Sputnik Dbq Analysis

Improved Essays
October 4, 1957 is when Soviet Union [Russia] launched Sputnik 1, starting the Space Race. 10 years earlier the cold war started mainly with United States and Soviet Union. Because of that, the Americans were worried because of the technology that they could possibly use for military purposes other than exploration. The Americans were being left behind in technology. They created NASA to build rockets and satellites to compete with the Soviet Union. Then on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy and NASA convinced Congress to help pay for the programs to get to space and the moon. They met many challenges to meet their goal set by the president. There were any aspects with the race to space, some of them are political, social, and economic …show more content…
With the launch with Sputnik 1 many Americans were also afraid too other then shocked too. It also meant that citizens and U.S in general could be in danger from the Soviet Union even though being across the world and with ocean barriers. (Doc A). U.S and its citizens are going work hard to “even” with Russia and take the lead. (Doc D) The failed launch of the Vanguard rocket in 1957, December 6th “embarrassed” America in front of the whole world while the Soviet Union rockets to space. Possibly with advances in science and rockets could help other problems or cause new ones or (stated early) could mean there are other problems to deal with instead of the space race. (Doc G). The Successful landing on the moon with Apollo 11 made the space race a win to the United States and surprised the world. (Doc J).

Some more aspects that effected the economy are from Documents C, D, G, I. While trying to achieve their goal the budget of it was high then the normal, and it will be hard to pay for especially with the defense budget too. (Doc C, D, I) Winning the Space race could solve or help problems on Earth or that the economy is cut enough with the current problems at the time like the Vietnam War. On the graph the NASA budget increased through 1958 – 1970 but the defense budget decreased through 1958 – 1970 cause of payments now going to NASA and the space program. (Doc

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    October Sky Introduction After the end of World War II, the United States and Soviet Union entered a period called the Cold War. The Cold War was a time period that was filled with tensions, competitions, and fear. The Cold War mainly occurred due to the United State’s fear of communist ideas, as well as the Soviet’s fears of capitalism, and both country’s possessions of nuclear weapons. These two different concepts lead the Soviets and the United States into a time period full of tensions and competitions.…

    • 2529 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Race To Space Analysis

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. This unknown area is a major interest by the large world powers. The thought of being able to control this infinite far-off territory compelled people to attempt to explore. In 1957 the Soviet Union and the United States became eager in learning about this remote abyss. The “race to space” quite clearly reflected the political, social and economic aspects if the Cold War because it was a fight for supremacy between two superpowers, both powers wanted to be the first to do everything including go to space and lastly both the Cold War and the “race to space” overall cost a great deal of money.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Causes Of Sputnik

    • 1865 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Explorer 1 was designed by the U.S. Army and was launched under the direction of the rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. With the launch of Explorer 1 came the beginning of what has become known as the Space Race. That same year on July 29, President Eisenhower signed a public order bringing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) into existence. The federal agency was dedicated to space exploration along with several programs seeking to exploit the military potential that space had. However, the Soviets were still a step ahead of the U.S. with the launch of the first man into space on April 12, 1961.…

    • 1865 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Space Race began with the launch of Sputnik, and from then on it did nothing but heat up. The launch of Sputnik did give the Soviets a lead, but The U.S. quickly answered back with the expedited launch of their satellite, the Explorer 1. Now that the U.S. had realized that they were behind, they began making major strides in the field of space exploration. The first change that thy made was creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and immediately after creating the Mercury program that had the goal to put a human into orbit. The Soviets made good use of their lead, though, and in April, 1961, they put the first person (Yuri Alekseyevich) into orbit aboard Vostok 1.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Space Race Research Paper

    • 1846 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Space Race between The USSR and The United States of America during the Cold War allowed the two countries to assert their dominance over one another. However, The US has not always had the goal of defeating the Soviets/Russians in outer space. The United States Space Program has changed in size, budget, and goals since the beginning of space exploration. Rockets as we know them today began in the mid-1930s in Great Britain as a means of anti-aircraft protection.…

    • 1846 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong. The Space Race was a competition between the two rivals of the Cold War, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union. The goal was to be the first country to have a man land on the moon. However, for this to happen, there had to be major changes. Specifically, the technology of the time had to be more advanced for both countries to be able to get to the moon.…

