To what extend was the Space Race a symbol of the Cold War

1
To what extend was the Space Race a symbol of the
Cold War?

• From the heat of the Cold War, to international
  cooperation.

2
What is the Space Race?

• The competition of space exploration between the
  Soviet Union and the United States
  
• It began in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched
  the first successful satellite into space
  
• It ended in 1975 when a US spacecraft docked with
  a Soviet spacecraft and the astronauts and
  cosmonauts aboard met each other in space and
  exchanged flags and gifts

3
Early Beginnings

• October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the
  first rocket to reach space from Kazakhstan. The
  satellite that first orbited the earth was called
  Sputnik.

Sputnik

• To counter this, the United States Government
  established the National Aeronautics Space
  Administration (NASA) on July 29, 1958

4
Major Wins of the Space Race

• Soviet Union
• 1957 First satellite in space Sputnik
• 1957 First animal (dog) in space
• 1961 First human in space Yuri Gagarin
• 1962 the woman in space Valentina Tereshkova
• 1962 first space walk Alexi Leonov

• United States
• 1963 longest space flight so far 98hours
  Gemini 4
  
• 1966 first orbital docking of 2 spacecrafts in
  space
  
• May 1969 first spacecraft to leave earths
  orbit Apollo 10
  
• July 1969 first moon landing Apollo 11 Neil
  Armstrong

Apollo 11 lift-off
5
Additional Tensions Created by the Cold War
6
Events in the Space Race that Caused Tension and
Why

• Launching of Sputnik It was a political slap
  in the face for America in terms of international
  prestige or the Pearl Harbor of the Cold War3
  
• Launching of Sputnik 2 dog in space represented
  the push to get a man in space
  
• Failure of American Vanguard rocket Washington
  Humiliate and a Soviet comment to the American
  Ambassador by asking if the US would like to
  accept UN aid destined for undeveloped countries

7

• First man in orbit the US was fearful that this
  was a sign that the Soviets were preparing to
  launch missiles from space. The US public was
  tired of being second.
• Fleas Jump US was pleased to have reached
  space, however Khrushchev brushed it off as a
  mere fleas jump
  
• Soviets second man in orbit Khrushchev
  remarks, Titovs feat has shown once again what
  Soviet man, educated by the Communist Party, is
  able to do.
• First Space walk The Soviets could add another
  impressive feat to their list.
  

8
The Importance of the Space Race in the Context
of the Cold War
9
How did politics use the Space Race to their
advantage?

• The Space Race influenced and was influenced by
  superpower politics.1
  
• Examples
• The Apollo Program, and Kennedys goal in 1961 of
  placing a man on the moon before the end of the
  decade was a ploy for domestic and foreign
  policy.
• In terms of foreign policy, the US needed to beat
  the Soviets who had made all the initial gains in
  Space.
  
• In terms of domestic policy, Kennedy needed to
  provide hope for the future in the American
  public.
  
• Also, the presidential administration needed to
  divert the media attention from disasters, such
  as the Bay of Pigs.2
  

10

• The Soviet Union wanted the Space Race to be a
  series of huge Soviet triumphs, and initially, it
  was.
  
• Khrushchev, the lead of the Soviet Union,
  insisted of performing space stunts, even at
  the expense of genuine technical progress and
  engineering development.3
• It is believed, although not widely known, that
  many Soviet cosmonauts died in attempts to get to
  the moon in the mid 1960s. Khrushchev forced this
  to be kept hidden from the world.
• UN attempted to prevent the US and the USSR from
  using space for anything other than research by
  passing multiple resolutions prohibiting weapons
  in space.4

11
The Space Race was used by government leaders to
instill hope in the future of their country for
their people

• United States
• To be first in space is to be first period.
  Second in space is second in everything.
  
• VP L.B. Johnson

• Soviet Union
• Titovs feat (2nd man in orbit) has shown once
  again what Soviet man, educated by the Communist
  Party, is able to do.
  
• - Khrushchev

12
Peaceful Cooperation in Space and an end to the
Space Race
13
Apollo-Soyuz Mission

• In July, 1975, the Space Race came to an end and
  the first international mission became a reality.

• The crew of US Apollo 18 and the crew of the
  Soviet Soyuz docked together in space and spent 2
  days working together
  
• This is know as the Space Magna Carta

14
The Space Magna Carta
Except from the signed document
the flight crewsshare the hope that this first
International Manned space flight will stand in
the light of history as a significant advance in
the ability of the nations to work together in
ways that advance the interests of people
everywhere. 

• This document was signed in space, by all members
  of both crews.
  
• It embodies the ideas of space cooperation.

15
Footnotes

• R. Cargill Hall. Early US Satellite Proposals.
• Pamela Mack. Technology and Culture.
• Wayne Lee. To Rise from Earth.
• Leonard E. Schwartz. Manned Orbiting
  Laboratory-for War or Peace?
  

16
Bibliography

• Farmer, Alan Sanders, Vivian. An Introduction
  to American History 1860-1990. London Potter and
  Stoughton, 2002.
  
• Findley, Carter Rothney, J.A.M. Twentieth
  Century World. 5th ed. Boston Houghton Mifflin
  Company, 2002.
  
• Lee, Wayne. To Rise from Earth. New York
  Checkmark Books, 1995.
  
• Kaller Historical Documents, Inc. The Space
  Collection. http//www.americagallery.com/space3.s
  html
  
• Mack, Pamela. Technology and Culture, Vol. 30,
  No. 3, July 1898.
  
• Schwartz, Leonard E. Manned Orbiting
  Laboratory-for War or Peace? International
  Affairs, Vol. 43, No. 1. January, 1967.
  
• NASA Department of Space History on-line.
  https//aerospacescholars.jsc.nasa.gov/HAS/cirr/ss
  /1/3.cfm