The Space Race: A Race for Power

The Space Race: A Race for Power The Space Race: A Race for Power In the 1950s and 60s, the space race between the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republics was all the rage. Who was going to get to the moon first? The countries claimed to pursue breakthroughs in science, but in actuality, the two nation states used science as a gateway to compete against each other. In the end the United States got to the moon first in 1969 and made great advances in technology, but how enduring was the United States commitment to scientific space research?[1] Today, yet another space race has commenced. This time the US is facing China, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and the European Union. Now that the moon is old news. The goal is to land a human on Mars, and also figure out how to prevent asteroids from hitting earth.[2] Scientist have said that asteroids have wiped out species before and it will probably happen again. [3] Although these new races have scientific reasons for exploration, competition between nations still drives scientific advancements. To be a First World country in the 21 st century increasingly requires the ability to travel in space. https://youtu.be/rminsd7mmt4 With the advancement that will happen with new Space Race, everyone will benefit and new technological heights will be reached. Scientifically speaking, the satellites that travel in space can help the world reach new heights. This will happen by enabling better cell phone coverage, higher quality GPS, intensified Google Earth, and military surveillance.[4] Traveling to Mars can create vast new knowledge on how to protect Homo sapiens from extinction caused by meteoroids. By traveling to Mars scientists are able to map the patterns of meteoroids along the way, and find a combatant. Traveling farther into the depths space will give scientists more of an idea of the meteoroid patterns than any amount of traveling to the moon can do. During the era of the first Space Race, scientists had not thought of these possibilities yet. It was said that this race was opening a new window in mankind, which it certainly has done.[5] The first Space Race was the gateway to the advances that the world will reach today; showing that the first Space Race had more than just gains in nationalism. The Space Race reveals that science and nationalism have been closely aligned and affected the trustworthiness of political leaders, the worldwide reputation of countries, and even the claim over extraterrestrial bodies. The real question is, what did the US gain from the space race other than fierce nationalism? When the United States embarked on this adventure, they gained a lot of knowledge in an area where little had been before and in a short period of time. The US knew that the Russians had the ability to do this research and the US had to take a jab at it. The Times of London said that, Scientists 1 / 8

were well aware of what Russia had accomplished and have yet to achieve [6] The US knew what their competition was and what they had to do in order to beat Russia. The US had a tremendous advantage with the fact that their computers were better equipped for the space work. The west is almost certainly better equipped with its international business machines and other computers than is the communist world. [7] With this, the United States worked with rockets that were farther advanced and helped to put them ahead. Along with the computers that were able to advance the rockets, airplanes and other forms of travel were advanced with its technology.[8] When Russia launched Sputnik, President Dwight Eisenhower remained calm. He saw this satellite not as a military threat, but an advancement in technology.[9] But, his political power was in question; US citizens did not know if his statements on Sputnik were a cover up. They believed that he was trying to deceive them by trying to minimize how bad the situation was. In a competitive sense the US was losing to Russia. Russia now had the lead and the most advanced scientific technology. They successfully had a satellite in route. This lead caused the American people to have doubts about Eisenhower. Figure 1 Sputnik 1 Along with showing nationalism, the scientific value of the Space Race was immense. When Sputnik I launched, the world saw the potential for endless new developments. Russian news articles also saw the significance of Sputnik I: Artificial earth satellites will pave the way to interplanetary travel and makes the most daring dreams of mankind a reality. [10] The launch of Sputnik I placed Russia in the lead and caused countries around the world to question who now 2 / 8

was in the lead of the Cold War: Sputnik s launch exacerbated pre-existing British fears that the Soviets were becoming more technologically advanced and leading the cold war. [11] With this advancement Russia became more powerful in the eyes of leaders and citizens around the world. Newspapers released articles titled Russia Wins Space Race, indicating that the race was over. The advancement in technology moved space travel from fantasy to reality. As content, this serialization prompted the Daily Herald readership to consider not only the dangers of space but also its possibilities as an engine for peace, something which had already been expressed in several readers letters. [12] The possibilities for space travel seemed endless. Sputnik II launched November 3, 1957 with a dog named Laika. This was the first time an animal had traveled to space. Russia was close to human space travel. Laika died a week after returning to earth. This meant that life could not be supported in space and the Sputnik was not ready for human lives. Russia then launched eight additional Sputniks with animals to master the life support in space. When America tried to launch a satellite in late 1957, it failed after only traveling four feet in the air. As the USSR advanced, it seemed as if the US would stay back and watch. In a recent article on nationalism and space travel, Asif Siddiq argues that Sputnik and the breakthroughs it made were fundamental to all future approaches to space research.[13] Figure 2 Laika 3 / 8

The Cold War is over, yet the Space Race still impacts and shapes the world today. Like the Space Race of the 1950s and 1960s, the new space race between Russia, the US, China, UAE and the European Union continues to focus on nationalism and national security. Both Space Races have had impacts on nationalism. The modern Space Race has the goal of sending a mission to Mars by 2021 (this date was set by UAE).[14] With this new technology Google wants to build a network of satellites that will give most of the world access to the internet. There will be military surveillance as well which is helpful for all parties involved. The con to achieving this race, is that another country cans sneak up and have the same technology. This levels the playing ground, which will cause more technological advances to be found. Sputnik I was the first step in many steps. Neil Armstrong said, "That's one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind."[15] This is true today. One small step created a whole world of opportunity. Each acceleration in technology is another small step which contributes to new leaps. [1] Brian Boyer, The New Space Race, Daily Record, October 11, 2015, http://ntserver1.wsulibs.w su.edu:2182/newsstand/docview/1721328600/c94eecf9bec452epq/5?accountid=14902 (2/1/16). [2] Daily News, October 11, 2015. [3] Daily News, October 11, 2015. [4] Ishaan Tharoor, U.A.E. Plans Arab World s First Mission to Mars. The Washington Post, July 16, 2014. [5] World Acclaim For Space Explorer. Times [London, England] April 13, 1961: 12. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 24 Mar. 2016. [6] Vast American Effort in Race for Space Mastery, The Times, April 17, 1959, 10. [7] The Times, April 17, 1959. [8] The Times, April 17, 1959. [9] Yanek Mieczkowski, Eisenhower s Sputnik Moment: The Race for Space and World Prestige (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013) 280-290. [10] "Announcement of the First Satellite," Pravda, October 5, 1957, in F.J. Krieger, Behind the Sputniks (Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press, 1958), 311-12. [11] Nicholas Barnett, Russia Wins Space Race. Media History 19, no. 2: 182-183. Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost. 4 / 8

[12] EBSCOhost, 2013. [13] Asif A. Siddiq, Competing Technologies, National(ist) Narratives, and Universalist Claims: Toward a Global History of Space Exploration, 51, no. 2 (April 2010): 426. [14] The Washington Post, July 16, 2014. [15] Blake, Heidi. "Apollo 11 Moon Landing: Top Quotes from the Mission That Put Man on the Moon." The Telegraph. January 20, 2009. Illistrations 5 / 8

Figure 1. 1957. Sputnik 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sputnik_1 6 / 8

Figure 2. 1957. Laika in preparation for her launch. http://www.intlwatchleague.com/showthread.php?6142-****-laika-the-legend-of-sputnik-2-**** Geographic focus: US and Russia. Search Term: Space Race Primary Source data base: The Times of London Primary Source date limit: 1960-1980 Historical research questions: What made our technology more advanced? At this point in time how far had Russia gone and how far had we gone? 7 / 8