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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.
From a meeting of President Eisenhower’s National Security Council, a conclusion was reached, “…we could not permit ourselves to be panicked by the Soviet Achievement [Sputnik]” (Document 3). The launch of the Sputnik only encouraged Americans to accomplish more scientific breakthroughs—before the Soviets. Before the release of the Sputnik, President Truman had dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Shortly after, the Soviets had detonated their first atomic bomb in the late 1940s. Since the U.S. and the Soviets had both achieved a level of destruction through the atomic bomb they became engaged in an “arms race.”
Thus sparked a Cold War that would last for decades. One of the biggest events of the Cold War was the launch of Sputnik. On October 4th, 1957, Russia launched Sputnik into outer space. The satellite became the first object to orbit the Earth. Russian success in putting a vehicle into orbit sparked massive military, political, and technological implications.
How did the space race affect the Cold War? The Space Race was an important component to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the end of World War II in 1945 the United States and the Soviet Union were the most powerful countries in the world, which led to many political conflicts. Since these countries had different ideas it caused them to enter the Cold War in 1947 (Schlesinger, 1967).
Sputnik began the Space Race. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I. The US was disappointed to see the Soviet Union be the first to accomplish this scientific advancement. "The United States prided itself on being at the forefront of technology, and, embarrassed, immediately began developing a response, signaling the start of the U.S.-Soviet space race."
(“What Was the Space Race?”). The U.S. saw the landing on the moon as the end of the Space Race, but is still competing to achieve new things in space. This impacted the Cold War because both countries focused on space and technological developments. It changed the direction of the war because it turned it from a nuclear war to a space race. After the U.S. “beat” the Soviets to the moon, the Soviets seemed to have backed down from the race and changed their focus to different discoveries.
During the 20th Century between 1955 and 1972, The Space Race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States. The competition was for supremacy in spaceflight capability. In 1957 a Soviet R-7 ballistic missile launched Sputnik. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite and man-made object to be launched in Earth’s orbit. This was something America did not like.
This sparked some fear and excitement in the United States, fear because the Soviets launching Sputnik meant that they could deliver ballistic missiles anywhere in the world and then excitement because this was a huge step forward into crossing the final space frontier. President D. Eisenhower later remarked in a speech he made after the launch of Sputnik, “From what the Soviets say, they have put one small ball in the air.” and “no additional threat to the United States.” About a month
No one could forget hearing about Sputnik I being launched. Everyone realized that there being a satellite orbiting the Earth made them felt unsafe, as if being watched all the time. And not much later would Sputnik II be launched as well. This installed a nervous tension in all people in America. The people couldn’t sleep due to fear of a nuclear war at all times.
In 1957 the soviets launched a probe known as “sputnik” it flew over the Earth and caused people in the U.S. to fear the U.S.S.R. This invention
In any field, competition is something that is bound to come up. Even in something as varied as math, many famous mathematicians would compete to prove that they are the best. Likewise, the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States was not only a competition but a stepping stone in the United States’ development. When the Soviets launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957, it changed many things about the United States of America. The Sputnik launch marked the start of the space age and the US-USSR space race and led to the creation of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
During the Cold War, the tension between the United States and Soviet Union heightened as both nations fought for the title of ultimate superpower. Attempting to exhibit superiority, the two countries challenged each other through satellite and spacecraft technological advancements. Satellites, at the time, were not a recent innovation; the United States government already used communication satellites for intelligence gathering and military operations (Rob Frieden 697). Yet, the USSR's launching of Sputnik and the Yuri Gagarin flight in 1957 and 1961 respectively, the Kennedy administration sought to develop an international satellite communication system that would "directly benefit people throughout the world and enhance national prestige"
On the other hand, the Republican Party tried to lessen the importance of Sputnik. Senator Alexander Wiley dubbed it a “great propaganda stunt” while Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson called it “a nice scientific trick” (Divine, xv). White House Chief of Staff Sherman Adams put it forward that the US had no plans to participate in “an outer space basketball game”. In contrast with the ideologies of the Democrats, presidential assistant Maxwell Rabb held that Sputnik was “without military significance” and thus not worth panicking over; in fact, professionals such as research scientists from Harvard University were more concerned with the public frenzy (Divine, xvi). Yielding to public pressure, President Eisenhower established the Advanced Research Projects Agency, otherwise known
The Sputnik Crisis was a “period of public fear and anxiety of a perceived technological gap between the United States and the Soviet Union.” (The Sputnik Crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_crisis) Two months after the launch of Sputnik, the U.S constructed the first U.S unmanned satellite. President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics
The schools started changing; their curriculums became much stronger in math and science. It was more a goal to develop an engineer than attorney; it just really affected our schools.” From this quotation one can see that the space race influenced the education in the United States and changed it for the better. Bradt says, “Though Sputnik was a relatively simple satellite compared with the more complex machines to follow, its beeping signal from space galvanized the United States to enact reforms in science and engineering education so that the nation could regain technological ground it appeared to have lost to its Soviet rival” (Bradt). Although the Sputnik was not known to be technologically advanced it was the first thing to orbit the earth, it stunned people in the United States and caused an instant response.