Abstract This essay provides a history of the United States' space program and its rationale for beginning such a program. It also gives information on the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to see who would be the first nation to put a man on the moon. It explains that when it looked as if the Soviets were ahead with the launching of the satellite Sputnik, America ultimately pulled through to finish first in the spacerace.
From the Paper "The United States's main rationale for carrying out a space exploration program was the rivalry with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Both nations had the desire to demonstrate a technological superiority of one form of government over another: a democratic state versus a communist dictatorship. So after both sides became aware that space flight was possible, the Cold War rivalry was the key that opened the door to aggressive space exploration on both sides."
Tags: apollo, landing, moon, nasa, soviet, space, sputnik, union
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that at the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States were locked into a bitter battle of military positioning and propaganda known as the Cold War. Stemming from this, as technology advancements showed the world the military capabilities of space exploration, the two nations began a fierce competition to rule space. The writer notes that while the competition was closely aligned with the arms race between the two countries during the Cold War, space technology also became an important part of the technological, cultural, ideological, and military rivalry between the two countries. The writer points out that while the spacerace developed from a vicious Cold War, the race ended in cooperation between two powerful nations. The writer then concludes that while the spacerace certainly advanced technology far beyond what would have occurred without such competition, the race also fostered and developed the technological, cultural, ideological, and military mindsets of both countries forever.
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Abstract
References
From the Paper "Space exploration clearly offered numerous solutions to these issues for both superpowers. Space exploration and satellites could, scientists and military annalists believed, be used to spy on other countries, gathering photographic and location specific information regarding any technologies, military movements, or weapon storage. Additionally, the leaders of these countries believed that to beat the other to space would promote a concept of superiority, prowess, and military superiority. As the development of rocket technology increased, and as that technology advanced, space exploration became a feasible goal.
In 1947, the citizens of the United States had one of their first experiences with space, further fueling the flames for the Space Race. In July of that year, farmers in Roswell, NM discovered a crash site nearly three-fourths of a mile in width, consisting of metal, and other unfamiliar debris. A local sheriff called the military, who declared a few days later that a "flying disk" had crashed. Shortly thereafter, the statement was retracted, and replaced with stories of a downed weather balloon."
Abstract This paper details of the spacerace between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and how and why it was a show of power and superiority. The author looks many different aspects of the spacerace including, its purpose, how it was used to show the other country its weaknesses, how it enabled both countries to explore the uncharted vastness of space and find for it new military and how they attempted to use the moon as the ultimate propaganda tool.
From the Paper "Even though Sputnik had no direct military impact, it showed the progress of the USSR in science and military and prompted the US government to pay more attention to its own missile operation (McGhee 331). The media played a major role in spurring the government to take action. Sputnik was front-page news on all the papers and it had all of America wondering how something like that could happen without anyone knowing (Schefter 23). At first the US government was not impressed by the Soviet's accomplishments. President Eisenhower felt that the U.S. people had acted like children and that no response to Soviet actions was necessary (Burrows 200). He felt that the US needed to toughen up for a long war they may have in the future and did not see the US as being in any competition with the Soviets (Burrows 200). He even went so far as to congratulate the Soviets on their accomplishments (McGhee 330)."
Abstract The paper discusses how, in the 1950s, the two superpowers of world affairs, the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republic, engaged in a quest for ultimate power that would in time become known as the Cold War. The paper examines the competition between the nations, known as the SpaceRace. The paper further explores the meaning of the SpaceRace and its accomplishments within the context of the Cold War.
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Abstract
The Purpose of the SpaceRace Time Well Spent and Energy Used Wisely?
Larger Purpose of the SpaceRace Does Society Need This Kind of Enterprise?
Conclusion
Works Cited
From the Paper "From the point of view of the Americans, the Space Race also took on a much more significant purpose than simply showing that space exploration was possible; early in the consideration of the potential of space exploration and travel, it was realized that the technology and science that could be derived from an effective space program would have many uses, and in light of the possibility of Assured Destruction, defense was one of the most important. In the minds of the American government, the demise of communism was the key to winning the Cold War outright."
Abstract This paper discusses the Apollo 7 and Apollo 8 space missions and their overall effect on the United States' spacerace. It looks at the history behind the spacerace 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 spacerace 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."
