The Challenger disaster was an unprecedented disaster that impacted the United States’ space exploration efforts. President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech immediately following the disaster. In his speech, Reagan offers an optimistic, yet comforting perspective. Reagan’s speech following the Challenger tragedy manifests the influences of anti-Communist rhetoric, nationalism, and scientific curiosity. For instance, a significant element in Reagan’s speech is a presence of anti-Communist rhetoric. The United States competed with the Soviet Union, a communist state, in many aspects, such as in space exploration and global influence. Not only were Americans worried about the spread of Soviet influence, but also of the threat of Communist influence. Following World War II, a national panic ensued, with Americans worrying about a Communist takeover. The Cold War was a period of uncertainty, since Americans were unsure of the Soviet Union’s tactics (Nagel and Herdsmen 108). In response to the Soviet threat, the United States …show more content…
Unlike their Soviet counterparts, who were subject to "government-sponsored terror", American scientists faced more favorable conditions (Eaton par. 3). American scientists also received tremendous public support, and many inventions often benefited everyday life (Eaton par. 4). An importance source of motivation for those involved in the United States' space efforts was the fact that research led to the development of many pieces of everyday technology. Technology such as "wireless communications" was derived from NASA's research ("Space Race" par. 24). These technologies not only benefited NASA, but they also benefited ordinary life. In addition, the American space program received a high amount of public support. Media, including television, films, and magazines, developed public awareness and public support for space exploration (Nagel and Hermsen
During the cold war, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union.
In 1980, it seemed like the United States was not as dominant in the world as it had been before. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union began after World War II. The two nations had joined forces as members of the Allies, but tensions arose after the war. The Americans were very worried about the spread of Soviet communism, and tried to prevent it with a policy of containment, where the United States would protect countries from outside oppression. The Cold War also expanded to include the race between the Soviets and Americans to create atomic weapons. Furthermore, there was a race between the two countries to put the first man in space, which was accomplished by the United States in 1961 (“Cold War History”). The Cold War was a standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union to try to prove their dominance in the world. Each country wanted to have more power and diminish the power of the other. At home, Americans were paranoid with the thought of Soviet spies and communists hiding amongst them, dubbed the “Red Scare.” President Richard Nixon and the Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic A...
The Soviets could clearly see that when Reagan. said he wanted a "margin of safety." He meant that the United States should be. superior to the Russians. Moscow would not let this happen. They wanted equality.5 Reagan also believed in military power and respect for America abroad.
The Soviet Union began to view the United States as a threat to communism, and the United States began to view the Soviet Union as a threat to democracy. On March 12, 1947, Truman gave a speech in which he argued that the United States should support nations trying to resist Soviet imperialism. Truman and his advisors created a foreign policy that consisted of giving reconstruction aid to Europe, and preventing Russian expansionism. These foreign policy decisions, as well as his involvement in the usage of the atomic bomb, raise the question of whether or not the Cold War can be blamed on Truman. Supporting the view that Truman was responsible for the Cold War, Arnold Offner argues that Truman’s parochialism and nationalism caused him to make contrary foreign policy decisions without regard to other nations, which caused the intense standoff between the Soviet Union and America that became the Cold War (Offner 291)....
American nationalism during the Space Race fueled support for NASA, resulting in great technological and scientific advancements during the Cold War. The hyper-competitive atmosphere surrounding the Cold War heightened already existing rivalry between the United States’ and the Soviet Union’s science programs. As the two superpowers struggled for technological dominance, the American people were swept into a frenzy of nationalism. The Science News-Letter pointed out that the Space Race was driven by, “nothing more or less than the ego-driven pressures of competition.” The idea of the Soviet Union both having a superior space program as well as having the capacity to attack the United States with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) brought the U.S. space program off the ground.
Throughout history, science and technology has been relied on to advance humanity. In the Cold War period, this was no different. In fact, the Cold War period was characterized as much by scientific and technological innovation as it was the clash of East and West. From missiles to the space race, science and technology reassured both superiority and mutual destruction throughout the era. The space race, in particular, was a longstanding battle for domination between American and Soviet minds. No longer was space travel confined to science fiction, but a reality that needed to be explored in order to maintain the grasp on victory in the Cold War. This paper will argue that although the domination for space acted as a metaphor for Cold War superiority, ultimately space colonization was the catalyst to American exploration in science fiction and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) propaganda. As a result, when the Americans landed their astronauts first on the moon, it was a victory for America’s policy, imagination, and people. First, an exploration of the history and politics of space travel in the United States and Soviet Union will be discussed. From there, both political cartoons and the development of science fiction will be developed alongside the events that lead up to Sputnik’s launch and Apollo 11’s moonwalk in order to draw the parallel that interest in space fuelled science fiction phenomena. Although this paper focuses on the events leading up to Apollo 11, a discussion of the declining role of science fiction and interest in space as a means to win the Cold War will be put into focus. Lastly, the climatic events of the 1950s and 1960s space age will be compared and contrasted with contemporary events in order to determi...
