The Space Race
Essay Preview: The Space Race
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Matt Flapan
Mrs. Samuelson
Term Paper
US History
Period 4
10/25/06
The Space Race was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted roughly from 1957 to 1975. It involved both of those countries to explore outer space with artificial satellites, to send humans into space, and to land people on the Moon. Whoever got to space first would have advantage over the other country. The Space Race began after the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4th 1957. The Space Race became an important part of the technological rivalry between the USSR and the United States during the Cold War. Space technology became an extremely important aspect because of its potential military advances.
President Dwight Eisenhower signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 into law, establishing NASA. The American program had been delayed because Eisenhower insisted that the space program should be a non-military operation, and that it should not make defense missiles for space exploration. Even though President Dwight Eisenhower did now want NASA to be in conflict would the military it would be an advantage if they teamed up so they could get advantages in space and war. Space exploration and satellite technology could feed into the cold war on both sides. Satellite equipment could spy on other countries, while space exploration could serve as propaganda for the country. (ABC-CLIO, Space Race) The same rockets that might send a human into space could send an atom bomb to an enemy city and they would not even know that it was coming because of where it would be coming from. With both super-powers up and running with their space programs, the next step was to put a man into space.
In 1958 The United States launches its first satellite, Explorer I, and Alan Shepard, Jr becomes the first American in space. Across the world Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to orbit the Earth. A Russian, Valentina Tereshkova, becomes the first woman in space ( Winkler, 39 ). The United States launches Apollo 8, the first manned space mission to orbit the moon which was successful and with this it gave the US a boost.
With the launch of Sputnik 1 it had a “Pearl Harbor” effect on America, because the US did not know what to except because it was one of the first launching. With this affect on the nation it put the US in tough spot because the first space program to space would have great military advantage. With this launching it had America right where the USSR wanted it. It was a competition which the Americans should have won hands down. The concept of putting up a satellite had been known to the worlds space enthusiasts for many years. In America serious proposals to launch a spacecraft into Earth orbit had been discussed since the mid-1940s, but most of these plans where denied because it was not a big deal at the time (ABC-CLIO, Space Race).
By reaching the moon first, the United States won the space race and this gave great attention to the US space program. Soviet and U.S. leaders knew that being the first country to land on the moon would be an extremely important media event. The world watched each countrys progress with great interest. Scientists and government leaders in both countries were under intense pressure to meet tough deadlines. These countries needed to reach these deadlines so they would not fall behind the other in the race to space and lose great military position. (www.encyclopedia.com Ð- The space race).
Inside the sputnik II was a dog, Laika, this was the first animal put into space. The Russians had put the first living creature into space. This was a big turning point in the race because now that animals can be put into space that means people or weapons can be put into space. In January 1958 the American public got what it wanted when one of Von Brauns rockets launched Explorer 1 into orbit. After selection, seven test pilots were chosen to be Americas pioneers in space. The press and the public were introduced to Americas first astronauts. These seven Americans became instant heroes among the people in the US. With the US sending people into space it would help them think of ways to use space for a military purpose.
In order to learn about sending men into orbit, America had embarked on project Mercury. The small Mercury capsule was capable of taking one astronaut into orbit, and with a man in orbit the US could learn a lot about space now. ( Winkler, 41 ) Pioneer 3, an American unmanned satellite, fails to reach the moon, but discovers a second radiation belt around the Earth. The US had some failures, but from these they learned and then worked harder to have fewer failures. The Soviets Luna 2 successfully crash-lands on the moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach another planet, this had the US racing to get something to land on the moon. (Bille,102)
President John F. Kennedy, in his first State of the Union address, accelerates the space program and sets as a goal a moon landing within the decade. President Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University, future home of the Manned Spacecraft Center, which later was renamed Johnson Space Center: “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, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one