...The Space Race Modern American History: 1950 to the 21st Century John Carpenter The Space Race On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”), the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit. (www.history.com/topics/space-race) The race for space has official begun and the United States of America were losing. American’s thought that outer space was the new frontier and did not feel too comfortable knowing that the suppose enemy were the first to accomplish the mission. On the government side, knowing the Soviets’ had the capability to launch a missile into outer space, they had to have the same ability to launch a nuclear weapon. The competition became more than just getting to space; it also became a security issue to protect the US and other nations as well. After the Soviet R-7 went up in 1957, a month later the Russians sent up Sputnik 2, but this time was carrying a passenger “Rocky” the rocket dog. This proved that a living species could survive space travel. To have the Russians making all the “first” in space missions did not sit well with Americans and began to push the government into overtime to do the same. On January 1958 the U.S. launched their very own satellite called Explorer 1, designed by the US Army under the direction of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. In the same year President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order to...
Words: 563 - Pages: 3
...HIST101-1304B-10 Modern American History 1950 to the 21st Century The Space Race The Space Race began on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched a satellite into space named Sputnik. This satellite began its journey attached to a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Sputnik was the first piece of man made equipment ever sent into orbit around the Earth. The launch of Sputnik showed the United States that they were behind the power curve when it came to exploring space. The other thing that the Sputnik launched showed the United States was the power and range of the Soviet’s R-7 ICBM. It seemed that the Soviet Union was capable of delivering nuclear warheads to U.S. soil. This encouraged the U.S. military to take a particularly hard look into the weapon advancements that the Soviets were making. By 1958 the United States launched its own satellite into space, known as Explorer I. It was designed by the U.S. Army and over watched by a rocket scientist, Wernher von Braun. In 1958 President Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or more commonly known as NASA. In addition to signing the public order which created NASA, President Eisenhower also signed two more orders that would ensure the United States would not fall behind in gathering intelligence via space again. The first was used by the U.S. Air Force, which focused on using space for military operations. The second named Corona was a collaboration with the CIA, U.S...
Words: 684 - Pages: 3
...Ryan Einspahr HIST101 Individual Project 4/13/2015 The Space Race After World War II the two most powerful nations began a battle between each other known as the Cold War. According to History.com Staff (2010) “The two nations, The United States, and the Communist Soviet Union sought to prove superiority over one another through technology, its military firepower and - by extension - its political-economic system.” The Space Race lasted from the late 1950’s through the early ‘70’s with both countries making giant leaps into the realms of space we had yet to explore and discover. According to History.com Staff (2010) “On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”), the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit.” Sputnik scared most Americans, with most people thinking that Russia could see our every move and potentially use a nuclear weapon from space against us. Although these were reasonable ideas the Sputnik satellite was nothing more than a harmless silver ball with a blinking light on it. This was truly the beginning of the Space Race. The United States knew it was losing ground on the Soviets and had to even up the score fast, and Explorer-I was the answer for the United States. According to Ludwig, George H. (April 1959) “Explorer-I, officially known as Satellite 1958 Alpha, was the first United States earth satellite and was sent aloft as...
Words: 587 - Pages: 3
...The Space Race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration from 1957-1975 . The Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on being firsts in space exploration to show a sign of superiority. The Space Race involved launching satellites, suborbital and orbital human spaceflight around the Earth, and manned flights to the Moon. It first began with the Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite on October 4. 1957, and ended with the Apollo-Soyuz human spaceflight mission in July 1975. The Apollo-Soyuz project symbolized an easing in the relationship between the Soviet Union and the US. The Space Race was originally a missile-based arms race that occurred just after the end of the World War 2. The Space Race all began in Germany during the beginning of the 1930s and continued during World War II when Germany researched and built ballistic missiles. Starting in the early 1930s, German aerospace engineers experimented with liquid-fueled rockets hoping they would be capable of reaching high altitudes and going long distances. The head of the German Army's Ballistics Branch, Lieutenant Colonel Karl Emil Becker, created a team of engineers to figure out how to use rockets as long-range artillery in order to get around the Treaty of Versailles' ban on research and development of long-range cannons. At the end of the war, American, British, and Soviet scientific intelligence teams competed to capture Germany's rocket engineers...
