Kendrick+N

=**May 10, 2010 - Preliminary research**=

Please post the following items: Cold War powerhouses, ** the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States competed by seeing which group would orbit the Earth first and reach the moon with a man controlling the space shuttle. On **October 4, 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik I shocked the United States. The United States was shocked and puzzled at the fact of how the Soviet Union was able to achieve such a goal. Well that was easy cause of Germany advance technology in the development of the world's first long-range guided missiles during World War II and the recruitment of German rocket scientist to help assist with the U.S. missiles was known as the "Armed Races" which eventually led to the Space Race. Even though the Soviet was the first organization in space, the United States not only orbit the earth, but also had a man reach the moon first. Larger missiles were the main focus of the Soviet Union during the cold war and they felt that they will be successful that way. Across the water, American Scientist felt that smaller missiles were the key to being Successful. The United States perspective all changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik I into space. This caught the Americans off guard because they felt that technology wise they had the upper hand. Later that month the Soviets launched a second satellite successfully with a dog on board. 1957-1961, Soviets were the only ones in this time period to send animals into orbit. Also these animals orbit the sun and moon, and returned back to earth successfully. Why the Soviets had the upper hand the united states where thinking of a way in which they can send man into space. With this thought, the United States government started a program known as the National Aeronautics and Space  Administration or NASA. During 1958 and 1959, the NASA program started a project that they felt will be successful in sending a man into space before the Soviets. The program that they established was Project Mercury. With this program the united states for sure know that they had a leg up on their cold war enemy. The Soviet Union then shocked the United States when they put a man, Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968), into orbit around the earth on April 12, 1961. The Americans saw the dream that they once had turn into a reality. Gagarin's spaceship, the Vostok I weighed 10,395 pounds and orbited the globe in eighty-nine minutes at a top speed of seventeen thousand miles per hour. One shocking yet a proud moment was when One shocking yet a proud moment was when Yuri Gagarin returned safely to earth our president at the time which was John F. Kennedy congratulated not only him but the Soviet Union on a job well done with this successful mission. On May 25, 1961, John F. Kennedy announced a national goal to land an astronaut on the moon by 1970 and safely return him to earth. The pronouncement was a surprise to many, including members of the space  program. Kennedy had campaigned on a promise to close the missile gap; now he was promising to close the spaceship gap. According to the president, the moon was the finish line for the space   race  **.** In order for the United States to close the gap on the Soviets and take the lead in the Space Race, they will have to spend between seven and nine billion dollars between 1962 and 1967. So while the United States NASA program was trying to think of a way they can successfully land a man on the moon, the Soviet Union sent another man into space. Major Gherman S. Titov's (1935-2000) took flight and orbited the Earth seventeen times on August 6-7, 1961. Even though he only spent twenty-five hours in space orbiting the world, on Vostok II thje name of his space shuttle, Titov was able to record the effects of a weightless day in space  on a man's capacity to work. Just when the United States and president John F. Kennedy come up with a plan to take lead of the space race the Soviet Union yet strike again with another mind boggling achievement. At this point it seemed clear on who had a strong lead in the space race. The only way the United States could win is if they go through with their plan and land a man on the moon. The Soviets at this point showed not only the United States, but the world that they had a leg up when it came to at this point in time modern technology. For the first part of the decade, the Vostok launch system was very secret do to the fact that the Soviets didn’t want the United States as well as other countries to be exposed to their idea and technology. When the launch vehicle was displayed at the Paris Air Show in 1967, American space  scientists were surprised by what they saw. They thought they were going to see an enormous air vessel, instead of enormous engines; the Vostok relied on a combination of small engines to propel and place the spaceship into orbit therefore allowing to travel smoother through an atmosphere that has no gravity at all. This kind of technology allowed the Soviet Union to dominate the United States through this era known as the space race. Soviets had been the first to launch manned spacecraft, send a woman into space, create multipassenger spacecraft, send a man to walk in space, land on a planet, send a probe to the moon, send photographs from that landing, launch a functioning satellite of the moon, and carry out automated rendezvous and docking on spaceships. But by this time, the United States was scoring firsts in communications, weather satellites, and nonautomated spaceship rendezvous and docking missions. In 1962, John Glenn (1921-) became the first American to orbit the earth. Between Glenn's flight and the March 1965 two-man Gemini space flight, four manned Mercury flights were successfully launched. The heart of the U.S. lunar program, Project Apollo, was launched in 1966. The race was getting closer. In December 1968, the first Apollo mission to orbit the moon sent amazing pictures of the planet back to earth. The public was captivated. Finally, on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (1930-) and Neil Armstrong (1930-) became the first human beings to walk on the moon. Roughly half a billion people around the world watched the event 240,000 miles away on live television. President Kennedy's goal had been achieved. This achievement that the United States conquered gave them reason to believe that they were the ultimate winners of the space race.


 * Working thesis statement:**Germany advance technology in the development of the world's first long-range guided missiles during World War II and the recruitment of German rocket scientist to help assist with the U.S. missiles was known as the "Armed Races" which eventually led to the Space Race.


 * During the 1960s, the soviet union (USSR) and the united states competed to make history by seeing which group would orbit the Earth first and reach the moon with a man controlling the space shuttle. with the advancement in technology in the U.S., why was the soviet union able to launch into space first but yet to complete there mission.**

//Digital History//. Web. 07 May 2010. . Freudenrich, Craig.
 * Working bibliography:**

"HowStuffWorks "How the Space Race Worked"" //Howstuffworks "Science"// Web. 07 May 2010. .

"The Space Race." //NebraskaStudies.Org//. Web. 07 May 2010. .

"Space Race."// Newseum | Washington, D.C.'s Most Interactive Museum//. Web. 07 May 2010. .

"Timeline of Space Exploration."// TheSpaceRace.com//. Web. 07 May 2010. [].

Space Race. Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History: War. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht and Dwayne D. Hayes. Detroit: Gale, 2008. http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?

"Space Race."// Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History//. Ed. Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. //Student Resource Center - Gold//. Gale. Brooks (Southside Coll.). 17 May. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?

Sputnik: U.S. Reaction, 1957."// DISCovering U.S. History//. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. //Student Resource Center - Gold//. Gale. Brooks (Southside Coll.). 17 May. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?