    • 1544 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The space race was a competition between the united states of america and the soviet union trying to see who could gain more in the exploration of space. This took place during the cold war so the Space Race was highly competitive between the united states of America and the Soviet union 2 countries that did not like each other In this time they were rival countries. The soviet union had a large lead at the beginning of the “space race” but as the years past by the United states managed to make a dramatic comeback to win the race one reason the United states won the space race is because the USA managed to come back and win the space race one major reason being the united states put a man on the moon. Now how was this helpful to the united states of america?…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    19th Century Space Race

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The article on Khan Academy continues, stating, “[Soviet achievements] created intense fear and anxiety among the US public that the Soviet Union had surpassed the technological achievements of the United States.” Once Sputnik 1 began its orbit, Americans feared that the Soviets had the capabilities to drop intercontinental ballistic missiles that could deliver nuclear payloads with the potential ability to destroy large cities and financial centers within The United States. At the time, policy leaders at the Pentagon encouraged The United States government to allocate more funding and time towards space exploration in order to close the “missile gap,” between American and Soviet technology. This sparked incentives of technological superiority; one of the main reasons that The United States involved itself in the space race. President John F. Kennedy fueled the American energy and enthusiasm for the space race, “[making] it an important matter to keep the Space Race a “race,” meaning that the United States must try to stay ahead of Russian advancements,” according to an…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Sally Ride

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The introduction of women into National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began with the Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATS) and was finally completed when NASA allowed women into the space program in 1978. The space race inspired Ride to look into the idea of becoming an astronaut, but she didn’t believe it was a possibility until NASA started actively seeking out women. Because of Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb’s encounter with the FLATS program, Sally Ride and other women were allowed to become astronauts in NASA’s space program with the help of some federal acts to protect women's new found rights such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX. Once she was at NASA, Ride went on to explore space on two Challenger missions. Sally Ride’s…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Containment Policy Ww2

    • 1355 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Containment Policy (1945)- Containment was part of the US policy to stop Communism from spreading. During this time, the Soviet Union had gained control over multiple Eastern European countries. The Soviet Union was also planning to take over Greece and Turkey; however, President Truman supplied military and economic help until this threat went away. George Kennan, from the State Department, then called for the Containment Policy to prevent the spread of Communism. In order to also prevent the spread of Communism, the US began aiding other European countries.…

    • 1355 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Instead of direct conflict they pushed and pulled for positioning in what was known as the Cold War. The Cold War represented the American public fear of communism and led to the “space race” as a way to try and gain a leg on Russia. If the United States could control the air and the space above, than surely they would be the leading super power again. The Space Race lasted from 1955 to 1975 as the worlds most daring competition for superiority. The military helped fun the project because it meant more advanced rockets that could be used to transport their nuclear warheads further distances.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States and The Soviet Union were in a cold war at the time of Apollo 11. One major part of the cold war was the “Space Race” The Space Race was a race between the United States and the Soviet union to see who could further space exploration in the larger degree. In the early 1960s people would say that the soviet union clearly had the upper hand in the “space race”.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After World War II was over, the United States and the Soviet Union were at War. This is commonly referred to as the “Cold” War, there was no fighting involved, but it was the idea of the United States to stop communism to spread any more. To solve one of these problems, there was a Space Race going to happen, which later turned out to be a race to land a man on the Moon. Furthermore, I would like to discuss the competition between the Soviet’s and Americans, the basic facts of the mission, and lastly President Kennedy’s view on this mission that he had set out.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Space Race Impacts

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Positive Impacts of The Space Race Following World War II, tensions between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. rose dramatically. These tensions eventually caused the Cold War, a war that did not contain any actual combat between the two countries, but contained U.S. foreign involvement to contain communism, an arms race, and the space race (“Cold War History”). The space race is defined as the period of time in the 50s and 60s where the U.S. and Soviets competed technologically to be the first to get a man on the moon. This space age began on October 4, 1957, when the U.S.S.R. put the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into orbit around the Earth. As the news hit the U.S. the next day, many Americans were worried that the US had become technologically…

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After the USSR launched Sputnik in 1957, fear erupted across America, both inside the government and throughout the population, that the Soviets could be watching their every move. This fear started the space race. The end goal of that space race had to be something that would prove one…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays