Joethesandwich
23-05-2007, 21:25
I recently had to do a school project on one aspect of a 20th century decade, and I picked the Space Race. I wanted to see what you guys thought of it.
The competition between the U.S.A and the U.S.S.R to get a man into space and eventually onto the Moon, commonly referred to as the Space Race, was a major part of the 1960’s. The Space Race affected all aspects of society: politics, technology, economics, culture and foreign relations. The Space Race created massive support for John F. Kennedy, improved the public school system, gave more money to NASA and space programs, strained the economy, and caused an explosion of interest in space and science fiction. Its effects can still be felt to this day as the Space Race helped the U.S.A win the Cold War and the technology developed at this time is still present today.
The Space Race was caused by three main factors: the Cold War, the arms race, and national pride. The Cold War was the conflict between the USSR and the USA that resulted after World War Two. During the Cold War each country tried to gain the upper hand in all things. The nations were locked in conflict over big things, such as the spread of communism and democracy, and small things like winning the Olympics. The USSR and the USA saw the Space Race as a way to prove their dominance over the other. Throughout the Cold War, from approximately 1947 to 1989, each country tried to have the most advanced weapons and the most of them. However, developing new weapons, like missiles, and building up the armed forces was unpopular with the world and the American people. Both the USSR and the USA saw the Space Race as a way to develop technology that could be used in the production of weapons without backlash by other countries or the people of the nation, in the case of the USA. The Space Race was also an issue of national pride. People in the USA wanted to “beat” the USSR as a way of showing that they were better. After Sputnik, the Space Race was inevitable because the people of America saw it as a blow to their pride.
The Space Race started in 1957 with the launch of the satellite Sputnik by the Soviet Union. Sputnik was nothing more than a metal shell with a radio inside, but it caused the United States to believe they were falling behind the Soviet Union technologically. This was reinforced by the constant beeping of Sputnik’s small radio. It could be picked up by radios very easily and served as a reminder that the Soviet Union had beat the United States into space. The Russians beat the United States into space because of infighting between the various branches of the United States’ armed forces. Also before the launch of Sputnik, the United States viewed its space program, known as NASA or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as having no importance in the Cold War.
Throughout the Space Race, the USSR had the upper hand due to the nation’s earlier start and accomplished scientists. The USSR continued its Sputnik program and was the first to put a living thing into space, the Russian dog Laika aboard Sputnik-3. The USSR managed to launch 2 progressively more advanced satellites before the USA’s first success in space, the Explorer-1 in 1958. After this, the USA suffered many failures with the Thor-Able rocket system, while the USSR built up its rockets to prepare for a secret mission. NASA eventually developed the Juno-2 rocket system and managed to send the Pioneer-4 probe towards the moon in March of 1959. This was overshadowed by the Russian probe Luna-1 which launched a few months earlier. The Luna-1 was the first space craft to leave Earth’s orbit. This was followed up by the Luna-2 in September. The Luna-2 was the first man-made object to touch the lunar surface. In October the USSR launched the Luna-3 equipped with a camera. It was the first spacecraft to take pictures of the far side of the Moon. Meanwhile, over in the United States, NASA was having problems with the Atlas-Able rocket system. NASA conducted only one successful launch in 1959. 1960 was a quiet year for the Space Race. The Soviet Union was secretly preparing for a important mission for 1961, while the few launches that NASA attempted failed. In contrast to 1960, 1961 was a big year. The USSR launched Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, on an orbital mission. The United States struggled to keep up but with the launch of Alan Shepard on a suborbital test flight, NASA was well on its way to a manned orbital flight. 1962 saw the first American on an orbital flight, John Glenn. Otherwise, 1962 was a normal year with the USSR launching few space craft and secretly preparing for a big launch, and NASA, once again, having trouble with the new Saturn-1 and Ranger-4 rocket systems. 1963 was a reversal of the Space Race so far, with the Russians suffering many launch failures with the E rocket series and NASA building the Gemini spacecraft and designing the Apollo spacecraft. From 1964-1967, both the USSR and USA stayed competitive, both launching equal amounts of orbital and lunar missions. The USSR took the lead again in 1968 with the launch of the Zond-5 on a circumlunar mission. However, by 1969, through a series of technological breakthroughs and good luck, the USA was in the lead.
The Space Race ended in 1969. The Apollo program, which was started in 1963, was a United States project to attempt a moon landing. Many test flights were launched in 1969 and on July 16, Apollo 11 was launched. Apollo 11 was the spacecraft chosen to land on the Moon. On the 20th of July, Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin were the first people to walk on the Moon. After the American Moon landing, the Soviet Union switched its space funding to space stations. NASA began to lose funding because the United State’s government, having already beat the Soviet Union to the Moon and won the Space Race, saw no reason to continue spending large amounts of money on space exploration.
