First's In The Space Race example essay topic

Since the beginning of it's formation, the United States of America has set out to become a dominant force in our world. No matter the price, or lives it costs, the U.S. has walked a path that has lead to ultimate victory or ultimate failure. In the instance of the Space Race, the United States fought a bloodless battle that they knew they could not afford to lose. Defeat meant utter annihilation by nuclear missiles, while victory meant a triumph over the dark communistic powers. So the United States chose to fight and it paid in not the blood of men, but with the dollar bills of its loyal followers.

In return, the country received something much better than what it had gambled for. As a direct result of the Space Race, the United States became the technological world power. With the launching of Sputnik, the Space Race officially began. The Space Race furthered the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia. It drew civilians and military men alike into this race against the clock. The war was fought with the gathering of technology and stockpiling of arms.

The United States realized the extent of Russian technology with the launching of Sputnik I. Sputnik I was a Russian satellite launched in 1957 and was the size of a basketball. 1 The American public was shocked and terrified at the news. President Eisenhower was quoted saying: (We have) to find ways of affording perspective to our people and so relieve the current wave of near-hysteria. 2 The public feared that the Russians would now be able to launch ICBM's (intercontinental ballistic missiles) from Europe to the U.S... The U.S. tried to calm the crazed citizens by telling the press there was no Space Race, but the government was truly toiling to find a solution to this crisis.

In reaction to the launching of Sputnik, America began to make space exploration a priority. The Vanguard program was moved up in priority and NASA was created. NASA was a civilian-run organization while the Vanguard program was military-run. The competition between them was very fierce. To the relief of many Americans, in January of 1958, America launched Explorer I; a smaller satellite than Sputnik I. 3 It wasn t instant victory for the U.S., nor was it a lead in the race but it gave the Americans a breadth of hope. The Russians were undaunted by their rivals and showed that they were a technological force to be reckoned with.

The communist country bared its claws and demonstrated its awesome technology to the world. In October of 1959, two years after their launch of Sputnik I, the Russians launched Luna 3, the first spacecraft to orbit the moon. The Russians again stunned the world by putting Yuri Gagarin into space. 4 He became the first man to ever reach space.

Russia also had many other first's in the Space Race. This included the first full day of orbit around the earth, first two-man space flight, and first long-duration mission in space (five days). 5 These accomplishments by the Russians made Americans feel that Russia was truly ahead of the United States in the Space Race. During all these accomplishments by the Russians, the Americans were not idling. In February of 1962, John Glenn made the first U.S. orbit around the earth. In June of 1965, Edward White became the first astronaut to make a space walk.

6 The Space Race had become a boxing match between two giant sluggers. They both continued to trade blows but both of them never fell to the canvas. This quote by Brigadier General Homer Bushey expresses the emotions and determination of the Americans: We cannot afford to come out second in a territorial race of this magnitude. This outpost, under our control, would be the best possible guarantee that all of space will indeed be preserved for the peaceful purposes of man. 7 All these advances helped to prepare the Americans for later missions. Manned flights showed how humans would fare in space and the outcome looked extremely positive.

It was as if the Americans were building the foundation to their future in space. With these achievements, came new hope for an American victory. With such a large lead, Russians should have won the Space Race but they lacked the one thing that the Americans had. A big rocket. Russians attempted to put the first man on the moon countless number of times but all their attempts failed. The Russians had put dozens of robots on the moon but just couldn t build a rocket powerful enough to carry a man.

The Russian's N-1 rocket never made it into space. The fact that the Russians could not launch a rocket to the moon might be contributed to the fact that at the time, the social structure in Russia was in the midst of decline. The Americans finally succeeded with the Saturn V rocket. On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history by becoming the first men on the moon.

8 The great race to the moon had finally ended and America had won. To become a world power, one must have brilliant leaders and that is exactly what the Americans had. Without the insightful leadership of President Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy, the U.S. would not have stood a chance in the race. With the launching of Sputnik I, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was formally created.

NASA was an administration established and supported by Eisenhower. 9 Eisenhower understood the power of Russia with it's communistic drive as he expressed to the American Republic: What makes the Soviet threat unique in history is its all- inclusiveness. Every human activity is pressed into service as a weapon of expansion. Trade, economic development, military power, arts, science, education, the whole world of ideas. The Soviets are, in short, waging total cold war.

10 Although Eisenhower followed a conservative space plan, he still supported it with a fiery determination. Following Eisenhower's term in office, John Kennedy became president in January of 1961. His goal was to be the first country to put a man on the moon. Kennedy followed a more lavish plan with the same, if not bigger, drive to win the Space Race than Eisenhower had. The American public supported Kennedy 100% thanks to speeches like this one: We have a long way to go in the space race. We started late.

