Discuss the Space Race from the USA Perspective.

The Soviet Union’s success startled many Americans, which motivated the United States space program to progress in making their own technological advancements into space following the Soviets’.

• On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard, 3 weeks later from the launch of Vostok 1, piloted the Freedom 7 mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space. 
• Gemini 4, in June 1965 sent James McDivitt and Ed White into orbit, for the first American space walk.
• On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to set foot on the Moon, after landing their Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) safely on the moon saying the now-famous words, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” 

Part C-Evaluation of Sources 293 /300

        The first source to be critically analyzed is, The First Men in Space by Gregory P. Kennedy, originated in 1991 in New York, Philadelphia under Chelsea house publishers. To demonstrate validity of the book, Gregory Kennedy is the director of the National Space Center Alamogordo, New Mexico and has written several books on the subject of spaceflight. The purpose of this book was to analyze the progression of two countries, US and USSR for dominance in space race. The book also consists of many presidential speeches and astronaut’s perspective towards the topic of space race. There are few to no limitations of this source, since this book covers everything during the start of the space race to the end from both, U.S. and U.S.S.R. perspectives. The value of this book is significant due to the fact that the author was an American and a part of the National Space Center, which reflects on his book as is more biased towards American viewpoints.

        The second source to be examined in detail is a documentary by Creation Films, A Century of Flight: The Space Race, with the purpose to demonstrate the successes into space by both, U.S. and U.S.S.R. which is now described as the space race. It was created in 1 April, 2011, in Chatsworth, California by director Edward Feuerherd, and writer & editor by Michael Fitzer, distributed by Image Entertainment, Inc. The film had no limitation at it is solely based on primary videos from the space race era and guided by commentator, Don Pay, presenting concrete facts and limited perspective. Much similar to the first source, these American producers focused a little more on the U.S.A.’s which shows the teams favored perspective on the space race, demonstrating the value of this documentary.  

Part D- Analysis 680/600

        The United States faced extensive pressure from Soviet advancements into space, which startled many Americans and influenced the United States to keep competition through technological feats. The launching of Sputnik 1 on 4th October, 1957 by the Soviet Union signaled the beginning of the space race and a new chapter in America’s space history. U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson describes it as a “shock in realizing [that] another nation to achieve technological superiority over… ours.” Evidently, the launch of this probe caused concerns to United States, in particular President Johnson. Galvanized by the news of Soviet’s satellite success, the U.S. government joined the space race in earnest and initiated a concerned national effort to put an American in space. In July 1958, U.S. responded to Sputnik as Congress allowed the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).The U.S. was intimidated to the point of establishing a space program, challenging an opposed nation that clearly took technological lead. The Soviets do not unwind after their first victory in the space race, instead, the Soviets rapidly continued to make progress into space, leaving the United States in their trail. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev taunted America by saying, “Let the capitalist countries catch up with our country…”as Yuri Gagarin became the first man to successfully return from space in April 1961. It could not be clearer that space has become a global battleground of ideologies, and up there, the Soviets ruled. In the United States, news that indicated that the rival superpower had put a man in space was greeted with dismay, as it was clear that the Soviets were well ahead in the space race. On May 25 1961, excited president John F. Kennedy addressed that, “[U.S.] should commit itself… to landing a man on the moon.” Kennedy realized the advancement of the Soviets had been excellent and the goal must be redefined to something the U.S. is able to achieve. Evidently, the United States had been greatly influenced through the successes of the Soviet Union as shown through society and presidential speeches.

In the battle for supremacy into space explorations, the U.S. pushed to make many achievements following the U.S.S.R. and eventually made a significant breakthrough in space discovery history. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the second person, however the first American to travel into space. Gagarin may have scored a great victory for the Soviets and the ideology it represented, but Shepard had served notice for the United States that they were also achieving goals following the Soviets. With the launch of Gemini 4, in June 1965- just 2 months after the launch of Voskhod 2- Ed White made the first American space walk.   This was another major achievement and proved the Americans were not far behind than the Soviets. Kennedy had pledged America to reaching the Moon before the decade is out, skillfully finessing the nation’s short–term prestige loss in space by redefining the ultimate contest as one that America had a chance of winning. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon with the landing of Apollo 11.This ultimate goal had been achieved as head of states all over the world sent congratulation messages, outlining the American victory in the space race.

Part E- Conclusion146 /200

        The soviets clearly dominated in the space race during the beginning of the 1960’s with successful space operations and new technology and exploration in the solar system. The United States was intimidated by such speed of progress which leads to the creation of NASA in a desperate attempt to close the gap between space advancement. Quickly, the U.S caught up and took the lead after 1965, with many successful launches of manned mission in space by using new spacecraft technology due to the influence of Soviets. President Kennedy redefined the goal of space race of landing the first man on the moon, in hope to win the space exploration. Despite America’s struggles, they ended the space race with the launch of Apollo 11, making Neil Armstrong the first human on the moon. Sputnik had begun the Space Race with fear. Apollo 11 ended it with hope.

Part F- Bibliography

Alphabetical order based on the surname of the author

Bille, Matt, and Erika Lishock. The first space race: launching the world's first satellites. College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2004.

Clark, Phillip. The Soviet manned space program: an illustrated history of the men, the missions, and the spacecraft. New York, N.Y.: Orion Books, 1988.

Coffey, Jerry. "Alan Shepard: Astronaut." Universe Today — Space and astronomy news. http://www.universetoday.com/71590/alan-shepard-astronaut/ (accessed April 19, 2012).

A century of Flight: The Space Race. DVD. Directed by Edward Feuerhead. Chatsworth, California: Image Entertainment Inc., April 1 2011.

Garber, Steve. "Sputnik."History Home. http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/ (accessed April 17, 2012).

Ingebretsen, Karen. Human space exploration. Chicago: World Book, 2011.

Jefferis, David, and Mat Irvine. Race into space. New York: Crabtree Pub., 2007.

Kennedy, Gregory P., William H. Goetzmann, and Michael Collins. The first men in space. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.

Reynolds, David. Apollo: the epic journey to the moon. New York: Harcourt, 2002.

Stott, Carole, and Steve Gorton. Space exploration. New York: Alfred A. Knopf :, 1997.

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