Cold War War is an event that represents the situation of a state and how it is revolutionized. It introduces new factors that sometimes force nations others to join in the enhancing of ideas. In particular, the new face of the ideological or new age concept was brought up. The United States of America and the former Union of Soviet Socialists Republic engaged in an ideological conflict known as the Cold War from 1945 to 1989. It was a time of differences between democracy and communism. The other main consequence of the Cold War was also a great scientific and technological advancements. Both superpowers possessed highly destructive arms for their offense and defense that induced fear in the other. This fear caused the launch of the Space Race: a derby of government-funded scientific advancements to take the human race into space. The space program is, to a large extent, the result of the Cold War.The rivalry between the US and the USSR for being the head power but with different ideologies had preceded the Second World War. Both nations had unprecedented tension flowing between them. Among many of these tensions were the financial and propaganda issues that made them enemies. These facts made a series of competitions such as economic strategies and propaganda. Among these competitions is one of the most important; the Space Race. The Cold War fueled an important opportunity to humankind, which much advanced space technology. Before the Cold War initiated, during World War II, much of the basic technology had already been developed. The main contribution came from the German's Von Braun's V-2 rocket, a missile that had the basic scientific process to launch an object into space. After the German defeat, the war ended splitting the world into two major camps and the old wartime allies US and USSR became real enemies. The main way of gaining more support was the propaganda that each nation projected to each other. The Communists took over the Russian Government before World War II that foreshadowed conflict with the anti-Communist US.On one side of the battle was Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe that had fallen under his dictatorship. On the other side were the United States and its allies, Western Europe and Canada in particular. The free world feared the dictatorship of Stalin, and Stalin feared the nuclear weapons of the free world, or the allies. This fear had then started a tremendous arms race leading to the development of hydrogen bombs and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), along with many other weapons. The most obviously visible part of the Cold War was the arms race. Massive and expensive expansion on military action and advancement movements by both nations involved caused a new concept of thinking. Mutually assured destruction or MAD was the philosophy that "both nations had the power to destroy each other completely in the event of an attack" . This theory was based on three ideas.
The first was that both nations had enough weapons to destroy the other. The second was both nations could detect a first strike before it arrived. The last idea was both nations were able to respond quickly before they were hit by the first strike. The invention and perfection of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) was the beginning of MAD . The ICBM was a creation made possible by the Space Race.Back in October of 1942 and after more than a decade of experiments, Nazi Germany launched its first successful V-2 rocket. The Vengeance Weapon 2 was constructed to shoot ...
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The first was that both nations had enough weapons to destroy the other. The second was both nations could detect a first strike before it arrived. The last idea was both nations were able to respond quickly before they were hit by the first strike. The invention and perfection of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) was the beginning of MAD . The ICBM was a creation made possible by the Space Race.Back in October of 1942 and after more than a decade of experiments, Nazi Germany launched its first successful V-2 rocket. The Vengeance Weapon 2 was constructed to shoot warheads to long-range targets. Capable of delivering explosives to 150 miles in just five minutes, the V-2 proved its worth as an effective weapon of terror. Nearly 3,000 V-2s were launched against England, France and Belgium during World War II . For decades, each side developed powerful weapons to keep up with the other side and try to dominate militarily. Both sides took advantage of the captured German V-2 rockets that gave them the basic principles to defy gravity. These nation leaders had their engineers improve on the thrust power of the German designs. At the close of the war, captured V-2s became the building blocks for the development of rocketry in both the United States and the Soviet Union. Intelligence units, or spies, scattered all around to uncover supplies, information and personnel associated with German rocket technology. The MAD concept was effective. Though the Cold War came close to becoming a serious battle numerous times, it never did because inadequate funding. There was no point to why any country was willing to kill itself over a simple decision. The threat of nuclear missiles was not in their use, but in their misuse, disposal, and testing. The real problem with a nuclear weapon was that it could be accidentally fired or used in a situation of confusion.The main reason to why the cold war worked it's way into space begins in 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to establish the International Geophysical Year (IGY). This year was from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, and existed because the scientists knew that the cycles of solar activity would then be at a high point. In October 1954, the council accepted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the Earth's surface.In July 1955, the White House announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the IGY and solicited proposals from various Government research agencies to undertake development. In September, 1955, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was chosen to represent the U.S. during the IGY. While postwar U.S. leaders still believed bombers were better suited to their needs, the Soviets continued to develop rockets, ballistic missiles, and the first spacecraft. With the Russian launch of Sputnik in 1957, Americans began to fear they were far behind Soviet scientists in technology. "We are willing to enter any reliable agreement which would mutually control the outer space missile and satellite development." , said President Eisenhower regarding catching up to the USSR. Both sides realized the same rocket that could deliver a warhead could also send a man into orbit -- and the space race was on. On October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball, weighed only 183 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path . That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race. "People around the world could turn on their radio and hear the little satellite emit a constant beeping sound". Little did the listener know that Sputnik was also the first spy satellite , as it left Russian territory, and flew over the western hemisphere. Satellites were then considered to be the best method of spying on the other nation during the Cold War. It was against international law to fire a weapon outside of the atmosphere, so satellites could not be destroyed while doing its duty. They were permitted to fly anywhere and take pictures of the other nation. The technology was incredible. Spy planes were no longer needed, as photographic equipment from these satellites was able to read such detailed