When people think of the 1960s, many think of the social turmoil of the hippy movement, or maybe the equality movement of African Americans fighting for social justice. However, there was a movement that not only influenced entire countries, but helped define a generation. The space race was a competition between the two Cold War rivals of the United States and the Soviet Union. As each country pumped money into their space program, they developed new technology and an interest in space for their citizens that continues to this day.
Historical Context
The interest in space began with rockets first developed in Germany. Leading up to WWII, the Germans began development of the world’s first ballistic missiles. They developed the A4 rocket which in 1942, became the first rocket to reach outer space. The A4 rocket was then developed in large quantities and was changed to the V2 rocket. The V2 was designed to carry a large warhead long distances at an extremely high rate of speed. Nazi Germany used it to bomb England in the later stages of the war. After Nazi Germany’s defeat, American, British, and Soviet scientists got a hold of the design specifications of the V2 rocket. The V2 rocket designs were used by the Americans and Soviets in their first rocket designed to reach outer space. (Collins, 1990)
After the conclusion of WWII came the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Cold War, generally stated, was an ideological battle between capitalism and communism. With this struggle, came a race to build military power. This military expansion resulted in a nuclear arms race. The potential for nuclear war drove each country to expand their defensive and offensive military capabilities. The Soviet Union began developing more ballistic missiles, based on the German’s original design. Using these designs, the Soviet’s developed the first intercontinental ballistic missile. This design was the first to incorporate a staged rocket system meaning that the rocket could launch using one fuel source, and then maintain flight across half the world with a separate fuel source. This meant the Soviets could launch a missile from their mainland and hit a target on the continental U.S. Recognizing this obvious threat, the U.S. started developing their own intercontinental ballistic missile. A few years later, they were successful and their design would later be used for their first orbital launches of satellites into outer space.
The successful launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles by both countries was the start of the space race. It was clear that these technologies could be used to launch satellites into orbit. In 1955, both the United States and Soviet Union announced their intention to launch a satellite into orbit in the coming years. The Soviets were the first to succeed in the race to putting a satellite in orbit. They launched a small satellite, known as Sputnik, into Earth’s orbit. This satellite only had the ability to send a “beeping” signal back to earth. When the launch station received the first set of “beeps” after launch, it meant that the satellite had completed one full orbit of the Earth. This successful launch came as a shock to Americans and a blow to the American ego. The U.S. responded by launching a similar satellite into orbit 4 months after Sputnik’s success. (Hardesty, 2007) Americans still acknowledged the fact that they were behind in the space race. The President at the time, Dwight Eisenhower, decided to put more resources towards the space program. He created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). With the formation of this new dedicated administration, focus now shifted from satellites in space, to the first man in space.
Unfortunately for the United States, it was evident by 1959 that the USSR would be the first to put a man in space. The U.S. just didn’t have the technology prepared to safely put a man into orbit. As predicted, in 1961, the Soviet Union launched the first man into space. His name was Yuri Gagarin and he became an immediate national celebrity (PBS, Space Race Timeline). During his flight, he completed one full orbit in 108 minutes and landed back in Russia via parachute. Less than a month after this successful orbit, the U.S. launched a man into space, named Alan Shepard. Shepard didn’t achieve orbit in the same way Gagarin did, however he was the first to manually control a spacecraft.
On September 12, 1962 John F. Kennedy changed the direction of the space race entirely. In his speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas, he addressed advances in science and space exploration. He set the new, incredibly ambitious goal of reaching the moon. He not only wanted to reach the moon, he wanted to reach it before the end of the decade. This was a political move and an attempt to save face with the American people. After the embarrassing losses in the race to put a satellite in space, followed by the first man in space, America needed a win. The moon landing was chosen because the decade allowed enough time for the U.S. to catch up to the Soviets in technology and pass them in the race. The Soviets took this challenge silently, choosing not to publish a publicly their pursuit of a moon landing. They did however, pursue a moon landing in secret over the rest of the decade.
