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Effects Of The Space Race

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After the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republics began vying for technical superiority in a competition that would later be called “The Space Race”. (SOURCE) Before it came to this point though, the US and the USSR had already been at odds. They were racing to gain militaristic advantage over the other, through the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. (SOURCE) The Space Race continued to advance the knowledge in these areas, and brought the invention of many new technologies, showing the possibility of space exploration. (SOURCE) Even though advancing military and scientific technologies remained in the foreground during the Space Race, the idealistic conflict between the US …show more content…

With the recent conclusion of the Second World War, the US felt threatened by the other powers. (SOURCE) Seeing the success and destruction resulting from the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, further research on nuclear and ballistic weapons ensued. Both the USSR and the US were trying to amass power to out-intimidate the other side and seemingly ensure their own future safety. (SOURCE) Known as the Nuclear Arms Race, this struck fear into the civilians of both countries, who were concerned about the destruction the other country could do to them. (SOURCE) Meanwhile, the US was spreading propaganda against the USSR, presenting the Soviets as a tyrannic force that must be stopped. (SOURCE) This process of demonizing the Soviet Union, known as the Red Scare, set Communism as an opposing and evil process that the American people must help to eradicate. (SOURCE) They feared that if they didn’t defeat the Soviets, the “backwards country” would spread its “vile” influence over its neighbors. (SOURCE) This, in addition to the Nuclear Arms Race, led the people of the US to fervently support the space program, not for the potential technological benefits, but to show their ideological superiority over the …show more content…

This was a very appealing situation for the US, which wanted to display their influence in the world. (SOURCE) In Kennedy’s speech on September 13th, 1962, John F Kennedy stated that to be seen as a prominent world leader, the US must take part in the Space Race and display their technological strength. (SOURCE) During the course of the Space Race, the US would continually come up short of the USSR’s advancements, being second to launch a satellite and second to launch a human into space. (SOURCE) These short-comings took a toll on the USA’s morale, and contrasted how JFK had presented in his speech that the US had been first in many different technological revolutions. (SOURCE) When they finally came around to being first with the launch of ???, the success raised US citizens’ hope in the program back up after their long streak of being second. (SOURCE) This turn-around reignited their hope to be recognized as being capable of being a world leader.

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