October 4, 1957: The Russia launched Sputnik into space. Thus began the seemingly-eternal battle for control of space exploration. Who would get the first man into space; to the Moon, to Mars? Everything that could be done by either country was being done to give the edge. It soon became obvious to all that neither country was going to back down from the challenge. However, a lot has changed since 1957, governments have slumped, privatized exploration has taken charge. . . what happened? Where is space exploration going? Where is the human race, today? NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was formed in 1958 shortly after the Russia launched of Sputnik and the R-7 ICMB Rocket. The administration was formed to research and progress anything that had to do with space, flight, or other aeronautics. Just over a year after the launch of Sputnik, on October 11, 1958 NASA launched its first rocket: Pioneer I. The primary purpose of this rocket was to measure magnetic fields around the Earth. Although the Sputnik projects had many of the same capabilities, the US having finally launched a rocket meant that they were really in the race. On April 12, 1961 Russia became the first to send a manned craft into space. The craft’s name was Sputnik 11, also known as Vostok 1. Yuri A. Gargarin became the first man to view Earth from Space. The flight lasted a mere one hour and forty-eight minutes before returning Gargarin safely to the Earth’s surface. This occurred only twenty-five days prior to NASA’s first suborbital flight. This only added fuel to the fire in America’s passion to become the first nation to send a man to the moon, thus gaining an edge on Russia in total accomplishments in space. This, however did not come unti... ... middle of paper ... ... learn to accept. The question is not should space be privatized but should space continue to be privatized. SpaceX, Orbital Systems Co., Reaction Engines, Sierra Nevada Corps., all of these companies are working day and night to try and make the promise of life beyond Earth a possibility. Mankind has been, for hundreds of years, looking for the opportunities that are present today. Privatized space is finally making a breakthrough in science and technology that is strengthening the financial and emotional state of the United States simultaneously. After all, space is the final frontier, let it be conquered. Governments have tried and failed, privatization may be the key to unlocking secrets, give it a chance. Give private companies a chance to become recognized, let space be their drawing board. Let space be their accomplishment, let them lead the way for humanity.
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," said by Neil Armstrong as he took his first steps on the moon during the NASA Apollo 11 expedition to the moon. No man has ever been to the moon before and NASA, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was the first to get someone to land on the moon. NASA has had many great accomplishments in exploring the "new frontier" that have affected the United States ever since it was first created in July 1958. The idea for NASA first started when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite on October 4, 1957. United States started up its own space travel program and started to work on its own projects that would be better in than the Soviet Union's. This all started the great space race. It was a big race between the Soviet Union and the United States to see who could learn and discover the most. The United States and Soviet Union started building and sending satellites and space ships. Then they tried to see who could make a suit and ship that would be able to allow a living thing to go up in space. They tested out all of the equipment with monkeys and dogs, seeing what would work. Many animals did die in the process but by the results of their testing they were able to build suits and ships that allow human beings to go up in space. Even though they were able to create these machines, that doesn't mean that they didn't have their difficulties and dangers. Two space shuttles were crashed or blown up. There were many key factors that they had learned to fix that resulted in the crashing of those ships. They have made many discoveries and accomplishments like having the first astronauts walk on the moon.
The Soviet’s were responsible for putting man on the moon, rovers on Mars, and launching the Hubble Space Telescope. Indeed, it was the United States’ foes that drove the U.S. to accomplish perhaps the greatest feats of the twentieth century. Following the defeat of Germany and Japan in World War II, tensions between former allies, the United States and the Soviet Union, began to grow. In the following decades, the two superpowers would duke it out in competitions and tremendous shows of nationalism. They formed unmatchable rivalries in politics, economics, sciences, and sports. These rivalries would become clear when two countries competed in the space race, a competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union concerning achievements in the field of space exploration. The Soviet’s took the early lead as they put the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space. The launch of Sputnik 1 established a sense of fear into the American Public, resulting in the creation of NASA in the late 1950’s which opened the door for space exploration today and for future generations.
The United Space endured a long, competitive, tumultuous, and primed-to-explode relationship with the Soviet Union since its inception. The Space Race was perhaps the greatest spectacle of scientific engineering in the first 5.755 millennia. The U.S. had to reclaim its superior status after the Soviets launched Sputnick I into orbit on October, 4, 1957, and launched Yuri Gagarin into space on April 12, 1961 as the first human in space. Kennedy knew that the American people wanted a victory in the space race, and realized that, being so far away, the United Space could achieve it. Then, on September 12, 1962, President Kennedy gave the “Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort”. This address is best known by this paragraph:
The Space Race is remarkably similar to that of the arms race because of the parallel between the creation of the atomic bomb and the goal of reaching the moon. The United States’ bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki effectively established its place as the technologically superior nation; however, major milestones in space achieved early by the Soviets damaged America’s reputation. In 1957, Soviet scientists shocked the world by successfully launching the Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, beyond the Kármán Line (the boundary of space). This amazing breakthrough “rattled American self-confidence. It cast doubts on America’s vaunted scientific superiority and raised some sobering military questions.” This blow to national pride along with the fear that the Soviets could potentially launch ICBMs from space led to “Rocket fever”. The sudden wave of nationalism and the desire to build a space program worthier to that of the Soviet Union led to the...
