In 1957, Russia catalyzed the dawn of a new age. Man had never been to space, but Russia showed the world it was in our time. This satellite, Sputnik, was the breakthrough in aerospace technology. Sputnik had one advantage that no other satellites had, the element of surprise. As well as beginning the space age, Sputnik caused paranoia on a global scale and set the space race in motion.
Russia was still in the Cold War with the US when Sputnik launched. American and Russian astronomers alike were both baffled and terrified when they look into the sky and saw a man-made satellite steadily making revolutions around the globe. We gawked at what he showed us as if we were a bunch of sheep seeing a new gate for the first time” (Nikita Khrushchev). The 184 lbs of Russian marvel and prestige was orbiting the world at a shocking 18,000 mph, and orbiting about 500 miles off the surface with one revolution every 96 minutes. (Grant 339)
The main purpose of this satellite was for Russia to show its power and to show Russia was the most advanced country in the world. When there was a competition of power, Russia would always come through with shining colors.
The designer of the satellite is no single man or woman, but many brilliant minds working as one. This made the USSR the most powerful nation on the planet; they had the first and only satellite in Earth’s orbit, and no one outside Russia knew what it was capable of. The USA didn’t know if it was deep space or armed to the teeth. “Whereas before outer space monsters had implied green, lizard-tongued aliens armed with death rays, the new fiends were fur-coated, vodka-drinking Russians” (DeGroot).
Russia was certainly not attempting to suppress international fear, but they were actually fu...
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...humility. You woke us up out of a long sleep.” (DeGroot)
The world was changing, and nothing could stop that. America’s eyes were opened. They were dead set on changing the way America works.
To this day, there is competition between all countries regarding space. Not near was much as in the past, but there are still satellites being launched into Earth’s low orbit. All major countries are in space now, but we don’t know who will be the next country to make the next interstellar space shuttle or space transport.
Works Cited
DeGroot, Gerard J. Sputnik 1957. American History 42.5 (2007): 34. MasterFILE Premier. Web 21. Jan 2014. Print.
Glover, K. Linda. Sputnik. Space. Washington D.C; National Geographic, 2005. Print.
Garber, Steve. Sputnik. Sputnik. NASA. 10 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Jan 2014.
Grant, G.R. Sputnik. Flight. New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2002. Print.
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 in the American public, resulting in the creation of NASA in the late 1950’s. This opened the door for space exploration today and for future generations. After World War II, the Cold War created tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States leading to extreme national pride and competition, culminating in the space race which began with the launch of Sputnik 1.
Following the conclusion of the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union made it a priority to outdo each other in every possible facet from arsenals of missiles to international alliances and spheres of influences. Yet when the Soviets launched Sputnik on October 4th, 1957, the world changed forever. The first manmade object was fired into space, and it appeared that American technology and science had fallen behind. Yet, the public feared that not only were they now technologically inferior to the Soviets, but also deduced that if a satellite could be launched into space, a nuclear missile could just as likely reach the mainland United States. Less than a month later, the Soviets pushed the bounds of technology yet again by
Prepare a brief paragraph on the impact of Sputnik and "A Nation at Risk ' on public education ( treat separately ).
The cold war by the late 1950s had weaved into the everyday life of society for both countries. The announcement from the US that they will launch a satellite into orbit was challenged by the Soviets. On October 4th 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. This was the world’s first artificial satellite and man-made object to be in earths orbit. The launch was unexpected to the US, having caught them off guard. As a result Sputnik began to raise fears amongst the public, fearing the possible event of a nuclear attack, due to previous cold war
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 formation of these alliances had been preceded by an arms race in which both the two major powers were trying to overpower each other in terms of military equipment. The Soviet Union had tried its first atomic weapon in 1949, and this greatly shocked the Americans as it had happened very early than expected. Truman had responded to this by authorizing the development of thermonuclear weapons or hydrogen bombs. They controlled the Asia effect by exploding the H-bomb which was smaller in size than the Hiroshima atomic bomb but 2500 times powerful compared to it. The Russians were however not willing to give up, and in 1953, they also managed to produce an H-bomb. Despite Khrushchev’s efforts to outdo America`s military equipment the Americans always believed in the existence of a missile gap between them and the Asians. This motivated them to increase their missile forces. The soviet union brought the world to a shock when they launched the first world`s artificial satellite (sputnik 1) further threatening the Americans who had never thought of this.
On October 4, 1957 Russia launched a rocket named Sputnik ( faculty etsu, 2001). The United States (U.S) was caught off guard. Sputnik had the ability to orbit the Earth in just 96 minutes and transmit a frequency easily heard with an amateur radio (Figure 1). If the Russian could launch a satellite under our noses without our knowledge and have the ability to send a signal into our homes in 1957 it was clear that the U.S. was unprepared and had under estimated the ability of their adversaries. We clearly needed a new way of doing business, a new way of defending our country and our families. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had now received a wakeup call, it was time to act. Our enemy could now be thousands of miles away, and still able to get into our homes. The enemy could get to our families without even stepping foot into our homes. The world as we knew it would never be the same.
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 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...
Launius, Roger D. "Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age." 1997. NASA. Accessed 2 Apr. 2003. < a href="http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/sputorig.html>
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 ...
Space travel was born from the flames of war – or in this case, the refrigerators of war. The Soviet Union and the United States were ready to show up each other in the fields of science and engineering, and with the recent advent of rocketry, it was evident that space was the next goal. Russia held the first few victories: including the first man-made satellite and the first man in space. Following these defeats, America picked itself up, and defeated the Russians on the race to the moon.
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...
Kennedy Space Center Story. 1991. The. 15 February 2010 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/story/kscstory.html>. The "Reading Eagle" JFK Cites Red Threat: Declares Russia Will Lead Space Race for Some Time 13 April 1961: 1. The life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky.
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.