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| ] was the first animal in orbit, sent up in ] in ] by the USSR. Unfortunately, he did not return to Earth (because technology was not advanced enough), but it was an amazing achievement in the field. | ] was the first animal in orbit, sent up in ] in ] by the USSR. Unfortunately, he did not return to Earth (because technology was not advanced enough), but it was an amazing achievement in the field. | ||
| ] was the first human to enter space and in ], on the ], from the USSR on ], ]. This day is still a holiday in ] and other countries from the former USSR. The first dual manned flight was also launched by the USSR from ]-], ], and the first flight with more than one crew member was the USSR's ] launched on ], ], which was also the first flight where the crew did not |
] was the first human to enter space and in ], on the ], from the USSR on ], ]. This day is still a holiday in ] and other countries from the former USSR. The first dual manned flight was also launched by the USSR from ]-], ], and the first flight with more than one crew member was the USSR's ] launched on ], ], which was also the first flight where the crew did not wear spacesuits. | ||
| ] was the first woman in space on ], ], on a flight launched by the USSR. | ] was the first woman in space on ], ], on a flight launched by the USSR. | ||
Revision as of 08:00, 28 August 2004
The Space Race was an unofficial competition between the United States and the USSR in space exploration and technology, and especially to the race between the two nations to land a human being on the moon in the second half of the 1960s.
- In the eyes of the world, first in space means first, period; second in space is second in everything.
- Lyndon B. Johnson writing to John F. Kennedy; April 28, 1961.
The term "space race" was coined by analogy to the arms race between the Soviet Union and United States. The Cold War sense of cultural competition required each nation to try to outdo the other, in order to "demonstrate" which had the better system. Space technology was a particularly important arena for this conflict, because of its futuristic image - rocketry was still a comparatively new field - and obvious military applications.
Artificial Satellites
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite in orbit. It was sent up by the USSR on October 4, 1957. Sputnik caused fear and chaos in the United States, because they thought it was a millitary satellite.
The first geostationary (or Geosynchronous) satellite was Syncom-2 launched on July 26, 1963 by the US
Animals and Human Beings
Laika was the first animal in orbit, sent up in Sputnik 2 in 1957 by the USSR. Unfortunately, he did not return to Earth (because technology was not advanced enough), but it was an amazing achievement in the field.
Yuri Gagarin was the first human to enter space and in orbit, on the Vostok 1, from the USSR on April 12, 1961. This day is still a holiday in Russia and other countries from the former USSR. The first dual manned flight was also launched by the USSR from August 11-15, 1962, and the first flight with more than one crew member was the USSR's Voskhod 1 launched on October 12, 1964, which was also the first flight where the crew did not wear spacesuits.
Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space on June 16, 1963, on a flight launched by the USSR.
The first spacewalk was performed by Aleksei Leonov on Voskhod 2, which was launched by the USSR on March 18, 1965. The first human orbit of the moon was Apollo 8 (US) on December 27, 1968, and the first human landing on the moon was by Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969.
The first automatic rover on the moon was Lunokhod 1 launched on November 17, 1970 by the USSR.
Other Spacecraft and Miscellaneous Achievements
Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to fly by the moon, sent by the USSR on January 4, 1959. It was also the first artificial satellite of the sun. Its successor, Luna 2 was the first spacecraft on the moon.
The First spacecraft to fly by Venus was the Mariner 2, sent by the US on December 14, 1962. The first spacecraft to fly by Mars was Mariner 4 launched in 1965 by the US. The first flyby of Jupiter was Pioneer 10, launched in 1973 by the US. The first, and so far only, spacecraft to fly by Mercury was Mariner 10, launched in 1974 by the US. The first flyby of Saturn was Pioneer 11 launched in 1979 by the US. The first and only flybys of Uranus and Neptune were by Voyager 2
The first space rendevous was with Gemini 6 and Gemini 7, both US craft, on December 15, 1965. Their successor, Gemini 8 performed the first space docking on March 16, 1968. The first automatic space docking, however, was performed by USSR's Cosmos-186 and Cosmos-188 on Octover 30, 1967.
The first launch from the sea was Scout B, on April 26, 1967 by the US.
The first soft landing on the moon was by Luna 9, launched by the USSR on February 3, 1966, and the first spacecraft that orbited the moon was Luna 10 on April 3, 1966.
The first spacecraft on Venus was Venera 7, in 1971 by the USSR, and the first spacecraft on Mars was Mars 3, also in 1971 by the USSR.
The first Space station was Salyut 1, on June 7, 1971 (USSR). The first modular space station was USSR's Mir, in 1986.
The first reusable spacecraft (space shuttle) was launched by the US, on the twentieth anniversary of Gagarin's flight, April 12, 1981. The first and so far only reusable automatic reusable spacecraft was Buran, launched by the USSR on November 15, 1988
Moon Flight
The Soviets beat the Americans in most firsts, but did not manage to beat them to the moon. After so many early Soviet successes, especially Gagarin's flight, President John F. Kennedy was keen to find an American project that could capture the public imagination. The idea of the Apollo program was developed during the Eisenhower administration, but discarded because the President thought the operation was too expensive, and had little scientific or military reward. Kennedy, however, seized upon the project as the ideal focus for American efforts in space. He ensured continuing funding, shielding space spending from the 1963 tax cut and diverting money from other NASA projects - to the dismay of its head, James E. Webb, who urged support for scientific work. In conversation with Webb, Kennedy said:
- Everything we do ought to really be tied in to getting on to the moon ahead of the Russians otherwise we shouldn't be spending that kind of money, because I'm not interested in space The only justification for is because we hope to beat to demonstrate that instead of being behind by a couple of years, by God we passed them.
- (From a tape recording in the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library.)
Whatever was said in private, it was clear that a different message was needed to gain public support. Later in 1963, Kennedy asked Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the possible technological and scientific benefits of a moon mission. For the program to succeed, it would have to defeat criticism from politicians of the left, who wanted money spent on social programs instead; and of the right, who favored a more military project. By emphasising the scientific payoff, and playing on fears of Soviet space dominance, Kennedy and Johnson managed to swing public opinion: by 1965, 58% of Americans were in favor of Apollo, up from 33% two years earlier. Once Johnson was President, his continuing defense of the program allowed it to succeed in 1969, as Kennedy had originally hoped.
Meanwile, the USSR was much more ambivalent about going to the moon. Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev was unwilling to be "defeated" by any other power, but equally unwilling to be drawn into such an expensive project. In October 1963, he said that the USSR was "not at present planning flight by cosmonauts to the moon", though this statement was qualified by his insistence that they had not dropped out of the race. It would be another year before the nation would fully commit to a moon landing attempt. At the same time, various joint programs had been suggested by Kennedy, including a possible moon landing by Soviet and American astronauts, and the development of better weather-monitoring satellites. Krushchev, sensing an attempt to steal superior Russian space technology, rejected the idea: if the USSR went to the moon, it would go alone.
While unmanned Soviet probes did reach the moon before any American craft, the American Neil Armstrong was the first human visitor - an event watched by millions of people around the world. This has come to be recognised as a defining moment of the twentieth century.
Technological Progress
Technology and especially aerospace engineering advanced greatly during this period. In the sense that it was contested during the 1960s, the space race is usually considered to have been ended by the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975.
In 2003, with the successful manned space flight by the People's Republic of China, there has been speculation of a new space race with the United States considering creating a permanent base on the Moon and/or a manned mission to Mars.
The Ansari X Prize, a competition for private suborbital spaceships, has also been called the new space race.
References
- John F. Kennedy: an unfinished life, Robert Dallek (2003).