On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik into orbit. From that point on, the United States and the USSR were thrown into a race to see who could get further into space and develop the technology to do so. This became known as the Space Race. In response, to the Sputnik satellite the United States launched Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958 just four months after the Soviets. Soon, both the Soviets and the Americans were launching larger spacecrafts, with animals and eventually humans into space. The Space Race was during a time called the Cold War, the name given to the relationship that developed primarily between the USA and the USSR after World War II(9). Although there was never any fighting the Cold War
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Both nations were in a head-to-head competition to prove to the world that they were the superior power (1). How did each nation try to prove this? By working tirelessly to develop the best space and military technologies faster than their rival nation. Rachel Boehm summed this up by stating
“Why was the Space Race so important? The race to space was not solely about space. Yes, both countries were serious about their commitments to launch satellites, rockets, and humans into orbit, but an even more important aspect of the Space Race was the arms race. Both the arms race and the Space Race were small battles of a larger war, the Cold War. The Cold War was a war of ideology, not military battles. It was also a race of technological discoveries and advancements. It was fought between the United States and the Soviet Union, the two largest world powers after World War …show more content…
This is depicted in a newspaper heading from 1965 “Though the goals of the race between the United States and the Soviet Union to reach the moon are unclear, the pressure to succeed in increasing” (Eberhart 387).The resulting technology from the race would change the world forever. The United States leading organization for space flight, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was put together in 1958 after President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order creating the federal agency dedicated to space exploration. (2). From 1961 to 1964, NASA’s budget was increased almost 500 percent, and the lunar landing program eventually involved some 34,000 NASA employees and 375,000 employees of industrial and university contractors(8). Much of the technology originally designed by NASA is still in use today. For instance, one of the most impactful inventions was the CAT and MRI technologies (10). CAT (computer-aided topography) scans and MRI’s (magnetic resonance imaging) are used in the medical industry today and save many lives, through the detection of cancerous cells (10). Many obscure things were designed by NASA for a single purpose but became useful for many other applications. To depict this, scratch-resistant lenses used in glasses
Both nations were in a head-to-head competition to prove to the world that they were the superior power (1). How did each nation try to prove this? By working tirelessly to develop the best space and military technologies faster than their rival nation. Rachel Boehm summed this up by stating
“Why was the Space Race so important? The race to space was not solely about space. Yes, both countries were serious about their commitments to launch satellites, rockets, and humans into orbit, but an even more important aspect of the Space Race was the arms race. Both the arms race and the Space Race were small battles of a larger war, the Cold War. The Cold War was a war of ideology, not military battles. It was also a race of technological discoveries and advancements. It was fought between the United States and the Soviet Union, the two largest world powers after World War …show more content…
This is depicted in a newspaper heading from 1965 “Though the goals of the race between the United States and the Soviet Union to reach the moon are unclear, the pressure to succeed in increasing” (Eberhart 387).The resulting technology from the race would change the world forever. The United States leading organization for space flight, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was put together in 1958 after President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order creating the federal agency dedicated to space exploration. (2). From 1961 to 1964, NASA’s budget was increased almost 500 percent, and the lunar landing program eventually involved some 34,000 NASA employees and 375,000 employees of industrial and university contractors(8). Much of the technology originally designed by NASA is still in use today. For instance, one of the most impactful inventions was the CAT and MRI technologies (10). CAT (computer-aided topography) scans and MRI’s (magnetic resonance imaging) are used in the medical industry today and save many lives, through the detection of cancerous cells (10). Many obscure things were designed by NASA for a single purpose but became useful for many other applications. To depict this, scratch-resistant lenses used in glasses