viewed the challenge of space travel forever. By 1939 war clouds were on the horizon and the
attitudes of governments towards research on flight and space gained importance because of its
military applications (Mark, 1985; Menshikov, 2000). According to Mark (1985) the sudden
attempt to control the technology of flight by countries at war was a very important factor in
the advancement of the technology that would aid the development of the first rocket. The
fierce fight for technology throughout the Second World War had a large impact on flight
technology. The idea of traveling out into space was still a great mystery at the time but flying
objects had come into use and the notion of flight in space was being studied by many
scientists. Among them was Ernest Stuhlinger. Stuhlinger (1957) examined how the
developments taking place in the sciences and in engineering during the end of the Second
World War could actually help guide a rocket into earth’s orbit. Rockets were first used during
the Second World War. The importance of rockets for space travel was that they proved that
objects at a very high speed could indeed penetrate the earth’s gravity pull and escape into
outer space (Stuhlinger, 1957).
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first human made satellite, Sputnik I, and they
put it into orbit around the earth. This event was the start of the space race between two
military powers, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The following years
would see the first human sent to space, a man by the name of Yuri Gagarin. The rivalry
between the two nations would lead to outstanding results. The new technologies invented
during the space race era could not have happened in 50 years if the race had not occurred
(Stuhlinger, 1957; Mark, 1985; Zavidonov, 2000). The landing of the American spacecraft on
the moon ended the space race in a way. The way research was conducted about space and
space travel changed drastically with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. This was
mostly because until the early nineties America and the Soviet Union were the two leading
nations when it came to conducting research about space. The nineties saw America and the
newly formed Russian Federation share a common goal to develop studies on interplanetary
travel instead of being rivals and competing for the advancement in space technology. Nations
collaborated, and still do today, on conducting research in space. True advancements in the
study of space travel did not occur until the twentieth century when it became an arena where
rival nations would fight to first uncover the new technology concerning flight and space. Thus
for the people of different countries, space was something to be feared of because of the
possible developments in military technology which threatened their safety. How did the
developments concerning space technology lead to such panic among citizens of nations and
how would this have affected what people thought about space and travel in space?
The countries in search of a new technology were indeed searching for superiority over
other countries, both politically and militarily (Zavidonov, 2000; Menshikov, 2000). Rivalry
was present among countries involved in space research. The effects of the space race were
very obvious at the time. Citizens of rival nations were affected by the fact that foreign
countries were in a race of domination with their own country. When Sputnik I was launched
by the Soviet Union, American people felt that this was something to be feared because this
new technology could be used against them. The fact that there was a cold war was directly
linked to the fact that the two nations were in a race for technology (Menshikov, 2000). The
effects of travel in space have had a great political influence worldwide. It has been a source of
fear that one country would or could dominate other countries through the means of a new
technology.
The future of space travel brings many great expectations with it, such as traveling in
space for common people and the colonization of other planets to make them available for
humans to live. The new space-telescope constructed by the United States will enable
scientists to further investigate the mysteries of the universe (Mark, 1985). Space has always
been an arena of debate. Many things concerning space, among them travel in space, have
become controversial topics of study. Advancements in space technology will take the human
race to new and higher points in developing new technologies. There is not much question that
the existence of such advancements will change the framework in which international politics
are conducted (Mark, 1985). Countries will have new goals concerning inter-planetary travel
and maybe someday there will be universal platforms of debate.
Today the technology is rapidly developing in the area of space travel. Every day
scientists are uncovering more of the unknown universe. Space travel, something that was
highly exaggerated just seventy years ago, has come as far as to send rockets and research
vehicles to other planets. Scientists have landed instruments on Mars, the closest planet to
Earth, which will allow us to study other planets. The race to space ended more than a decade
ago but some people state that more research on this particular subject can cause rivalry among
countries once again. Ideas such as who will conquer space, which is not a very controversial
issue today because no country has the means to freely travel everywhere in space, and who
will develop a newer and better technology to surpass other nations in the race to become a
stronger, more superior country still shake the foundations of research conducted in space.
(Mark, 1985) Although social scientists argue that research on space is not crucial for the
human race, the technology developed from research will be used in many areas. It will be
important for new developments in areas such as engineering and the natural sciences. An
example of the development of technology through research on space can be that around the
1960’s, when people were working on how to get to space, an incredibly advanced technology
was uncovered when compared to the technology just 10 years before. (Zavidonov, 2000) The
technology uncovered around sixties led us to satellite communication and helped us develop
global communication.
Space travel has come a long way. It has been dreamed about, planned by many, and
then accomplished right after the middle of the twentieth century. The accomplishment has
brought people to new grounds, places and ideas that they had not contemplated before. The
effects of travel in space on the human race have not always been as good as today. Nowadays
space travel, which was something out of a fiction book just a few decades ago, provides us
with new technology and ideas to develop our understanding of the sciences. Sciences that are
involved with medicine and the physiology We have studied the effects of space travel on
human life and we have seen that this issue can be thoroughly investigated by studying how
people have approached searching for a way to travel in space and the socio-political effects of
an advancement such as space travel, and by trying to understand what space travel will bring
and has already brought to human kind both scientifically and socially. The need to expand our
knowledge, to investigate new ideas and areas must always come before any political or
military purpose. We must work together to develop new technologies and carry ourselves to
the space age.
References
Mark, H. (1985). War and Peace in Space. Journal of International Affairs, 39(1), p.1.
Retrieved on April 18, 2002 from EBSCO database on the World Wide Web:
http://www.ebsco.com
Menshikov, V.A. (2000). Russia's Military-Space Policy in the 21st Century.
Military Thought, 9(5), p36. Retrieved on April 18, 2002 from EBSCO database on the World
Wide Web: http://www.ebsco.com
Stuhlinger, E. (1957). Outlook to Space Travel. Scientific Monthly, 85(6). p.281-287.
Retrieved on April 18, 2002 from the JSTOR database on the World Wide Web:
http://www.jstor.com
Zavidonov, I.V. (2000). Sputniks, Explorers and Propaganda: The Discovery of The
Earth’s Radiation Belts. History & Technology, 17(2), p.99. Retrieved on April 18, 2002 from
EBSCO database on the World Wide Web: http://www.ebsco.com
