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United States and Soviet Union space race
U.S. and Soviet Union space race
The space race between america and russia
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On July 29, 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, or NASA. The Act “to provide for research into the problems of flight within and outside the Earth's atmosphere, and for other purposes." It provided for the resources to commit to and win the “Space Race” which had begun a year earlier and had become a “competition” between the United States and the communist Soviet Union to be ahead of the other in exploring space. It was important to have the advantage over the Soviet Union in using space technology and gaining a military advantage. On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union put the first satellite into space, by launching it with a ballistic missile. The satellite was named “Sputnik” which means “traveler” in Russian. It was only about the size of a basketball but weighed almost 200 pounds. The United States was caught off guard and it was scary to think that if the Soviets could launch a satellite with a ballistic missile, maybe they could be could launch a warhead into space. …show more content…
They thought of themselves as being ahead of everyone else in technology so they began to work on building their own satellite and the race was on. Things didn't go well for the United States at the beginning of the race. The Soviet Union launched “Sputnik II” in November of 1957 before the United States had launch even its first satellite. And “Sputnik II” had a dog on board it! That sounds kind of like an “in your face” move to me. The U.S. did try to launch a satellite the following month but it exploded soon after takeoff. Finally, they were able to launch Explorer I, a satellite designed by the Army, on January 31,
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," said by Neil Armstrong as he took his first steps on the moon during the NASA Apollo 11 expedition to the moon. No man has ever been to the moon before and NASA, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was the first to get someone to land on the moon. NASA has had many great accomplishments in exploring the "new frontier" that have affected the United States ever since it was first created in July 1958. The idea for NASA first started when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite on October 4, 1957. United States started up its own space travel program and started to work on its own projects that would be better in than the Soviet Union's. This all started the great space race. It was a big race between the Soviet Union and the United States to see who could learn and discover the most. The United States and Soviet Union started building and sending satellites and space ships. Then they tried to see who could make a suit and ship that would be able to allow a living thing to go up in space. They tested out all of the equipment with monkeys and dogs, seeing what would work. Many animals did die in the process but by the results of their testing they were able to build suits and ships that allow human beings to go up in space. Even though they were able to create these machines, that doesn't mean that they didn't have their difficulties and dangers. Two space shuttles were crashed or blown up. There were many key factors that they had learned to fix that resulted in the crashing of those ships. They have made many discoveries and accomplishments like having the first astronauts walk on the moon.
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 in the American public, resulting in the creation of NASA in the late 1950’s. This opened the door for space exploration today and for future generations. After World War II, the Cold War created tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States leading to extreme national pride and competition, culminating in the space race which began with the launch of Sputnik 1.
Early on in the race, the USSR was very successful. In 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, which triggered the start of the space race (John F. Kennedy). The United States began to scramble, trying to catch up with the Soviets. However, soon after, the Soviet Union completed another huge success. They sent the first man to orbit Earth (John F. Kennedy). In 1961 the USSR’s Yuri Gagarin became the first human to ever orbit the Earth (John F. Kennedy). The United States was still unsuccessful and beginning to look weak. After that, America got serious. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy asked Congress for around eight billion dollars to build up the space program over the next five years (John F. Kennedy). The president declared, “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” (John F. Kennedy).
American nationalism during the Space Race fueled support for NASA, resulting in great technological and scientific advancements during the Cold War. The hyper-competitive atmosphere surrounding the Cold War heightened already existing rivalry between the United States’ and the Soviet Union’s science programs. As the two superpowers struggled for technological dominance, the American people were swept into a frenzy of nationalism. The Science News-Letter pointed out that the Space Race was driven by, “nothing more or less than the ego-driven pressures of competition.” The idea of the Soviet Union both having a superior space program as well as having the capacity to attack the United States with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) brought the U.S. space program off the ground.
The United States felt threatened by the USSR’s unexpected technological advancement. Not only was Sputnik I 180.4 lbs heavier than Vanguard, but it was proven to be more successful when the Vanguard launch failed on December 6, 1957 while being broadcast worldwide. Although America’s first attempt at competing with the Soviet Union’s technology was an utter failure, the US government didn’t let this deter them from their goal to equalize the country with the Soviets and eventually surpass them. Right after Sputnik I was launched, the US Defense Department decided on funding for a new satellite project while Vanguard was still being worked on. This satellite was named the Explorer I and was successfully launched on January 31, 1958, officially
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.
