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The Space Race In The 1970's

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From the late 1950's to the mid 1970's there was a common goal between the United States and the Soviet Union, and it was the overwhelming desire to win the race into outer space. Who will be the first country into outer space? Who will be the first man on the moon? What country will have the honors of being the leader of aerospace technology? These were all common question that most the of American households had during this time. The American government had a plan, but they were not the only ones. This era of competition between the United States and the Soviet Union was known as, The Space Race. The Space Race as the American people have come to know it, started approximately 10 years after the beginning of the Cold War. Although the Soviets …show more content…

This was not only a concern to the United States but also to all the other countries in the world because it was thought that it would be used for military purposes for Russia's plan for world domination. Shortly after Russia launched Sputnik 2, with the first living passenger to ever make it into space, the dog Laika. These events persuaded President John F Kennedy in 1958 to push on congress to fund the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Shortly after that the first project for NASA was completed. In 1958 NASA came out with a project called Mercury, it was to research if space travel by humans would even be possible and safe. It was a test for the first two stage rocket program that would be the basis for propelling our spacecrafts into outer space. These tests were performed to test altitude, air temp, and orbit …show more content…

In 1966 the soviet space craft, Luna 9, made the first landing on the moon being unmanned. Later that year the soviets Venera 3 probe becomes the first space craft to land on planet Venice, but unfortunately their communications system failed before the data could be returned to their home base on earth. The soviets Luna 10 space probe entered leaner orbit in 1966 becoming the first space craft to orbit the moon. It took the United States a few years, but the U.S. finally answered back with the Apollo program. The Apollo program was founded in 1961 with Apollo 1, which tested a new-found space craft which was larger than the ones in the previous programs. Apollo 7 tested the command modal once in space. Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to orbit around the moon for the United States. Apollo 10 tested the lunar module around the moon. Apollo 11, the most famous Apollo mission of them all, was the one where the United States first landed on the moon, furthermore being the first country to land, and walk on the moon. This mission is where the famous saying from Neal Armstrong, "That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" came from. After Apollo 11, Apollo 12,14,15,16, and 17 all landed on the moon from the year 1969-1972. The Apollo 13 unfortunately was not able to make it to the moon because of a mouth function causing the space craft to

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The Cold War (1947-1991) was the period where geopolitical tensions were at an all-time high between the leading powers of the Western bloc (United States) and the Eastern bloc (Soviet Russia). Instead of direct conflict the two powers exchanged blows through “hot wars” such as those in Vietnam and Korea. These “hot wars” extended even to beyond the Earth’s stratosphere. Besides guns and brute force, the Soviets and Americans also battled for technological superiority over each other, hence the “space race”. The space race was kick-started by the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik in the late 1950s.

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Unfortunately in 1967 tragedy struck the Apollo program when Apollo 1 had a fire during a launch test killing all three crewmembers this tragedy had set the program back until NASA was able to correct the problem. Apollo spacecraft 7-10 were all “dress rehearsal” missions leading up to the Apollo 11 mission In July 1969 when Neil Armstrong stepped

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On July 21st of 1969, Neil Armstrong made history by becoming the first man to step on the moon. His famous quote “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Is present in every history textbook forever. The United States became the first country to successfully land on the moon with the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. After that, there were several other mission to the moon, like the Apollo 12.

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Before the space race The United States hadn’t done much exploring in space or what they could send up into space but this race with the Soviet Union encouraged the United States to start exploring their limits and everything outside of our world. The United States’ first achievement was the explorer one which was the first satellite sent into space. This helped them to understand their limits on space exploration as said in this quote "We believe that when men reach beyond this planet, they should leave their national differences behind them." President John F. Kennedy, 1962. The space race has impacted the world in a way that has given everyone the idea that there really are no limits if you set your mind to something and you really want to do

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The turn of the twentieth century soon approached, and after the Soviets were the first ones to orbit the Earth, NASA soon desired to make an effort to put a man on the moon to get ahead in this “space race”. This desire gave birth to project Apollo. Also, president John F. Kennedy committed the United States to having a man on the moon by the turn of the century, so this project was inevitable (Badertscher). Project Apollo was funded by over 25.4 billion dollars between research for the missions and the necessary equipment for the missions that were carried out, this made the series of Apollo missions the biggest non-military endeavor of its time (Garber and Launius). Though these missions were extremely promising and seemed to be designed very well, there were some major flukes in some of the missions.

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The development of rockets can be traced by back to the Romans times hundreds of years ago. Ever since, technology continues to advance each year and the start of aerospace exploration vehicles begins. In 1957, the United States began competing with the Soviet Union in the space race, in which began when the Soviet Union successfully launched the first artificial Earth satellite called Sputnik. Not to long after, the United States launch their first artificially satellite in 1958. The competition in the space race rises, and the United States plans on sending the first man to space.

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America felt concerned about their sudden rise in technical power. The Soviets had accepted Kennedy’s challenge. “The breathless competition in space at that time was conducted with a seriousness that we can scarcely credit these days as the key to space success (and by inference, global domination). The Soviets orbited the first satellite, the first man, the first woman, and were the first to hit the Moon with a man-made object. They orbited the first multi-man crews and one of their cosmonauts, America, stumbling at first, rapidly caught up and matched most Soviet achievements.

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The Space Race began in 1957 when Russia launched its first satellite into orbit around Earth (Sputnik 1), which was followed by several other successful launches by America. In 1961, President John F Kennedy announced that America would put a man on the moon within ten years (1971). This goal was achieved in 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission led by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The US also had many other programs such as Project Mercury,(Initiated in 1958, completed in 1963), Project Mercury was the United States' first man-in-space program.which saw three men sent into space; Project Gemini, which sent two men into space; Project Apollo, which sent six men into space; Corona program that used high-altitude balloons to spy on Soviet Union; Discoverer program that used satellites for spying purposes; Skylab program where astronauts stayed in outer space for months at a time while orbiting Earth.

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Seven months later the Soviets suffered from a launch pad explosion. A few days later in Florida we sent the first men to the moon. We used a Saturn 5 rocket to get to the moon. We were in space for four days before landing in “The sea of tranquility.” (Udvar)

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Space Exploration: Apollo Missions Project Apollo and the Apollo Missions were a culmination of years of work, thousands of man-hours, and a commitment to President John F. Kennedy’s push for space exploration and the endeavor to be willing to face challenges and succeed. The men and women involved were dedicated to advancing our understanding of science and developing the necessary technology to reach the Moon. They strived for greatness, excellence, and brilliantly succeeded beyond what most thought was possible. The main goal of Project Apollo was to land “Americans on the moon and return them safely to the Earth.”

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