The Space Race, The Most Important Events, and the Soviet Perspective

After WWII many of the big countries of the world were looking for a way to ensure their protection for the future. This time period was known as the Cold War and the space race was included in that time period.

The space race was a heated competition between the US and the Soviet Union. They were allies in WWII, but during the Cold War everything changed. The space race began even before WWII. In 1880, a Russian man named Konstantin Tsiolkovsky theorized that rockets could reach space. He created the "rocket equation" which is used to calculate velocity. This formula is used to this day! In 1929, the American, Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid fueled rocket. People did not take him seriously and he was forgotten. In 1942, the Germans created the first missile to reach space. In 1945, after the war, German knowledge of rockets was distributed to the Allies (Mainly the US and the Soviet Union). In 1953, Sergey Korolyov developed the first ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). Six years later the Americans had their own version. These activities set the stage for a space race.

The space race officially "began" when the Soviet Union launched the first-ever satellite into space in 1957. It was the size of a beach ball and stayed in space for two months. In early-1958 the US launched their first satellite into space. In mid-1958 the soviets put the first dog into space and it died 5-7 hours after takeoff due to stress. In late-1958 the US formed NASA and the Soviet Union landed the first probe on the moon. In 1960 two more Soviet dogs are sent to space, but are returned unharmed. In 1961, the US sends to chimps to space and returns them. Also in 1961, the Soviet Union put the first man into space. His name was Yuri Gagarin. Twenty-three days later, they US put Alan Shepard into space. In 1962 an American was the first person to orbit the Earth. In 1968, the Soviet Union flew the first animals around the moon. Also in 1968, the US flew the first Americans around the moon. In 1969, the US lands the first people on the moon and "win" the space race. While the US won the space race because of the huge accomplishment of putting someone on the moon, the Soviet Union had more space "firsts." To this day the US and Russia still lead in space exploration.

The way the Soviet people and leaders viewed the space race during the Cold War was very different than the way that the US viewed it. When Germany and Hitler were overthrown, Russia kidnapped many German rocket engineers and a lot of German knowledge. These kidnapped engineers were forced to help the Soviet Union develop their rockets. The US only used the knowledge that was given to it by the Germans and created their own rockets. That could possibly explain why the US was behind for much of the space race. The Soviet Union viewed space as a wonderful military tool because the US had a much bigger air force. The Soviet Union wanted to be able to contend with the US. While the US was interested in space for military reasons, there were also scientific reasons. The Soviet Union was much more desperate win the space race because they wanted to prove how powerful they were after their performance in WWII. When the Soviet Union sent the first dog into space, they knew that it was going to die. This shows how desperately they wanted to win the space race. In the Soviet Union the citizens were extremely proud and involved with the space program. While the citizens of the US were proud they just didn't have the fire that the Soviet people did. Overall the Soviet Union wanted to use the space race as a way to show that they were ready for anything that was going to happen next.

There has never been such a battle for technological supremacy since the space race during the heart of the Cold War. This illustrates how the times were changing. Any nation that could not keep up with the change would be left behind. In today's world that is extremely apparent. Also, it is important to remember that the space race was as equally important, if not even more important, to the Soviet people as it was, and is, to the American public.

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