Space Race

What is space race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (US), for supremacy in spaceflight capability.

Space race begin After World War II both the United States and the Soviet Union realized how important rocket research would be to the military. They each recruited the top rocket scientists from Germany to help with their research. Soon both sides were making progress in rocket technology. The Space Race began in 1955 when both countries announced that they would soon be launching satellites into orbit. The Soviets took the US announcement as a challenge and even established a commission whose goal was to beat the US in putting a satellite into space.

Space exploration served as another dramatic arena for Cold War competition. On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”), the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit. Sputnik’s launch came as a

Purpose of space race In 1961, President John F. Kennedy began a dramatic expansion of the U.S. space program and committed the nation to the ambitious goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik, and the space race was on.

During the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union engaged a competition to see who had the best technology in space. This included such events as who could put the first manned spacecraft into orbit and who would be the first to walk on the Moon. The Space Race was considered important because it showed the world which country had the best science, technology, and economic system.

Space Race Soon after World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union became locked in a global conflict pitting democracy against communism. Space became a critical theater in this Cold War, as each side competed to best the other's achievements in what became known as the Space Race. This gallery tells about that U.S.-Soviet space rivalry and its aftermath, from the military origins of the Space Race, through the race to the Moon and the development of reconnaissance satellites, to cooperative ventures between the two former rivals and efforts to maintain a human presence in space. Some of the many highlights include a German V-1 "buzz bomb" and V 2 missile, Soviet and U.S. spacecraft and space suits, a Skylab Orbital Workshop, and a full-size test version of the

MILITARY ORIGINS OF THE SPACE RACE As the Space Race began, the United States and the Soviet Union were building rockets to use as long-range weapons. The United States initially favored bombers, but the Soviets preferred missiles and thus took an early lead in rocket technology.

MILITARY ORIGINS OF THE SPACE RACE A rocket able to carry a bomb across the globe also could be used to loft machines and men into orbit. The United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a long competition to develop rockets for both warfare and the exploration of space.

United State WON United States effectively “won” the space race that had begun with Sputnik’s launch in 1957. For their part, the Soviets made four failed attempts to launch a lunar landing craft between 1969 and 1972, including a spectacular launch-pad explosion in July 1969.