Soviet Union Sputnik Research Paper

Over the past several decades, there have been great tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union which continue into what is known today as Russia. Suspicions and tensions between these two countries increased greatly during and directly after World War II, particularly between 1941 and 1949.

After the USSR launched Sputnik 1, man Americans were frightened by what they would do next. “...(the launch of Sputnik) showed clearly that the United States was no longer safe behind it’s ocean barriers.” (Document A) America had long relied on the oceans to keep European and Asian powers at bay, however, when the Soviets entered and took control of space, the US was surrounded and the Soviets could bomb them from any location. The US wanted to regain control of the situation so the Vanguard, a rocket with a more advanced satellite than anything seen before, was set to be launched on live television (Document F) The rocket fired but it fell back down, collapsed, and exploded for the world to watch. Americans were humiliated by this disaster, however they knew they must continue to fight communism, which meant beating them in the Space Race. During this time Americans became extremely anti-soviet and anti-communist, which continued long after this and still exists

On the political side of the “Space Race”, the Sputnik launch was a surprise to Americans. As stated in Document A, “With the launch of the Soviet satellite, Logsdon said, the reaction was more fear than surprise, because it showed clearly that the United States was no longer safe behind it’s ocean barriers.”. So with that in mind they decided to go head to head in a way with

Source C focuses on the American relationship with the Soviet Union and their indefinite competition to be better than the other, giving information about the commencement of the arms race between the two countries and their discreet battle over which country had the better security and defense system. This source contains information that is critical to one’s understanding of the American policies that were legislated at the given time period.

The world has experienced very many huge moments, such big moments in which sometimes you don’t think it’s really happening. October 4, 1957, was one of those days. Because that was the day the world changed forever and there was no turning back. It was the day of the Sputnik launch. Sputnik was a Soviet satellite that orbited in the earth’s rotation 500 miles above the earth and traveling at about 18,000 mph. It took approximately 98 minutes for it to rotate the earth which meant it passed the United States seven times a day. It looked like it was from a whole another world or out of a movie or a fantasy story. It consisted of a ball with four stem like structures coming out and pointing down at the ground. The ball like structure

After the ravages of World War II, the United States experienced a long period of economic boom, thanks to industrial weapons work and to the low price of oil. At the same time, under this nationwide economic prosperity, Americans felt increasing fear in the looming shadow of the communist Soviet Union. The US seemed to be in a spiral. Sputnik’s successful launch increased tensions that had been building since the aftermath of World War II; while President Eisenhower and his administration instituted numerous measures to calm down the hysteria that pervaded the US, these attempts had no real effect on de-escalating tensions felt between both sides.

Sputnik 1 orbited the Earth every 98 minutes, flying over the United States seven times a day.(Danielle Burton) During the Cold war the launch of Sputnik I by the Soviet Union in October 1957 created a fear in the United States.The United states feared that nuclear warheads could soon come. In response the United States created and funded the National Defense Education Act(NDEA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA). The United States and the Soviet Union were at the start of an arms race and a space race. The funds for NASA were excellent, because the United states had a lot of fear after seeing what the Soviet Union was doing.

This provides reason to looking into the question of why the Germans didn’t pursue their massive advantage in the realm of outer space discovery after World War II came to an end. The end of World War II caused turmoil to occur in Germany. Millions of German natives were forced to migrate and relocate from areas that would be considered as prewar Germany to areas that would be considered as postwar Germany. Many Germans were sent to labor camps. The shifting in boundaries, nationalities and population size changed quite a bit for the nation that suffered the loss of two major wars back to back. Following the war, the nation went through a phase of reconstruction and “rebirth” as they recovered from the mass destruction and barbaric Nazism that

The competition in the exploration of space between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union from 1957 to 1975 was known as the Cold War Space Race (Linda Alchin). From rocket technology to artificial satellites to people landing in the moon, the space race was important in showing how both countries competed to have the best technology in space and achieve to be the ‘first’. The space race began with the Soviet Union launch of Sputnik satellite on October 4, 1957 and ended with the Apollo-Soyuz space project in 1957. The huge push of technological advancement and the increased curiosity and eagerness of exploring allowed and paved the way for discoveries. Realizing the importance of rocket technology through Germany’s rockets

The Apollo-Soyuz mission was the first time that each nation combined their efforts, in reality it was to show an easing of tension between the two superpowers (détente). This mission became the foundation of other joint missions like the Shuttle-Mir, resulting in ongoing missions to the International Space Station. While, the easing of political tensions may not be directly attributed to Sputnik. Unknowingly the launch influenced our political views on space from military peaceful purposes and creating changes in the space program which affected our

Throughout history, Russia and the United States have had many relations, and one of those were the Cold War. Following World War I, allies Russia and the United States went into a Cold War. The Cold War lasted from 1945 until 1991 over ideology and arms race. Both parties competed for world domination, bringing them to the brink of a nuclear war. Because the Soviets had an agenda to spread communism, the Cold War was started because Russia brought the world economic toil and a disruption to world peace.

The Cold War was tense period for the world. The superpowers of the world, Russia and the United States were both capable of causing world destruction through nuclear weapons. The Americans were tired and just wanted to the tensions to ease. USSR and The United States competed over various things to show superiority, including the space race and especially the massive arms buildup. President John F. Kennedy and Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev both had promises that they had made to the nation. Khrushchev was close to losing popularity in Russia, the Russians believed that he was not doing enough for the country as a leader. Kennedy’s statements bragging about “U.S. nuclear superiority” (Donaldson 118), made Khrushchev and the Soviet look bad.

To understand why unlike the Soviet Union’s political system, China’s is not near collapse, one must first understand why and how the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) collapsed, resulting in the collapse of the Soviet Union itself. After the October Revolution, the CPSU adopted Leninism as the main party ideology, and moved swiftly to adopt socialist changes. However, as Lenin’s health declined, his main supporters, Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky, began fighting amongst themselves. Stalin won, forcing Trotsky into exile, and after Lenin’s death, began implementing a series of policies known as Stalinism to solidify his totalitarian rule. Partly influenced by fascism, Stalin promoted the cult of personality

The first artificial satellite was Sputnik 1. Sputnik 1 blasted off from Site 1 in Tyuratam (Baikonur) at 22:28 Moscow Time. This happened on October 4, 1957. The main stage R-7 rocket when made into orbit orbited 822 times. That part re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on December 2, 1957. The satellite made 1,440 total orbits and then burned upon the re-entry into the Earth atmosphere on January 4, 1958. It was in space for 92 days and in flight there were only slight engine

Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union have always been complicated. Over the entire 20th century they have been close allies to bitter rivals. The stark differences in each of their political systems prevented the USA and the USSR from maintaining a close political friendship and understanding, and even to the very edge of war.