How did the US achieve a successful moon landing in 1969 and what was its national and international significance for the US? Flashcards
Introduction
> Moon landing- perhaps the most astonishing attribute of the arms race.
Developed result of rivalry between 2 superpowers
Sputnik- 1st man made satellite + the 1st intercontinental ballistic missile(IBM) sent by soviets 1957,granting them vital propaganda points
Warnher Von Braun gave US technological superiority
Nonetheless many Americans unable to support the enormous amount of money spent on space race, when pressing environmental and societal issues were being neglected.
- Rocket Technologies
> Throughout WW2 Nazis created V1+V2 rockets- these specific rockets provided accuracy as an enemy would find more difficult to shoot down
German scientist Wernher Von Braun surrendered to the US army, he was rapidly brought to work for US military- developed rockets+ worked on intermediate-range ballistic missile programme
Soviets achieved significant triumph Yuri Gargan became first man in space in his craft Vostok I ,marking 1st orbit of earth 1961.
This spread to newspaper headlines worldwide.- Soviets success caused panic in US, which lead to further spending on missile tech. In attempts to rectify a potential missile gap
US launched first IBM, the atlas rocket 1958.
Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop space exploration
Due to increasing technological expansion JFK promised the US would have a man on moon by end of 1960’s
As a result money pumped into space missions
- Mercury and Gemini programmes
> Series of tests conducted by NASA to determine whether astronauts could survive in space
Mercury programme operated with these aims from 1959-1963 - they contributed to the development of safe space flight hardware
1962 John Glenn 1st American orbit earth- became national hero
Following success of Mercury programme, project Gemini launched to experiment + resolve other moon mission concerns
Gemini programme comprised of 10 manned missions 1964-66.
Gemini 7 spent 2 weeks in space; demonstrating that humans could endure extended periods of weightlessness
Gemini 8 successfully linked 2 spacecraft.
Series of tests conducted by NASA to determine whether astronauts could survive in space
Mercury programme operated with these aims from 1959-1963 - they contributed to the development of safe space flight hardware
1962 John Glenn 1st American orbit earth- became national hero
Following success of Mercury programme, project Gemini launched to experiment + resolve other moon mission concerns
Gemini programme comprised of 10 manned missions 1964-66.
Gemini 7 spent 2 weeks in space; demonstrating that humans could endure extended periods of weightlessness
Gemini 8 successfully linked 2 spacecraft.
3.Apollo programmes
> Significant development- space tech. 1967 creation of Saturn V rocket. -Most potent rocket ever constructed by Braun
This rocket later used on Apollo spacecraft- in order to test diff parts of the rocket.- This consisted of command module (where astronauts lived) and the lunar module (land on moon)
After more than thousand modifications to rocket, Apollo 7 launched +successfully completed orbit of Earth October 1968.
2 months later December Apollo 8- 1st manned orbit of moon
These missions gave additional info
8 day Apollo 11 mission began 16 July 1969.Neil Armstrong,Buzz Aldrin+Michael Collins began launch.
Spacecraft reached moon 19 July, Armstrong + Aldrin landed in smooth terrain of sea of tranquillity
Astronauts spend 21 hours+ 36 minutes on moon’s surface before their departure.
Apollo programme cost between $25-$35 billion, thus leading to conflicting public opinions
4.Watershed moment
> significance of moon landing widely recognised worldwide
Moon landing watched in on TV by 600 million ppl, ⅕ of the world’s pop. at the time
This showcased Armstrong’s first step on moon +his famous quote ‘THAT’S ONE SMALL STEP FOR A MAN,ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND’
Despite the ongoing war in Vietnam, US soldiers stopped to listen the coverage of it.
However China,Northkorea, North vietnam ignored the news
In the west moon landing was front page news - Paris released statements describing it as one of ‘MAN’S GREATEST DREAMS’’
President’s medal of freedom given to astronauts along w. Presidential tour of 24 countries in 45 days
Nonetheless negative reactions to the achievements of landing were present - Ex Official USSR communist paper ‘L’Humanite’ praised the landing yet never put the words ‘United states on the cover due to cold war tentions between the US+USSR
5.Cold War
> Moon landing was a monumental event on a domestic level.
Major victory for US + democracy as it had an immense effect on foreign policy.
The initiation of Apollo II program was a political tactic used during cold war as 1 nation was attempting to showcase technological superiority.
Technological advancement such as rockets +missiles contributed to space technology.
developments led to the US economic boom.
America’s confidence shown when JFK declared space race as a ‘’CHALLENGE WE ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT’’
the diminished soviet power , boosted American confidence in their government at a time of heightening civil unrest.
These developments helped US convince other countries that the future would be owned to the capitalist superpower rather than the communists
- Domestic Affairs: Positive
> Moon landing worldwide phenomenon that conveyed the US financial powers.
By mid 60’s NASA- budget of $5 billion.-proved US determination to spend immense amounts of money following JFK’s association .
It was clear that US had intense drive to beat the Soviets .
As space race commenced the US became source of veritable technological advancements- such as improvement of computer hardware+ IBM
US emerged as a leading innovator in tech. Which in turn lead to
development of Apple+Microsoft products still used today.
However decline in national investment occurred as more was revealed about gov. Spending in regards to the moon landing
- Domestic Affairs: Negative
> Public opinions began to shift as some Americans started to criticise the vast sums of money spent on the moon landing,while poverty + social inequalities were overlooked creating an economic deficit.
the expense of space race reduced general standard of living for Americans -healthcare+education
Prime example of this is the song entitled ‘Whitey on the moon’ -song conveys how Lower+middles class ppl couldn’t justify outragous costs of space race
due to these costs US economy fell into rapid decline.US ranked 14th in infant mortality rates due to lack of healthcare services
1967,41% young drafted men rejected work due to psychological + emotional deficiencies
These elements in domestic affairs aided the ecology movement
- Ecology movement
> Moon landing contributed growth- ecology movement by raising awareness of Earth’s limited resources + existential vulnerability .
had impact on waste management process known as REDUCE,REUSE,RECYCLE
research of moon forced ppl to reconsider their terrestrial habitat in a whole new light
Photos taken of earth from space helped ppl understand how small earth is
Concerns of pollution +conservation of nature became increasingly popular worldwide
A no. of environmental policies introduced in order to protect Earth.
Ecology movement contributed to development of 1st national Earth day in 1970
Conclusion
> moon landing seen significant marker in humankind’s technological process+ ability to explore space
later years Reagan introduced ‘star wars’ which was primarily about defending missile threats- this shows the importance of space exploration for both science + international relations.
