Quinn Cantrell Heather Burditt CP US History February 10, 2010 Space Race of the 1950’s

Before the Space Race In the years after WW11, the US and the Soviet Union had great tension between them. After the Soviet Union tested their first atomic bomb, the atomic bomb monopoly ended between the US and the USSR. By the early 1950’s, the US and the USSR were looking to merge new technologies, and formed a terrible new weapon. The Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).

The Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) A man named Sergei Korolev led the Soviet Union ICBM effort. He and his team created a powerful new booster named “the R7.” It stood almost 100 feet high and developed 880,000 pounds of thrust at liftoff. In August 1957, the R7 flew to its full range of almost 4,000 miles (2480 kilometers) -- enough to qualify it as an intercontinental rocket.

Sergei Korolev

The Space Race Begins Under Korolev's direction, he and his team became the world's first satellite launchers. On October 4, 1957 it sent the first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. If they could put a satellite in orbit -- and especially the 1,121-pound (2,466-kilogram) Sputnik 2, which carried the first space passenger, a dog, in November then they could loft a nuclear warhead into orbit, where it could threaten any American city.

Sputnik 1 History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm/ 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path.

Sputnik 1 Launch

Sputnik 1 in Orbit

Sputnik 2 After the extreme success of Sputnik 1, Sputnik 2 was assembled with equipment previously acquired. This time, dog named Laika was sent unto orbit with Sputnik 2. After the fourth orbit of Sputnik 2, Laika died because of temperature and humidity changes.

Laika in Sputnik 2

US’s Attempts with Vanguard U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower stepped up plans for the first U.S. satellite, which had been scheduled for launch as part of the 1958 International Geophysical Year. The first attempt, using a booster called Vanguard, ended in failure on December 6, 1957; the rocket rose only a few feet, then sank back to Earth and exploded.

The US Joins the Space Race Now hope rested with the U.S. Army's rocket team, headed by Wernher von Braun, who had led the development of the V 2 missile in Nazi Germany. Von Braun's rocket, called Jupiter C, successfully launched the “Explorer 1,” on January 31, The U.S. had joined the "space race."

Soviet Union Holds the Lead In January 1959, after several launch failures, the USSR fired a small probe, called “Luna 1,” past the moon, missing it by about 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers). Then, just past midnight, Moscow time, on September 14, the USSR’s “Luna 2” struck the lunar surface, becoming the first artificial object to reach another celestial body.

The US on the Moon… Almost The Americans, meanwhile, suffered a series of embarrassing failures with their Pioneer spacecraft, which were designed to explore the moon's environment. Most failed to escape Earth orbit; more than one blew up before reaching space. “Pioneer 4,” launched in March 1959, was able to achieve lunar distance, missing the moon by 37,500 miles (60,500 kilometers).

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) In April 1959 seven pilots were selected by the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as astronauts for Project Mercury -- the U.S. effort to put a man in orbit. The Soviets, meanwhile, were training their own crop of space fliers, called cosmonauts, who also hoped to be the first into space. In the coming decade, astronauts and cosmonauts would set their sights on historic journeys in space -- not only into Earth orbit, but to the moon.

Works Cited Chaikin, Andrew. "Greatest Space Events of the 20th Century: The 50s." Learn More at Space.com. From Satellites to Stars, NASA information, Astronomy, the Sun and the Planets, we have your information here.. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb "The Sound Of Science." WORDPRESS. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb "The Sound Of Science." The Green Race is on..... N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb >. "This Month in Physics History." APS Physics | APS Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb "A Secret History of Neil Armstrong « his vorpal sword." his vorpal sword. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb

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