The Space Race Continuity And Change

The Space Race exacerbated the tense relationship between the USA and USSR to a greater extent. From 1957 to 1969 (the accepted duration of the Race), it created tension because the advancements made in Space technology translated directly into ideological superiority and military power. However, from 1970 to 1979, after the Race had ended and Cold War tensions were easing, collaborations in Space encouraged co-operation between the two countries.

"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.

RQ: How and to what extent did the Space Race have a impact on United States’s defense technologies?

The Space Race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space. From 1955 until 1975, both sides battled it out to be the leader in the competition. Fueled by the Cold War and other causes of the beginning of the race, the Soviet Union and the United States fought for authority in a very public manner through the media. There were many achievements at this time and it led the way for many great things to come afterwards.

​Like I stated before the famous space race began in 1957 between the Soviet Union and the United States. They were both racing to see who could explore more of our Solar System. Space exploration was a large part of

The Space Race, occurring between 1957 and 1975, allowed both the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and The United States of America to develop technology and spread their respective communist and capitalist ideologies. The Space Race allowed the two nations to compete for superiority in a non-lethal arena. Unlike other confrontations, the Space Race also gave both parties the platform to prove their superiority to their own nations through frequent propaganda use in the form of film, television, paintings, cartoons, posters, ect. Propaganda allowed both nations to influence people's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours by injecting their own political ideology.

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 cold war served as a catalyst for the Space Race. The United States and the Soviet Union ran neck and neck to launch their way into Earth’s orbit. The launching of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union placed them in the lead of the race. No sooner than a decade later, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, making it one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments. The Apollo program (source B) opened up the vault of a billions of dollars investment.

DeVry University Online The Space Race and education: An annotated Bibliography Goldgeier, J. M., & McFaul, M. (1992). A tale of two worlds: core and periphery in the post-cold war era. International Organization, 46(02), 467-491. This article focuses on how the space race was realized in the twentieth century between year 1955 and 1972.

During the what is considered to be the most heated section of the Space Race during 1960s, it was a NASA Administrator named James Webb who held fast, determined and calling upon all his skills, he went on to push the U.S. rocket program past seemingly never ending political barriers, far beyond the outstretched hands of jealous rivals, and forward on to success. James Edwin Webb was only the second administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, established semi-recently in 1958. NASA was created with the idea that the United States could develop a state-of-the-art space exploration program that would go on to outdo, and unravel the Soviet Union's program. The U.S. was quickly sinking into the swamp that was the Cold

I created this piece to further elaborate on the book’s main premise of the lack of support for our space program in our current age. Before I touch on that we have to touch on our origins. We as a race have lived as pioneers exploring the earth and colonizing any new place we could find. It all started in the fertile crest in the middle east. They ventured forth and spread across the earth. Then came the period of stagnation where no exploration was happening and the space race started. We went back to our roots as pioneers exploring beyond the bounds of our small blue planet. America as a whole was the economic powerhouse of the age and the space race caused our education standards to be raised as a whole leading to a greater nation. However,

The Space Race Started in 1959 when sputnik 1 was launched into space. This worried all of the American people because they then believed that Soviets could drop a nuclear warhead on America at any given time. The United States then joined the race in January of 1958. The Americans were just barely behind the Soviets. The Soviet Union then sent Luna 1, the first man made object to orbit the sun, into space. Luna 3 then orbits the moon and takes pictures of 70% of its surface before returning to Earth. In 1961 Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth becoming not only the first Soviet in space but more importantly he becomes the first man in space. Alan Shepard, a navy officer from New Hampshire, becomes the first American in space. Once again The Americans are behind the Russians. This all changes 20 days later when President Kennedy makes his famous proclamation to America and says that they will make it to the moon by the end of the decade. The Space race was

In conjunction with the Apollo program, which was launched 1961 and was completed in 1975, the US launched the Gemini program, also launched in 1961, which would develop technology for use on the Apollo spacecraft. The Gemini program primarily tested equipment and mission procedures and trained astronauts and ground crews for future Apollo missions. The overall objectives of the program included: long duration flights, testing the ability to maneuver a spacecraft and to achieve assembly and docking of two vehicles in Earth orbit, training of both flight and ground crews, conducting experiments in space, extravehicular operations (standup sessions and spacewalks), and active control of reentry to achieve an accurate landing. With the Gemini and Apollo programs, the U.S. had taken a huge lead in the Space Race. By landing on the moon, the United States effectively “won” the space race that had begun with the launch of Sputnik in 1957. For their part, the Soviets made four failed attempts to launch a lunar landing craft between the years of 1969 and 1972, including a launch-pad explosion in July

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

NASA soon responded with the Mercury Missions. These Missions put Americans in orbit and many believe was the real start of the America’s space program. This brought one of the biggest changes to the Nation’s space program. Every tool had to either be built or adapted from another tool to fit the requirement needed. The procedures and systems all had to be redesigned. After the 10 missions, NASA moved on to project Gemini, which concentrated on learning the skills to be able to descend onto the lunar surface. This included docking in space and performing EVAs, or extra vehicular activities, more commonly known as a space walks.