There was very little opposition to the Space Race. Most of the public backed the United State’s government in its effort to beat the USSR out of pride for their country. The opposition was much bigger before 1961. Before 1961, the opposition to the Space Race was lead by a group of people, which included some scientists, which believed that putting a man into space, no matter what technology was behind him, was impossible. After the launch of Yuri Gagarin which proved that manned spaceflight was possible, the opposition was led by various religious leaders who believed that space flight was against God’s will.
The Space Race affected many political leaders. The presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, all were greatly affected by the Space Race. While Eisenhower was criticized for allowing the Russians to get the lead in space, he showed confidence that the United State’s would regain the lead in the Space Race and won back the support of the American people. JFK’s drive to win the Space Race gained him support and his “We will reach the Moon by the end of the decade” speech inspired the nation and is still famous today. Here is an excerpt from it:
"I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out," said Kennedy, "of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."
Lyndon B. Johnson also experienced a boost in approval after the success of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.
The Space Race strained the economy very much. Massive spending on NASA by the United State’s government brought the national treasury very low and prevented it from spending money on other areas. Many government programs suffered. The successes of both sides in the Space Race led some large businesses to think of the commercial possibilities of space. Some even went as far to begin serious business analysis and speculation on commercial spaceflight. When the Space Race ended with the Moon landing, technology was not advanced and cheap enough to have companies begin commercial spaceflights. If they even had enough money to attempt it, very few people would be able to afford it and the companies would never recoup their investments. Many of the companies that began serious speculation into commercial spaceflight lost money when NASA lost funding and space technology became stagnant.
Lots of technology that is commonplace today was invented during the Space Race. Satellites, rockets, space suits, and lander modules were all invented and perfected during the Space Race. While not developed during the Space Race, the technology discovered in the 1960s paved the way for the space shuttles and space stations. One of the most important technological advances was developed during the Space Race. The computer was an important part of all spacecraft and control modules. Attempts to enhance and miniaturize the computer took place during the Space Race and thanks to those attempts the computer is now a major part of society today. Velcro was also invented during the Space Race. It was first used to secure objects in a spacecraft, but later was adapted to civilian use. Spacecraft research also caused improvements in transportation and the data transferring systems used by satellites formed an early basis for the internet. The Space Race also perfected an invention that would change the face of warfare, the ICBM. The ICBM or Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, was a missile capable of delivering a nuclear payload to anyplace on the Earth. The ICBM was an important part of the Cold War as it defined the relationship between the USSR and the USA and was the cornerstone of the MAD or Mutually Assured Destruction strategy used by the USSR and the USA.
The culture of the Space Race was one of optimism. The USA was firm in its belief that it would beat the USSR and that it was the most advanced in space exploration. This led to the belief that space colonies, Moon bases, commercial spaceships and leaving our solar system were within our reach. The popularity of space and the belief that these things were to come soon led to an explosion of interest in science fiction. Interest in science fiction led to space toys for little children and space shows on T.V. such as Star Trek. Since the T.V. was now widespread, the interest in science fiction was spread to a larger audience. Now that science fiction concerning space was mainstream, interest in other science fiction and fantasy increased and sales picked up. Soon movie theatres were flooded with science fiction movies from the Time Machine to Day of the Triffids. With science fiction and fantasy experiencing a boom, the idea of extraterrestrials or aliens became popular and widespread.
The Space Race also caused one major social change that is still present today: the revamping of the public school system. Congress passed the National Education Defense Act or NEDA in 1958 as a response to Sputnik. Congress believed that the reason the USA had fallen behind in the Space Race was bad education. While NEDA left English and social studies curriculums unchanged, it radically overhauled how science and math was taught. It increased the complexity and the depth of math and science taught in school. It also provided colleges with money to give out low-interest student loans to allow more people to go to college. NEDA also gave federal support for improvement and change in elementary and secondary education.
The Space Race had a big and wide reaching impact on the world. The USSR, the United State’s rival in the Space Race, was shamed by the fact it had “lost” the Space Race. However, the Space Race had a much more important effect on the Soviet Union. The government spending of the Soviet Union exceeded the money it actually had and caused economic hard times. The depression in the USSR caused by Space Race spending eventually led to its collapse. The rest of the world considered the USA the dominant superpower after the Space Race. The technological advances and successes of the Russian and American space programs opened space up to all the world’s countries.
The Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United State’s defined the 1960s culturally, socially, economically, politically, technologically and globally. The Space Race had many long term effects that can still be felt today.
The competition between the U.S.A and the U.S.S.R to get a man into space and eventually onto the Moon, commonly referred to as the Space Race, was a major part of the 1960’s. The Space Race affected all aspects of society: politics, technology, economics, culture and foreign relations. The Space Race created massive support for John F. Kennedy, improved the public school system, gave more money to NASA and space programs, strained the economy, and caused an explosion of interest in space and science fiction. Its effects can still be felt to this day as the Space Race helped the U.S.A win the Cold War and the technology developed at this time is still present today.
The Space Race was caused by three main factors: the Cold War, the arms race, and national pride. The Cold War was the conflict between the USSR and the USA that resulted after World War Two. During the Cold War each country tried to gain the upper hand in all things. The nations were locked in conflict over big things, such as the spread of communism and democracy, and small things like winning the Olympics. The USSR and the USA saw the Space Race as a way to prove their dominance over the other. Throughout the Cold War, from approximately 1947 to 1989, each country tried to have the most advanced weapons and the most of them. However, developing new weapons, like missiles, and building up the armed forces was unpopular with the world and the American people. Both the USSR and the USA saw the Space Race as a way to develop technology that could be used in the production of weapons without backlash by other countries or the people of the nation, in the case of the USA. The Space Race was also an issue of national pride. People in the USA wanted to “beat” the USSR as a way of showing that they were better. After Sputnik, the Space Race was inevitable because the people of America saw it as a blow to their pride.
The Space Race started in 1957 with the launch of the satellite Sputnik by the Soviet Union. Sputnik was nothing more than a metal shell with a radio inside, but it caused the United States to believe they were falling behind the Soviet Union technologically. This was reinforced by the constant beeping of Sputnik’s small radio. It could be picked up by radios very easily and served as a reminder that the Soviet Union had beat the United States into space. The Russians beat the United States into space because of infighting between the various branches of the United States’ armed forces. Also before the launch of Sputnik, the United States viewed its space program, known as NASA or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as having no importance in the Cold War.
Throughout the Space Race, the USSR had the upper hand due to the nation’s earlier start and accomplished scientists. The USSR continued its Sputnik program and was the first to put a living thing into space, the Russian dog Laika aboard Sputnik-3. The USSR managed to launch 2 progressively more advanced satellites before the USA’s first success in space, the Explorer-1 in 1958. After this, the USA suffered many failures with the Thor-Able rocket system, while the USSR built up its rockets to prepare for a secret mission. NASA eventually developed the Juno-2 rocket system and managed to send the Pioneer-4 probe towards the moon in March of 1959. This was overshadowed by the Russian probe Luna-1 which launched a few months earlier. The Luna-1 was the first space craft to leave Earth’s orbit. This was followed up by the Luna-2 in September. The Luna-2 was the first man-made object to touch the lunar surface. In October the USSR launched the Luna-3 equipped with a camera. It was the first spacecraft to take pictures of the far side of the Moon. Meanwhile, over in the United States, NASA was having problems with the Atlas-Able rocket system. NASA conducted only one successful launch in 1959. 1960 was a quiet year for the Space Race. The Soviet Union was secretly preparing for a important mission for 1961, while the few launches that NASA attempted failed. In contrast to 1960, 1961 was a big year. The USSR launched Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, on an orbital mission. The United States struggled to keep up but with the launch of Alan Shepard on a suborbital test flight, NASA was well on its way to a manned orbital flight. 1962 saw the first American on an orbital flight, John Glenn. Otherwise, 1962 was a normal year with the USSR launching few space craft and secretly preparing for a big launch, and NASA, once again, having trouble with the new Saturn-1 and Ranger-4 rocket systems. 1963 was a reversal of the Space Race so far, with the Russians suffering many launch failures with the E rocket series and NASA building the Gemini spacecraft and designing the Apollo spacecraft. From 1964-1967, both the USSR and USA stayed competitive, both launching equal amounts of orbital and lunar missions. The USSR took the lead again in 1968 with the launch of the Zond-5 on a circumlunar mission. However, by 1969, through a series of technological breakthroughs and good luck, the USA was in the lead.
The Space Race ended in 1969. The Apollo program, which was started in 1963, was a United States project to attempt a moon landing. Many test flights were launched in 1969 and on July 16, Apollo 11 was launched. Apollo 11 was the spacecraft chosen to land on the Moon. On the 20th of July, Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin were the first people to walk on the Moon. After the American Moon landing, the Soviet Union switched its space funding to space stations. NASA began to lose funding because the United State’s government, having already beat the Soviet Union to the Moon and won the Space Race, saw no reason to continue spending large amounts of money on space exploration.
