Section 1: Identification and evaluation of sources
This investigation will explore the question: How did the US win the space race, and its impact on Modern Technology? The years 1945 to 1975 are the main area of focus in this investigation, as these years caused the build up to the space race. This investigation will compare the attitude and implementation approch between the two players –USA and USSR. Sources :
1. “Atlas of Space Exploration” written by Roger D. Launius and Andrew K. Johnston. The origin of this source is valuable, since Roger D Launis is a senior curator in the division of Space History at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. This was a valuable source since Launis has an in depth knowledge of the Space Race …show more content…
The USSR was a communist dictatorship under Joseph Stalin and the USA was a democracy under Eisenhower. In a democracy, the elected government is responsible to the people and the American population had no interest in Space. The government of the day under Eisenhower was concerned about the cost of the missile and space program and as such were dragging their feet to invest in the space program. Its secure position as a leading military power had lulled it into a sense of laziness and the government leaders and the public viewed space exploration as frivolous ( Asaeng Pg 36). The involvement in the Korean war kept the US focus on military applications like missiles. The Soviets on the other hand had a clear focus on winning the space race. The decision making in a dictatorial environment was efficient and fast. The closed nature of the system also meant that they did not have to publish their progress and as such could experiment freely. As such their political system gave them the window to advance fast. They launched Sputnik and shocked the USA. "The American people had go to bed secure in the belief that their nation was the most powerful, technologically advanced country in the world " ( Asaeng Pg 44) . President Eisenhower, however still shrugged this achievement but the press now finally took notice and pushed public opinion. The launch of Sputnik 2, less than a month …show more content…
The Soviets did not have a similar organization and were being led by multiple teams. The creation of NASA meant that the co-ordination between multiple teams was cut down. The NASA engineers from the beginning bought the engineers and astronauts together. This meant the engineers had feedback from the astronauts in the design phase itself, therefore learning and fine tuning together. In the Soviet experience the cosmonauts were just passengers. For the USA they were able to make the size of the rocket ships smaller, which meant that they could pack more material into the shuttles. The less powerful rockets were a blessing as they forced more technological advancements, which made every component smaller. Since NASA was an organization, they had a long term plan unlike the Soviets who were being led by one person, who was intent on being first in everything. This meant that there were gaps In the USSR program. When Korolev died in 1965, it left the Soviet program without a leader and the holes in the program made the program extremely expensive. The Soviet Union did not have a private sector to support it like the NASA had. The moon landing the ultimate goal was a challenge for the Soviets given their heavier rockets since no one knew what to expect on the surface. The death of Korolev and the cost of the programs allowed NASA to provide the focus needed to land a man on the moon and
This investigation will explore the question: How did the US win the space race, and its impact on Modern Technology? The years 1945 to 1975 are the main area of focus in this investigation, as these years caused the build up to the space race. This investigation will compare the attitude and implementation approch between the two players –USA and USSR. Sources :
1. “Atlas of Space Exploration” written by Roger D. Launius and Andrew K. Johnston. The origin of this source is valuable, since Roger D Launis is a senior curator in the division of Space History at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. This was a valuable source since Launis has an in depth knowledge of the Space Race …show more content…
The USSR was a communist dictatorship under Joseph Stalin and the USA was a democracy under Eisenhower. In a democracy, the elected government is responsible to the people and the American population had no interest in Space. The government of the day under Eisenhower was concerned about the cost of the missile and space program and as such were dragging their feet to invest in the space program. Its secure position as a leading military power had lulled it into a sense of laziness and the government leaders and the public viewed space exploration as frivolous ( Asaeng Pg 36). The involvement in the Korean war kept the US focus on military applications like missiles. The Soviets on the other hand had a clear focus on winning the space race. The decision making in a dictatorial environment was efficient and fast. The closed nature of the system also meant that they did not have to publish their progress and as such could experiment freely. As such their political system gave them the window to advance fast. They launched Sputnik and shocked the USA. "The American people had go to bed secure in the belief that their nation was the most powerful, technologically advanced country in the world " ( Asaeng Pg 44) . President Eisenhower, however still shrugged this achievement but the press now finally took notice and pushed public opinion. The launch of Sputnik 2, less than a month …show more content…
The Soviets did not have a similar organization and were being led by multiple teams. The creation of NASA meant that the co-ordination between multiple teams was cut down. The NASA engineers from the beginning bought the engineers and astronauts together. This meant the engineers had feedback from the astronauts in the design phase itself, therefore learning and fine tuning together. In the Soviet experience the cosmonauts were just passengers. For the USA they were able to make the size of the rocket ships smaller, which meant that they could pack more material into the shuttles. The less powerful rockets were a blessing as they forced more technological advancements, which made every component smaller. Since NASA was an organization, they had a long term plan unlike the Soviets who were being led by one person, who was intent on being first in everything. This meant that there were gaps In the USSR program. When Korolev died in 1965, it left the Soviet program without a leader and the holes in the program made the program extremely expensive. The Soviet Union did not have a private sector to support it like the NASA had. The moon landing the ultimate goal was a challenge for the Soviets given their heavier rockets since no one knew what to expect on the surface. The death of Korolev and the cost of the programs allowed NASA to provide the focus needed to land a man on the moon and