The Space Race occurred after the Cold War, which brought up past rivalries between the Soviet Union and the United States. The improvements made during the race were not for science, but to show superiority between the United States and the Soviet Union. They tried to up-one another; this grows tensions between them just as the Cold War did.
“On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik” (History). This was the beginning of it all. The United States and the Soviet Union had an agreement that between 1957 and 1958 they would not launch anything, that year would be the International Geophysical Year, or (IGY). The Soviet saw this as a chance to get into space first, and they took it. “This crisis overshadowed …show more content…
Because it was not ready to be launched, taking off it did not go fast enough and burned before it left Earth. The Soviet again launches Sputnik 2 of November 3, 1957, this time the spaceship “…carried a small dog named Laika into orbit” (TheSpaceRace.com). The Soviet launched Sputnik 2 even before the US launched one ship. The Soviet had not only launched the first ship to space but sent the first living begin up in space. The dog lived for about seven days, and then the oxygen supply gave out. Launching two ships into space within a month apart from each other put the Soviet Union in the lead of the space race. The U.S Army took over after the failure of Vanguard-1, and launch Explorer I on January 31, 1958. The rocket carried instruments called, “cosmic ray package” (NOAA). Wernher von Braun, a German scientist, directed the design of Explorer. Also, “President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (History). Explorer I was the first successful US rocket that orbited the Earth. The space race had hit hard by …show more content…
The US wondered how the Soviet had never failed an attempt. The beginning of 1959 Luna 2 is launched by the Soviet; this was the first to touch base with the moon. Then from that point on there was more improvement to the race. Yuri Gagarin was the first human to orbit the Earth from the Soviet, in April of 1961, because the US had some complications with the rocket and decided to do some more test tries with apes. With the US waiting that gave the Soviet time to send Gagarin to space. Only orbiting the Earth one time, Gagarin returned back to Earth quickly. The US’s self-esteem was very low at this point, because they felt that there was no way to beat the Soviet. “John F Kennedy is elected the 35th President of the United States” he makes it clear that the US would have a human to land on the moon before ten years (TheSpaceRace.com). Well in February of 1961 the first American to orbit the Earth was John Glenn, orbiting the Earth three times. With this event “the foundations of NASA’s lunar landing program-dubbed Project Apollo-were in place”
“On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik” (History). This was the beginning of it all. The United States and the Soviet Union had an agreement that between 1957 and 1958 they would not launch anything, that year would be the International Geophysical Year, or (IGY). The Soviet saw this as a chance to get into space first, and they took it. “This crisis overshadowed …show more content…
Because it was not ready to be launched, taking off it did not go fast enough and burned before it left Earth. The Soviet again launches Sputnik 2 of November 3, 1957, this time the spaceship “…carried a small dog named Laika into orbit” (TheSpaceRace.com). The Soviet launched Sputnik 2 even before the US launched one ship. The Soviet had not only launched the first ship to space but sent the first living begin up in space. The dog lived for about seven days, and then the oxygen supply gave out. Launching two ships into space within a month apart from each other put the Soviet Union in the lead of the space race. The U.S Army took over after the failure of Vanguard-1, and launch Explorer I on January 31, 1958. The rocket carried instruments called, “cosmic ray package” (NOAA). Wernher von Braun, a German scientist, directed the design of Explorer. Also, “President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (History). Explorer I was the first successful US rocket that orbited the Earth. The space race had hit hard by …show more content…
The US wondered how the Soviet had never failed an attempt. The beginning of 1959 Luna 2 is launched by the Soviet; this was the first to touch base with the moon. Then from that point on there was more improvement to the race. Yuri Gagarin was the first human to orbit the Earth from the Soviet, in April of 1961, because the US had some complications with the rocket and decided to do some more test tries with apes. With the US waiting that gave the Soviet time to send Gagarin to space. Only orbiting the Earth one time, Gagarin returned back to Earth quickly. The US’s self-esteem was very low at this point, because they felt that there was no way to beat the Soviet. “John F Kennedy is elected the 35th President of the United States” he makes it clear that the US would have a human to land on the moon before ten years (TheSpaceRace.com). Well in February of 1961 the first American to orbit the Earth was John Glenn, orbiting the Earth three times. With this event “the foundations of NASA’s lunar landing program-dubbed Project Apollo-were in place”