The Space Race supplied knowledge about space and allowed Americans to understand more about the expanse area beyond Earth. It was imperative to learn about the area around us because without being educated about our surroundings we become vulnerable and open to threats. With New satellites such as the Transit satellites Americans could now receive warning of hurricanes and storms as well as view forest fires and icebergs. The Space Race also brought the establishment of NASA in 1958 to oversee the space program and to make sure America won (Space, 2015). The knowledge that the Space Race provided helped accomplish many historic feats and eventually led a man to the
It was the beginning of the Space Race in 1958. The USSR, also known as the Soviet Union, had recently launched the first ever satellite, Sputnik 1. The Americans had already been planning the launch of a satellite, but this event accelerated the timeline. Immediately following the launch, the United States of America leaped into action with the creation of NASA on July 29, 1958. It would be a peaceful organization that would be responsible for and science and technology regarding space. Moreover, NASA then went on to create new technology that influenced everyday life, such as artificial limbs and CAT (computerized axial tomography) scans. In the past and present, NASA impacted the world by putting a man on the moon and now plans to
The parties had been competing to see who had the most advanced technologies for atleast a decade. The United States had been spying on the USSR with their U2 spy planes throughout the 50s and observed that they were making great technological advances and hired three to four times as many Soviet scientists as there were American. The soviets launched Sputnik in October of 57 which gave birth to the “Crisis of Confidence” of Sputnik (PBS). Americans feared what the Soviets could do with their satellite orbiting and functional. This spurred the United States to get their technology that they have been working on to orbit. This rushed mentality created by American media and the red scare led the Vanguard TV3 rocket to an arguably premature
The space race was a race against the US and the USSR to see who could get to the moon first. The Spudnik was the first satellite to space launched by USSR. However, the USSR was the first to launch a man to orbit earth Neil Armstrong was the first man to the
The space race was the product of the Cold War. It was an effort to prove technological superiority but on the other hand, it was also feared on both sides that weapons of mass destruction will be placed in orbit. In 1957, the Soviet Union sent the 184 pound Sputnik 1 satellite into Earth’s orbit. It was the first artificial satellite and the first manmade object to be placed into Earth’s orbit. Following that, they also sent the first animal into space, Laika the dog. In 1958, the United Sates also launched their first satellite into orbit, dubbed Explorer 1. The Soviet space program advanced once again in 1959. The Soviet Union launched Luna 2, which was the first space probe to hit the moon. In April 1961, the Soviet Union had the ultimate success, sending the first human into space. The name of the Russian cosmonaut was Yuri Gagarin, who made a 108 minute suborbital flight in a Vostok 1 spacecraft. One month after that, Alan Shepard became the American in space aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft. Continuing from there, each nation step...
The National Space Policy has undergone changes throughout its new creation on August 31, 2006, under both the Obama administration and the Bush administration. The act originally was established for overarching national policies that governed the conduct of U.S space activities. President Dwight Eisenhower said “More than by any other imaginative concept, the mind of man is aroused by the thought of exploring the mysteries of outer space. Through such exploration, man hopes to broaden his horizons, add to his knowledge, improve his way of living on Earth.” With that statement, is where our time in space begins.
It has also made America a greater and more dominant power. After the Russians sent a satellite (Sputnik 1) to measure the conditions of space, it has caused America and its citizens to worry since it sent signals in which receivers for radios and broadcasts could pick up and the unknown signals troubled people and their broadcasts. In response to this, the United States created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to quickly catch up and create better and more advanced satellites and propel America forward into leading the race and eventually answer and discover questions that have made mankind wonder for many years and centuries. On April 12, 1961, the first Russian cosmonaut (Yuri Gagarin) was sent into space to claim “The First Person to go to Space”.... ...
The space race all began in 1957 with the launch of the Sputnik 1. This was the first ever artificial satellite launched into space. Sputnik orbited earth for 22 days transmitting a radio signal over the world, showing the U.S.S.R’s supremacy in technology over the rest of the world. The U.S. responded within the next year, founding the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and two years later founding the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ("012 ARPA History"). In 1958, the U.S. space program responded with the Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite in outer...
In October, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, named Sputnik, to be hurled into orbit around the Earth. Sputnik was actually about the size of a beach ball, and sent pointless signals back to earth, but it had a huge affect on people around the world. It was a shiny steel ball about 23 inches across with four antennas the were behind it. Russian engineers wanted to make sure that people around the globe could not only see, but also hear it. Sputnik was polished so that it would reflect light that could be seen even from 175 miles away. It sent out signals that could be picked up by any radio operator all over the world. The reaction in the U.S. and around the world was pure awe, and some even felt a bit of fear. All of a sudden, there was an "enemy satellite" visibly shooting across the sky of the U.S. At the time, no one knew what it might be able to do. What U.S. government leaders did know, was that if the Soviet Union had rockets that were big enough to launch a satellite, they had rockets big enough to launch missiles, and possibly even atomic bombs, on the U.S. The "space race" between the Soviet Union and the United States was on. But our first attempts at catching up ended in massive failures; most ending in explosions. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was created in 1958 to bring competing military space programs into a single, huge effort. Before long, they developed the rockets, built the space capsules and satellites and hired people to become s...