Abstract This essay discusses social geography - that is, the way in which geography intersects with social, economic, and demographic issues. Namely, the essay addresses the issue of "race and space". The writer looks at how race is distributed across a given urban landscape, and the implications. In light of this, two Canadian cities - Toronto and Vancouver - are examined in this article.
From the Paper "Social geography, as the name implies, refers to the intersecting of geography with social issues such as economic, ethnic, racial and religious distribution of people within a given space. Though there are issues related to social geography in literally every geographic area, they are, on a small scale, particularly easy to identify and interpret in certain North American centers; these cities tend to have very high levels of immigration, much of which involves the entry of people who are racial or ethnic minorities."
Abstract The paper posits that, with the launching of Sputnik I, a spacerace emerged, which cemented the conflict between the Soviet Union and the US. The paper illustrates how, because of the spacerace, hostility between the Soviet Union and the US increased, prompting America to create a Western alliance to combat the new threats.
From the Paper "Mid-20th century signified the emergence of a significant event that defined the future development of countries all over the world, in both the Western and Eastern hemispheres of the world. During this period, the Cold War developed as a result of the containment policy that the United States had propagated, in response to the increasing support and popularity of Communism in Asian and East European countries. Cues from Communist countries like the Soviet Union bloc elicited corresponding responses from champions of democracy such as the US. What emerged, then, was a competition between Communism and democracy, represented primarily by the Soviet Union and US, respectively."
Abstract This paper discusses why the American space program was worth the cost. It presents a retrospective history of the program with regards to its impact on the U.S. economy and way of life. It shows how the 1969 trip to the moon allowed many new technologies, which would normally take decades of development to be refined in the private sector, to crystallize in mere years. Technologies like cell phones, TV, the Internet, and many others got their start during the American 'spacerace'.
From the Paper "Besides its obvious benefits to the technology sector, when a project of the space program's magnitude is attempted, there are inherent benefits to the entire economy. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs cost the government approximately 25 billions dollars in 1960's money. It terms of the 60's GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, the space program gave the US economy an additional yearly growth rate of 2.6%, from 1959-1970. In a good year of growth, the US economy will grow from 3 to 5%. That means that because of the Apollo program alone, the GDP growth rate was nearly twice what it would have been without the governments influx of cash. Aside from the money that was pumped into the economy, thousand of jobs were created to build all of the millions of parts that were used during the decade of the space program."
Abstract This paper introduces and discusses the Cold War. Specifically, it examines the various causes that led to and accentuated the Cold War and looks at its affect on modern scientific developments in arms and the spacerace. The Cold War led to developments in rocketry and science that have given rise to new technologies that the world uses every day.
From the Paper "The Cold War really began during the Second World War, when talk of post-war treaties between the United States, Great Britain, and Russia were put on hold until the war ended. "From early in 1942 the American Government had repeatedly proclaimed the principle that no final decisions on matters of postwar frontiers or systems of government should be made until the end of the war" (Graebner 5). "The growth of distrust and opposition between the United States (US) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) begins with Joseph Stalin's pre World War II behavior. The US and Great Britain provided war tactics and military hardware to Moscow but in return were rewarded with a veil of secrecy. As early as the Tehran conference (September 1943), Churchill confided to one of his staff that he considered Germany already finished; ?the real problem now is Russia''' (Kimball)."
Abstract This paper discusses how the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union that began after World War II affected the entire world and led to a legacy that is still viable and important today. It examines how it has left a legacy of mistrust between the Soviet Union and the United States and how it also helped create the spacerace, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the war in Afghanistan, and a wall of communism across Europe. The paper also looks at how, although today Russia and the United States are supposedly allies again, the continuing unrest in Russia under Boris Putin's regime, has led to instability in Russia, and one must wonder what will happen to Russian/U.S. relations in the future.
