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This web page has been created by me, Sarah Graybeal, to fulfill a requirement of my Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools senior exit essay project. This project is required for graduation!
I've been interested in space, rockets, the moon, and NASA for some time, so it made sense for me to write my exit essay on something I like! As the title indicates, I researched the race between the United States and the Soviet Union to get to the moon. The paper doesn't really mention specifics about the Apollo program though--it focuses more on the space events of the late 1950s and early 1960s. I hope you can learn something from this, because I think it's really cool!
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This, as you know, is a picture of Earth. It was taken during the Apollo 17 mission to the moon. But have you ever thought about why or how you know this is the earth? Did you realize that, forty years ago, as the space race was just beginning, no one would have known what this was a picture of.
You can learn what I learned about the events that led to the taking of this picture by clicking on any of the following!
Kennedy urged a new effort in the space program and asked for a project the US could undertake that would beat the Russians. The response was unanimous--the goal should be to send an American astronaut to the moon and return him safely to the earth. With this goal in mind, the United States set out on a tremendous journey. Not only would they have to come from behind and catch the Russians, but they would also have to develop the new technology and spacecraft that would make a moon mission possible. To make matters worse, the Russians showed no signs of slowing their own efforts.
My paper is an investigation into the effect of the Soviet Union's young yet overwhelmingly successful space program on the program of the United States. Without the continued success of the Soviets, the United States might not have been provided with the drive to go to the moon.
World War II, fought from 1939 until 1945, had revolutionized modern rocketry. Ironically, it was neither the Americans nor the Russians that initially held the advantage. Instead, it was Germany that developed the long-range missiles that rained down on London during the final two years of the war. With the German loss and the ensuing treaty written by a group including both Americans and Russians, the quest for rocket knowledge became an extremely important issue. Who would receive the thousands of documents and rocket components housed in Germany?
At the conclusion of the war, many German rocket scientists were eager to continue the research they had begun under Hitler. However, they realized that the possibility of continuing in Germany was slim. Many chose to surrender to the United States, assuming the government would quickly realize the importance of the knowledge they held. This assumption was overwhelmingly correct. The US, almost twenty-five years behind the Germans in rocket research, was overjoyed to have these experts.
The Soviet Union also realized the impact these scientists could have on the future of rocketry. In the months following the end of the fighting, Russia involved itself in rounding up the numerous scientists that had chosen to remain in Germany. Those who would not cooperate were kidnapped and forcefully taken to the Soviet Union to work in the Soviet aerospace industry. No one would admit it, but the US and the USSR were locked in a heated race, each country focusing on the goal of obtaining more rocket knowledge than the other. Both realized what a powerful tool space superiority would be.
Von Braun was assigned to the Army to continue his work. Despite his German background, he quickly became the military's foremost rocket scientist, aiding in the design of the Jupiter-C rocket that would eventually launch America's first satellite. In 1960, von Braun and his team were transferred from the Army to the newly-created NASA. He was named director of the new George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and was put in charge of developing an efficient and reliable system for lifting multi-ton loads into orbit and into deep space. This would evolve into the Saturn rocket, used to take man to the moon in 1969.
By December 6, 1957, two months after Sputnik I, Vanguard was ready to launch. In the nose of the Navy's T-3 rocket was a ball, 6.4 inches in diameter, that was to be the US's first satellite. As the entire nation looked on, the countdown was completed and the rocket...exploded. America's first attempt at placing an artificial object in orbit had failed miserably. "Oh, what a Flopnik" and "9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-PFFT" were only two of the many headlines that ran in newspapers nationwide the next day.
Because of faulty reasoning and an overall lack of understanding in government, Project Orbiter was prevented from launching a satellite that night in 1956. Hours before launch, Wernher von Braun received a telephone call from Major General John B. Medaris of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, now known as the Redstone Arsenal. Von Braun was told to inspect the satellite dummy to make absolutely sure it wasn't capable of being put into orbit. "What we don't need is an 'accidental satellite!'" he told von Braun.
The Jupiter-C was launched with the phony satellite. It was a spectacular flight, travelling 3,300 mile over the Atlantic, attaining a top speed of 16,000 mile per hour, and soaring to a height of 680 miles. No missile or rocket had traveled as far or as fast. Had the satellite in the rocket's nose been functional, the United States could have claimed the first artificial satellite as their own. Instead, a year later, they suffered the consequences as they listened to the "beep, beep, beep" of Sputnik I as it circled the earth.
After Sputnik I, President Eisenhower ordered the Army to proceed with Project Orbiter. At 10:48 PM on January 31, 1958, a Jupiter-C under the watchful eye of the Army boosted Explorer I, a 30-pound ball, into orbit at last.
On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union again impressed the world and shocked the US with the announcement of the successful flight of a human. Yuri Gagarin, a 27-year-old cosmonaut, had ridden 187.75 miles into space in Vostok I. Once again, the United States was forced to be second-best, as the Soviets beat them to a second major space feat.
There would be six manned Mercury flights, one for each astronaut (Deke Slayton was grounded because of an irregular heartbeat--he would not fly in space until the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July, 1975). On May 5, 1961, the US regained some of the respect lost to the Soviet Union's manned Vostok I with the sub-orbital flight of Alan Shepard in Mercury 3. The fight lasted 15 minutes, rocketing 166.5 miles, and putting the US back in the space race. Gus Grissom followed with another sub-orbital flight. John Glenn followed in Yuri Gagarin's footsteps by becoming the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962. The last Mercury flight was flown by Gordon Cooper in May, 1963.
