The Race of A Lifetime

During the Cold War, the U.S and Soviet Union endeavored to demonstrate their power through a race to space. This is related to the cold war because the space race served as an opportunity to for them to showcase their technological prowess. It was a competition to see who could make the furthest advancements into space first. The space race cannot be known as just a competition as it served to improve military strategy also. The major countries in the space race were America and the Soviet Union. Major leaders include Nikita Khrushchev, and American Presidents, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

  Space Race History

            During the Second World War, Germany attacked Britain by using V-2 rockets created by German scientists. Many of these scientists surrendered to the U.S after the war and began a major role in the space race. Other German scientists also decided to join the Soviet cause. The indisputable fact is that both the Soviet and American sides benefited immensely from the aid of these German scientists.

 

Space Race is On!

             On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world’s first space satellite, named Sputnik 1. This marked the beginning of the space race. This event was a highly significant part of the Cold War because it demonstrates the Soviet’s capability of delivering nuclear warheads anywhere in North America. This obviously terrified America and Canada. American military researchers realized that the United States did not have the soviets’ missile capabilities. Sputnik 1 was followed 29 days later by another satellite carrying a dog into outer space. This devastated the Americans’ image of having superior technology.

        The Space Race became a vital part of the cultural and ideological rivalry between the U.S and Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Soviet Union leader, Nikita Khrushchev, and American Presidents, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon all agreed that conquering outer space was imperative. The American effort of trying to catch up soon began.

  Although there was no clear goal or finish line to the space race at the beginning, the Americans soon made it clear that their intent was landing a man on the moon before the Soviets. Then, on October 4^th, 1959, the Soviet Union sent the first spacecraft around the moon. The Luna 3 recorded images of the moon’s side and broadcasted them back to Earth. The Soviets stunned the world again when on April 12, 1961, they sent the Yuri Gagarin into space. Gagarin became the first man in space when he circled the earth and returned safely. The early successes of the Space Race suggested the Soviet Union was in the lead in the Space Race. After the Soviet’s sent Yuri Gagarin into space, John F. Kennedy came up with the goal of sending a man onto the moon.

         After numerous advancements, setbacks, and progressions of each side, the space race finally came to an end on July 21^st, 1969. Apollo 11 landed safely on the moon as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. The lunar landing was recognized as an epic technological advancement that claimed victory of the Space Race for the Americans.            

           The result of the Space Race was a pride and triumph of man. On the American side, the Space Race became known as a symbolic success stories for generations to come. In the addition to emotional benefits, numerous technical results also came from the Space Race. Following the launch of Sputnik 1, the sense of technological inferiority rang hard in the U.S and Canada. Many politicians directed blame at a educational system in North America that was deemed “soft”. In Canada, critics believed not enough engineers and scientists were produced from schools. Therefore, the major result of the Space Race that can still be seen in day-to-day life today was the education system. The education for the baby boom generation was much improved as the funding increased significantly. Greater support for higher education also increased dramatically.