From the Paper "The Cold War grew as more people succumbed to the "us" versus "them" mentality, but there was another very compelling reason the Cold War came to be and grew through the 1950s and 1960s. America had the atomic bomb, and the Soviet Union did not, at least at first. Initially, President Truman advocated sharing knowledge about nuclear energy with an international organization as a way to drive Soviet-American relations to greater bargaining and agreement. The Russians, at the end of World War II, were moving toward dominance of certain Eastern European countries, such as Romania and Poland, and the U.S. hoped to use the bomb as a way to diffuse Soviet dominance and reach accords with them. Ultimately, the Russians resented Truman's lack of communication about the bomb before it was used on Japan, and when Truman did not offer up the technology to an international group for management, resentment began to fester (Whitcomb 44-46, 68). "
Abstract This paper discusses the physiological changes to the human body during space travel. Early predictions of the response of humans to spaceflight assumed that space adaptation would be analogous to human disease processes rather than to normal physiology. Through studies of bed-rested healthy adults and medical examinations of crews returning from space, we now recognize the adaptive nature of the responses to spaceflight or its ground-based models. e are also aware of the necessity to minimize the flight-induced changes so that crews maintain their Earth-readiness and avoid injury on landing. Lack of gravitational loading affects multiple physiological systems, especially support structures that are particularly vulnerable to injury during reentry and renewed exposure to gravitational forces. Thus, most crew members exercise extensively during flight. Although many physiological systems appear to be affected by spaceflight, only the cardiovascular, neurovestibular, and musculoskeletal systems are covered in this paper.
The paper includes illustrations.
Table of Contents
Table of Illustrations
Introduction
The Cardiovascular System
The Neurovestibular System
The Musculoskeletal System
Summary
Bibliography
From the Paper "As soon as they switch to an internal alignment and use the feet to signal down, they are able to function normally. Upon return to Earth, the brain is confused once again as gravity is now available for orientation. This confusion creates postural instability that is compounded with the cardiovascular difficulty in standing. Also, reflexes associated with posture are slowed even on short-duration missions. With long-duration flights, changes in reflexes may become a major issue."
Abstract This paper analyzes the new emphasis placed on space dominance by the U.S. military policy, as explained by Chalmers Johnson in "The Sorrows of Empire". The paper also looks at the politics of the Bush Administration in the post 9/11 era and how this affects U.S. space policy.
From the Paper "In his review of Chalmers Johnson's "The Sorrows of Empire", Erik Riker Coleman maintains that, from the author's perspective, the policies pursued by the Bush administration in the aftermath of the attacks were a radical ramping-up of the imperial project both abroad and at home. This radical project aimed at total military dominance, includes billions in expenditures aimed at reinforcing and expanding the massive space capability of the U.S. In an unapologetic and strident manner the U S aims to achieve total space domination in..."
Tags: Afghanistan, imperialism, space planes, weaponry, troops, casualties, Space Commission, Bush administration, terrorism, September 11
Abstract This essay briefly explores the relationship between gender and space. Specifically, preconceived notions of privacy and safety in a bedroom and how this relationship is altered in the presence of domestic violence. Furthermore, how domestic violence in this space is portrayed in the public sphere. Sources are drawn from academia, current events and popular culture.
From the Paper "Ideally, the bedroom should be a space of peace, a safe place as much as a respite from every day pressures. In a word, it should be a space of solace. But those close quarters within the confines of a dysfunctional domestic relationship, also present opportunities for cyclical abuse, violence, misogyny, and a general oppression. The trouble, lawmakers say, is trying to balance the interests of the victim with her privacy. This essay explores the relationship between gender and the bedroom and how domestic violence within this space changes the accepted notions of privacy and safety."
Abstract The paper discusses Physiological Space in architecture, noting that this dimension both allows and encourages the viewer to orient him or herself with the work and to gain meaning from the experience. The physiological space is not simply a reflection of physical space but includes a psychological dimension that cannot be discounted. The paper explains that the way the viewer is oriented to the art involves not merely where he or she stands and how he or she relates physically to the work, but also the mental constructs involved, the psychological reactions and other internal processes.
Abstract This essay reviews the numerous ways that time, space, and change have affected the human existence. In discussing technology, this paper examines the ways in which communication technology, business technology, and technological changes in travel have changed/impacted the importance of time and space on humans. Through these technologies, time is increasingly becoming an irrelevant factor in human existence.
From the Paper "German philosopher Martin Heiddeger was primarily instrumental for his concern with what it means to exist: to be. In essence, Heiddeger's concern primarily related to the fact that humans come into the world and interact with it, as they have not made any contributions to the things that exist in nature or society, but use these things/objects. In addition, he states these objects "come to humanity from the past and are used in the present for the sake of future goals"."
