A fight between two nations, not with guns, but intelligence, a race to the stars, as the world watches with bated breaths, but was it worth the countless resources? In 1957 the space race ignited between the United States and the Soviet Union, however, the United States should not have joined this battle which cost them in funds, resources, and lives that would be more effectively utilized towards the betterment of their nation. The Space Race attempts to prove itself noteworthy, but it’s negative repercussions continue to outweigh its positive contributions through financial and political fallouts. Following the end of World War II, with the allies having taken the victory, the two largest powers are set against each other in what would become known as the Cold War. This arising conflict gave way to tensions between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, with space being their newest battlefield. Both countries put their latest technological advancements to the test as they prove their supremacy through intergalactic travel in the Space Race. On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first artificial satellite and man-made objects to be put into the Earth’s orbit (alphahistory.com). In response to this great feat, the United States launches Explorer I, their own satellite not a year later. The same year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, more popularly known as NASA was formed. This is a federal agency created in order to
Have you heard of the “Space Race”? It all began when the Soviet Union sent the first artificial satellite “Sputnik 1” into space. After that the United States rushed to catch up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances, and the Space Race started. The Space Race finally ended in 1969, when we sent the first man to land on the moon. The Space Race had many impacts on the Cold War.
In addition to initiating a space race between the two current superpowers, the Sputnik spacecraft launch also had alarming military implications. The Sputnik satellites used intercontinental ballistic missiles that were initially used for their thrust capabilities but could theatrically be capable of flying from the Soviet Union to United States military targets in less than an hour—cutting the flight time to a fraction of a conventional bomber aircraft. In response to the launch of Sputnik, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. The act created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) . To prevent the rise of Soviet dominance in military matters, Eisenhower also established the Advanced Research Projects Agency, a division of the U.S. Department of Defense. This was symbolic of a serious revelation of the standing of the scientific and technological capabilities of America in comparison to other countries, and also led to President Eisenhower issuing a proclamation to increase funding for education in America in science and engineering to combat this widening deficit. The quick Soviet lead in the newly emerging space race caused much panic, which shaped American foreign policy for the following decade(Document E). An example is avoiding “an all-out war with China” for fear of having to combat communism on two fronts.(Document
The Space Race was an immense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union beginning in the late 1950s. They fought over supremacy for space flight and technology, each side wanting to show the world their power and their capability to explore the unknown. They both created shuttles and rockets in hopes to prove their own worth, while also using this technology to spy on one another. Each country also needed public support and cooperation to back these projects for future advancements. Many political tensions between Democracy and its antagonistic counterpart, Communism, arose leading to new technological advancements, while the media began to publicize these advances worldwide, and beliefs like nationalism became implemented that would raise the importance of the space race to all.
Sputnik 1 orbited the Earth every 98 minutes, flying over the United States seven times a day.(Danielle Burton) During the Cold war the launch of Sputnik I by the Soviet Union in October 1957 created a fear in the United States.The United states feared that nuclear warheads could soon come. In response the United States created and funded the National Defense Education Act(NDEA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA). The United States and the Soviet Union were at the start of an arms race and a space race. The funds for NASA were excellent, because the United states had a lot of fear after seeing what the Soviet Union was doing.
During the Cold War between 1947-1991, the Space Race took place between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, the two superpowers of the world. The Cold War was a time of political tension between both nations; the Space Race is just a small segment of the story to be explained of the forty-four year time period. The Space Race was never intentionally made between the two powers, but became a natural stand to show who is the more commanding country. The main reason of the Space Race was to see which country had the most potential in not only spaceflight, but as an overall country. The significance of the Space race was to show dominance over either country by placing a satellite into orbit, sending the first men to space, and
The period after World War Two, known as the Cold War, was a period of brinkmanship between the world superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States. This conflict was fought across the world as these two powers tried to advance their ideologies while blocking the others through military battles and by social prestige. Among the arms race between these powers, a technological battle unfolded, called the Space Race. This race sent humans into space as the two sides took huge risks to outperform the other, giving humanity some of its greatest achievements. This paper will look at the events and outcome surrounding the space race and answer three main questions. First, what led up the Space Race and the Soviet Union’s early victories? Second, how did the United States respond? Fourth, how did the Space Race affect the Cold War? Fourth, what made the United States Space Program more successful compared to the Soviet Union’s?
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 United States and the Soviet Union we’re still in competition. Instead of competing in war, they competed head-to-head in the race to the moon. Tom Wolfe wrote a nonfiction book about the stories of the test pilots and their struggle to become astronauts. During the “space race” there were major advances in technology that we continue to use and improve to this day. Wolf had many different viewpoints on the technology in the 1960’s and how it was affecting our lives then and how it would affect our lives now.
Space Race Timeline says, “October 4, 1957: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik into Earth orbit. The first man-made satellite passes overhead, making one revolution every 90 minutes.”. Not but three months and twenty-seven days after the USSR launched their first satellite, the US decided that they needed to be more advanced in space technology than the USSR. This launched the “Space Race” between the USSR and the US, competing to create more advanced technology.
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
“A direct result of the Sputnik crisis, NASA began operations on October 1, 1958, absorbing into itself the earlier National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics intact: its 8,000 employees, an annual budget of $100 million, three major research laboratories-Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, and Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory-and two smaller test facilities.”(Steve Ganer) This was because the start of the space race, although it had sent fear through so many, many more people had gotten jobs because of this. Although both Russia and the US had created new technologies, along with gaining new skills, there was only one winner of this Space Race. The winner was the ones who put in so much effort to keep their citizens safe, which was the US.
After WWII, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies engaged in a series of political, economic, military and technological competitions collectively known as the Cold War, which ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. One product of the Cold War, in particular, is of unique interest: the Space Race. Initially, the Space Race seemed to be extensions of U.S. and Soviet military programs; it then transformed into a technological and political competition between the two aforementioned countries; eventually, the Space Race transcended the concept of competition, and became an international effort of space exploration, and especially, a means for the U.S. and USSR to make amends to their broken relationships.
During the Cold War, the rivals--the United States and the Soviet Union--were in what seemed like a competition to determine who had the most advanced technology. This was because that country will be seen as the strongest and the biggest threat to the other. The space race really began officially on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, which was the first artificial satellite ever to be launched in space. This was seen as a danger to the United States, because it meant that the Soviet Union was possible capable of doing other things, possibly against the US. Then the Soviets launched Sputnik II, but this time it had a passenger, a dog named Laika. Though this mission was a failure because poor Laika died within hours
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."- Neil Armstrong. On October 4, 1957, 7:28 PM life changed in the United States and Russia because of the launch of sputnik the first man-made object to orbit the earth. The space race wasn't just a race to space, but a Continuum of the Cold War and a competition to see who the better country was really was. The US always felt that their technology exceeded everyone else’s, but on the day of October 4, they were proven wrong; the Soviets were on top. The launch of Sputnik was a huge success, but Dwight Eisenhower would try to downplay it to avoid accepting defeat. The United States would put 400,000 people to work on the project. This is the first time the US had embarked on such on
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.