Space Race Research Paper

Some of the greatest mysteries known to mankind exist outside of our planet. These mysteries are also the most challenging to solve. The curiosity of what lies beyond on our planet existed long before the technology or resources were available to research these questions, so prehistoric humans would develop theories to explain what they could see, being the moon, stars, and planets. Globally, every country has spent an extreme amount of money, resources, and time to research and explore our universe to begin answering these questions. The United States and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, commonly known as NASA, began in 1958 and since then has been responsible for the study and engineering behind all american space exploring

According to the Congressional Digest on “NASA History,” “During this period, space exploration emerged as a major area of contest and became known as the Space Race.” The Space Race was a nearly twenty year process between 1957 and 1975. During this time there was a constant battle between the two countries over who would be the first to send satellites into space.

The first manmade object sent to space was Sputnik I, by the Soviet Union. Although in actuality Sputnik provided no real purpose besides orbiting and sending signals back to Earth, it motivated the U.S. military, who were described as “the strongest advocate for getting to the moon first,” as stated by K. Eichenwald in Newsweek Global. The race to the moon was not for research and further education, but rather a political move to try and possess the moon as their own,

Thus far NASA had primarily focused on taking baby steps to achieve what they had. While these achievement seem like incredible strides in our eyes, the amount of what remains in the universe to discover is limitless. Although in an ideal world we would have the resources necessary to continue growing at the same rate as during the Space Race, the current high costs of technology had created a roadblock in space travel. Roger D. Launius claims that NASA’s large and ambitious programs failed due to technological challenges and budgetary pressures. Therefore, the question arises; do the benefits outweigh the costs? Such elaborate and ambitious dreams and goals came at an extremely high cost- technological, monetarily, and timely. In this day and age, missions that are similar to ones we have already embarked on and succeeded with are impossible to