The Soviets took a lead by launching the first successful satellite into space. On October 4, 1957 the Soviets launched the first successful satellite into orbit. It was called Sputnik I and it successfully entered Earth’s orbit. This first success started the Space Age. The Soviets successful launch shocked the whole world, giving the Soviet Union the respect for putting the first man-made object into outer space. The Americans successfully launched their first satellite four months after Sputnik I, called the Explorer I. The US would have had the first satellite in orbit if they were allowed to use military rockets from the beginning. But, Eisenhower was worried he would be called a warmonger if he used military rockets for launching a satellite into orbit. He told the sci...
The Vostok Space Program, launched by the USSR during the Cold War, was a huge breakthrough in the field of astronautics. This program managed to launch the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, which left Americans speechless. The Russians’ achievements provoked America to start keeping up with them. The Russians’ and the Americans’ struggle to be the most technologically advanced nation in the world is known as the Space Race. As a consequence of their race, many inventions and advancements came into being, many of them being used for other purposes than astronautics. The Vostok Program was a turning point in history by humanity’s first exploration of space, its provocation of the space race during the Cold War, and the practical uses of the inventions created for competing in the space race.
The 1960’s were full of questions, and one of the biggest questions the world was pondering about was regarding the Space Race: was the USA going to beat their communist enemy, the Soviet Union? The Space Race was a series of events that helped to symbolize and determine in the worlds’ eyes which form of government was better, communism (Soviets) or democracy (United States)? In the beginning of the race, the Soviets had the lead, and it was not looking good for America. Then the United States picked up the pace and spent well over eight billion dollars funding the space studies. This period of time made many scientists and astronauts heroes in the eyes of Americans. The Space Race was a combination of determination, intelligence, space projects, and American pride, all used to reach our exploration goals and surpass the Soviets.
NASA is an organization that studies and does projects about space. NASA had done many projects. It did X – 15 rocket plane, Project Mercury, Project Gemini, Project Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Space Shuttle program and made the
When talking about the current space program, Neil Degrasse Tyson once said, “I got angry with America, because advancing is not just something you do incrementally. You need innovation as well, so that your advances are revolutionary, not merely evolutionary” (Tyson 3). America used to have the top space program in the world. Being first to the moon excited the country and gave everyone a sense of pride and fulfillment. Lately, though, we have been falling behind in space exploration. A successful space program is needed in America, and here’s why: we are losing our grip on the title as the world superpower and a new age of economics and politics is coming faster than we are prepared for. To be prepared for this new age we need the funds,
And, soon, they were off back again to Earth. After being excitedly greeted by the world, it became clear that America had emerged the victor of the Cold War, and therefore, a world leader in space and technology. The United States only reaffirmed its stand as a world power, and the dreams of many to reach the moon had finally become a reality. Science and technology became highly valued fields to study, and the 1960’s itself was remembered as the decade of space exploration. Nationalism peaked right after the mission came to a close, and the future was bright for
It is within man’s blood and nature to explore, and space is our next New World. Man’s first achievement in space travel was the launch of the Sputnik on October 4, 1957. For the next decades, space travel was roaring like a rocket, fueled by man’s desire to explore, man’s desire for knowledge, and man’s desire to beat his enemies. However, these impulses have died out as the well of government funding has been diverted to wars and debts, and the interest of the American people has been diverted to wars and debts. Amidst all these issues it is debated as to whether or not space travel is worth the money and the attention of scientists, particularly since humanity faces so many issues on earth currently. However, because of the past inventions, current services, and future benefits, space travel is indeed worth the money and attention of governments and people. It is within our hands to control man’s advancement, and space travel is the next venue to do so.
These obstacles not only made the U.S. stronger, it made them more determined to get to the moon. The United States' main competitor in space travel was the Soviet Union. The race to space was a competition between the Soviets and the United States. The three main American missions were Project Mercury, The Gemini Project, and the Apollo Mission. The Soviet Union launched a satellite in 1957 called Sputnik to begin the race to space.
Carl Sagan once said “every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring—not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive. If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, is executing Sagan’s words every day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower created NASA in 1958 with the purpose of peaceful rather than military space exploration and research to contribute to society. Just 11 years after the creation, NASA put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, the first humans to accomplish this feat.
People have been venturing out into the universe for many years now. In addition to satellites, both women and men astronauts have traveled into space to collect data about the universe. The first human being, the first animal, and the first spacecraft in orbit, were all achievements of the Soviet Union.
The modern day space environment is no longer a mystery to humans. Yuri Gagarin of Russia was the first person to experience space adventure in 1961. Since then, technological advances have enabled space exploration, with new discoveries being made from time to time. Scientists have significantly contributed to the development of space tourism. Noteworthy inventions by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have transformed human life through increasing accessibility to space. The agency has made it possible for astronauts to go to the moon and also to walk around planet Mars with robotic automobiles. The invention of the tri-axis control design has had a significant influence on modern space explorations, helping astronauts to effectively focus their satellites on the target. This has been important in increasing efficiency and precision in astronomical discoveries (Birchard, 2003).