The Cold war began in 1977 between the United States, the Soviet Union and Chinese Communist that occupied the attention of two generations of America from 1945 to 1991. Many citizens in these nations faced the nightmare of nuclear holocaust caused by small missteps and adversaries. During this time frame, Ronald Regan, a militant anti- communist crusader with his pragmatic and steady secretary of state, George Shultz guided the United States through a policy of heightened military preparedness and peace for the Soviet Union. In this essay, you will explore the 1980s and early 1990s, and how the Republican Party’s pursuit of conservative agenda led to the reversal of the liberal policy that had guided America since the New Deal years; in addition,
The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. (n.d.). Seton Hall University. Retrieved January 18, 2014, from http://pirate.shu.edu/~mckenndo/pdfs/The%20Space%20Shuttle%20Challenger%20Disaster.pdf
The continuation of space exploration is vital to the human race, because it is a clear expression of man’s desire to expand and advance in knowledge and experience. The launch of the International Space Station is among one of the space programs greatest achievements. “On January 25th, 1994, The International Space Station was the highlight of a moment brimming with promise“ (Logsdon, 2008 p.237). This moment not only helped to define both technology and the economy as successful beneficiaries of Space Exploration, but also as a historically inspirational scientific development. I support continued space exploration because the discoveries and innovations that have developed from space exploration research, have made a tremendous technological and economic impact on the United States, justifying its costs. I will elaborate on these advances and discoveries in this research paper.
On March 8, 1983, President Ronald Reagan addressed the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida. He presented his views and opinion of the Soviet Union and explained where he believed the greatest source of tension between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union to lay. Halfway through his first term, President Reagan faced the tail end of the Cold War, and frequently addressed and attempted to lessen the fear present in the United States at the thought of the spread of communism. In a time where it actually appeared that the Soviet Union was winning with their successful invasion of Afghanistan and innovations militarily, it was up to the president to lift the United States out of what he would later call
Since the launch of Sputnik 1, Russia and America continually compete against one another in the exploration of space. The idea of exploring a new frontier intrigued the citizens of both countries. The race to achieve the first successful launch into space created the institution of two independent space programs, the Soviet Space Program and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Since their origins, the agencies contrasted in mission procedures, construction, and view of space’s applications. Though the two programs ultimately amalgamated to further exploration and elevate productivity, Russia proves the victor as it dominates the gateway to space. The current application for Russia occurs with the retirement of the space shuttle program, where the U.S. dependency transpires with each visit to the International Space Station (ISS). The first few crucial factors that differentiate each program resulted from alternate methods, procedures, and test subjects for their missions. The types of vehicles, space stations, and experimentation varied significantly between the agencies of each country. A final consequential piece of the organizations culminated with the joint venture to construct the ISS and promote the space program. When Roscosmos and NASA joined together, other countries of the program increased their efforts, however the United States and Russia continued to dominate the majority of the construction of the ISS. Though the two nations competed against one another, each hoping to gain victory, the majority of society remains unaware that the idea, which initiated the Space Race, arose from a Nazi rocket developer Wernher von Braun. “From his teenage years, von Braun had held a keen interest in space flig...
On September 2, 1945, the two most powerful countries in the world broke into a war of power and pride, known as the Cold War. The Soviet Union and the United States battled fiercely for a reputation that would be revered for ages to come. Aggressively, these two nations pushed to be the greatest in the world through weapons, politics and science. These actions and attitudes significantly promoted the need for space exploration, and soon sparked a pursuit that changed history forever. The “Space Race” of the 1960’s between the US and Russia was very expensive, but it yielded a tremendous number of technological advances.
The space race was not only the result of many years of mistrust and hostility between the US and USSR, but also the hard work and dreams of leading rocket scientists Wernher Von Braun in the US and Sergei Korolev in the USSR. 1) While astronauts like Yuri Gagarin, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong captivated the world with their great feats in space, Von Braun and Korolev were the true visionaries behind the space race. Initially the two superpowers (the US and USSR) were uninterested in space exploration, however, both Von Braun and Korolev convinced their superiors that their work provided defensive gains, and once their efforts had attracted enough public support there was no turning back. 4) Without their intense interest
The Cold War’s political and military rivalry was matched by the so-called Space Race. From the mid-1950s to 1975, both the United States and Soviet Union struggled to outdo each other in space exploration technology and milestones. Each spent millions developing space-capable rockets, putting artificial satellites into orbit, designing and building orbiter ships, training astronauts, launching manned space missions, attempting to land men on the Moon and bring them home safely. Unlike other aspects of the Cold War, the Space Race – or at least its end results – was a very public phenomenon. Every ground-breaking invention, test, launch or event was accompanied by extensive media coverage and propaganda. Both superpowers repeatedly claimed
On January 29th, 1986, live national press coverage let even the most rural communities join in and feel like part of the event. Somehow NASA and Christa McAuliffe had created something so wonderful that it felt as if all of the American people joined together as if there was an invisible flow of holding hands nationwide. As NASA looks to the future, finding ways to go higher, faster, and farther, the tragedy of mission 51-L will never be forgotten. The crew of the ill-fated Challenger have staked their claim in the history books and due to the extensive media coverage. It's truly too bad that such a collaborating, heart-felt event had a tragic end that crushed America's social invincibility forever.