The Space Race and the Apollo Program in 1968

The Space Race and the Apollo Program in 1968

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space, and none will be so difficult or so expensive to accomplish.

These words, uttered by President John F. Kennedy in May 1961 brought forth a new era in American history, the idea of sending a man to the moon. Only seven years later, in 1968, did America finally prepare to meet Kennedy’s deadline with the Apollo 7 and 8 missions. Recovering from the tragic fire of Apollo 1 in 1967, Apollo 7 put the Space program back on track. Only two months later, Apollo 8 led the first voyage around the Moon. These missions drew America’s goal for a lunar landing closer and took the Soviet Union out of the Cold War’s so-called "Space Race."

The origins of the Cold War can be traced to the conclusion of World War II. Beginning with the Yalta Convention in 1945, and continuing with the Potsdam Conference later that year, the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republic became embittered with each other over the division of Europe. This was a direct result of capitalism and communism with the blockade of Germany, the support of Communism in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Turkey and Greece and the refusal of Soviet forces to demobilize. Soon, the argument turned to America’s use of the atomic bomb in Japan in August 1945. The Soviets at first highly commended America for hastening Japan’s surrender but then repudiated it several weeks later. They claimed that it destroyed the balance of power between the two great world powers. By the early 1950’s, the focus shifted from the dilemmas in Europe to an even bigger threat, the threat of nuclear war. Both the US and the USSR claimed supremacy in Nuclear technology, specifically, the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). However, events changed permanently on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first successful orbiting satellite. The United States immediately reacted to the launch by claiming it would have been first in launching a satellite had it not been for planning mistakes.

After the launch of Sputnik II in November 1957, the United States made its first public reaction.