The Race to Space Essay

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 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

The origins of the Space Race can be found in Germany in the 1930s. During World War II, Nazi Germany was researching and building operational ballistic missiles and experimenting with liquid-fueled rockets. As early as 1942 and 1943, the rocket Aggregate-4 became the first vehicle

On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, a small satellite, successfully into orbit, and the Space Race truly

In 1948 before the space race began a rhesus monkey was launched into space. Unfortunately, the monkey did not make it out of the atmosphere. Lakia was the first animal to actually make it to space in 1957. She was launched on November 3rd aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2. Following Laika, The Russians launched two more dogs into space. Bella and Strelka launched on August 19, 1960, on the Sputnik 5 along with 40 mice, two rats, a rabbit, some fruit flies and a couple plants. They were the first living things to successfully get to space and return

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.

Russia launched Sputnik, a satellite to orbit the earth, into outer space on October 4th, 1957. With tensions already running high in the Cold War, Americans panicked at the thought of the Russians building space and nuclear energy, fearing it could be used on them. The conflict now called the Space Race resulted in Americans creating NASA and pushing the sciences in school.

After World War II drew to a close in the mid-20th century, a new conflict began. Known as the Cold War, this battle involved the two world’s greatest powers the democratic and capitalist United States against the communist Soviet Union. Beginning later in the 1950s, space would eventually become another very dramatic arena for competition between the U.S and U.S.S.R, each side looked to prove the superiority of their own technology, along with its military firepower and of course their political-economic systems. Sputnik, name of the first of several artificial satellites launched by the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1961. Successfully launched and entered Earth 's orbit. Thus, beginning the space age. The successful launch shocked the

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 first unmanned satellite called “Sputnik 1” launched and sent to the space by Soviet Union in 1957.

Sputnik I was a man-made object the former Soviet Union successfully launched into space on October 4th, 1957. The beach ball sized satellite surprised the world, because it was the first artificial satellite to reach space, and the Soviet Union was very humbly proud. This launched the space race. The United States wanted to prove superiority over the Soviet Union in every aspect, so shortly after the launch, Washington announced plans to send a United States satellite into space. However, during the early years of the space race, a little over 50% of Americans did not support it.

The Soviets wanted to study the earth’s atmosphere, the behavior of animals in space, and the testing of rocket technology. Russia launched Sputnik 1, which carried a dog, into space. This helped to understand how humans might react in space and through the reentry process. The United States was urged to invest more of their money and resources into its space program, generating a race between the two countries to land a person on the moon. The whole race started on October 4, 1957, when the first Sputnik was launched. This satellite weighed about 184 pounds and the official name of it was "Iskustvennyi Sputnik Zemli" (1). Which meant "fellow world traveler of the earth". To counteract the United States’ launch of the Explorer 1, a satellite that included a rocket motor, the Russian’s responded with Sputnik 3 on May 15, 1958. The first three Sputnik satellites all carried instruments to measure the temperature and density of the earth’s upper atmosphere. Solar energy was used for the first time by Sputnik 3 to power its instruments and transmitters.

To begin with, the Space Race began all because of the Soviet Union and they kept pushing on to create and carry out with their objectives, meanwhile the United States was doing nothing. In an article, “United States-Soviet Cooperation during the Cold War” nasa.gov. Erika Vick, May 28, 2008. Web. , it says, “History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I.” In the late 1950’s they launched Sputnik I, which created the Space Race and it continued into the 1960’s, where the Soviet Union and the United States tried beating each other. If the Soviet Union started it, they should earn a little credit for giving the space science a tremendous advancement. For example, in an article by Global Security website, it says, “When communists were pressing for joint action in 1963, what it had meant was Soviet commitment to the policy of

The space race did not start as one would expect with the respective American and Soviet space agencies. But rather it began with the German V2 missile launches towards the end of World War 2. The V2 missile