Sputnik: The Space Race

From the start of the Space Race, the Soviet Union had the United States beat by sending the first satellite, the Sputnik, and the first man, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, into space. However, President Kennedy would not stand by as the Soviet Union began to run away with the space race. Kennedy addressed the nation by consulting Congress to “increase NASA’s budget by nine billion dollars”(Cox). This bold move made by Kennedy enabled the United States to make it to the moon first. Going to the moon first was a much higher feat than simply going into space because it required much more “precision while launching and higher equipped technology to go the extra distance”(Exploring Space). Due to the extra skill required to go to the moon, it showed how by the end of the Space Race the United States had superior technology. Since the Cold War was a fight for Global Power, going to the moon was a significant move for the United States because it showed that they had exceptional machinery. With this admirable technology, it solidified the United States’s reputation as a Global

However, the Soviets were still in the lead, achieving more and more firsts: the first dual man flight, the first woman in space, the first three man flight, and the first spacewalk. Many Americans were getting worried. They saw the Soviet Union as the enemy, and right now the enemy was winning. The Americans needed something big to bring them to the lead. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy made the bold, public announcement that the US would land a man on the moon before the decade was

"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.

Kennedy was a major influence in the US during the Space Race. He gave several speeches in order to raise awareness about the Space Race and triggered a small wave of nationalism. One of his famous quotes was, “ "I believe 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 earth.” - President John F. Kennedy, May 25, 1961” (John F. Kennedy- Space Race). Another famous quote was, “We set sail to this new sea because there is new rights to be won and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.” (Walter). Although some people doubted President Kennedy, his inspiring speeches persuaded Americans to ultimately support the Space Race. As you can see, Kennedy made many inspirational speeches to raise awareness and help bring support for the Space

The race to space is a great part in history, well that is if you like space and the technology we have today; it was initiated in 1957 and ended 1969. The space race was a race with the Soviet Union, which at that time included Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucasion Federation, to see who could get higher achievements in space knowledge and to see who could get man into space first. The race to space was happening at the height of the Cold War. The Cold War was fought between the Eastern and Western Bloc of Germany. This made people in the United States worried because they didn’t want the Soviets to use the technology for military uses such as nuclear weapons. This thought spiked the fear of a nuclear war with the Soviets in America. Even with this how did the race to space affect the United States in other ways?

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.

For 50 years, both the United States and the USSR competed for world dominance. One way they competed for those 50 years was the Space Race, an ideological war. The Cold War led to the Space Race because the US wanted to prevent the spread of communism, to stop the Soviet’s espionage on the military and to compete with the USSR on technological superiority.

The Space Race was one of the biggest rivalries between America and the Soviet Union in the 1950’s to the 1970’s. The Space Race was part of something bigger, the Cold War. The Cold War was a time of political and military tension after World War 2, between different powers all over the world, but mainly between the U.S and the Soviet Russia. When people think of the Cold War, one of the many things that come to mind is the Space Race. In this essay I will write mainly about the Space Race and how both countries spent time and money building rockets and other devices. I will also talk about the steps it took to make it to the Moon. And lastly, the effects it had on American politics.

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

When, in 1957, Sputnik was launched from the Russian state into the vast realm of space, beyond the confines of Earth, modernity entered an entirely new construct. The event marked not only an achievement for science and technology, but also for mankind as a whole. Sputnik served as the “first step toward escape from men’s imprisonment on Earth, modernity entered an entirely new context. The event marked not only an achievement for science and technology, but also for mankind as a whole. Sputnik served as the “first step toward escape from men’s imprisonment on Earth,” cultivating what man perceived as an entirely new sense of freedom. Under the guise of freedom from nature, however, modernity instead restricts the human capacity to participate in meaningful action therein creating a dependency upon technology and automation, leaving mankind bound by a newfound imprisonment.

This launch scared Americans, because this launch was during the cold war, and it seemed the soviets were going to win.

The years after World War II was a time of great scientific and technological advancements. With these advancements came great tension and rivalry between the United States and the former Union of Soviet Socialists Republic (USSR). The biggest rivalry between the two superpowers was the advancement in space technology. In 1952, the International Geophysical Year (IGY) was established in which scientists stated that in the time between July 1, 1957 and December 31, 1958, solar activity would be at a high point. The IGY made it so that both the US and the USSR became determined to be the first to reach space, and so the space race was born. During the space race, the USSR made many launches that were very advanced and superior to the US.

Last night us here at Astronomy Weekly were informed that the Soviets have officially launched the first manmade object into the cosmos on October 4th, 1957. This object has been named Sputnik. It is a silver sphere about the size of a beach ball with four long antenna sticking out and has a weight of about 183.9 pounds (NASA). The USSR definitely has made a large accomplishment for mankind but many Americans believe that this technology could be used to send ballistic missiles carrying nuclear weapons from Europe to the US. This is a major threat to the American people. Because of this a rumor has been spreading quickly that the US is already beginning a satellite program. Could we se a possible “space race” between the US and USSR because

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched a satellite called Sputnik 1 into space. This marked the start of the space race. Americans were terrified of the chance of the Soviet’s sending missiles from space. However Dwight. D. Eisenhower was not scared and did not do much.

In the late 1950's, the USSR launched its spacecraft, Sputnik, which indirectly spawned the Internet.