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Essay / History Behind 20th Century Space Exploration: The Space Race
“Space, the final frontier. » These lines from the film Star Trek have always aroused curiosity and enthusiasm among the human species. Are we really alone in this dark and cold universe? What is beyond the Moon and the solar system? Can the human race leave its home planet and venture further afield? This is the question that man will continue to ask himself in the years to come. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay It all began during the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, for the competition for spaceflight supremacy nicknamed “Space.” Race". The events following World War II saw the victory of the Allied nations and the USSR against the Nazi and Axis powers. The spoils of war were recovered by the United States and Russia. The most notable technological spoils were German missile technology, such dominance in this technology being considered a threat requiring national security. With this technology, Russia and the United States began creating artificial satellites and satellites. unmanned probes and send them into space in low Earth orbit and to the Moon On October 4, 1957, Russia was the first to prove its supremacy by launching Sputnik I. it was the very first artificial satellite. to orbit the Earth When everyone thought that a living being would not survive in space, Russia once again had the audacity to do the unthinkable. It launched a small spacecraft in. orbit on November 3, 1957. This spacecraft carried Laika, the very first space dog, into space and became the first animal in space to completely orbit the Earth. Scientists and engineers knew that Laika would not survive the harsh environment of space, but this experiment proved that humans will be able to survive the extreme g-force felt when a space shuttle is launched into space . Finally, Russia was ready to launch a human into space. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made history as the first man in space when he entered Earth's orbit on April 12, 1961. At that time, almost everyone thought that the race for space had finally been won by the USSR. The United States of America had other things in mind. On July 16, 1961, the Apollo 11 mission was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, using a Saturn V rocket. After a four-day journey, Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin finally landed on the moon. Armstrong became the first person to walk on the lunar surface and his speech has been echoed throughout history. Upon landing and walking on the moon, the commander uttered these inspiring words: “One small step for man, one giant leap for humanity.” This event finally puts an end to the space race between the two powers. The astronauts spent nearly 3 hours collecting lunar material and returned to Earth after 21 hours on the lunar surface. The crew successfully landed in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1961. With the successful moon landing in 1961, the United States remained masters of space exploration. Over time, technology began to develop rapidly. This led to the creation of better and more powerful spacecraft that were used to launch several astronauts and cosmonauts into space. Soon, other countries like Japan and China launched their own space expeditions. This has.