The Space Race and the Apollo Program in 1968 :: American History Essays

The piazza Race and the Apollo Program in 1968 I believe that this nation should attract itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of arrive a man on the stagnate and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more(prenominal) impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space, and none will be so difficult or so expensive to accomplish.These words, uttered by hot seat John F. Kennedy in May 1961 brought forth a new time in American history, the idea of sending a man to the moon. scarcely seven years later, in 1968, did America finally prepare to amass Kennedys deadline with the Apollo 7 and 8 missions. Recovering from the tragic fire of Apollo 1 in 1967, Apollo 7 put the Space program back on track. Only two months later, Apollo 8 led the root voyage well-nigh the Moon. These missions drew Americas goal for a lunar landing closer and took the Soviet juncture out of the Cold Wars so-called Space Race. The origins of the Cold War can be traced to the coda of World War II. Beginning with the Yalta Convention in 1945, and continuing with the Potsdam group later that year, the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republic became embittered with distributively other over the division of Europe. This was a direct result of capitalist economy and communism with the blockade of Germany, the support of Communism in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Turkey and Greece and the refusal of Soviet forces to demobilize. Soon, the argument turned to Americas use of the atomic dud in Japan in August 1945. The Soviets at first highly commended America for hastening Japans surrender but then repudiated it several(prenominal) weeks later. They claimed that it destroyed the balance of power between the two great creative activity powers. By the early 1950s, the focus shifted from the dilemmas in Europe to an even big threat, the threat of nuclear war. Both the US and the USSR claimed supre macy in thermonuclear technology, specifically, the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). However, events changed permanently on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first successful orbiting satellite. The United States immediately reacted to the launch by claiming it would break been first in launching a satellite had it not been for supplying mistakes. After the launch of Sputnik II in November 1957, the United States made its first public reaction.