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Sputnik 1: The Origins Of The Space Race

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Close your eyes, imagine sitting at home watching television sixty years ago. A public service announcement comes onto the screen. The Soviet Union has launched a satellite into space. This has never been done before. Is Russia more powerful than the United States with the ability to use satellites to gain targeting information for destructive missiles? In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Russia and the U.S. were both in a rise for total power. Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite was launched into space on October 4, 1957 by the Soviet Union. The United States had also been constructing a satellite for their own way of studying space. The Soviet Union has beaten the United States to the punch. The response of the United States was to better the …show more content…

The back and forth challenging by both countries would be known as the Space Race. The aggressive actions of Russia caused an uproar in the homes of American people, made the United States put their own space exploration into action and was the start of the race for ultimate power and discovery for new technology and information. The launching of Sputnik 1 created an uproar in the homes of American citizens. This event was such a shock to the United States because this was an achievement thought to be done first by the U.S. “The first American attempt, with the modest Vanguard 1 in December, was an embarrassing failure, immediately derided as “flopnik.” (Wilford). Russia had outsmarted the United States. Many people thought that the Soviet Union was able to use the satellite to gain targeting information for long ranged missiles. Eisenhower knew that the launching of Sputnik 1 scared many of people in the United States. Sputnik 1 was a great achievement that …show more content…

From 1957-1969 the race for power occurred between Russia and the United States (Timeline). During this decade the world went through spectacular revolution and gained a wealth of much needed information for development. “NASA’s first task was the development of a human space exploration program” (Launius). Only about 12 years after the launching of Russia’s Sputnik 1, the United States put a man on the moon. During those 12 years the United States and the Soviet Union learned an abundance of information from space study. The artificial satellite was one of the greatest discoveries our world has ever seen. There is a great quantity of satellites we still use in space study today. Satellites give us the ability to see upcoming weather, spot natural resources on Earth, navigate the planet, and help with communications. Without all of the help of satellites our cellular devices would not function and maps and navigation would be a lot less accurate. Communication and navigation are two much needed things in our society

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• The Survey Research Center found that 6 months before this first launching, half of the American public had never heard of an earth satellite. Fear of Communism • Public opinion demanded federal aid and action in the wake of Sputnik’s launch • Initially people feared the satellite because they didn’t know if the satellite was a weapon of war or a device used to spy on the Americans War with Soviet Union • With launch of Sputnik, President Eisenhower deemed the principle of “freedom of space” o American’s created a top-secret project, CORONA, to create a spy satellites to tell where every Soviet missile was located. • With the launch of Sputnik, the perception of American weakness and complacency was created. • Diplomatically, Sputnik helped realign the United States and Great Britain as allies.

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They then stepped up and put more financing into the Space Program. The U.S. believed that the Soviet's success was due to their form of government. Throughout the race, the Soviet Union kept rather quiet and didn’t publish much of what they were doing. Later on after the Sputnik launches, the U.S. finally got their first spacecraft into space named Explorer 1.

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In 1957, amidst the Cold War, the Soviet Union launched the world’s first artificial satellite into space, Sputnik I, triggering the efforts of the United States to surpass the technological advances in spaceflight capability of its communist rivals. After Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space in April of 1961, the United States became more eager to reach supremacy in what came to be known as space race. However, for that to be achieved, more government funds would be required, which strongly depended on the consent and support of the American people. So, on the 12th of September of 1962, the 37th President of the United States, John F Kennedy, cleared any doubts of the commitment the United States had regarding space exploration with a speech aimed at restoring America’s confidence and convincing the American people to wholeheartedly support a manned mission to the Moon and back in that decade.

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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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The development of reconnaissance and intelligence gathering capabilities had profound strategic implications for Cold War military strategies. Space-based reconnaissance systems, such as satellites equipped with cameras and sensors, revolutionized the collection of strategic intelligence by providing real-time imagery of adversary territories and military activities. These advancements enabled more accurate assessments of enemy capabilities and intentions, influencing military planning and decision-making. The ability to monitor remote regions and detect missile launches from space fundamentally altered the dynamics of nuclear deterrence and crisis management. Moreover, the space race accelerated the militarization of space, as both the United States and the Soviet Union sought to gain strategic advantages through the deployment of reconnaissance satellites and other space-based assets.

