The Space Race during the Cold War
During the Cold War, the United States and Russia had a severe space race between one another. Every time one country would be a step ahead of the other, and somehow one of the countries would catch up to the more advanced country at the time. During the early years of the space race, success was measured by what nation did what first: To the alarm of the United States, each of the early adventures were achieved by the Soviet Union. And all of those events triggered the United States to drive and catch up with to surpass the Soviet Union. This sort of see-saw method happen throughout the space race. Throughout this paper, there will be a discussion on the space race between the United Stated and Russia, but the discussion will be told from the Russia point of view.
First, it started with a space scientist named Sergei Pavlovich Korolyev. His major contributions were the rocket technology and spacecraft design. These two aspects of the space race were pivotal to this race throughout the 1950s and1960s. This gentleman was responsible for rocket systems that helped launch Russia’s first intercontinental missiles and spacecraft during this time period. Korolyev was responsible for many introductory programs in space exploration, including Sputnik 1. Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957, and was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth (1). This was what started the space race between the United States and Russia. This event startled the world by giving the impression that America was behind the Soviets in science and technology. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs would follow in rapid sequences as the American space program raced to catch up with the Soviets. In 1969, the race essenti...
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...with the proper equipment and there are other planets outside the earth and what their atmospheres consist of. The Soviet Union learned that it is possible for the sun to power an object (solar power) and the missiles that help launch the satellites can be used as military weapons that can be guided. These two ideas and many more definitely helped the Soviet Union to become a more technologically respected nation with all of its advancements and achievements.
Works Cited
1. "Space Race", Micrsoft(r) Encarta(r) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft
Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
2. Young Students Learning Library. Weekly Readers Books., s.v. "space race".
3. "The USSR's Manned Space Flights" Space Encyclopedia
<http://spaceboy.nasada.go.jp/Note/yujin/E/Yujol_e.html
4. The Space Race <httl:library.advanced.org/10826/spacerac.htm
...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 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.
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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.