The Cold War formed political, social, and economic struggles that impacted the two world superpowers, the United States and Soviet Union. The war began in 1947 at the end of WWII and lasted until the fall of the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991. During the 1950’s, the United States and USSR began their fight in space to prove who had better technology, military firepower, and also stronger social, political, and economic systems. Due to the political, social, and economic changes during the Space Race, the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union began to drift apart. During the Cold War both the United States and Soviet Union were so caught up in the war that they formed tension within their relationship. This led to the Soviet Union and United States space programs to work even harder in their voyage in the Space Race.
The impact of the Space Race had an enormous and extraordinary effect on the United States and the Soviet Union. Recordings from JFK in the white house reveal that politics fueled America's race to the moon against the Soviets, not science. Kennedy urges James Webb, NASA Administrator, to adjust his priorities because, “This is important for political reasons, international political reasons. This is, whether we like it or not, an intensive race" (Supplemental appropriations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The launching of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, showed the United States that the competition between them and the Soviets would affect the political views between the two countries and the world. After the first launch of the Sputnik 1, the Space Race had begun, this caused the United States politicians to act fast to catch up with the Russians. In the end the United...
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... elected president of the Communist party. Gorbachev’s goals were to youthen the long-lagging economy and accelerate economic development (Walter).
Even though the Soviet Union lost the Space Race to the United States, they put up a good fight with launching Sputnik 1 as the first satellite in orbit. There were many tensions due to the Space Race between the United State and the Soviet Union. The political, social, and economic changes impacted the relationship between the two countries. Many of the issues began when they took the fight to space to see who had the best technology, military firepower, and stronger social, political, and economic systems. Politics was the main point, over science, in Americas point of view of the Space Race, but to the Soviets it was Science over everything. The Space Race was a giant step into the United States winning the Cold War.
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 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.
At the end of WWII in 1945, the USA and the Soviet Union emerged as the world’s superpowers. This was a time of great tension, rivalry and distrust between the United States and the Soviet Union. It was a time of political, diplomatic, military and economic rivalry where both nations wanted to emerge as the world’s new superpower. Hence, the Cold War would be of profound significance in the development of the space race as the space race was a key element in the rivalry of political, economic and social dominance.
After World War II ended, a silent war slowly began between the USSR and USA. It was a technology war. The two superpowers raced to the moon, but they couldn’t do this themselves. Both sides tried to recruit the German scientists that were behind the V-2 rockets. Using the V-2 rocket technology that could reach the speed of nearly 3500mph, both sides rushed to find the brilliant scientists behind the rockets technology. The race to space was very important during this time because of the Cold War era and they used satellites to spy on one another. Both countries were strong military wise and it was an equal match but to prove who’s the strongest the race to space began.
...o the Soviets inability to properly contain their civilians. The main reasons why the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics lost the Space Race the United States of America are because the USSR was communist. The civilians did not support or like living in a communist society, which made them flee to freedom and ran the cost of border control up to employ more guards. Also, the USSR alone controlled East Germany and East Berlin, while the United States ran West Berlin and West Germany with its allies France and Britain. Finally, the United States was tough competition for the Soviets. The sheer determination of the Americans to defeat the Soviets in the Space Race and restore order in Europe was greater than the Soviets expected. Even after failed attempts at reaching space, the Americans never gave up and beat the Russians to the moon, winning the Space Race.
The Americans took a much more urgent approach after seeing what the U.S.S.R. was truly capable of. The United States would respond with various satellites including those of the Explorer Series and more. However, the Soviet Union would again one-up the United States, and all of their now seemingly feeble satellite launches, by putting the first man into outer space, Yuri Gagarin, in 1961. Now the quest gained an even more competitive drive and the United States soon put Alan B. Shepard into space twenty-three days later. The Space Race was truly a trek for the firsts of history, essentially just exterrestrial one-ups throughout an extended period of time. That very same year, John F. Kennedy founded NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, just for that purpose, to explore the world beyond their own, while maintaining the central aim, to beat the Soviets outright. JFK was a leading power in this race, and “by giving NASA programs top priority, his actions essentially played on American fears of communism and implicitly inferred that the Eisenhower administration had not done enough to meet the Sputnik challenge. Too many Americans were beginning to feel a need to vindicate the ‘long-standing communist boast that theirs was the superior system for galvanizing human productivity’” (Koman 43). Winning this space race was way more than just an extraterrestrial victory, it would hopefully squander the communists’ hopes and assert true American dominance. The United States sought to eliminate any presumption of communist superiority and did so in the near future by winning this Cold War space race, thanks to the execution of a truly unimaginable
Politically, the Soviet Union and the United States were in an arms race as well as a space race which impacted the two countries greatly(413). After the USSR launched Sputnik, U.S. tried make more advancements in the space race. Meanwhile, Russia’s dive into creating the intercontinental ballistic missile put America in a tight spot. America however countered ICBM with its own version. Because of the arms race between the
At the time of the space race, the United States was in the midst of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. Even in the early days of ...
Dale Earnhardt once said, “finishing races is important, but racing is more important.” The 35th president of the United states, John F. Kennedy, also portrayed this in his Moon Speech. This speech was delivered on September 12, 1962, with the object of entering the space race for improvements, discoveries, along with becoming the first in the world. Through his words, John F. Kennedy, uses ethical appeal, logical appeal, and lastly the audience’s sympathies to persuade that the race space is only a challenge intended to be won.
The Space Race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States of America for technology on space that happened from 1955-1972. This competition caused many amazing things: The first object in space, the first man in space, and the first man on the moon. The Space Race had started in the Cold War, an Arms’ Race between the U. S and the USSR.
When one thinks about the space race one’s mind automatically envisions connotations of the cold war; the Soviet Union battling against the USA for technological supremacy in spaceflight capabilities. This was not only a strategic race for national defence reasons but was also seen to be a pivotal stand point of national superiority. This is also the main basis of the majority of space law still in force today. But the reality is there is a space race occurring right now in the present day, not for national supremacy but instead for commercial supremacy no longer is there a search for strategic advantage it is now a race for profit gain.
“After World War II drew to a close in the mid-20th century, a new conflict began. Known as the Cold War, this battle pitted the world’s two great powers–the democratic, capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union–against each other. Beginning in the late 1950s, space would become another dramatic arena for this competition, as each side s...
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.
The space race was the product of the Cold War. It was an effort to prove technological superiority but on the other hand, it was also feared on both sides that weapons of mass destruction will be placed in orbit. In 1957, the Soviet Union sent the 184 pound Sputnik 1 satellite into Earth’s orbit. It was the first artificial satellite and the first manmade object to be placed into Earth’s orbit. Following that, they also sent the first animal into space, Laika the dog. In 1958, the United Sates also launched their first satellite into orbit, dubbed Explorer 1. The Soviet space program advanced once again in 1959. The Soviet Union launched Luna 2, which was the first space probe to hit the moon. In April 1961, the Soviet Union had the ultimate success, sending the first human into space. The name of the Russian cosmonaut was Yuri Gagarin, who made a 108 minute suborbital flight in a Vostok 1 spacecraft. One month after that, Alan Shepard became the American in space aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft. Continuing from there, each nation step...
Similarly, history has proved that achieving a breakthrough in science or technology requires great determination and fighting . The Cold War, which was between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted from 1947 to 1991. Part of this war of showmanship had to do with being the first country to go up in space. The Soviet Union actually achieved this goal, as