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This came as a shock to the American people and led to a perceived inferiority in the missile gap between the United States and the Soviet Union. “Our adversary had developed rockets with greater thrust and throw weight, for the military this meant ballistic missiles that could throw a heavier warhead a greater distance than anything in our arsenal.” (Kranz 15-16) Due to the Soviet Union’s rocket capability, they were able to launch sputnik into orbit causing a quick reaction from the Americans. The National Space Act of 1958, and the creation of NASA was an immediate result of desire to combat sputnik and the missile

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Prior to the achievements of the United States in space, the Soviet Union, a key rival during the Cold War, had succeeded in exploring space and landing in the moon. Yuri Gagarin from the Soviet Union became the first person in space (Schlesinger, 2002). For the Soviet Union leaders, the accomplishment symbolized the communist perspective that was embraced by the members.

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The backdrop of the Cold War between the United States and The Soviet Union through the mid-to-late 20th century promoted multiple international policies that reflected the tensions and the hostilities between the bipolar world. The conflicts not only remained on Earth, but what has been termed as a “space race” occurred after the USSR launched the world’s first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit in October 4th, 1957. The politics of space seemed suddenly more vital than it ever had before, and serious political thought was contemplated. What could space have to offer that would benefit for humanity? As the two superpowers competed over the next decade, the questions became more difficult.

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Sputnik, so far, helped create and introduce new military, political, scientific and technological developments. It’s launch and success had a major impact on the United States as well as the Cold War itself because the United States’ fear of falling behind on the race led to the policymakers of the US to dramatically change and try to advance their weapons and programs. Both countries were discussing about nuclear testing and how there was going to be a treaty that would ban it, but that faded away for a few years. They were researching new technology, trying to achieve more than the other in order to have victory (“Sputnik, 1957”). One of the political impacts was that many people thought the Soviet Union and USSR was technologically uncable

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The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I on October 4, 1957. This first artificial satellite weighed about one-hundred eighty-four pounds, took ninety-eight minutes to orbit the earth, was silver in color, and was about the size of a beach ball. Despite it not being able to do much more than orbit the earth and transmit beeps, Sputnik I had one of the most unprecedented impacts on the United States.1The single launch of Sputnik I, initiated the United States vs. Soviet Union space race, which resulted in many military, political, technological and scientific advancements. Sputnik caught America off guard; it sparked worries of a nuclear war from the Soviet Union as well. Since the U.S. knew that they had this technological and scientific

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The Socio-Political Effects of the Space Race on the Cold War During the Cold War, a competition of advancement and development broke out between two global superpowers known as the space race. August 2nd, 1955, marks the day the Soviet Union responded to a United States announcement with similar intentions of launching the first artificial satellite into space, which subsequently fueled a long-lasting rivalry that went far beyond satellites. With conflicting views and equal ambition, both nations jumped at the chance to prove themselves superior to their opponents yet again. The combination of society and politics became a vital factor in the space race that created an outcome that changed the world during the Cold War. The socio-political

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In 1961 Soviet Astronaut, Yuri Gagarin, was the first human to orbit the Earth. President Kennedy worried that the Soviets leading in the space race might influence the world into believing that communism was a better option than capitalism, and that would hurt America in the Cold War. Kennedy went before congress less than two months later and declared: “I believed this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon” (Appleby 604). One year later, America matched the Soviets with U.S. astronaut John Glenn orbiting the Earth. On July 16, 1969, Saturn V, the most powerful rocket ever built, lifted off carrying Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins.

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Kennedy in May, 1961 was done primarily for reasons of national reputation , part of our ongoing struggle with the Soviet Union. To restore faith in the Nation Kennedy proposed we race the Soviet Union to the moon. Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into orbit on 4 October 1957. It was a 58 cm diameter polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennae to broadcast radio pulses.

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The Eisenhower Administration responded to the USSR’s satellite with educational and technological programs to advance their space program publicly. Sputnik appeared to be a sign that the Soviet Union was “winning” the Cold War; therefore the United States implemented action in order to surpass the Soviet’s accomplishment. The United States and the Soviet Union entered into an extensive space race to fuel propaganda for their countries. The ability to display on television, America as having the first man on the moon was a powerful way to influence social and public opinion without putting any boots on the ground in the sense of

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The pressure for the United States to be better than the Soviet Union caused the education in the United States to be more focused towards math and science. Maddin says, “Sputnik woke the nation up, serving as a “focusing event” that put a spotlight on a national problem. In this case, he said, the problem was education.” The sputnik launched in 1957 and was the first artificial earth satellite. Marsha Thompson even says, “I believe because of sputnik we came as a country to realize that science, scientist, and engineers would make all the difference in our futures.

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