Apollo 7 and 8 Space Missions

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the Apollo 7 and Apollo 8 space missions and their overall effect on the United States' space race. It looks at the history behind the space race and climate in the United States at the time that the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) was first developing these missions. The paper concludes that these missions helped to revive American interest and motivate the public's support for NASA, as well as helped America to take a definite lead in the space race against the Soviets.

From the Paper:

"Remembering the Apollo 8 mission, William Anders stated, "The biggest surprise of the mission was to see the first Earthrise over the moon and to realize that the Earth was even more interesting than the moon. I consider the moon voyages a technical feat, a political feat." Apollo 8 was indeed both of these. The Apollo 7 and 8 missions were vital ingredients in the overall victory for America in the space race. They helped to revive American interest and motivate the public's support for NASA. They also helped America to take a definite lead in the space race against the Soviets and use this momentum to continue to the moon. Lastly, they helped to prove that the moon was a feasible goal, and that Kennedy's idea of putting a man on the moon before the decade was out was more than possible."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cortright, Edgar M. Apollo Expeditions to the Moon. Washington, D.C.: Government Publishing Office, 1975.
• Cox, Catherine Bly, and Charles Murray. Apollo: The Race to the Moon. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.
• Folger, Tim, Sarah Richardson, and Carl Zimmer, "Remembering Apollo." Discover 15 (1994): 8-18.
• Johnson, Lyndon B., Memorandum for the President. Evaluation of Space Program. NASA Historical Reference Collection, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
• Kennedy, John F. Memorandum for Vice President. Presidential Files, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, MA.

More papers on Apollo 7 and 8 Space Missions:

• Descriptive Essay # 119195 : "NASA and the Space Program"
• Persuasive Essay # 112991 : "Social Norms and Personal Space"
• Persuasive Essay # 111746 : "Apollo 11 Space Mission"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: