SPACE RACE/ ARMS RACE

Who were the two superpowers during the Cold War?

• The United States and the USSR (The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)/ Russia. After the end of World War Two, both of the states were winners but on the same time they were building up fear that their extraneous power would be used to attack each-other. So during, the Cold War everything was turned into a race and a in-direct battle between the U.S and Russia.

MANHATTAN PROJECT

The growth of atomic weapons between the two superpowers.

• After World War 2, the world was completely different, the aim of the states especially the two big superpowers had detoured. The use of the Atomic Bomb for the first time by the U.S shocked the Russians and completely impacted them on developing the same atomic weapon system. The U.S was of course leading because it had started the system first, but later on the U.S changed course on creating less but more powerful bombs. On the other hand the Russians didn’t stop at all; they Produced more than you can ever imagine, their quantity was enormous but not their quality though.

Why was the launch of Sputnik so historically significant toward the space race?

• Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite ever launched, it was launched by the Russians during the Cold War. Sputnik was a key event during the Space Race because it made the United States concentrate even more on the Space technology development. As I said the Cold war was a measurement on who was the best, and both of the states were trying to be the best, so a such important event as the first artificial satellite made the Americans think and try real hard. Sputnik lead the space race; from the first artificial satellite to the landing on moon. Sputnik not only made a significant change to the Space Race but it change the world also.

SPUTNIK 1

EXPLORER 1

List the achievements (firsts) of the Superpowers involved in the Space Race.

• The first ICBM (Intercontinental ballistic missile)- ballistic missiles with a range of 5500 km or 3400miles- was developed by the USSR on August 1957. It went on with the release of Sputnik by the USSR on October 1957. On November 1957 the first animal was sent in Orbit. The first satellite released by the Americans was Explorer 1 which was launched on January 31, 1958. On December 1958 the Americans sent the first communications satellite. On January 2, 1959 the Russians sent the first satellite to Solar Orbit and near the moon. Everything was about the Satellites until USSR on 12 April 1961 launched Vostok 1, where the first human (Yuri Gagarin) traveled into space and also orbited the Earth. On August 1961 the first crewed space mission that lasts for more than a day was launched (Vostok 2).

VALENTINA TERESHKOVA

YURI GAGARIN

• On August 1963 the first woman on Earth (Valentina Tereshkova) was sent to space also by the USSR in Vostok 6 mission. On December 1965 the Americans launched the longest flight of the decade (13 days and 18 hours). On December 1968, the U.S launched Apollo 8 mission in which the first crewed spacecraft left the Earth orbit and also orbited Moon. On March 1969 the U.S launched the first crewed flight capable of landing on the moon (Apollo 9). On July 16, 1969 the U.S launched the first crewed landing on the moon lead by the Astronauts: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. This achievement ended the Space Race with the victory of the United States, leaving the USSR baffled completely.

FIRST ANIMAL IN SPACE

What were the outcomes of the Space race and Arms race between the two Cold War superpowers?

• The outcomes of the Space Race were really good, one of the best and the fastest technological advancements ever made. The researches conducted on satellite technology were hugely important; the communicative satellites were invented, the weather predicting satellites and many other inventions that facilitated the life in many aspects. The U.S also built and now has got the world longest highways with 47000mi highway networks. During Cold War also the President made two decisions, one for making the Emergency broadcast system and the other one for building NORAD( North American Aerospace Defense Headquarters). On the other hand though the Arms race didn’t really help the world; it has only put risk and danger throughout us. That huge development of the nuclear weapons is now just descended to these generations; even though now the state don’t develop quantity, they have nuclear weapons that are thousands of times more powerful than the ones used in Korea.

NORAD

POST COLDWAR NUCLEAR CONDITION

PRES SHIFT+ F5 to watch the GIF.

ERRIS CANAMUSA