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Effects Of The Space Race

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After the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republics began vying for technical superiority in a competition that would later be called “The Space Race”. (SOURCE) Before it came to this point though, the US and the USSR had already been at odds. They were racing to gain militaristic advantage over the other, through the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. (SOURCE) The Space Race continued to advance the knowledge in these areas, and brought the invention of many new technologies, showing the possibility of space exploration. (SOURCE) Even though advancing military and scientific technologies remained in the foreground during the Space Race, the idealistic conflict between the US …show more content…

With the recent conclusion of the Second World War, the US felt threatened by the other powers. (SOURCE) Seeing the success and destruction resulting from the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, further research on nuclear and ballistic weapons ensued. Both the USSR and the US were trying to amass power to out-intimidate the other side and seemingly ensure their own future safety. (SOURCE) Known as the Nuclear Arms Race, this struck fear into the civilians of both countries, who were concerned about the destruction the other country could do to them. (SOURCE) Meanwhile, the US was spreading propaganda against the USSR, presenting the Soviets as a tyrannic force that must be stopped. (SOURCE) This process of demonizing the Soviet Union, known as the Red Scare, set Communism as an opposing and evil process that the American people must help to eradicate. (SOURCE) They feared that if they didn’t defeat the Soviets, the “backwards country” would spread its “vile” influence over its neighbors. (SOURCE) This, in addition to the Nuclear Arms Race, led the people of the US to fervently support the space program, not for the potential technological benefits, but to show their ideological superiority over the …show more content…

This was a very appealing situation for the US, which wanted to display their influence in the world. (SOURCE) In Kennedy’s speech on September 13th, 1962, John F Kennedy stated that to be seen as a prominent world leader, the US must take part in the Space Race and display their technological strength. (SOURCE) During the course of the Space Race, the US would continually come up short of the USSR’s advancements, being second to launch a satellite and second to launch a human into space. (SOURCE) These short-comings took a toll on the USA’s morale, and contrasted how JFK had presented in his speech that the US had been first in many different technological revolutions. (SOURCE) When they finally came around to being first with the launch of ???, the success raised US citizens’ hope in the program back up after their long streak of being second. (SOURCE) This turn-around reignited their hope to be recognized as being capable of being a world leader.

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It had its start on October 1, 1958 with a primary motive to out maneuver Russia, caused by the occurrence of the Cold War. The ideology behind this is that, the United States and Russia held a competition of superiority, and as these tensions grew, so did the demand for advancement. The space exploration became a primary competition, and the so called “space race” began. In the context of the race, Russia had a major start in sending the Earth’s first artificial satellite giving the United States “A "Pearl Harbor" effect on American public opinion, creating an illusion of a technological gap” (Garber, Steve, and Roger Launius.). This would lead the increase of the agency’s funding to give themselves an edge.

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This act presents the to society that the United States won the space race. The USSR started the space race, and when the U.S. had won it, this caused more tension to rise between the

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During the space race, propaganda was used by the United States, and the soviet union to promote their achievements, ideas, and nationalism. The space race was not only a race to the stars but also a battle over ideologies, where propaganda was used to shape public opinion and peoples perceptions, propaganda in the space race served to educate the youth and engage them in their own system. The space race was a competition between the US and the USSR that showcased their respective ideologies through significant space achievements, such as the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957 and the American Apollo moon landing in 1969, using these events as propaganda to bolster national pride and technological superiority. First of all, the space race was

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When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik , the world's first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957, many Americans believed that this Cold War event signaled dangerous weaknesses in American science, the failure of American schools and complacency in American political leadership. Most disturbing was the fear that the Soviet Union had grabbed a decisive lead in the development of long-range missiles. Robert Divine analyzes the space race in the early 1950’s with Russia and how it affected the American space race program as a whole. Sputnik had a long-lasting effect on American life, spurring a national debate over the state of education, science, space exploration and security that lasted well into the 1960s. The principal focus of this clear-sighted

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The United States viewed the space race as a way to stop the spread of communism and prevent the spread of the Soviet Union's influence on Western European nations including France, Italy, and Greece (“The Space Race”). They also used their acomplishments to create new alliances or strengthen old ones as well as spread capitalism. While In the Soviet Union the race and war were seen as a way to strengthen and expand the communist system. They used their success to showcase the superiority of communism (Schlesinger,

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This was a clear demonstration of the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War. This was the first goal of many in the Space Race. This race sparked more curiosity for further exploration of the expanses of space which