Words: 1236 - Pages: 5
...Alen Sonny Mr. Lewis APUSH Period 5 13 April, 2014 The War between Communism and Democracy for Dominance of Space The Space Race was a war of firsts between the United States of America and the Union Soviet Socialist Republics. But it was also the culmination of the dreams of man for many millennia and the team who worked on the space programs was able to discover what so many of the people that came before and after them could only dream of. It was an endeavor that all of humanity was invested in at the time. It was a testament to the power of the human spirit and it showed how nothing was impossible if we persevered and strived to be better. The space race did not start as one would expect with the respective American and Soviet space agencies. But rather it began with the German V2 missile launches towards the end of World War 2. The V2 missile was designed by Wernher Von Braun a German scientist who had dreamed of traveling to the moon for many years; however this dream had to be secret as it was considered to be treasonous and not helpful to the German cause. Von Braun and many other amateur rocketeers were drafted into the German war machine in order to help build a super weapon and their base was Peenemünde. When the war was nearing its end the Third Reich unleashed its secret weapon, the V2 missile. It could hit anywhere within its target range and there would be no warning. When it hit, it caused scenes of mass destruction. The V2 missiles were to be Hitler’s...
Words: 5318 - Pages: 22
...The space race between the U.S.S.R and the United States was very important during the Cold War. The space race began in 1952 when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to name July 1, 1957 to December 31, 1958 as the International Geophysical Year, also known as IGY, because the scientists knew that the cycles of solar activity would be at a high point then. In October of 1954 the council called for artificial satellites to be launched during IGY to map out the Earth’s surface. In July 1955 the White House announced plans to launch an Earth orbiting satellite for the IGY and made proposals to government research agencies to undertake development of new satellites. The Naval Research Laboratory’s Vanguard proposal was chosen to represent the United States in September 1955. On October 4, 1957 the Soviets successfully launched Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite. Sputnik was about the size of a basketball, weighed about one hundred and eighty pounds, and took ninety eight minutes to launch into Earth’s elliptical path. The launch of Sputnik changed the space race dramatically. The Sputnik, a big technological achievement, caught the United States off guard and captured the attention of the whole world. Sputnik’s size was bigger than Vanguard’s proposal of 3.5 pounds and was very impressive. On November 3, 1957 the Soviets launched another satellite named Sputnik 2 II, which was much heavier and even included a dog named Laika. Immediately...
Words: 485 - Pages: 2
...The Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union was a turning point in the history of mankind. You may ask why the space race was even considered a race in the first place. There were different reasons as to why these two countries tried to conquer space and to outdo one another. Why wouldn't they make it such a big deal, humanity was looking to step foot on the moon for the first time, that would mark history forever. To begin with, the competition intensified as each side attempted to prove the advantage of its technology. According to blog.yizzam.com/the-space-race-usa-or-ussr-more-competitive/, "Tensions quickly grew among the Cold War rivals and it became evident that the race embodied so much more than having bragging rights." The space race was a competition where both countries tried to develop aerospace capabilities. Thus, they wanted the world to see which was the better and more innovative nation. Beginning in the late 1950s, space would become another dramatic arena for this competition, as each side would prove to have superiority of its technology. At first, for a while people...
Words: 450 - Pages: 2
...The arms race that started between the United States and the USSR following the end of World War II metamorphosed into a space race that effectively started with the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and ended in 1972 with the cancellation of the Apollo Project at NASA. The launch of Sputnik shocked the United States out of its post-WWII false sense of scientific superiority. American pride and a sense of national security required that the United States not lose the new great frontier regardless of the cost. At the peak of the Space Race, the United States was spending over four percent of the national budget on the effort, exceeding the amount spent on housing and community development. No one questions the impressive achievements of the space program,...
Words: 1865 - Pages: 8
...The Space Race changed history and captivated scientific exploration in the world. It began after World War II in the mid-20th century during the Cold war. The battle was between two great powers in the world, United States and the Soviet Union. During the late 1950s, the competition between the two arose because they wanted to prove which one of them is more capable and superior in technology (military and political-economic system). The Soviet Union launched the first earth satellite Sputnik 1 officially in 1957. After a while, the USSR sent Sputnik 2 which carried a dog named Laika, and it was the first spacecraft to carry animal as it made them the first country who sent a living creature in a spaceship. The U.S. was afraid of communism during the Cold War, as Russia got other people thinking that they might send out nuclear weapons that will somehow destroy the U.S., due to the fact that they sent out Sputnik and the first man into space....
Words: 536 - Pages: 3
...Space Race Throughout the 1960's, the United States was involved in coming up with new technologies for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program. This has helped out us politically, socially, and economically over this decade. President Kennedy spoke about spear heading the movement to his vision to have an American sent to and returned from the moon. He wanted this to happen in this decade. First of all, the Americans were under the impression that they were the leaders in the world of space technology. They were taken off guard when they learned that the Soviet Union launched the worlds first artificial satellite named Sputnik One that started the space race in 1957. The Americans knew they had to increase their...
