The Space Race was an extraordinary as well as a revolutionary moment that not only changed the United States but the world. There were many concerns and reasons as to why the race would be difficult to win, however, the ending result changed the aspect of space itself and brought the world that we know today. Following the aftermath of WWII, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. transformed into great superpowers while striving for superiority on a whole new level. This lead to a troublesome event that began with the release of secret military plans between the United States and the Soviet Union which is known as the Cold War. Another distinct event that would become vast within the world would be the idea of space and the ambitious power it held. In addition to the idea of space, the concept of using spies against the U.S.S.R. became surreal, and In July of 1955, President Eisenhower revealed the “Open Skies” concept that informed either nation be allowed to fly secretive aircrafts onto their land. This was declined by the Soviet Union which caused President Eisenhower to begin working of a satellite some time later the U.S.S.R. declared their movement to build a satellite as well. The year of 1957 saw the first worldwide launch of the satellite known as Sputnik 1 which was created by the U.S.S.R. This satellite was something …show more content…
Around the same year the U.S. faced the drastic Cuban Missile Crisis which caused much stress on President Kennedy in protecting the country from nuclear war between the two nations. This event lasted for a few weeks and did not stop the United States actions in the Space Race. Later in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated which brought great sorrow to the country and concerns for the conclusion of the Space Race. However, President Nixon allowed NASA to continue with the race but did not fully sponsor their
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 Cold War was the most important historic event in the 20th century after the Second World War, from 1945 till 1991 between two most powerful countries in that period – Soviet Union and USA. The Cold War invested a lot in world politics. What is the Cold War? This was a war for dominance in the world. In 1945 the USA was the only one country in the world that had the nuclear weapons. But in the 1949 USSR started to learn their nuclear weapons. In further developments forced the USSR was soon created by nuclear, and then thermonuclear weapons. (Isaacs J, 2008) Fight has become very dangerous for all.
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.
The space race, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Peace Corps all help contribute to President Kennedy’s success as an influential person in history. Apollo 11, part of the space race, was set in place by President Kennedy in 1961 to perform a moon landing and to return safely to Ear...
Samuel Crompton says,”Space exploration served as another dramatic arena for Cold War competition.”(Crompton 56). The real reason that the United States joined the Space Race was to compete with the soviet union. JFK makes this very clear. The Soviets were ahead of us and this was unacceptable, being behind technologically was detrimental to morale.The Cold War wasn’t really a war at all. It was just an arms race, the space race was just an extension of the arms race. It was never really intended to have any scientific, technological, or strategic benefits. Dwight D. Eisenhower may have planned for the space program to focus on science, but when kennedy took the office he used NASA as a piece of propaganda. He never had any intention of using the space program for research. When Kennedy was first deciding whether or not to create a space program he sent a memo to his vice president Lyndon B. Johnson asking him to research a few things. None of JFK’s questions had anything to do with science or technology. They were all about the Soviet Union 's space program. The first questions was, “Do we have a chance of beating the Soviets by putting a laboratory in space, or by a trip around the moon, or by a rocket land on the moon, or by a rocket go to the moon and back with a man.”(Kennedy). JFK’s sole interest was beating the Soviets. He didn’t care about any other benefits. Everything else came second to beating the
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...
After World War II both the United States and the Soviet Union realized how important rocket research would be to the military. So they each hired the top rocket scientists from Germany to help with their research. After they hired them both sides were making a lot of progress. The Space Race began in 1955 when the Americans announced that they would start launching satellites into orbit. The Soviets took the US announcement as a challenge and established a group whose goal was to beat the US in putting a satellite into orbit. Even though the United States started the competition the Soviets still won because they launched the first successful satellite into orbit, put a dog into outer space and also put the first man into outer space. Some might say that the United States won because they put the first man on the moon, which was a huge feat made by the Americans. So for winning many missions against the U.S. the Soviets won the Space Race.
The Space Race started with the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in October of 1957, this was quickly followed by Sputnik II which carried a canine passenger. This was soon surpassed by the first human in space in 1961. The USA on the other-hand failed to respond effectively, it took several attempts before launching its own satellite, Explorer I, in January 1958.
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.
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.
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”- John F. Kennedy. The space race was a “battle” to determine whether the U.S.S.R. or the U.S.A. was the stronger nation as they frantically tried to reach the biggest feat before the other did. In 1962 John F. Kennedy made a speech about a journey to the moon. He claimed that NASA was capable of landing on the moon. America had lagged behind in each checkpoint during the race by weeks or even days.The first feat was in the favor of the Soviets when they launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1 and barely a month later, on november 3rd 1957 launched the first living being into space, a dog named Laika. America started off
The end of the Second World War brought about great change in the world. This was especially true in Europe, where some battles left areas completely devastated. With the Hitler regime fallen, it was clear the leaders of not only European nations but other nations like the United States wanted to change the structure of land that was once occupied by the Nazi army. The U.S. and Western Bloc would be in a chess match over this land with the Soviet Union and the Western Bloc. This chess match is better known as the Cold War.
The Cold War was a time between 1947 to 1991 in which tensions between two of the largest superpowers of the world were at an all time high: United State of America and the Soviet Union. The war never had a true battlefield between the two, but traces of each the superpowers could be found in many of the wars at the time directly or indirectly like: the Vietnam War, Korean War, and etc. Though the feud didn’t always happen on the battleground. The Soviet Union and United States faced off in expanding their power of their technology and economy at the time, which led to events like the Space Race, Nuclear Arms Race, and even globalization in the countries. Some of the new technologies like computers, space shuffles, and satellites were just some
In 1957 the Soviets used a missile to launch a satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit around the earth. The arms race then became a space race as the United States rushed to launch its own satellites, some for military purposes.