As the decade progressed, both countries developed new technologies and spacecraft with a focus on a moon landing. Through these advancements both sides struggled with setbacks and loss of life. During testing of the Apollo 1 mission, the cabin caught fire, killing the astronauts inside. This set the program back almost two full years as they analyzed the failure and improved designs. Similarly, the soviets launched a spacecraft into orbit which malfunctioned and crash landed on Earth, setting the program back 18 months. These would be the first human fatalities of the space race.
The setbacks did not frustrate the Americans nor the Soviets in their quest to reach the moon. On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on its way to the moon. The mission used the largest rocket ever constructed, known as the Saturn V Rocket. Finally, on July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon. In his famous first words on the moon he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” In many ways, this ended the space race between the USSR and the U.S. The race to the moon was over, since America had succeeded in putting the first man on the moon. This was also a small declaration of peace, as he pointed out this step wasn’t just a win for the U.S. In fact, it was a huge success for all of mankind and a demonstration of man’s power to accomplish incredible things.
After the conclusion of WWII came the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Cold War, generally stated, was an ideological battle between capitalism and communism. With this struggle, came a race to build military power. This military expansion resulted in a nuclear arms race. The potential for nuclear war drove each country to expand their defensive and offensive military capabilities. The Soviet Union began developing more ballistic missiles, based on the German’s original design. Using these designs, the Soviet’s developed the first intercontinental ballistic missile. This design was the first to incorporate a staged rocket system meaning that the rocket could launch using one fuel source, and then maintain flight across half the world with a separate fuel source. This meant the Soviets could launch a missile from their mainland and hit a target on the continental U.S. Recognizing this obvious threat, the U.S. started developing their own intercontinental ballistic missile. A few years later, they were successful and their design would later be used for their first orbital launches of satellites into outer space.
The successful launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles by both countries was the start of the space race. It was clear that these technologies could be used to launch satellites into orbit. In 1955, both the United States and Soviet Union announced their intention to launch a satellite into orbit in the coming years. The Soviets were the first to succeed in the race to putting a satellite in orbit. They launched a small satellite, known as Sputnik, into Earth’s orbit. This satellite only had the ability to send a “beeping” signal back to earth. When the launch station received the first set of “beeps” after launch, it meant that the satellite had completed one full orbit of the Earth. This successful launch came as a shock to Americans and a blow to the American ego. The U.S. responded by launching a similar satellite into orbit 4 months after Sputnik’s success. (Hardesty, 2007) Americans still acknowledged the fact that they were behind in the space race. The President at the time, Dwight Eisenhower, decided to put more resources towards the space program. He created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). With the formation of this new dedicated administration, focus now shifted from satellites in space, to the first man in space.
Unfortunately for the United States, it was evident by 1959 that the USSR would be the first to put a man in space. The U.S. just didn’t have the technology prepared to safely put a man into orbit. As predicted, in 1961, the Soviet Union launched the first man into space. His name was Yuri Gagarin and he became an immediate national celebrity (PBS, Space Race Timeline). During his flight, he completed one full orbit in 108 minutes and landed back in Russia via parachute. Less than a month after this successful orbit, the U.S. launched a man into space, named Alan Shepard. Shepard didn’t achieve orbit in the same way Gagarin did, however he was the first to manually control a spacecraft.
On September 12, 1962 John F. Kennedy changed the direction of the space race entirely. In his speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas, he addressed advances in science and space exploration. He set the new, incredibly ambitious goal of reaching the moon. He not only wanted to reach the moon, he wanted to reach it before the end of the decade. This was a political move and an attempt to save face with the American people. After the embarrassing losses in the race to put a satellite in space, followed by the first man in space, America needed a win. The moon landing was chosen because the decade allowed enough time for the U.S. to catch up to the Soviets in technology and pass them in the race. The Soviets took this challenge silently, choosing not to publish a publicly their pursuit of a moon landing. They did however, pursue a moon landing in secret over the rest of the decade.
As the decade progressed, both countries developed new technologies and spacecraft with a focus on a moon landing. Through these advancements both sides struggled with setbacks and loss of life. During testing of the Apollo 1 mission, the cabin caught fire, killing the astronauts inside. This set the program back almost two full years as they analyzed the failure and improved designs. Similarly, the soviets launched a spacecraft into orbit which malfunctioned and crash landed on Earth, setting the program back 18 months. These would be the first human fatalities of the space race.
The setbacks did not frustrate the Americans nor the Soviets in their quest to reach the moon. On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on its way to the moon. The mission used the largest rocket ever constructed, known as the Saturn V Rocket. Finally, on July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon. In his famous first words on the moon he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” In many ways, this ended the space race between the USSR and the U.S. The race to the moon was over, since America had succeeded in putting the first man on the moon. This was also a small declaration of peace, as he pointed out this step wasn’t just a win for the U.S. In fact, it was a huge success for all of mankind and a demonstration of man’s power to accomplish incredible things.
Rhetorical Analysis
One of the most important and influential moments of the space race was John F. Kennedy’s “Moon Speech”. This speech, heard by millions, influenced public and political opinion on space exploration. His language is provoked the nation to pour money into the space program in an attempt to beat the Soviet Union to the moon. Up to this point, the American’s space efforts had been met only with second place finishes. The Soviets had put the first satellite and the first human into orbit. It was time for Kennedy to put a stop to the embarrassment and lead the U.S. to a victory.
Early on in his speech he takes the 50,000 years of recorded human history and condenses it into just 50 years for the purpose of his speech (Kennedy, 1962). This put into perspective for Americans the amount of technological advancement the world had seen in recent history when compared to all of human existence. This extended metaphor helped Americans realize just how quickly science is progressing, and to see us on the moon in just nine years’ time was within sight. It made the idea of a moon landing an achievable goal instead of a farsighted dream.
The most prominent line in the speech, which is repeated on several occasions, is “We choose to go to the moon”. This line pulled all Americans together in the decision to go to the moon by addressing the nation using the first-person plural. It put the decision to go to the moon in the hands of the American people, making them feel in control of their own country’s success. He continues by saying “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard…” (Kennedy, 1962) This statement acknowledged critics of reaching the moon who had the opinion that it would be too difficult to accomplish. This line countered their critiques and enforced the idea that the best things in life never come easy.
As his speech continues, he discusses the large amount of money it will take to accomplish these goals (Kennedy, 1962). He uses logos when he appeals to his audience comparing the amount of money needed for NASA to fund this mission to the amount of money spent on cigarettes and cigars by Americans each year. This helped Americans understand the importance of the spending on the space program relative to an everyday commodity.
The Space Race influenced all parts of American life from politics to entertainment. With the exploration of space and the moon landing came an onslaught of space related entertainment. One of the most successful movie series of all time came out of the space race. This series is known as Star Wars. The first movie, released in 1977 and titled Star Wars: A New Hope, came just years after the 1969 moon landing. Star Wars perfectly embodied Americans’ fascination with space and what could possibly be beyond our Earth.
Star Wars took ideas about space exploration and ran with them in this fantasy based series. With all the focus on space exploration in the 1960s, people started thinking that they might not be the only living creatures in this solar system. Star Wars took advantage of this curiosity by making an entire fantasy intergalactic system, complete with aliens, robots, and humans. Star Wars has been one of the most successful series of movies ever produced. Even today, a 7th movie in the series is coming later this year. People still flock to the movie theater to watch a movie about science fictional space exploration.
Early on in his speech he takes the 50,000 years of recorded human history and condenses it into just 50 years for the purpose of his speech (Kennedy, 1962). This put into perspective for Americans the amount of technological advancement the world had seen in recent history when compared to all of human existence. This extended metaphor helped Americans realize just how quickly science is progressing, and to see us on the moon in just nine years’ time was within sight. It made the idea of a moon landing an achievable goal instead of a farsighted dream.
