Space Race
The space race is the name given to the competition from 1961 to 1969 between the United States and the Soviet Union to advance in space exploration and technology, most notably in their efforts to land a human being on the Moon and return him to Earth.
The term "space race" was coined by analogy to the arms race, and is considered an important part of the cultural and technological rivalry of the USSR and the U.S. during the Cold War. Space technology was a particularly important arena for this conflict, because of its psychological effects in raising morale and its military applications.
Some have suggested that a modern space race is taking place between China and other nations.
Military origin
Any discussion of the space race must begin with its military origins as an outgrowth of the arms race of the 20th century.
Modern space exploration owes its existence to Nazi-controlled Germany, which spent millions of dollars to develop rocket technology to bomb other countries. That technology was later captured by the allied forces and formed the basis of what became the technological backbone of the space race.
See also: Operation Paperclip
The Cold War
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a bitter cold war of espionage and propaganda.
Space exploration and satellite technology fed into the cold war on both fronts. Artificial Earth satellites could spy on other countries while space-faring accomplishments could be used as propaganda to tout a country's scientific prowess -- and military potential. The same rockets that could send a man in orbit or hit a specific spot on the Moon could send an atom bomb to a specific city of an enemy.
Cold War escalation
- In the eyes of the world, first in space means first, period; second in space is second in everything.
- Lyndon B. Johnson writing to then-US President John F. Kennedy; April 28, 1961.
When the Russians launched the Sputnik I satellite in 1957, the United States was highly troubled. This singular event shocked every social strata in the entire nation, causing them to believe that they may no longer be the most powerful country. At the time, the notion of the Soviets beating the Americans into space, looking down and watching over America (the Sputnik was visible as it passed over America) was extremely frightening. This fear was exacerbated due to Cold War tension.
Once American efforts began, in earnest a race (akin to a "peaceful war") was inevitable. In America, Sputnik was seen as the USA losing out. It spurred a movement to improve education.
The space race was effectively tied to the Cold War. While it was not strategically as important as other aspects, it was a very symbolic process that took up a lot of funding on both sides and was represented by many big symbols such as Kennedy's promise to get to the moon by 1969.
Funding
Governmental space agencies
The huge cost associated and bureaucracy needed to organize successful space exploration led to the creation of national and international space agencies. In addition to the achievements of the Unites States and the Soviet Union, many other countries developed their own space programs for scientific, militaristic and nationalistic reasons.
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA or, in French, the ASC) is the government department responsible for Canada's space programme.
It was established in March 1989 by the Canadian Space Agency Act and sanctioned in December 1990. The agency is led by its president, who reports to the minister of Industry.
The China National Space Administration is the civilian agency in the People's Republic of China that is responsible for national space policy. The agency was created in 1993 when the Ministry of Aerospace Industry was split in two, with the other part being the China Aerospace Corp.
The European Space Research Organisation, also known as ESRO, was established on March 20, 1964, per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
It was suceeded by the European Space Research and Technology Centre, or ESTEC, based in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The center is still a part of the European Space Agency, which has grown to be a much bigger organisation today.
The European Space Agency in its current form was founded in 1974, when the European Space Research Organisation merged with the European Launcher Development Organisation, or ELDO.
CNES (France)
The Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public establishment of industrial and commercial character"). Its headquarters are in central Paris.
The Italian Space Agency (L'Agenzia Spaziale Italiana or ASI) was founded in 1988 to promote, co-ordinate and conduct space activities in Italy.
Operating under the Ministry of the Universities and of Scientific and Technological Research, the agency cooperates with numerous entities active in space technology and with the president of the Council of Ministers. Internationally, the ASI provides Italy's delegation to the Council of the European Space Agency and to its subordinate bodies.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) (German: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V.) is the national research center for aviation and space flight of the Federal Republic of Germany and of other member states in the Helmholtz Association. Its extensive research and development projects are included in national and international cooperative programs. In addition to its research projects, the DLR is the assigned space agency of Germany bestowing headquarters of german space flight activities and its associates.
The Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency, or JAXA, is Japan's aerospace agency. It was formed October 1, 2003, by the merger of NASDA, the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan and the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science.
Russia (Soviet Union)
The Russian Aviation and Space Agency (RKA) (in Russian: Российское авиационно-космическое агентство) is the government agency responsible for Russia's space science program and general aerospace research. It was formed after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of the Soviet space program.
United States
On July 29, 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). When it began operations on October 1, 1958, NASA consisted mainly of the four laboratories and some 8,000 employees of the government's 46-year-old research agency for aeronautics, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).
Scientific achievement
Timeline
Artificial satellitesFirst artificial satellite Sputnik 1, launched by the USSR on October 4, 1957, was the first artificial satellite in orbit. Sputnik caused fear and stirred political debate in the United States because of its military and economic implications. Nearly four months after the first Russian satellite was successfully sent into orbit the first U.S. satellite was launched. On January 31, 1958, Explorer I discovered the Van Allen radiation belt. Satellite communicationsThe first communications satellite was Project SCORE, launched December 18, 1958, which relayed a Christmas message from President Eisenhower to the world.
See also: Communications Satellites article by NASA Other noteworthy satellitesThe first geosynchronous satellite was Syncom-2 launched on July 26, 1963 by the U.S. Living creatures in spaceAnimals in spaceThe first animals in space were fruit flies launched by the U.S. on captured German V-2 rockets in 1946. Laika was the first animal in orbit, sent up in Sputnik 2 in 1957 by the USSR. Unfortunately, she did not return to Earth (because technology was not advanced enough), but it was an amazing achievement in the field. First animals to successfully return from orbit in 1960 were Belka and Strelka, dogs. The first animals to fly around the Moon were Soviet turtles on Zond 5. Humans in spaceYuri Gagarin was the first human to enter orbit, on the Vostok 1, launched by the USSR on April 12, 1961. This day is still a holiday in Russia and other countries from the former USSR, along with some other European and Asian countries. 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. Lunar missions Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to fly by the moon, launched 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. Luna 3 took the first photos of the far side of the moon on October 7, 1959. 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 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. First man on the moonWhile the Soviets beat the Americans in most firsts, they 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: 
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. Meanwhile, 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 lunar visitor - an event watched by millions of people around the world. This has become widely recognised as one of the defining moments of the twentieth century. Other successesMissions to other planets The first spacecraft to land on Venus was the USSR's Venera 7, launched in 1971. It was only one in the long Venera series; several other previous Venera spacecraft performed flyby and attempted landing missions. Seven other Venera landers followed. The first spacecraft on Mars was Mars 3, also launched in 1971 by the USSR. Launches and dockingThe first space rendezvous was between 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 October 30, 1967. The first launch from the sea was Scout B, on April 26, 1967 by the US. The first Space station was Salyut 1, on June 7, 1971 (USSR). The first modular space station was USSR's Mir, in 1986. Reusable spacecraftThe 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) automatic reusable spacecraft was Buran, launched by the USSR on November 15, 1988 Technological progressTechnology 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. Notable scientists of the space raceThe Avro team Recent DevelopmentsSpace tourismOn April 28, 2001 Dennis Tito became the first fee-paying space tourist when he visited the International Space Station. Possible new space raceIn 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
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