There was very little opposition to the Space Race. Most of the public backed the United State’s government in its effort to beat the USSR out of pride for their country. The opposition was much bigger before 1961. Before 1961, the opposition to the Space Race was lead by a group of people, which included some scientists, which believed that putting a man into space, no matter what technology was behind him, was impossible. After the launch of Yuri Gagarin which proved that manned spaceflight was possible, the opposition was led by various religious leaders who believed that space flight was against God’s will.
The Space Race affected many political leaders. The presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, all were greatly affected by the Space Race. While Eisenhower was criticized for allowing the Russians to get the lead in space, he showed confidence that the United State’s would regain the lead in the Space Race and won back the support of the American people. JFK’s drive to win the Space Race gained him support and his “We will reach the Moon by the end of the decade” speech inspired the nation and is still famous today. Here is an excerpt from it:
"I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out," said Kennedy, "of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."
Lyndon B. Johnson also experienced a boost in approval after the success of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.
The Space Race strained the economy very much. Massive spending on NASA by the United State’s government brought the national treasury very low and prevented it from spending money on other areas. Many government programs suffered. The successes of both sides in the Space Race led some large businesses to think of the commercial possibilities of space. Some even went as far to begin serious business analysis and speculation on commercial spaceflight. When the Space Race ended with the Moon landing, technology was not advanced and cheap enough to have companies begin commercial spaceflights. If they even had enough money to attempt it, very few people would be able to afford it and the companies would never recoup their investments. Many of the companies that began serious speculation into commercial spaceflight lost money when NASA lost funding and space technology became stagnant.
Lots of technology that is commonplace today was invented during the Space Race. Satellites, rockets, space suits, and lander modules were all invented and perfected during the Space Race. While not developed during the Space Race, the technology discovered in the 1960s paved the way for the space shuttles and space stations. One of the most important technological advances was developed during the Space Race. The computer was an important part of all spacecraft and control modules. Attempts to enhance and miniaturize the computer took place during the Space Race and thanks to those attempts the computer is now a major part of society today. Velcro was also invented during the Space Race. It was first used to secure objects in a spacecraft, but later was adapted to civilian use. Spacecraft research also caused improvements in transportation and the data transferring systems used by satellites formed an early basis for the internet. The Space Race also perfected an invention that would change the face of warfare, the ICBM. The ICBM or Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, was a missile capable of delivering a nuclear payload to anyplace on the Earth. The ICBM was an important part of the Cold War as it defined the relationship between the USSR and the USA and was the cornerstone of the MAD or Mutually Assured Destruction strategy used by the USSR and the USA.
The culture of the Space Race was one of optimism. The USA was firm in its belief that it would beat the USSR and that it was the most advanced in space exploration. This led to the belief that space colonies, Moon bases, commercial spaceships and leaving our solar system were within our reach. The popularity of space and the belief that these things were to come soon led to an explosion of interest in science fiction. Interest in science fiction led to space toys for little children and space shows on T.V. such as Star Trek. Since the T.V. was now widespread, the interest in science fiction was spread to a larger audience. Now that science fiction concerning space was mainstream, interest in other science fiction and fantasy increased and sales picked up. Soon movie theatres were flooded with science fiction movies from the Time Machine to Day of the Triffids. With science fiction and fantasy experiencing a boom, the idea of extraterrestrials or aliens became popular and widespread.
The Space Race also caused one major social change that is still present today: the revamping of the public school system. Congress passed the National Education Defense Act or NEDA in 1958 as a response to Sputnik. Congress believed that the reason the USA had fallen behind in the Space Race was bad education. While NEDA left English and social studies curriculums unchanged, it radically overhauled how science and math was taught. It increased the complexity and the depth of math and science taught in school. It also provided colleges with money to give out low-interest student loans to allow more people to go to college. NEDA also gave federal support for improvement and change in elementary and secondary education.
The Space Race had a big and wide reaching impact on the world. The USSR, the United State’s rival in the Space Race, was shamed by the fact it had “lost” the Space Race. However, the Space Race had a much more important effect on the Soviet Union. The government spending of the Soviet Union exceeded the money it actually had and caused economic hard times. The depression in the USSR caused by Space Race spending eventually led to its collapse. The rest of the world considered the USA the dominant superpower after the Space Race. The technological advances and successes of the Russian and American space programs opened space up to all the world’s countries.
The Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United State’s defined the 1960s culturally, socially, economically, politically, technologically and globally. The Space Race had many long term effects that can still be felt today.