The most prominent line in the speech, which is repeated on several occasions, is “We choose to go to the moon”. This line pulled all Americans together in the decision to go to the moon by addressing the nation using the first-person plural. It put the decision to go to the moon in the hands of the American people, making them feel in control of their own country’s success. He continues by saying “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard…” (Kennedy, 1962) This statement acknowledged critics of reaching the moon who had the opinion that it would be too difficult to accomplish. This line countered their critiques and enforced the idea that the best things in life never come easy.
As his speech continues, he discusses the large amount of money it will take to accomplish these goals (Kennedy, 1962). He uses logos when he appeals to his audience comparing the amount of money needed for NASA to fund this mission to the amount of money spent on cigarettes and cigars by Americans each year. This helped Americans understand the importance of the spending on the space program relative to an everyday commodity.
The Space Race influenced all parts of American life from politics to entertainment. With the exploration of space and the moon landing came an onslaught of space related entertainment. One of the most successful movie series of all time came out of the space race. This series is known as Star Wars. The first movie, released in 1977 and titled Star Wars: A New Hope, came just years after the 1969 moon landing. Star Wars perfectly embodied Americans’ fascination with space and what could possibly be beyond our Earth.
Star Wars took ideas about space exploration and ran with them in this fantasy based series. With all the focus on space exploration in the 1960s, people started thinking that they might not be the only living creatures in this solar system. Star Wars took advantage of this curiosity by making an entire fantasy intergalactic system, complete with aliens, robots, and humans. Star Wars has been one of the most successful series of movies ever produced. Even today, a 7th movie in the series is coming later this year. People still flock to the movie theater to watch a movie about science fictional space exploration.
Lasting Impact on Society
The space race gave the United States economic success as well as a victory over the Soviets in the Cold War. Beyond just this limited scope, the American people still use the technological advancements from the space race to this day. For instance, the common television system gets its stream from one of two places: cable or satellite. The latter of the two would not be around if it weren’t for the space program. The ability to launch a satellite that sends television programs back to millions of television sets came directly from the success of the space program in the 1960s. Another item many of us take for granted when we lay down in bed every night is memory foam. Memory foam was developed to cushion the seats for the astronauts. They needed the cushioning so that they didn’t get hurt when their space pod landed in the Pacific Ocean. That technology has been put into mattresses and pillows that many people use every day.
A commonly believed fact is that NASA invented Velcro during the space race. This happens to be a myth. However, NASA did successfully develop and mass produce Velcro for use in space. Astronauts attached it to all their tools so that they wouldn’t float around in zero gravity. This popularized it and it quickly found its way to consumer products.
The Apollo missions weren’t the end of space exploration. In fact, more advancements have been made since then with the success of the Space Shuttle program. The program lasted almost three decades, and from that we’ve developed advanced technologies such as global positioning systems. Without the innovation from the space race, it is very likely that we wouldn’t have many of the technologies we rely on every day.
A commonly believed fact is that NASA invented Velcro during the space race. This happens to be a myth. However, NASA did successfully develop and mass produce Velcro for use in space. Astronauts attached it to all their tools so that they wouldn’t float around in zero gravity. This popularized it and it quickly found its way to consumer products.
The Apollo missions weren’t the end of space exploration. In fact, more advancements have been made since then with the success of the Space Shuttle program. The program lasted almost three decades, and from that we’ve developed advanced technologies such as global positioning systems. Without the innovation from the space race, it is very likely that we wouldn’t have many of the technologies we rely on every day.
Conclusion
The Cold War was a stressful time for the United States and the Soviet Union. The development of nuclear weapons made everyday life for many full of fear. The only positive thing that came out of this development was the space race. The rush to space created some of the most intense development our country has ever seen. With the help of John F. Kennedy and the interest taken by the American people, that big white ball in the sky suddenly became an attainable goal. During the space race, the U.S. lagged behind its rival for much of the decade, but finished with, arguably, the greatest achievement in human history. Neil Armstrong said as he took his first step on the moon, “This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” That step was a giant leap for mankind’s success in innovation, rocketing the U.S. into the technology age.