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Advancement of technology during the cold war
Cold war technological developments
List the importance of technology
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Technology Developed During the Cold War
Introduction
The Cold War was a war dominated by the advancement of technology. In many ways, The United States and USSR were engaged more so in a battle of intelligence than of arms. Despite the tragedy and hardships of war, our future would actually benefit from the technology created during this time. Not only did we accomplish the creation of largely sophisticated, military associated projects, such as NASA, but we expanded on the quality of everyday life as well. From microwaves, television, internet, interstates,and cell phones, to lasers, M.I.R.V.S, X-rays,the moon landing, and advanced war technology such as the U2 Spy Plane, our nation came out on top as far as improvement of technology goes. Although seemingly distant and a matter of indifference to the common day people, our lives would be completely different had the Cold War never taken place.
NASA
An organization that still thrives today, NASA was formed under President Dwight Eisenhower in 1975 as a result of the infamous Space Race. After the launch of Sputnik I, a satellite which orbited outside of Earth’s atmosphere, the United States was thrown into a panic believing that the USSR had surpassed the intellectually. NASA had a large roll in created many modern day technologies previously mentioned such as the microwave, cell phones, internet,aviation safety, and even the modern day CD. Many of which were a result of the difficulties and adjustments which had to be made when sending a man into space, and eventually, to land on the moon. This is not to mention the development of military and aircraft improvements which came from the organization.
In the late Winter of the 1950’s, NASA began working on what became known ...
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...d deuterium, a substance which must be cooled to temperatures colder than -250 C in order to liquefy it. As a result, the bomb required a complex refrigerating device in order to maintain the fuel in that condition prior to its being exploded.On Nov. 1, 1952, the United States conducted its first nuclear test of the hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.It was extremely successfull, and much more powerul than the atomic bomb; roughly 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that had been dropped on Hiroshima.
Another nuclear advancement made during the Cold War was the invention of M.I.R.V.S, or multiple independent reentry vehicles. M.I.R.V.S were essentially rockets with multiple nukes place on the tip. When launched into the atmosphere. The nuclear head would come apart, allowing each individual nuke to land at its own specified location.
"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.
history. It managed to send the first human into orbit and to the moon. The discoveries, NASA have made in the recent decades have enabled us to have more knowledge of planets and stars, and resources way beyond this planet. In another hand, reasons as to why the U.S. Government should continue to fund NASA 's space program is a huge deal today. With the ideals that American tax dollars should be spent on more important things and that companies are now able to construct their own rockets that are able to send people on excursions into space, really is what challenges government support and true betterment of
To conclude, the cold war had an enormous effect on nearly every aspect of American life. With varying results, some were good and others were bad. I sense that the Cold war was helpful to us as a nation. Russian competition pushed the U.S. toward improvements in technology, military, science, and education. In a world with 2 superpowers the U.S. was driven to be better than the competitor. But now we are alone at the top and there is nowhere to go but down. Hopefully the termination of the U.S.S.R. didn’t open up a spot for a new and better world power to emerge in the near future.
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. In World War II many new weapons were created to kill more people with more efficiency. The most notable of these was the atomic bomb. As American troops closed in on Japan at the end of the war, they realized that taking the small island nation would be nearly impossible. The Japanese soldiers had shown their willingness to die for their country when kamikaze pilots flew into American ships. As a result, President Truman approved the use of the...
The Cold War was the most important historic event in the 20th century after the Second World War, from 1945 till 1991 between two most powerful countries in that period – Soviet Union and USA. The Cold War invested a lot in world politics. What is the Cold War? This was a war for dominance in the world. In 1945 the USA was the only one country in the world that had the nuclear weapons. But in the 1949 USSR started to learn their nuclear weapons. In further developments forced the USSR was soon created by nuclear, and then thermonuclear weapons. (Isaacs J, 2008) Fight has become very dangerous for all.