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He repeats the words "the first wave" to describe how Americans have always led in advancements compared to the world, whether it be of " the industrial revolutions, [...] modern invention, [...] nuclear power". Kennedy is explaining to the public that America has always been the first to accept innovations and progress to better benefit the country and the way of living. By making a pattern with examples of how America has been the first for progress, Kennedy makes leading in space science to be the next new thing in which America will lead and achieve greatness. He is convincing the public to support the space science of the nation and give it courage just as the American people before them had the courage for innovations such as the industrial revolutions, modern inventions, and nuclear power to achieve new accomplishments and progress for a better life. By using these examples, Kennedy is making space travel and researching the new next big thing for America to do that will ultimately improve the way of life.

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Kennedy spoke his famous words that still spark the happiness of many: “we choose to go to the moon.” Many of NASA’s accomplishment came from this speech. Advancements in the Apollo space program sent us forward into a new age of technology which in turn helped us get to the moon successfully. Within the next decade, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to step on the moon, both men from the United States. With this speech, NASA was able to gather more funds from the government allowing the space race to be much easier for the United States to win.

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Also during this time the US and Russia were fighting to see who could get to space first. According to “Address at Rice University on the Nation’s Space Effort.” President Kennedy says, “We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.” Kennedy addresses the fact that Russia is threatening to use space as a huge weapon if they get there before us. Space was extremely unknown which caused a lot of people to have fear and anxiety especially with Russia making threats to use it as a

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America was starting to see that the war was not improving, and the soldiers were not winning. There was also pressure on being able to get the first man to the moon by the end of the decade. The Space race was important to the not only America but to it people as well. With the Vietnam War going on the American people needed something to hold on to keep them going and this was the space race. It wasn’t long ago that Americans were fighting in World War II and that had taken a huge toll on not only the economy and aspects of life, but the people’s spirit as well.

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The “war” they were in forced them to rush out the new technologies because both sides didn't want to give the other side an advantage. With the frantic attempts at making the new inventions it came with big mistakes the Americans lost three astronauts due to a fire cause by electrical wiring and the Soviets lost a man due to faulty parachutes on his craft. Even through the mistakes both sides pushed on till the race was “won” by the Americans and the Soviets stopped putting as much resources into a manned moon landing and into satellite research. That is when the Americans realized they have beat the Soviets in the race, when the race ended the relationship of the countries started improving and moving closer to friends and not

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The Space race led the Soviet Union to the creation of Satellites which became an important element in the race (The Space Race). While the Soviet Union focused on improving their satellites, the United State worked on spacecraft technology. (Seedhouse 241) Political influence became another accomplishment that both countries gained throughout the Space Race (Seedhouse 41). Although the two countries had been trying to gain political superiority over one another, the Space Race increased the intensity and gave them more opportunities to promote their political ideologies through their achievements

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He would rather have flags of freedom and peace waving, than a hostile flag of conquest; Kennedy vowed that space shall not be seen with weapons of mass destruction, but rather instruments of knowledge and understanding. This speech was essentially a way to formally announce that the US was entering the space race with the intentions to win, the prize being growth in research and science, knowledge about the universe, and new tools and computers. Although going to the moon was challenging, Kennedy believed that it was essential since there was no national conflicts, issues, or hostility from other countries, but rather just from space itself. The space race effort, even in the early stages, created tens of thousands of new jobs and companies, with expectations of scientists and engineers doubling within five years just in the Houston area alone. He admitted that although America had been behind in manned flight, their intentions were not to stay behind, but make up for the time lost and move ahead (JFK RICE MOON SPEECH,

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Military intervention was soon put in place so that Communism wouldn’t spread. The government found small countries that were at risk to be taken over by communism and gave them financial aid. Another big fear was falling behind. America was afraid to fall behind because that would mean they would look weak and powerless compared to the Soviet Union and could be more easily taken over. They feared an atomic bomb could easily drop on them at any moment, so they tried to develop a bigger, more destructive bomb so that they were ready when the time came to attack.

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The space race is the period of time where the United States and Soviet Union were competing against each other’s spaceflight capability and ever changing/improving modern technology. Both sides tried to prove themselves superiority of their science, technology, and engineering skills. The Soviet Union took the lead in this space exploration after launching Sputnik (a satellite that orbited Earth), and sent a man into space years after. The United States tried catching up but had several failed attempts. A month following the Soviet Union sending a man into space, the United States elected a new president, John.

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