ipl-logo

The Space Race: Competition Between The United States And The Soviet Union

1207 Words5 Pages

Intro The Space Race was a competition between the 2 powerhouse nations the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold war. The Space race was not a friendly race towards getting to space first, but rather a battleground of scientific achievements, national pride, and ideological supremacy as both nations wanted to show their scientific prowess, technological advancements, and overall superiority/political dominance. The race gathered the entire world’s attention and inspired future generations to expand on what these 2 nations started, to push the boundaries of mankind as a whole to further our understanding of the world. Cold War Shift Additionally, the Space Races fight for the first to reach a once in a lifetime milestone and …show more content…

To respond to this threat of technological superiority, the United States created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to regain its superiority over the Soviet Union in space exploration. The competition had become more intense as more and more milestones were achieved by both parties as both parties strived to become the first to achieve said milestones such as the first human to be in space (Yuri Gagarin), and the first ever American to orbit the Earth (John Glenn). The moon landing, more specifically the famous and well-known Apollo 11 mission in 1969, marked a symbolic victory for the United States. The Apollo 11 mission was the overall victory of the Space Race since the moon landing was the major objective for both sides as being the first one to step on the moon was a major showcase of the United States technological superiority and conveyed how a free-market democracy was more successful. For the Soviet Union it was a shattering blow to them as their perception of technological superiority was almost …show more content…

Both nations solely focused on creating the most advanced rocket technology capable of launching satellites and humans into space. These technological developments had a direct effect on the Cold War’s arms race, specifically in missiles. This competition to conquer outer space led to the creation of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). This new technology, which was able to launch warheads from space, was an important part of the arms race. The development of these missiles coming from the Space Race impacted the dynamics of the Cold War with both nations striving towards outmatching each other in creating better missiles. The technology that was created as a result of the Space Race was not just utilized for military purposes but was used for other applications such as satellites. Satellites were launched into outer space and since its invention, they have changed the way the world communicates from one place to the other, changed how we weather forecast, and help us navigate from point A to point B. Today we use satellite technology created by the Space Race everyday such as telecommunications, internet connectivity, and GPS

Show More
Related
383 Words | 2 Pages

On July 20, 1969 the Unites States were the first ones on the planet to successfully land on the moon Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins were the astronauts involved. Neil Armstrong was the Command Pilot and the Commander of the mission he also was the first man to walk on the moon. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin was a Pilot and the Lunar Module Pilot. Michael Collins was a Pilot and the Command Module Pilot. The primary mission for the Apollo 11 Mission was to successfully land on the moon.

Read More
621 Words | 3 Pages

Technology is always important in a war because it gives the side that has more advanced technology more advantages. One of the most important technology during the Cold War is nuclear arms. From 1960 to 1977, the United States and the Soviet Union both built an incredibly amount of nuclear warheads (doc 5). Nuclear warheads gives countries who own them advantages throughout Cold War because the

Read More
983 Words | 4 Pages

While the Cold War was going on, the Space Race became another aspect of this competition. The purpose of the Space Race was to determine whether the United State or the Soviet Union had greater technology, power, and knowledge. These aspects created a rivalry between the two nations by intensifing the competition of the Cold

Read More
214 Words | 1 Pages

In 1967 when USSR launched the satellite Sputnik into orbit the only satellite we had seen from earth was the moon. This single event change our thoughts of space and travel forever and suddenly the space race was on to see who could achieve space travel first and secure our National Security. The USSR was the first to send a man into space but with the promise of a young president we were the first to land on the moon. For the next few decades these two power nations would not only change space technology and our understanding of the universe but it would change the lives of everyone on the planet. The Apollo Missions changed everyday technology that would cause a dramatic shift in electronics and computer technology.

Read More
270 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
1328 Words | 6 Pages

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

Read More
638 Words | 3 Pages

The Arms race was a competition between nations for superiority in the development and accumulation of weapons, especially between the United States and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Read More
1542 Words | 7 Pages

What happens is the Unites States or the Soviet Union would begin to try and influence a country, then the other country would come in and take the opposite side whether it was the side they would usually take or not. This csuse them to fight without having to do all the heavy lifting. The arms and space races were the two countries constantly trying to show that they are the more powerful superpower. The arms race was them creating bigger and bigger weapons leading to things like the Cuban Missile Crisis. Weaponry became highly more advanced during this time.

Read More
518 Words | 3 Pages

Both nations were trying to demonstrate their technological superiority, and the race to conquer space became a key element of this competition. The Soviet Union

Read More
2561 Words | 11 Pages

When the US heard of this they were shocked and began to expedite their efforts to go to space thus starting the Apollo missions. The Apollo missions began in the 1960s as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was directly competing with the SSP (Soviet Space Program). With a team of hundreds of scientists, the Apollo missions were successful in the

Read More
1335 Words | 6 Pages

After the end of WWII, the Soviet Union and the United States started creating their own missile programs (“A Brief History of Space Exploration”). Both countries had hopes to be the first in space and soon after the creation of

Read More
459 Words | 2 Pages

The Space Race was a bunch of important events in human history, for The United States of America, The Soviet Union, and the rest of the world. Soon after World War II ended, The Soviet Union and The United States of America began a global battle, communism against democracy and socialism against capitalism. Space became a massive entity in the "war." Each side spent billions on besting the other's achievements in what later became known as the "Space Race." The United States took action The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created in 1958 as the federal agency with primary responsibility for the development of civilian aerospace research. Early Soviet successes in the space race had a major impact on US society and

Read More
438 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
499 Words | 2 Pages

The space race between the US and the Soviet Union was one of the most omportant technological developments of the decade because the space race helped develope new technologies, like rockets, satellites, and space suits. The space race also helped inspire more people to become scientists and

Read More
517 Words | 3 Pages

In a political sense the arms race would prove which country was stronger, due to their production of nuclear warheads. The more powerful country would have the greater sphere of influence and control economic and military decisions with ease. The Cold War had been greatly impacted due to the creation of the Soviet hydrogen bomb due to the U.S. being at a disadvantage because they were not able to build nuclear weapons as quickly as the Soviets. However most importantly the nuclear arms race was at the pinnacle of a nuclear warfare between the competing nations. This conflict did almost lead to attacks on either

Read More

More about The Space Race: Competition Between The United States And The Soviet Union

Open Document