Space Race Research Paper

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In 1957 the Soviet Union sent a satellite into space, this made the United States want to surpass the Soviet Union. This competition between the Soviet Union and United States is what we know as the Space Race. Each country wanted to have the best technology and be the first to get a man in space. Humans were very skeptical of going into space, so instead they sent animals into space to test if it was safe for humans. The monkeys weren’t forgotten, even after the first humans reached space in 1961.

Approximately sixty years ago the United States sent two monkeys, a Rhesus and Squirrel monkey, into space. The monkeys were named Able and Baker, they were shot into space about 360 miles up and experienced about nine minutes of weightlessness. …show more content…

The Space Race started with the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in October of 1957, this was quickly followed by Sputnik II which carried a canine passenger. This was soon surpassed by the first human in space in 1961. The USA on the other-hand failed to respond effectively, it took several attempts before launching its own satellite, Explorer I, in January 1958.

Although men have gone into space, they were not the first ones there. Scientists sent a number of different animals up into space including monkeys. Both America and the Soviet Union sent monkeys into space, but the Soviet Union is more famously known for sending dogs. Many of the animals sent into space died on impact or in space. The first monkey that the USA sent that actually passed the Karman line and made it into space was Albert II. He was sent up in 1949 and died on impact. The USA chose monkeys because they were the closest relative to humans. They believed that sending monkeys into space would help prove that humans could survive in space. The first monkeys to survive in space and the trip back were Able and Miss Baker in

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