But this is the new ocean, and I believe the United States must sail on it and be in a position second to none. 1 America had a slow start in the race but under Eisenhower's and Kennedy's leadership, America quickly caught up and overcame Russia. With the U.S. landing of a man on the moon, America set its foot down a glorious path it could never turn back on. At the time of the Space Race, the United States and Russia were the world powers. No other country had the industry or economy to fund such massive space programs. The Space Race virtually catapulted America ahead of every second rate country.

The United States had a new technological presence that the world had never seen before. America lead the world in exploring the next frontier; space. America realized the extent of its own power after landing a man on the moon. The United States had spent over 10 grueling years developing and refining their space program.

America was prepared for all out nuclear war, if necessary. President Lyndon B. Johnson clearly explains the advantages the U.S. had gained thanks to the Space Race: We " ve spent between thirty-five and forty billion dollars on space but if nothing else had come from that program except the knowledge that we get from our satellite photography, it would be worth ten times to us what the whole program has cost. Because tonight I know how many missiles the enemy has and our guesses were way off. And we were doing things that we didn't need to do. We were building things that we didn't need to build. We were harboring fears that we didn't need to have.

12 America now had the space technology to launch surveillance (or spy) satellites. The Corona Project was the first satellite program to photograph Russia from space. It was mostly a response to the fear of Russian nuclear attacks. The first Corona satellite brought back more pictures than all the previous stealth planes combined. The pictures that Corona brought back eased American fears because they found that Russia had far less ICBM's than their own country did. With this new knowledge, thanks to satellites, fear of a Russian surprise attack quickly dissipated.

These new satellites showed the world that America was well on the way to technological domination. Following the race to the moon, America continued its progress in space. In 1972, the U.S. teamed up for a short term with Russia on the Apollo-Suy oz project. Two manned spacecraft were launched into orbit and docked together in space for the first time. This joint operation was to be one of rebuilding relations between these two countries.

Following the space station mission, America planned on designing a reusable space shuttle. President Richard Nixon explains his plans on the creation of the space shuttle: I have decided today that the United States should proceed at once with the development of an entirely new type of space transportation system designed to help transform the space frontier of the 1970's into familiar territory, easily accessible for human endeavor in the 1980's and 1990's. 13 With these new goals, America set out to develop a space shuttle. The space shuttle was to be the first reusable spacecraft. The first space shuttle made its debut in 1981.14 Even though Russia had been determined to build a reusable spacecraft since the 50's, they failed to launch one until 1988 due to the lack of thrust in their rockets. As the Cold War and Space Race ended, America's plan of its future fell into place.

The United States was stepping into the dream of the future. Thanks to the Space Race, America's future in space was eminent. Space flights today have become so regular that the public seems to hardly care anymore. Time has changed feelings and relations between once rival countries.

On December 8, 1998, a crew of five men blasted off to begin construction on the International Space Station which will be the largest space station ever built. 15 It is a joint project between many countries including the U.S., Russia, and England, but the project has been lead by the United States. The American space program today is second to none and has been since the Space Race. In our world today, America sets the standard for world power. No other country has the sheer presence that the United States does. As the United States gains more victories, it grows from experience and learns from its mistakes.

From out of the Space Race came technology, military advantage, and total control of their new found destiny in space. Without the scramble to get into space, our society could and would not be the same. The Space Race has set the United States in the forefront of technology and world power. End Notes 1 Paul, Gunter, The Satellite Spin-Off. p. 29 2 Logsdon, John, The Decision to Go to the Moon. p. 15 3 National Air & Space Museum Exhibitions. p. 2 4 National Air & Space Museum Exhibitions. p. 2 5 National Air & Space Museum Exhibitions. p. 2 6 NASA Hompage. p. 6 7 Logsdon, p. 31 8 Murray, Bruce. Journey into Space. p. 19 9 Logsdon, p. 18 10 National Air & Space Museum Exhibitions. p. 12 11 National Air & Space Museum Exhibitions. p. 12 12 Logsdon, p. 21 13 NASA Hompage. p. 6 14 National Air & Space Museum Exhibitions. p. 13 15 NASA Hompage. p. 2

Bibliography

Encyclopedia Britannica. 1997 ed.
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Baikonur. King-Hele, Desmond. Observing Earth Satellites. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1983 Logsdon, John M.
The Decision to Go to the Moon. Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1970 Murray, Bruce.
Journey into Space. New York: W W Norton & Company, 1989 Paul, Gunter.
The Satellite Spin-Off. Washington: Rober B. Luce Inc., 1975 Dunbar, Brian.
NASA Homepage. NASA. 11 Dec. 1998 web The Race to Launch a Moon Probe.
National Space Development Agency of Japan. 3 Nov. 1998 web Section 100, Space Race.
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