The war created a competition between the two countries. One one succeeded, the other needed to. Because of this, new technologies and discoveries were made, the first being space. The Cold War created the Space Race. While the USSR was first to reach space, the US was not far behind, ultimately placing the first man on the moon. The Cold War also led to the age of nuclear warfare. The US showed the world what technology it had created when it dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the USSR was not far behind. They developed their own atomic weapons, creating an arms race between the two countries. While the war was mainly between the US and USSR, it inspired other countries to start developing these weapons, or become allies with someone who had. Therefore, while Stalin was not alive for most of the Cold War, his previous actions and beliefs about communism helped cultivate this war. The tension he was partial responsible for creating with the US, led to both countries developing new technologies. He also led to the arms race, creating a new type of warfare throughout the entire world. This war helped change the path of the world. (Arms
The first atomic bomb was not tested at all. It was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945 killing over 80,000 people and almost completely leveling the entire city. It destroyed more than 4 square miles,
A. The Space Age at the Grass Roots: NASA, Cleveland, 1958-1990. (2006): 114, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40643956 (accessed April 18, 2014). Kennedy, John F. “1962 Rice University Transcript.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
The USA’s new weapon, the Hydrogen bomb, or H-bomb, was one of the most powerful weapons of the time. In 1950, the H-bomb was tested in the Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands (Cold War History). The reaction was so fierce, the explosion wiped the island off the face of the earth, leaving a crater on the ocean floor. The explosion reached a range of 25 square miles and had a mushroom cloud which dropped radioactive fallout on the surrounding areas (The Cold War Museum). This new weapon scared the Soviet Union into creating their own bombs.
The Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first and current only use of nuclear weapons in wartime history. This weaponry had been a project conducted by the United States, and was tested in the final stages of World War Two, on Japan. Working in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada, the Manhattan project marked the construction of this weaponry. The general research had originally begun in 1939 and was developed in fear of the Germans having their own atomic bombs. With the defeat of Germany in May 1945, plans began to use the atomic bombs against Japan. The Hiroshima bomb, known as Little Boy was a ‘gun-type fission weapon’ with a rare isotope of uranium-235. The Nagasaki bomb, known as the Fat Man was an ‘implosion-type nuclear weapon using plutonium-239, this bomb was proved to be more powerful and efficient. The releasing of such weaponry caused catastrophic destruction, despite their minimal efficiency and many have argued if this design should have been put into action. The side which is supported throughout the discussion will be the bombs should have been dropped.
The Cold War was a political standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States that again created a new worldwide nuclear threat. The destructive potential of nuclear weapons has created a global sweep of fear as to what might happen if these terrible forces were unleashed again. The technology involved in building the first atomic bombs has grown into the creation of nuclear weapons that are potentially 40 times more powerful than the original bombs used. However, a military change in strategy has come to promote nuclear disarmament and prevent the usage of nuclear weapons. The technology of building the atomic bomb has spurred some useful innovations that can be applied through the use of nuclear power.
Nuclear power was first introduced into the world of weaponry on July 16, 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico when the United States tested out their first nuclear bomb named ‘Trinity’.7 Following Trinity’s blazing entrance came the testing of similar bombs by the governments of the Soviet Union, England, France, China, and India.7 In order to compete with these mirrored foreign bombs, on November 1, 1952, the United States entered into the Thermonuclear Age, as they exploded ‘Mike’, their first thermonuclear bomb, in the Pa...
Hugh L. Dryden, Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in 1963, "... the leadership finally decided to make the education system focused on STEM topics for the new generations of Americans who were now taken in by the space race. In a few short years, the race had impacted major advances in our knowledge of the universe and the system that we live in. Its results are seen in every aspect of our modern life such as electronics and communications, in new materials, in
The Cold War was a time between 1947 to 1991 in which tensions between two of the largest superpowers of the world were at an all time high: United State of America and the Soviet Union. The war never had a true battlefield between the two, but traces of each the superpowers could be found in many of the wars at the time directly or indirectly like: the Vietnam War, Korean War, and etc. Though the feud didn’t always happen on the battleground. The Soviet Union and United States faced off in expanding their power of their technology and economy at the time, which led to events like the Space Race, Nuclear Arms Race, and even globalization in the countries. Some of the new technologies like computers, space shuffles, and satellites were just some
By being in a very technologically advanced era, scientists can invent revolutionary devices never thought of. NASA is doing that right now and has been doing that since it began. They are not only climbing the stairs in space exploration but in the medical industry, too. Nevertheless, they are forever changing millions of lives by using all they have discovered. Most of all, they are teaching people a life lesson, to always use the things you have for the greater good. NASA has achieved profound success ever since their start in 1958 and they will continue to make discovery and innovation their first and foremost goal for years to come.