information as the license plates on cars .The world's first artificial satellite was launched, demonstrating the technical abilities of the Soviet Union. This shiny basketball-sized sphere took Americans by surprise. Fearing attacks from afar, and distressed over being beaten by its Cold War rival, the United States jumped into the space race. The U.S. Defense Department responded to the political furor by approving funding for another U.S. satellite project immediately after the Sputnik I launch. As a simultaneous alternative to Vanguard, Wernher Von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal team began work on the Explorer project . The Sputnik launch also led directly to the creation of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) which established to get the U.S. back and balanced to the USSR. Now, the cold war had established a permanent space race.The U.S. Army's attempt to launch America's first satellite into orbit failed in a launch pad explosion. Two months after the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik, this failure further emphasized America's lag behind the Soviet Union in the space race. Having already lost the race to launch the world's first artificial satellite to the Soviet Union, the United States accelerated its plan to develop an unmanned Moon probe, hoping to be first to the Moon. But the attempt in August 1958 failed with the explosion of the first Moon probe Pioneer 0. In the same year, all the launches of the other Pioneer probes, 1,2 and 3, were unsuccessful for such reasons as inadequate power and a final stage failing to ignite. None could make a successful launch .On January 31, 1958, the tide changed when the United States successfully launched Explorer I. Named Explorer after principal investigator James Van Allen, this satellite carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth . The Explorer program continued as a successful ongoing series of lightweight, scientifically useful spacecraft this was finally an image of the U.S. catching up in the race. Apart from these first successful programs, the U.S. still did not forget about the Soviets, as they were still becoming more advances with technology.Fearing a surprise nuclear attack from the Soviet Union, President Eisenhower authorized a top-secret spy satellite called "Corona." To disguise its purpose, it was given the name "Discoverer" and was said to be a scientific research satellite. After several attempts, Discoverer 14 successfully carried a camera into orbit and returned with pictures taken more than 100 miles above Soviet territory. On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union announced that Major Yuri A. Gagarin had successfully orbited the Earth in "Vostok" spacecraft. He was the first man to make a successful orbital flight through space. This was yet more proof of the superiority of the Soviet space program, and led to John Kennedy's decision to send a man to the Moon. Another significant space flight happened on February 20, 1962. John Glenn was sent into orbit onboard the Friendship 7 . It was the first orbital flight for the United States. It had taken the United States 2 years to set up the 16 tracking stations required to bring an American into orbit for 265 minutes. The world could now see that the United States could keep up with Soviet space technology, the United States were even about to take a lead in space exploration. The Soviet Union did not achieve such splendid results with its probes to Mars. The U.S. on the other hand, after the failure of a Mars probe launched in 1964, launched seven successful missions to photograph Mars and make other observations. Among these were the Viking probes 1 and 2, launched in 1975, with missions lasting about a year and including a soft landing on the Martian surface to look for the possibility of life. No living organisms were found but the successful survey was a very significant achievement.The Apollo program reached its final goal when on May 20, 1969 after being propelled by Kennedy's speech of May 1961. The first lunar landing mission of Apollo 11 turned out to be a great success and this time the United States were the first to achieve a significant success over the Soviets, perhaps the most significant success of space technology up to that point. The Americans were the first to place a man on the moon, and the Soviet Union had lost its lead in space exploration. However criticism did exist. Robert Jastrow and Homer E. Newell's article, "Why Land on the Moon?" (August 1963), considered the public criticism of the Apollo project, and countered with an argument in support of lunar research and other endeavors. Space exploration also has a general consequence for the physical sciences as a whole, and for science education. A successful space program would offer an invaluable contribution not only to scientific knowledge, but also to the United States' self-determination as a country.The United States reached the limit in space technology; technology didn't allow for much further advancement at that time. This was one of the reasons why the Cold War softly died down in the years after Apollo 11. Seven years later, the United States and the Soviet Union even started working cooperatively. From July 15 to 24, 1975, the Apollo-Soyuz project , a joint-venture program of the United States and the Soviet Union, took place. It was the first internationally manned spaceflight and was designed to test the compatibility of docking systems for the American and Soviet spacecraft, to open the way for international space rescue as well as future joint manned flights. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration developed the Space Shuttle to make space travel more cost efficient. NASA coordinates and manages the Space Transport System (NASA's name for the overall Shuttle program), including intergovernmental agency requirements and international and joint projects. NASA also oversees the launch and space flight requirements for civilian and commercial use. The Russian's also had their share of new technologies.Russia's Mir Space Station has been in orbit for over 10 years. The first element of the station was launched on February 20, 1986 . The current Mir Space Station is actually a complex of different modules that have been pieced together. The Mir module, the first module of the complex placed in orbit, is the main module of the station. Congress has been asked to provide $5.7 billion for the programs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the current fiscal year, roughly 6 cents of every federal tax dollar. This level of expenditure has produced demands for a re-evaluation of the space program. Critics ask whether the exploration of the solar system is a valid enterprise for the United States to undertake at this time; or, granting the ultimate importance of the step, whether it must be carried out at the present pace . "I speak truth, not my belly-full, but as much as I dare; and I dare the more the more I grow into years." Reagan intentionally outspent the Soviet Union on defense in order to drive the Soviet economy to the wall and hoping to create an internal revolution in which the Soviet Union would destroy itself . At this point, The USSR split and their economy dropped just as Reagan had expected, and in the process ending the cold war, ending the arms race. The Cold War was a time of mistrust between the US and the USSR and was the main reason behind space exploration. Without the Cold War crisis, there would have been less motivation and inspiration for the USSR and the USA to continue the space race and support it financially. The cold Space Race marked the beginning of an era of exploration beyond the earth, which set a precedent for the future of technology.
