The History And Impact Of The Space Race

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On May 25, 1961, just two weeks after the US had successfully got an American into space, John F. Kennedy gave a speech addressing it and exclaimed, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish..." (Kruse). The Space Race became an important event for all of humanity during the 20th century because it improved our knowledge of space, improved and inspired new technology, and improved our education. It sparked a mix of both friendly and non friendly competition between the Capitalist United States and the Communist Russia (USSR) from the launch of Sputnik in 1957, all the way to the Apollo-Soyuz project that ended the race in 1975 .
The Space Race improved our knowledge of space. When the United States successfully launched their first satellite, Explorer 1, on January 1, 1958, it carried a small payload that informed us on the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth (Garber). This gave us a small and raw amount of information but it gave us information to study. This also helped motivate us and our curiosity of space to get us to strive further and find more info. When the race started in 1957 following the successful launch of Sputnik, the US wanted to be a part of it and wanted to be better and wanted to prove it. With the launch of Explorer 1, they were able to prove that it was better than Sputnik because Explorer 1 actually provided us with information, whereas Sputnik just made a constant, meaningless beeping sound as it orbited our Earth. This h...

... middle of paper ...

...nts of the 20th century, because it helped improve our knowledge of space, our education, and our technology. We may have been against each other, but as humans, we were able to show the world what we are capable of.

Source Page

Hermann, Burkely. "Legacy of the Space Race." How the Space Race Fueled Innovation. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Garber, Steve. "Sputnik." Sputnik. N.p., 10 Oct. 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Garber, Steve. "Project Apollo: A Selective Bibliography of Books." Project Apollo: A Selective Bibliography of Books. N.p., 28 Oct. 1996. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Beiser, Darr H. "Sputnik Heralded Space Race, Focus on Learning - USATODAY.com." Sputnik Heralded Space Race, Focus on Learning - USATODAY.com. N.p., 10 Oct. 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Kruse, Richard. "Space Exploration Quotes." Historic Spacecraft. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

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