic of ideology and national security. The space race generated innovative artificial satellites, human spaceflights, and unmanned probes of the Mars, Venus and the Moon. Everyone wanted to lead in terms of technological advancement and ability to innovate new

These contributions to politics, technology, science and pop culture all have improved our country and ultimately our world. All in all, the United States and the Soviet Union both greatly contributed to The Space Race, while the United States ultimately won The Space Race because we were the first nation to put man on the

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.

If the United States would not have entered the space race Russian communism would have had a big achievement over democracy America. Russia’s early success in the space race was used to show that communism was superior. The early success was also used to show that the economy, science, and culture developed faster under communist rule(Space Race). The launch of Sputnik I set the space race in motion(Wall). Sputnik I was the first satellite launched into orbit. Sputnik I was no larger than a beach ball that sent meaningless signals back to earth(The Space Race). Russia had a second big achievement when

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

In October of 1957 the first artificial Earth satellite was launched by the Soviet Union into an elliptical low Earth orbit; Sputnik. Being visible all around the Earth and having its radio pulses detectable, this was a surprise success that caused the American Sputnik crisis (a period of public fear and anxiety having awareness of the technological gap between the United States and Soviet Union). This surprise success triggered the Space Race, a 20th-century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in spaceflight capability, while ushering in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments.

From 1947 to 1989 the U.S had made great strides that would change our nation. One of these events was the Cold War, which was fought between the U.S.A and the USSR. The war led the two nations to start a technology war called the Space Race. This race would begin in 1957 when the USSR put the “first artificial satellite to produce signals from space” ( The space race), in the same year they were able to put the first organism in space.

One of the greatest achievements from many during the space race was that the Soviet Union sent the first satellite into space. This was a great achievement because satellites were used a lot and were necessary during the space race. The first satellite sent to space was known as ¨sputnik¨ and was sent on October 4,1957 by the Soviet nation during the first year of the race. According to history.com it stated, ¨ Sputnik 1 remained in orbit until January 4, 1958, when it burned up on reentering Earth atmosphere¨. Later, during the race more of these satellites were used and marking more achievements.

Sputnik The Soviet Union’s creation, construction, and successful launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957, had great effects on the U.S.A., its people, its government, and its industry. When the Soviet Union first announced it was creating and constructing an artificial satellite, few in the U.S. took them seriously. Sputnik’s successful launch shocked many U.S. citizens because up until then many had thought that Russia was far less technologically advanced than the U.S. Russia leveraged that shock and Sputnik’s success in many ways, some of which triggered major changes in the U.S. The successful launch of Sputnik accelerated the “space race” between the Russians and the Americans.

In the United States, Sputnik was an unwelcome surprise. The US and Soviet Union were 10 years into the cold war, and the US didn’t want the Soviet Union to gain the upper hand on anything. To the US, space seemed like a new journey in America’s mission to expand its horizon farther than the Soviet Union. Therefore, On January 1st, 1958 the US launched its first satellite into space, The Explorer. This satellite was designed by rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun. 3 months after this the US launched another satellite call Vanguard into space. This satellite transmitted data for 3 years after its launch.

In the first move of the space race, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I on October 4, 1957. Having a beeping artificial moon launched by an enemy state in a time of high tensions, Sputnik caused a fair amount of understandable