The Space Race during the Cold War Essay

In the period after World War II, from the late 1940’s up until the 1990’s, the United States and their allies were engaged in a “cold” war with the Soviet Union and its allies. Except for minor proxy wars between countries supported by the respective sides, no major wars were fought between the U.S. and the USSR. Nonetheless, tensions were extremely high for many years and the two superpowers constantly went back and forth trying to best the other. Likely the most well-known of these competitions was the Space Race. Battling for cosmic supremacy from the late 1950’s to 1969, the two countries traded many victories over the years and pushed each other to their technological apexes.

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union shocked the people of the United States by successfully launching the first Earth orbiting satellite, Sputnik. America's first satellite

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.

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.

Sputnik was also called the “a technological Pearl Harbor” and it was, “a big blow against American prestige” (Wall). A short month later, Sputnik 2 was launched. American then made its move with Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. For example, “ Explorer 1, the first American satellite to reach orbit, is launched. It carried equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt” (The Space Race Timeline). The Soviet Union responded with Luna 1. Luna 1 “was the first man made object to orbit the sun” (The Space Race Timeline). The US and the USSR have both made several accomplishments. Eventually, the United States ended the battle with one fatal blow. Putting a man on the moon and returning him safely back to Earth. The moon landing took place on July 20, 1969. The first man to walk on the moon was Neil Armstrong. Second was Edwin Aldrin. The moon landing ultimately ended the Space Race with American at the top. For example, “Most people agree that the space race ended on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon for the first time” (Conger). All together, the United States of America ended up winning the Space Race. As you can see, both The US and the USSR had many

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

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.

In addition, the Soviets greatest accomplishments were in the participation in the Space Race. The Soviets successfully launched Sputnik the world's first artificial satellite, October 4, 1957 (Doc F). These achievements showed the world how technologically advanced the Soviets where. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth (Doc F). Valentina Tereshkova became the first women in space (Doc F), and Laika was the first dog in space (Doc F). The Soviet accomplishments will be engraved into Soviet textbooks, but memorialized in human history as

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

The moon landing was highly motivated by the space race between the United States, and the Soviet Union. The space race caused a very tense tone in each country, as they both were trying to be the first to make it into space. The Soviet Union made the first milestone by launching Sputnik into the earth’s orbit on October 4, 1957. Sputnik was the world 's first manmade satellite to make it into outer space. This was such a frightening time for the United States. The United States did not know if it was sent to space for a nuclear launch or

Sputnik was a Russian satellite. It was the first ever satellite launched into space. It was launched October 4, 1957. It’s mission lasted 21 days.This event triggered the Space Race. Sputnik orbited the earth 1440 times. It’s official name was Sputnik 1. It launched new space and science technology.

Did you know that the Soviet Union was the first to launch something outside of Earth’s orbit? In the 1960’s, the Soviet Union speed up the advancement of space science, faster than the United States ever could, during the Space Race. First of all, they were the first to start the Space Race and continually kept going onward to try new concepts and/or more concepts. On the other hand, the Soviet Union were more focused on witnessing who’s better. Finally, the Soviet Union were the ones who sent multiple of inventions into space, but still had a bunch of trial and error and learned what worked and what didn’t work.

Russia was the first country to send a satellite to space. On October 4th 1957 the USSR sent a Russian-built satellite to space. Working with German rocket engineers, who had worked on the V-2 rocket program, Russia spent about a decade after WW2 planning how to send a satellite into space. The Soviets had planned to build a 1,000 – 1,400 kilogram satellite, but they wanted to do it during 1957 -58, the year the U.S publicly announced that they were planning on sending a satellite into orbit, so they had to settle with a simpler version to meet the date. Although Sputnik 1 was the size of a basketball, it still astonished everyone as they could see its shine from space and hear its beeping on radio broadcasts.

The United States and the Soviet Union had been in a Cold War for a decade. The two countries had been in an arms race, and there were high tensions between the two. However, on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik (see image 1), the world’s first artificial satellite. Sputnik was about the size of a beach ball, 22.8 inches in diameter and weighed 183.9 pounds. It took about 93 minutes to orbit the Earth and carried nothing of importance on it. This was a blow to America since the Soviets had beat them into sending a space satellite, but it did not end with just Sputnik. Sputnik II (see image 2) was the second spacecraft sent into space, and was launched on November 3, 1957, under just one month after the launch of Sputnik I. Sputnik II was a 4 meter high cone-shaped capsule, and had a base of 2 diameters.

The Space Race was a war of firsts between the United States of America and the Union Soviet Socialist Republics. But it was also the culmination of the dreams of man for many millennia and the team who worked on the space programs were able to discover what so many of the people that came before and after them could only dream of. It was an endeavor that all of humanity was invested in at the time. It was a testament to the power of the human spirit and it showed how nothing was impossible if we persevered and strived to be better.