Words: 368 - Pages: 2
...that the U.S joined a space race in 1957? Well, they did, and they stayed in the space race until 1975 when they landed on the moon before Russia even though Russia launched their first spacecraft on October 4, 1957, when the space race started. But the reasons I think the U.S joined the space race is because of the fact that soviets got to space before America did, second because they wanted to be the first to explore the vast unknown space, and third to show that they are not inferior to the Soviets. On October 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”), the first satellite launched into the earth’s atmosphere. Which in turn came as a surprise because space was seen as the next frontier. So in 1958, the U.S launched their very own satellite, Explorer 1, designed by the U.S. Army under the direction of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. The same year that President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a federal agency dedicated to space exploration. Which then started the space race between the U.S and the Soviets....
Words: 524 - Pages: 3
...Darrell C. Johnson Jr. History 101 08/02/2015 Unit 1- Individual Project The Space Race In the middle of the 20th century the world’s two super power, United States and the Soviet Union were in a competition known as the space race. The two super countries clashed for superiority of technology, military firepower, and its politics. The superiority was seen as necessary for national security and ideological superiority. By the mid-1950s, the United States and Soviet Cold War had taken its effects on both countries, because of this competition and the threat of nuclear weapons, espionage and counter-espionage between the two countries, the Korean War and a war of words and philosophy’s carried out in the media. All of these tensions continued throughout the space race, tensions heated up even more with events like the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and a war in Southeast Asia. On October 4, 1957, Sputnik, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched. Sputnik was the world’s first artificial satellite and first man-made object to be placed in orbit. The launch came as a surprise, but wasn’t pleasant to Americans. Space was seen as the next frontier, in the United States. This demonstration of the power of the R-7 missile seemed capable of delivering a nuclear warhead into U.S. air space. Which made gathering intelligence about Soviet military activities particularly urgent. The U.S. launched its own satellite...
Words: 908 - Pages: 4
...| Greg Van Lieu HIST101-1502B-02 Professor Gleason May 25, 2015 THE SPACE RACE During the cold war a competition between the United States and Russia started as each country competed in seeing who would make it to space first. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed, it replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) in October 1, 1958. On September 12, 1962 the race was defined by President John F Kennedy’s speech at Rice University and thus “The Space Race” had begun. In that speech, John F Kennedy stated “We choose to go to the moon. 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.” JFK RICE MOON SPEECH. (n.d.). The space race ignited America’s competitive spirit. The space race between the two world powers changed humanity with breaking the limits of new technology in space travel and catapulted the United States to evolve into the world leader by landing a human on the moon. On October 4 of 1957, the space race began between two of the most powerful countries when Russian launched an unmanned rocket called Sputnik 1 into orbit. “The launch of Sputnik 1 had a "Pearl Harbor" effect on American public opinion.” Launius, R. (n.d.). Then Russia, a month later, launched Sputnik 2 which included a small dog named Laika. The U.S. tried to catch up by launching two satellites. One of the satellites failed to reach orbit, however one of satellite...
Words: 845 - Pages: 4
...business ventures as listed below: ▪ Private parties looking for opportunities to put up communication satellites ▪ Delivering supplies to the International Space Station ▪ Placing astronomical science instruments into space Larry’s job the first few years at EDS presented him with several challenges. First, there was a rocket explosion after liftoff, which EDS had responsibility in this venture. The payload was a part of a communication satellite from EDS, and the reputation of EDS has suffered from this, as well as the customer confidence in the company. Upon impact of the explosion, it caused some damage to the environment, nature, and surrounding areas in the community by the release of a small amount of radioactive dust in the air that settled. It was at this time Larry became the key scientist of the investigating team to determine the cause of the explosion, which was due to a faulty manufacturing of a fuel line gasket by Space Engineers LTD. Larry did well on the investigation and received a promotion to a team leader role. He continued to improve in efficiency, cost, and effectiveness of using rockets to deliver private payloads into space. Larry’s work became even more noticeable by the senior staff in the company and he acquired a nickname of “Werner Von Braun,” of the private space industry. Larry now was in line to receive a higher position in the company, including becoming future company President. Sandra Armstrong, Larry’s boss, mentor...
Words: 2028 - Pages: 9
...(US), fought for supremacy in Space exploration. This served as another dramatic arena for Cold War competition and was commonly known as the Space race. The USSR originally had the more effective space program until the death of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev in 1966. Thus allowing for USA’s NASA to overtake its its Soviet Union counterpart. With the race officially ending on July 16, 1969 with the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon.After World War II drew to a close in the mid-20th century, a new conflict began. Known as the Cold War, this battle pitted the world’s two great powers–the democratic, capitalist United States and the communist Soviet...
Words: 465 - Pages: 2