On the afternoon of May 25, 1961, Kennedy gave a State of the Union address to Congress. In contrast to a traditional address he had given earlier in the year, this speech outlined a number of new proposals. Of these, the most dramatic was a request for forty billion dollars over the next ten years to be spent on putting an American astronaut on the moon and returning him safely to Earth. This goal became an urgent crusade for the idealistic and energetic Kennedy. Like almost all Americans, he was disappointed and frustrated over the recent series of Soviet space achievements. But he had reached an important decision--despite the intimidating lead the Soviets held, the United States would not give up the "space race."
Vice President Lyndon Johnson was appointed the head of the Space Council. The flight of Yuri Gagarin only increased Kennedy's desire to win the moon race. When Kennedy sent a memo to Johnson asking what project the US could undertake that would beat the Russians, Johnson said that the ultimate goal should be the moon. President Kennedy agreed, and the goal was set.
A 1967 tragedy also slowed Soviet progress. In April, Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed when his spacecraft's parachute failed. Since the Soviet capsules landed on the ground instead of the ocean, the effect of a faulty parachute was disastrous. This event would play a part in preventing the Soviets from ever going to the moon.
The US, too, suffered tragedy. In January, 1967, Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in a launchpad fire. Ironically, these deaths brought about improvements in the space program and the Apollo spacecraft that would greatly benefit the moon program.
Apollo 7 was a manned test of the spacecraft, and never left earth orbit. Apollo 8 brought the first manned flight to orbit the moon, coming as close as sixty miles to the rocky surface. Apollo 9 was another earth orbit test, followed by Apollo 10, which orbited the moon and tested out all the equipment one last time. On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 was launched.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, flying in the the lunar module known as Eagle, became the first men on the moon on July 20, while their crewmate Michael Collins stayed in orbit in the command module Columbia. Six moon missions would follow, breaking records and bringing home new information about our world each time. Only Apollo 13 failed to land on the moon, due to an onboard explosion that crippled the spacecraft. I'm sure you've seen the movie--the mission was eventually deemed a "successful failure" in that the crew was brought home safely.
The Apollo program was scheduled to launch ten moon missions, but budget cuts forced the dropping of three missions. Apollo 17, in December, 1972, took the last two men to the moon. No one has been back since.
Differences in the capitalist and communist systems also contributed to the successes and failures of each country. In the United States, people were permitted to voice their opinion, and not everyone was in favor of going into space. This was especially evident in Congress, where numerous opinions, both positive and negative, influenced decisions. The Soviet Union had one voice alone--that of dictator Joseph Stalin, and, after Stalin's death, his successor Nikita Khrushchev. In many ways, the communist system was more efficient. If Stalin or Khrushchev ordered rockets built, they would be built. If they ordered a mission to the moon, there would be one!
In 1945, the US and the USSR were equal. If anyone had the advantage, it was the US, who managed to snatch the more important and influential rocket scientists from World War II. Yet they worried too much about trivial issues--there was debate over everything from wages to control of the program to public reaction to the German scientists. The numerous delays would prove to be what the Soviets needed. The USSR had no reservations about starting a rocket program. They simply began work, while the US wavered on issues of policy.
The capitalist system had no secrets. The USSR could read of America's new developments simply by buying a newspaper. The communists kept everything behind closed doors. America certainly could not gain insight or information from their papers! When Sputnik I was launched, American scientists could not even determine the direction of the satellite's orbit! The Soviets' early successes were shrouded in secrecy, while the Americans' troubles were broadcasted into every household.
Wernher von Braun was prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve a goal he had made in 1952: "to build a multi-stage rocket capable of carrying a crew and a substantial amount of payload into a satellite orbit..." Unfortunately, the Soviet Union was also willing to take the risks involved in space flight, while the United States argued too much to achieve any of the major space feats. They sacrificed their world reputation by squabbling over minor issues. There was no question that space superiority would be an extremely useful tool in the Cold War. Yet while the Soviets were already building advanced new rockets, the US was unable to commit. It would take the amazing achievements of its worst enemy, communist Russia, to instill the desire to devote the nation to developing a successful space program and to send the first man romping around the moon in 1969.
What we attained when Neil Armstrong stepped down on the moon was a completely new step in the evolution of man. It caused a new element to sweep across the face of this good earth and to invade the thoughts of all men. For the first time, life left its planetary cradle and the ultimate destiny of man is no longer confined to these familiar continents that we have known so long.
It can now be said with confidence that in a few years flights to the moon with instruments will become as much a reality as the launching of the first artificial satellite.
I'm all for dignity. But this is a Cold War tool. How dignified will the United States be if a man-made moon of Soviet origin suddenly appears in the sky?
We knew that the Russians were going to do it! We have the hardware on the shelf. For God's sake, turn us loose and let us do something. We can put a satellite up in sixty days, Mr. McElroy! Just give us the green light!(Neil McElroy was the Secretary of Defense; the hardware von Braun refers to is the Jupiter-C rocket)
Our missile program must be backed by a large budget which permits its steady prosecution over a period of several years. But even with no holds barred, I think it will be well over five years before we can catch up with the Soviets' big rockets because they are not likely to sit idly by in the meantime.
In this achievement are embodied the genius of the Soviet people and the powerful force of communism. The Gagarin flight was evidence of the virtues of victorious socialism...(and) the global superiority of the Soviet Union in all aspects of science and technology.
No matter what kind of competition Jack was engaged in...he bent all of his energies and skills to winning. Jack felt that every generation of every great nation had their challenge...If they failed to respond to the opportunities of their time, their claim to greatness would diminish. Going into space was the challenge of his time, so reaching the moon became his frontier.
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to achieve...
Well, that's about it! Even though this was just a glance at the "race to space," I hope you enjoyed reading it and found it interesting! If you did, there are many other web sites you can visit that involve NASA and space. These are only some of my favorites:
You can contact me if you've got questions or comments at:
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Last updated on May 15, 1996.