The Space Race during the Cold War Essays -- Essays Papers

The Space Race during the Cold War During the Cold War, the United States and Russia had a severe space race between one another. Every time one country would be a step ahead of the other, and somehow one of the countries would catch up to the more advanced country at the time. During the early years of the space race, success was measured by what nation did what first: To the alarm of the United States, each of the early adventures were achieved by the Soviet Union. And all of those events triggered the United States to drive and catch up with to surpass the Soviet Union. This sort of see-saw method happen throughout the space race. Throughout this paper, there will be a discussion on the space race between the United Stated and Russia, but the discussion will be told from the Russia point of view. First, it started with a space scientist named Sergei Pavlovich Korolyev. His major contributions were the rocket technology and spacecraft design. These two aspects of the space race were pivotal to this race throughout the 1950s and1960s. This gentleman was responsible for rocket systems that helped launch Russia’s first intercontinental missiles and spacecraft during this time period. Korolyev was responsible for many introductory programs in space exploration, including Sputnik 1. Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957, and was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth (1). This was what started the space race between the United States and Russia. This event startled the world by giving the impression that America was behind the Soviets in science and technology. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs would follow in rapid sequences as the American space program raced to catch up with the Soviets. In 1969, the race essenti... ...with the proper equipment and there are other planets outside the earth and what their atmospheres consist of. The Soviet Union learned that it is possible for the sun to power an object (solar power) and the missiles that help launch the satellites can be used as military weapons that can be guided. These two ideas and many more definitely helped the Soviet Union to become a more technologically respected nation with all of its advancements and achievements. Works Cited 1. "Space Race", Micrsoft(r) Encarta(r) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 2. Young Students Learning Library. Weekly Readers Books., s.v. "space race". 3. "The USSR's Manned Space Flights" Space Encyclopedia <http://spaceboy.nasada.go.jp/Note/yujin/E/Yujol_e.html 4. The Space Race <httl:library.advanced.org/10826/spacerac.htm