Tension In 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

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

During the late 50s and early 60s the United States was falling behind in this race, but it wasn’t over. The next task was to be able to send groups of people into space together on one ship. This initiated the Voskhod and Gemini programs, Voskhod in the Soviet Union and Gemini in the United States. In the Soviets’ case there was not much changed from the Vostok craft except for the fact that they could fit 2 or 3 people on the craft. The Soviet Union only did two manned flights with the Voskhod program and left it; one flight in ’64 and one in ’65. The United States had completely changed from their original Mercury program though. It had a new design and “ the new design retained the conical, nickel-alloy walls and fiberglass ablative heat shield of Mercury, it also made use of new features – such as translations control thrusters to alter orbit, hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells to generate electricity, a radar system to allow rendezvous with other craft, and avionics that could withstand depressurization”(Universe Today). These missions whether one manned or not all helped paved the way to the “final lap” in the race to space. The United States and the Soviet Union each wanted to be the first to put a man on the moon; thus the start of the Soyuz and Apollo programs. For the UNITED States and NASA the Apollo missions started in 1961, but the first flight was in 1967 after they concluded with all the Gemini missions. The first ever Apollo flight ended in tragedy with an electrical fire starting and the capsule was destroyed killing the three people on board of the spacecraft. Many unmanned trials went about until finally the second manned trial by NASA in December 1968 with the Apollo 8 flight. Unlike Apollo 1, Apollo 8 was a huge

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik, and the space race was on. The Soviet’s triumph jarred the American people and sparked a vigorous response in the federal government to make sure the United States did not fall behind its communist rival.

Although there is disagreement on the precise date that the Space Race began, the moment that it became an important competition that was in the forefront of the minds of everyday Americans is on April 12, 1961 when Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth in Vostok 1. (citation). This event created a feeling amongst the American public that the Russians were further ahead in science and technology than the United States, as well as the fear that the Soviets could use their superior technology to be better able to attack the USA from a distance. Shortly after Gagarin’s flight, the United States launched astronaut Alan Sheppard into

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.

After the Cold War, the world’s two greatest powers; the Soviet Union and the United States; entered a rivalry known as the Space Race. Each nation wanted to prove its superiority by putting the first man on the moon. The Space Race started in 1957 and lasted until 1975 when the tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States began to die down. They eventually joined forces and started the first US-Soviet space program. In the end the United States won the race when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon in 1969. Nonetheless, the Space Race had a huge political impact on the United States and American culture as a whole.

Back then when the Cold War started, the Soviet Union always somehow came on top of USA. John F. Kennedy, at the time the U.S. president from 1961-1963, was tired of America always being in second place especially the “Space Race”. America was far behind from the Soviet Union, they send the first successful satellite into orbit and send the first man into space, while America try to send rockets into space, but usually ends up in a explosion. Especially when America tried their first lunar module landing, Apollo 1, but sadly there was some technical difficulties, then there was a fire and Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee sadly died in that fire. That was the point in the “Space Race” where it looked like America lost.

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space called, “Sputnik”. It was the start of one of the biggest races in the world called “The Space Race”. But it isn’t the start of the race that is questionable but the very end. On July 19, 1969 the United States supposedly landed 3 men on the moon. More than a billion people around the globe watched this event occur on their television sets as Neil Armstrong said “That’s one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind.” But was it really a giant leap for mankind? Or was it one of the ways the U.S tried to fool us into believing they really did land on the moon? The Space Race wasn’t only about being the first to land on the moon but would also be a major sign of dominance over the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Many believe the U.S was not capable of accomplishing this so they had no choice but to fool the world into believe they landed on the moon and won the Space Race.

The space race was the event the began the interest in space exploration. It all started in 1957 during the Cold War, when there was tension between America and the Soviet Union. There was also new technology from the war. According to Murray (Date unknown) “Many people believed the nation that controlled the skies could win any war.”(para. 5). So when the Soviet Union decided to launch the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into orbit America was not happy.

The Times magazine published this article to inform America and countries around the world about the Apollo 11 mission. Throughout this text the author accurately describes what occurred when the man took his first steps on the moon, for example the author states, “The spectacular moment came after he had inched his way down the ladder of the fragile lunar bug Eagle while Edwin Aldrin watched his movements from inside the craft.” This demonstrates the author’s effective appeal to pathos because this description gives an accurate depiction about the occurrence, allowing them to feel the sense of pride Neil Armstrong felt the moment he stepped off the rocket.

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

The Space Race; a period in time, more than a two decades of space exploration. Its competitors, USA vs USSR. Its length consisting of no more than 12 years yet giving increased knowledge of flight and the sky and space above it. It consisted of more than thirty overall successful launches and through each abysmal failure brought new success. The launches increased the overall knowledge of space and brought new ideas and questions into peoples minds. Sci-Fi sprung up from the ideas that the events brought. It gave humans new ideas, new thoughts. The purpose of this paper is to increase the remembrance of that period of space exploration.

After Gagarin, it became apparent that the US needed to act fast in order to keep the USSR from claiming victory over America. Project Mercury was quickly set into motion and, after a test flight in March, Alan Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961. It took Shepard a year to orbit the earth, and unfortunately during this time the Soviet Union carried on making highly influential advancements in space exploration. They launched the first two-man and three-man missions to space and the first woman in space was from the USSR all by the time Alan Shepard had fully orbited the earth, February 1962. At this point it was clear that in order to beat the Soviet Union, America would have to be the “first” to achieve something in space.

The Soviets took the lead in the “race” with the 1957 launch of Sputnik, but later in early 70s the Americans advanced ahead with the Apollo missions. However, after Apollo 11 where man first set foot on the moon, Americans seemed to not be as interested in watching space travel. The Apollo 13 mission, for instance, was one of the least televised and viewed missions. Astronomy specialist Nick Greene recalled about how it was, “Unknown to the astronauts, the television networks had decided that traveling to the moon was such a routine occurrence; none of this was broadcast over the air. No one was watching…”