The Space Race and NASA

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite and caught America and the whole world off guard. This was the Soviet's first push in the historical "Space Race." There was great fear surrounding this launch; a certain question was on everyone's minds, could the Soviets send Nuclear weapons with ballistic missiles from Europe to the U.S.? Even before the U.S. could respond the Soviets launched Sputnik II carrying an increased payload and the first dog in space named Laika, it seemed the U.S. space program would never catch up. In order for the U.S. to win the Space Race they would have to succeed in putting a man in earth orbit, but it was on April 12, 1961 just four years after sputnik was launched, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin went into earth orbit edging out the United States' chance to put the first man in space.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., 1 Feb 2010. Web. 19 Oct 2010. 02-01/tech/nasa.budget.moon_1_space-exploration-nasa-administrator-charlie-bolden-] nasa-programs?_s=PM:TECH>. Swanson, Alex, and Leo Walford.

July 16, 2004. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0714_040714_moonlanding.html (accessed April 1, 2014). Saran, Cliff. “Apollo 11: The Computers that Put Man on the Moon.” Computer Weekly. July 2009. http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Apollo-11-The-computers-that-put-man-on-the-moon (accessed April 3, 2014). Smith, Nick, and Angela Schuster.

After the Soviet Union launched "Sputnik," the first artificial satellite, the United States decided to start a space program because they didn't want to be beaten by the communists. The first U.S. spaceship was a cone-shaped one-man capsule with a cylinder mounted on top. It was 6 ft., 10 in. long, and 6 ft., 2 1/2 in. in diameter.

It carried a small satellite known as Sputnik (39). With news of the Soviet Union’s success, America knew they had to go further into space than the S... ... middle of paper ... ...rything created by it can be attributed to the space race, which led to the advancements in rocket design. Works Cited Bilstein, Roger E. Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles. Washington: Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1980. Print.

We choose to go to the moon... "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 in this period will be more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult of expensive to accomplish. "(John F. Kennedy - "Special Joint Session of Congress", May 25th, 1961) With just a few words John F. Kennedy launched one of the largest endeavors that America has ever embarked upon. The address given to congress in May of 1961 put America in a race against Russia to see who could make it to the moon first. This was the start of the space program in America.

“Space Shuttle Overview: Challenger (OV-099).” Kennedy Space Center. NASA, April 12, 2013. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. Voice of America News/ FIND.

That's what NASA set out to do in the late 1960's. On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong planted the first human footprints in the lunar soil. The United States had accomplished their goal in sending men to the moon. They managed to not only send them 238,857 mi. (384,403 km) into space to our neighbor celestial body, but also send them back with a successful flight to our mother earth.

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.

Space Exploration The Space Race began in or around the late-1950s, during the Cold War. The United States and Russia were both anxious to become the country to explore space. Unfortunately for the US, Russia launched the first artificial satellite and man-made object to orbit Earth, Sputnik. The launch of Sputnik surprised the United States, and we rushed to get our own space craft into space, and to beat Russia to anything else space related. In 1958, the United States’ first satellite, Explorer I, was launched.