moon landing Flashcards
US govt. spending on technological research 1953 vs. 1960 vs. 1970
1953 - $13bn
1960 - $47bn
1970 - $76bn
% of research spending on defence 1953 vs. 1970
1953 - 85%
1970 - 55%
fell as medical research took off in the 60s
reasons for high military spending
-cold war rivalry: US determined to have military advantage in possible conflict
-economy: economic boom provided resources for rapid tech advance. corporations could obtain economies of scale.
-military industrial complex
-public support: fear of cold war + consumer applications of military tech e.g. air travel, engines
first nuclear bombs
fat man and little boy, developed on manhatten project and used on hiroshima and nagasaki by truman in aug 1945
first soviet nuclear bomb
detonated 1949
hydrogen bomb
truman approved H-bomb project after soviet detonation in 1949. 1,000 times more powerful than bombs dropped on japan
first american H-bomb
detonated 1952
first soviet H-bomb
detonated 1953
B-52 stratofortress
bomber developed by americans to carry nuclear weapons. could fly 6,000 miles
no. of american bombers by 1981 that could carry nukes
4,000
operation paperclip
US military tried to get control of the german rocket program after ww2. brought german aerospace engineers e.g. werner von braun (developer of v1 and v2 rockets) to work on their missile programme. soviets did the same
pershing rocket
developed in early 1960s to replace Snark and Corporal classes. medium range missile with range up to 650km. mainly stationed in NATO countries in europe where it could hit any major russian city west of the urals
ICBMs
Intercontinental ballistic missiles: first ones tested in 1958.
-Atlas had a range of 8,000 km and could hit USSR from US
no. of american ICBMs by 1981
8,000
minuteman missile
could be fired from underground, intended to survive soviet first strike. range of 1,600 km
polaris missiles
could be fired from submarine, range of up to 4,500 km.
retaliatory weapon, if the soviets attacked and destroyed US defences
MAD
by 1960s USSR and US accepted doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD). each had so many nukes that if either side attacked, they would both be wiped out
DEW
distant early warning system: line of radar stations across canada and alaska, designed to scan for missiles coming from across arctic circle
AWACS
airborne warning and control system: radar system in planes that were in the air 24 hours a day
SAMOS
satellite and missile observation system: first of US’s spy satellites, launched in 1960
advancements in conventional weapons
-supersonic fighter jets equipped with air to air missiles
-U-2 spy planes
-surface to air missiles
-aircraft carriers
-helicopter gunships
NORAD
in charge of US defence systems + constantly monitored them for signs of soviet attack
-north american aerospace defence command
US defence system malfunctions
9 Nov 1979, 4 command centres of the US nuke arsenal received data that soviets had launched nuclear attack. US prepared for retaliatory strike however alarm cancelled as no actual strike detected. caused by malfunction in training software
US vs USSR conventional forces
USSR had larger force, but US had better tech
sputnik
first man made satellite launched on R7 rocket by the soviets (headed by korolev) on 4 oct. 1957. (object-PS)
weighed 83kg (‘baby moon’)
successfully orbited earth and transmitted back radio signal
when was sputnik launched
4 oct. 1957
vanguard TV3
first attempted US launch of a satellite. exploded on the launch pad 6 dec. 1957
‘flopnik’
impact of sputnik on americans
-US had seemingly fallen behind soviets technologically -> setback on american morale
-became aware of military implications -> could use satellites to launch ICBMs
-political ‘storm’ fuelled by media -> senator LBJ demanded that EH meet with congress to discuss ‘missile gap’
-EH knew missile gap was not correct due to U2 flights over soviet missile sites
-US citizens could see the soviet R7 rocket making passes over the US -> fear
explorer 1
first successful US satellite launched feb. 1958 by von braun on jupiter c rocket. first satellite with scientific instruments
eisenhower quote
‘space should not be militarised’
how did EH try to catch up to the soviets
- national defence education act 1958
- set up NASA
- project mercury 1958
national defence education act 1958
committed $900 mil for better teacher salaries, improved labs and scientific equipment in schools. included funding for college scholarships that encouraged maths, science and modern languages.
effects of the national defence education act 1958
-by mid 60s enrolment in higher education jumped significantly
-nearly 1/3 of uni scientists and engineers were involved in some capacity in weapons research for the govt.
NASA
national aeronautics and space administration:
created by EH to coordinate efforts in space race
project mercury 1958
announced in 1958, with america’s first 7 astronauts and a plan to send a man into orbit before 1959. delays meant this target was missed
sputnik 2
launched with laika the dog inside (nov 1957)
luna 2 probe 1960
launched by soviets in 1960, became first artificial object to land on the moon
yuri gagarin
became first man in space in 1961 on vostok 1 rocket
alan shepard
first american to make suborbital flight in 1961
john glenn
became first american in space and to orbit earth on board friendship 7 in 1962
kennedy’s challenge to congress
25 may 1961 - ‘I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish’
-gave a specific focus to everything NASA did and a deadline by which to achieve it
JFK rice university speech sep. 1962
‘the exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space’
JFKs assasination
22 nov 1963. deadline of reaching the moon by end of 60s became set in stone -> tribute to kennedy who had challenged them to embark on ‘new frontier’